I want to buy a motorcycle from my friend but the situation is a bit unusual. Her brother bought it from a girl he has no contact info for anymore. The title is in her name, but she gave him a copy of her ARC and wrote a letter saying that she had sold it to him. He has left the country, giving the bike to my friend. What, if anything, can I do to make it fully legally mine.
2nd question, what does it mean if I cannot have it registered in my name? What problems may arise from it? Can I have it insured like this?
Cheers,
B.
[quote=“GOPBill”]I want to buy a motorcycle from my friend but the situation is a bit unusual. Her brother bought it from a girl he has no contact info for anymore. The title is in her name, but she gave him a copy of her ARC and wrote a letter saying that she had sold it to him. He has left the country, giving the bike to my friend. What, if anything, can I do to make it fully legally mine.[/quote]Just go to the DMV, explain the situation, and see if they’ll do it. I doubt it but it’s worth a try.
[quote=“GOPBill”]2nd question, what does it mean if I cannot have it registered in my name? What problems may arise from it? Can I have it insured like this?[/quote]You can pay money and be given a bit of paper by an insurance company. Whether they’d pay out in the event of any claim is another matter. I don’t think they would.
If the motorbike is impounded by the cops for illegal parking (quite a frequent occurrence these days) you won’t be able to get it back unless it’s in your name.
I wouldn’t pay any money for a bike that couldn’t be registered to me. And I don’t think I’d even accept one as a gift! Too much hassle. As I said, ask the DMV. But if they say it can’t be done, I’d forget about buying the bike if I were you.
If he gave you the actual ARC and you have the blue card then just get a chop made and get a bike shop to transfer it for you. Otherwise it cannot be transfered. The bike doesn’t have to be yours for you to buy insurance for it. But I think you need the blue card. You can reclaim the bike from the fuzz with the blue card even if it’s not in your name. I have done this before. I suppose it depends on the phases of the moon.
There are plenty of bikes out there that are legit. Do you really need to risk this?
What is the blue card? Is that proof of ownership? When people say they pay the yearly registration is that what they mean? Could I even pay taxes on it if it is not registered in my name?
B.
[quote=“GOPBill”]What is the blue card? Is that proof of ownership? When people say they pay the yearly registration is that what they mean? Could I even pay taxes on it if it is not registered in my name?
B.[/quote]The blue card is the vehicle registration document. It shows the owner’s name and the basic specs of the vehicle (model, engine number, colour), and it gets stamped after the yearly smog check. I guess you could pay the tax on the vehicle if you had the blue card, regardless of who it was registered to. But you still run the risk of the bike being impounded and you being unable to get it back. Just because Lord Lucan managed to get his bike out of the pound using someone else’s blue card before doesn’t mean the cops will do such a thing again. The traffic rules and their implementation in general are getting tighter and tighter.
I’ve transfered a couple of bikes recently. And there’s a new rule…you need TWO pieces of I.D. , not just one anymore. I don’t know if that’s just for Taoyuan county…or all of Taiwan…but I’m guessing it’s for all.
I was asked for two I.D. when opening a bank account recently, so I am guessing that the purpose of having an I.D. card is pointless nowadays as they must be so easily forged that they aren’t worth the paper they are written on. Ironic I suppose.