Mileage specified by the manufacturer. If you’re not sure of previous history when buying a car you negotiatiate any potential costs with the seller.
Timing belt breaking when the engine is running can lead to damaged valves. All fixable, but costs can add up.
I think I kind.of acknowledged it - but there’s nuance there, especially in the first claim of replacing more often.
Timing belts generally have a specified interval, timing chains generally by inspection or symptoms.
A big inconvenience or catastrophic to the engine, depending on if it’s an interference engine (most these days).
Thats your reading of it, from other posts I see your very defensive of EV maybe thats why you see it that way. I honestly don’t have any malice or even a dog in the race, they really are just another tool to get me and my stuff from A to B.
Yeah we used to do it’s for a bit of fun. Buying all sorts of daft cars.
If you buy a new car YOU WILL lose half of its value in the next couple years if you want to sell it back. That’s couple hundred thousands NTD “lost” for sure.
If you buy old beater, you MIGHT need to replace some expensive parts (I did 22k gearbox replacement in a beater worth 20k NTD) but you might also be lucky and drive it for years without any major problems and just paying for the same regular service as for a new car. In any case, it’s very unlikely that you will need to spend as much as 200-300k for a 2nd hand car repairs in couple years. (Unless you buy 2nd hand Lambo)
So, if you’re looking to “save” money - my advice is to buy a 2nd hand beater. Especially there’s no winter and road salt in Taiwan, so the real and main destroyer of old cars - rust is almost nonexistent here and mechanical parts you can always replace
In any case - old/new/cheap/luxury car is ALWAYS just an expense (unless you buy some classic Mustang that will appreciate in value, but you still need to pay tons of $$$ to maintain it in proper condition)
As for the cost of owning a car in Taiwan, assuming you drive 10-15k km a year and you get something cheap and reliable like Toyota I would say 5-10k a month is a safe estimate (that’s including everything: maintenance, taxes, repairs, fuel, parking etc.)
There are currently no annual vehicle taxes for EVs. This may or may not change in the future (2026 and beyond). Annual license tax and fuel fee on ICE vehicles depend on cylinder displacement volume. For something like a Toyota Camry, the total annual taxes will be NT$17,410 for a 2L engine or NT$22,410 for a 2.5L engine.
You disagree? Per the article, you can throw off more micro pollutants (ie more tire particles, due to weight and accel - hard to fault EVs for the second - the go pedal is controlled by the drive. that’s not a surprise, to anyone.). I’m not vaguely contesting that. But like how are big trucks not needing tires every 20k? Right. You can absolutely shred a tire with a heavy, high power car sporting grippy soft tires. But you also modulate and pick a high wear rating tire with appropriate load rating. Like with every other car.
I think I just like cars .in general,. is why I see it this way. 
My next car is almost definitely gonna be a gasser (like 3 of my other current vehicles), so I’m not not definitely all in on EVs (although they’re pretty great for typical driving).
An EV would be perfect for you. I really like cars and driving, and it’s not just a way to get from a-b for me, which is why I’m (likely) not getting an EV next. 
Teslas don’t need in-cabin filtration? There must be some super hi-tech stuff keeping the air in those cabins dust-free then.
the car doesn’t need it (ie it’s fine without filters being changed) - it’s for you, not the car. vs like an oil or air filter, which can make the car run like crap if not replaced. (that reminds me, should change the one in the gti. don’t know last time it was changed… sometime before the last move… 5+ years ago. 
)
Ah I see what you mean. Although personally, I’d rather spend money on my own needs than my car’s needs.
I don’t have any. @comfy123 his parking in his apartment building is included in the rent. Parking outside in paid car parks you need to add that in.
However just for vehicle insurance and registration can cost NT$3000 a month or more even if you never drive it. Look at the DMV sites for vehicle registration costs.
Was also going to mention. It makes more sense to use annual costs, then divide by months, weeks, days whatever. Even a 10 year estimate then divide by whatever metric one uses for budget.
Loads of costs are also dependant on how well, or how shitty, one drives. If a person is a douche bag anxiety filled meth head roughly 20% of drivers, based on road habit observation (L. OH. L.), then maintenance fees go up exponentially! Calm, skilled and slower drivers without severe anxiety tend to put less stress on the machine. Doesn’t matter what type of machine, vehicle or otherwise. Thus, save more money. I drive terribly innefficient trucks (mostly mitsubishi) most of the time and my annual costs of repairs are easily less than half of my close friends and family members that tend to be “high strung” driving fairly decent vehicles (i like honda as far as repairs go). I also put on 2-4x the km they do. Half the time I am on this item is driving and waiting for people for work, I really care about vehicle costs as they are a decent slice of the pie.
If the example is 16km a day as per OP example, it should be VERY cheap. People problems will be the more meaningful expenses probably. Fines, parking, lawsuits, accidents etc.you can spend a few k in insurance or 100k in insurance, that makes a huge difference. Your driving skill also makes a huge difference!
Also, type of car. New cars are literally built to break. Companies are more and more jacking up prices and not allowing 3rd party mechanics. This is a huge issue on costs. Their slices of pie also include repairs, not jsut sales. Worth taking serious. Older vehicles could run longer and be fixed easier and cheaper. This is a huge problem everyone should make a point of complaining about to their dealer/brand’s manufacturer. Everyone one of us that deals with vehicles in their logistics costs knows this and calculates the costs higher now due to such piss poor car brands.
It’s not exactly price fixing, but what they are doing really needs to be intervened by the government. Quite disgusting the quality of product sold off to us. If anything, from an EPA perspective
That’s not even worth starting the engine. Get a bike.
The EU forced Apple to use USB-C, because not having EU sales would seriously hurt Apple. Yes companies are slowly going anti repair, to the point where a simple toaster can’t be repaired because of BS IOT crap and weird screws it uses. Government has to step in.
I don’t understand why can’t they just simplify an electric car so that it’s just a battery and a motor and simple electrical controls for it? Why does it need computers and chips? This is actually the biggest reason why they’re hard to repair. If computers are integral to the function of a car or EV, then they need to use industry standard parts.
But anyways I got a friend who says he pays over 20,000nt per year in taxes on his car, even though he paid maybe 150k for the car, because of the engine displacement of the car. I told him why not get a Toyota Camry or something…
He told me that the cost isn’t too bad and said maybe if I end up making more money some day I could get one. I said I have serious anxiety in Taiwan in regards to traffic and I’m not sure I’ll want to drive here.
Not really as they are currently overpriced for my needs, I have an old car that I use maybe once every two months, wife used when it’s raining. Most of my driving is in the mountains and may stay over for a day or two, motorcycle and scooter are better sooted for my needs, but I am tempted to get a little blue truck.
Once every two months? Surely iRent would have been a better choice than all the headache of car ownership.
You missed the other part, wife uses it when its raining, so its here for convenience Irent is not convenient where I live. also its convenient when I want to move a pizza oven or a bed or move the wood after cutting down a tree (thats why I’m tempted with a little blue truck).
Ah. And I assume you live in Northern Taiwan where it rains every other day, so okay the purchase made sense then.
No, in the south.