Hi Guys, I am going to be buying a scooter from a friend of mine who bought it from a friend of his (and possibly who knows how far the ownership saga goes back?). My girlfriend is Taiwanese but has never bought a second hand scooter and is worried that I might be buying something that was stolen from someone else at some point? Is there anyway to check this out? Also is there anyway to get someone to check the scooter out? I am not going to be making the purchase anytime soon but in the next month or so. Thanks. (I read the thread about transfers)
You can check the engine number against the vehicle’s documents, which is all that really matters to the authorities.
They will also check identification numbers when you make the change of ownership before they will allow any completion of ownership transfer and if it passes with them then it probably doesn’t matter if all components are or are not original.
If you want to get the scooter checked out I might suggest taking it to a trusted local technician and asking them to take a full look over it.
There is no full proof way of being sure whether all of the bike’s components are original and not stolen however in case this is important to you.
If taiwan only had scooter fax/facts.com Just like in the USA car fax. I am sure they will develop this system in the future. Taiwan copies everything. But for now just check the license against the insurance. The person selling won’t be able to give it to you without paying the tickets off. So just make sure the scooter goes into a residents name. Your name if you have an ARC.
Thank guys, you have given me just what I needed
Either the scooter owner has papers or he doesn’t (very common). if he has papers then it should be a simple transfer at the DMV. I did this a couple of weeks ago. And if there is an issue this is where you will find out (and where you should finalize the sale, ie pay). If you’re buying a scooter without papers (very common) then I don’t think there is any way to guarantee that it wasn’t stolen since you’re outside of the legal system. And although it’s common to buy a scooter w/o papers. One big drawback is that I’ve heard that it is tough (or impossible) to get your scooter back if it gets towed (it happens).