Discrimination at DMV?

Taiwan Discrimination in Taiwan
21

Here goes…

Firstly there are two license categories in this area. You will need to distinguish which category your vehicle belongs to as it will determine whether or not you are allowed to process your application.

客貨車: This category of vehicle you are allowed to place under your name, but only assuming you either have a business or belong to a “公會”( *see below).

貨車: This category is limited to Taiwan citizens only with specific types of businesses such as perhaps farms, construction etc.

*If your vehicle belongs to the first “客貨車” category (it should state on your vehicle licence document) and assuming you don’t have a business to register under then you can contact a specialist company which will process it for you under a “公會” clause. You pay a fee to the company and they will manage the entire procedure for you.

In the Taipei Chengde Rd. area you may contact a [color=#4000FF]Ms Li[/color] color=#FF0000 28362871[/color] and enquire about this process.
You will need to provide two forms of local I.D. i.e. A.R.C. and Health Card, and you must provide a local driving license in your name as well as the vehicle’s license of course. They will always require the vehicle and can be trusted to return it when finished with the application.

If you are not in this Taipei area then I suggest asking at any local used car sales site for the contact number of their local licence management agent such as Ms. Li.

I am presuming your Tundra belongs to the “客貨車” category as it has more than a single row of seats. I believe “貨車” should all only have one as they cannot be used to carry more than one passenger.

Forgive me if any of my information is inaccurate as I have never had to process this vehicle before. I would be very appreciative if people could update me with their experiences however as I can update others with more accurate information.

Edit: I have now spoken with Ms. Li and she confirms all the above. Please call her first however to confirm all of your information and their requirements. This may reduce the chances of an unnecessary trip.

I have also contacted the Chengde M.V.O. and they do confirm that foreigners can most definitely not under any circumstances apply for a vehicle in the “貨車” category.

I hope this helps.

22

I think you should change your mind on the truck MJB… From the look of it it couldn’t possibly have more than a paltry 4 or 5 cup holders… Just not befitting a man of your stature and import…

23

[quote=“sulavaca”]Here goes…

Firstly there are two license categories in this area. You will need to distinguish which category your vehicle belongs to as it will determine whether or not you are allowed to process your application.

客貨車: This category of vehicle you are allowed to place under your name, but only assuming you either have a business or belong to a “公會”( *see below).

貨車: This category is limited to Taiwan citizens only with specific types of businesses such as perhaps farms, construction etc.

*If your vehicle belongs to the first “客貨車” category (it should state on your vehicle licence document) and assuming you don’t have a business to register under then you can contact a specialist company which will process it for you under a “公會” clause. You pay a fee to the company and they will manage the entire procedure for you.

In the Taipei Chengde Rd. area you may contact a [color=#4000FF]Ms Li[/color] color=#FF0000 28362871[/color] and enquire about this process.
You will need to provide two forms of local I.D. i.e. A.R.C. and Health Card, and you must provide a local driving license in your name as well as the vehicle’s license of course. They will always require the vehicle and can be trusted to return it when finished with the application.

If you are not in this Taipei area then I suggest asking at any local used car sales site for the contact number of their local licence management agent such as Ms. Li.

I am presuming your Tundra belongs to the “客貨車” category as it has more than a single row of seats. I believe “貨車” should all only have one as they cannot be used to carry more than one passenger.

Forgive me if any of my information is inaccurate as I have never had to process this vehicle before. I would be very appreciative if people could update me with their experiences however as I can update others with more accurate information.

Edit: I have now spoken with Ms. Li and she confirms all the above. Please call her first however to confirm all of your information and their requirements. This may reduce the chances of an unnecessary trip.

I have also contacted the Chengde M.V.O. and they do confirm that foreigners can most definitely not under any circumstances apply for a vehicle in the “貨車” category.

I hope this helps.[/quote]

Excellent information sir…Checking into it now.

Thanks again…

24

Good one sulavaca! You really are a man in the know.

MB, good luck! I know you have your heart set on it. It will work out.

25

[quote=“sulavaca”]Here goes…

Firstly there are two license categories in this area. You will need to distinguish which category your vehicle belongs to as it will determine whether or not you are allowed to process your application.

客貨車: This category of vehicle you are allowed to place under your name, but only assuming you either have a business or belong to a “公會”( *see below).

貨車: This category is limited to Taiwan citizens only with specific types of businesses such as perhaps farms, construction etc.

I have also contacted the Chengde M.V.O. and they do confirm that foreigners can most definitely not under any circumstances apply for a vehicle in the “貨車” category.

I hope this helps.[/quote]

This issue has surfaced before, notably in the Little Yellow Truck thread,

http://www.forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopic.php?f=75&t=75954&start=0

where the poster was unable to register a Zace truck in his name and had to get a Taiwanese friend to register it for him.

I lost a guanchi truck deal for the same reason, since I didn’t know any Taiwanese willing and able to register it for me.

