I moved to taiwan last year for university and i like it here much more than my home country, i think it would be nice to remain here for at least a few years after i am done with uni. The problem is that right now I’m looking to get a scooter to make my commute between work and uni more manageable(takes over 1hour to get to work and i don’t have the freedom to leave when i want to).i have been looking at the prices for used scooters and they look ridiculous to me and so i opted to buy one new instead but i don’t have the money to buy one full price right now and the installment options they have are really good but i don’t have any taiwanese to put itnin their name(well i have a gf but she doesn’t like the idea of it being in her name as she is from another city and if anything were to happen she would be required to be there. I think she is worrying too much but i don’t want to make her feel like I’m using her so i won’t push it.). So now i would like to know if there are any companies that help foreigners in that regard or if getting it under someone else’s name the only option. I was also told that they don’t allow them to just be a co-signer also. Just for a little more context i would preferably like to get a gogoro as i think they are a better option and i really like them, i was opting for the 3 year installment because i don’t want to be pressured intopaying too much if anything were to go wrong with my job but i do have a year contract teaching English at a cram school with decent part time hours and I’m on the icdf scholarship.
Why not just buy a cheap, used scooter that you can just leave at the curb after you leave in 3 years like many people do?
First rule of finance as a foreigner in Taiwan is that you will always, without exception, be lied too. You can submit an application without a cosigner and no guarantor, the person taking the application does not approve the loan. They’re just supposed to help you submit the paperwork but to make themselves feel powerful they take it upon themselves to be gatekeepers.
Your ARC status might matter though, if you have a student ARC then I don’t know if the finance company would be keen (but you can still submit an application). If your ARC is through your job, you have a decent chance of approval as long as you can get past the lying gatekeeper (this is generally the case for all kinds of debt in Taiwan).
My motorcycle loan is through Yu Rich Financial Services and was applied for through the dealership. Yu Rich couldn’t give 2 sh*ts about my foreignness, income or credit history.
All I provided was my ARC and passport, the dealer provided the vehicle information. I offered my credit report and payslips but they weren’t interested. I paid about 40% up front and financed 60%
This is their Line
I do not intend to leave after finishing uni, the pay here is much better and so going back home would be much worse. and taiwan is pretty nice all things considered.
The bigger reason though is that i know secondhand stuff tend to need parts and such much more often so at the end of the day getting one new early would end up being better in the long run rather than buying some scooter cheap that i’ll need to replace down the line.
Thank you so much, i’ll reach out to them and ask about it, unfortunately though it is a student ARC so it is not the best of situation, however i’m not gonna let that stop me.
I got one directly from the scooter shop using him as the guarantor, he had my scooter paperwork for the entire year and copies my ARC and license at the time. I went there to pay him monthly in cash, I think he made about 4,000 from the difference between direct loan and using him as the guarantor for the 1-year loan. He was very transparent about everything, and I wanted a brand-new scooter which served me well over 11 years until I sold it out and bought another one.
I did all my maintenance in that shop and brought my friends over as well.
That sounds like an amazing shop, may i ask where this shop is located? As a backup option in case the first one i got doesn’t work out for me.
You can get a used scooter in good condition for a very reasonable price. I recently bought one of these for NT$12,000 and it’s in excellent shape. Great ride and very reliable.
Get a credit card. You can get the scooter interest free on a credit card at many stores!
However… to be honest… is it worth it? I got a 10 year old SYM scooter for 10,000NTD 3 years ago and it’s still going good. Only maintenance I paid for so far were oil and tires…
financing on scooters might be tricky without a cosign.
but shitty used scooters can be had for 10,000nt pretty easily. Usually not less because they can be recycled for not much less. there are loads of free scooters around as well, but often they arent registered and.going through that re registration is hard with pollution and safety laws now.
if you do get turned down, maybe try saving. 10~15k you can buy a scooter easily. 25k you can get a decent one.
What made you find their prices ridiculous?
I like You Rich Financial Services 
They sound like a great bunch of lads.
We don’t need any of that stuff because we have baseball bats. Win win.
裕富數位資融公司
No loan sharks for me 
Don’t get caught riding anything that’s not in your name. Just trust me on this.
That was the point. you need to register it, and that requires all the safety and environmental checks. most old scooters will fail.
best to buy a 2nd hand scooter that is still registered and transfer rather than trying to re register an oldie. lots of unregistered scooters around for free, but will not likely pass inspections.
10k ish +/-