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​Purchase Cost

The purchase cost will of course depend on the type of vehicle you are searching for and on the condition and age of the specific model you are trying to source. For a rough idea of purchase costs you can source vehicle prices online, read articles or submit a query to A.C. by mail. We do remind people that when comparing prices online, that may of Taiwan's business and sellers provide information, which is inaccurate or untrue to entice buyers to their places of business. This is especially true in areas outside of greater Taipei City. You should demand on seeing the vehicle's license and registration details to confirm the vehicle's year and match those details with the vehicle's identification numbers. Mileages are generally an inaccurate guide to a vehicle's worth as many may be tampered with. 



Insurance

There are hundreds of possible insurance packages to cover motorists and their vehicles. Basic third party insurance is required under law in Taiwan and only costs a few thousand NT$, although be warned. Basic coverage may only cover third parties for damages, and may not completely cover their vehicle, your vehicle, passengers and others. Basic coverage in other countries may also include fire and theft policies, but these are generally elements, which must be paid for in addition to the basic premium in Taiwan. Insurance coverages can usually be altered after initial purchase to raise premium payouts and areas of coverage. Many professional used car sales are often willing to include the low cost of basic third party coverage within the sale price of a vehicle.



Fuel Charge

"Fuel charge" is not to be confused with "fuel tax" which is presently being considered to be added to fuel at the pump. Fuel charge then is an additional government tax in the guise of a charge, administered by the motor vehicles office and not the tax department, which has no accurate relevance to fuel consumption or emissions. The fuel charge for private vehicles is levied on July the 1st every year and is charged every twelve month period. 



























































License Plate Tax

License plate tax is demanded of any vehicle, which uses public roads or waterways, with some exceptions not including cars used for business or personal use. Taxes are contained within this table below and the costs are based over a twelve month period.













































Parking

Parking in major cities can be difficult at the best of times and perhaps nowhere more so than Taipei. Renting your own private space can range in price quite considerably depending on the district and address. For a rough guide, parking in an underground private car parking space in Taipei can range normally between NT$3,000 to NT$6,000 for a month's rent. When parking in one of the many car parks found outside you might expect to pay anything from NT$25 to NT$100 per hour of parking. Rule of thumb suggests that the closer you park to high density shopping or business areas, the more expensive the hourly rate. Also note that some signs signify the price per hour and some per 30 minutes or even per 15 minutes, which can catch some people out. There is no standard price signage, however parking area signs are the usual 'P' on a blue, square background. Some parking attendants will ask you to leave your keys as they may need to move your vehicle to make space or allow passage for another, and most locals are willing to trust that they won't take their possessions or damage their vehicle. A.C. advises that you don't leave possessions, including keys in the hands of others. It could be that parking attendants may accidently damage vehicles or may have no license or insurance, which could add up to more than the cost of parking.







Depreciation

Practically all cars are going to depreciate over time, but you can reduce your depreciation costs by choosing your car carefully. Generally in Taiwan its safe to say that the more reliable fuel efficient and useful the vehicle model, the lower the depreciation of that model. These factors generally mean that Japanese model cars tend to win over the rather poor performing European and American brands which tend to be costly to repair, comparatively unreliable and which tend to suffer a short useful life. The most popular selling brands in Taiwan are all Japanese brands, so availability isn't often an issue when it comes to sourcing one. Some Korean brands have been seen to improve in recent years and so are worth a mention too, although depreciation is still generally higher than with the Japanese branded cars. 

When buying new or used, you would expect the highest rate of depreciation to be within the first two to three years of ownership and then decrease after that.