The story at that time was that foreigners were allowed to register a truck if they had a business, which contrasts with the above. It wasn’t clear if Taiwanese also needed to have a business, but Dogs_breakfast reported that Taiwanese could also register trucks as farm vehicles if they have farmland, which foreigners werent allowed to hold.

It looks like this incident has flushed out some more authorative specific (and, of course, slightly different) information. Very useful, even if its just to avoid wasted time banging ones head against a bureucratic wall , thanks sulavaca :notworthy:

To sum up/query the above (the query is a very slim possibility of a loophole):

Non-Taiwanese citizens CAN NOT put a “1-passenger” (1-seat row?) truck [貨車?](Eg Zace, Delica, Freeca, Pronto chassis cabs) in their name under any circumstances.

Question: Some of those, such as the Delica, have 3-seater bench seats. Does the rule ignore that (most likely), or are they in the second category?

Non-Taiwanese citizens CAN put a “multi-passenger” (multi-seat row?) truck [客貨車?] in their name if they have a Taiwanese drivers license, AND a business, OR they go though an agent to join some kind of cooperative.

Reciprocal Question: Does this only include “crew-cab” models (most likely), which are very rare, or are 3 seaters included?

26

Unfortunately, the truck was registered as a single seater, in fact, I just got off the phone with the DMV guy that did it. In respect, he actually gave me a call and told me all about doing this for this vehicle back in late 2004. They actually pulled the rear seats out for the inspection.

They are being as helpful as they can without exposing themselves to any risk of course.

So, the conclusion from what I’ve gleaned so far is this:

  1. A single seat truck cannot be re-registered to a multi passenger truck, but, a multi passenger truck can be re registered as a single seater by removing the seats, and swearing to buddha that you won’t carry migrant farm workers in the back (oops, too late for that)

  2. A foreigner cannot, under any circumstance, own a single seat truck. But, of course a foreigner CAN own a multi-passenger truck.

  3. I will never have a shot at owning this vehicle under my name for the forseable future.

  4. Nobody gives a shit about how many people you carry in your truck (I’ve already had 11people in it).

  5. I am still being discriminated against, as the rule is retarded.

Now what?

27

Hmmm, set up a company and do it that way.

28

[quote=“MJB”]
5. I am still being discriminated against, as the rule is retarded.

Now what?[/quote]
Ask the governor of your home state to pass a law preventing non-citizens from registering commercial vehicles. :smiling_imp:

The Taiwan government is all about reciprocity. Give them some.

Or, ask Hartzell if he can file an administrative appeal on your behalf.

In the meantime, register the truck with a friend’s company and send the DMV photos of your truck, license plate mozaic’d out, with 11 people riding happily in it.

29

[quote=“MJB”]5. I am still being discriminated against, as the rule is retarded.

Now what?[/quote]

Below are the three choices that according to the DMV as a foreigner you will have no problems with registering for. Its your choice really. They are also much less offensive to green liberals, so you’d be ticking all the right boxes. Look on the bright side; you won’t have problems with border control with any of these. And as a bonus they’re all also better than VWs.
BTW, I don’t charge for consultations so no worries there. This advice is all free! :sunglasses:

30

Can’t you re-register it as a multi-seater?

Edit: Sorry, you already answer that in the negative in point 1 above.

I know a Taiwanette who de-registered and stored her car while she was doing a PhD in the yook. When she got back we met up in Kaoshiung. I asked why her car didn’t have any plates and she told me she’d have to go through the registration procedure again and hadn’t had time yet.

This seems to imply that vehicle status could change/be changed, but I suppose if your DMV contacts are being helpful they’d have told you if that applied.

31

As the problem is specified above, that doesn’t help.

32

Sorry for all your problems MJB with that Toyota. I was lucky enough to see it with you in it and it was perfect for you. Hope you can get it sorted out.

33

I think for the moment that the law cannot be circumnavigated and that I’ll have to register through somebody else for the time being.

Know more on Monday, but I’ll get this kicked through.

Will keep everybody posted…

34

Enough of this gay banter.

Seriously though, Delica and Mazda Bongo/Ford Econovan flatbed trucks, at least, have two passenger seats (I’ve seen both a double-bench seat and two separate seats).

I assume that, despite this fact, these are still classed as “single passenger”.

Can anyone confirm?

35

In this general context, assuming the civvy ones are the same, I understand its relatively easy and reversible to unbolt roof and body panels of a LWB Station Waggon Landrover and convert it to a soft top, giving you essentially a truck.

Of course I can’t see MJB swapping stetson for deerstalker (even V8) but it might satisfy some truck aspirants, IF Landrovers weren’t so rare here. I’ve seen very few, other than RangeRover/Discovery “SUV” types.

Theres a commercial conversion kit for the Wrangler, but I’d guess that’d be too much work (and money) to be reversible.

http://www.aev-conversions.com/products/brute/

36

Damn buddy… why didn’t you give me a call?? I have no problem letting you register this thing under my company.

37

Just did…

38

Sorry for all the bs you had to go through.
This is really useful for me as i was trying to pick up a double cab tacoma… i can forsee some troubles, so ill just reg it in the wifes name.