Forum FAQ

Preferences

Watched Topics

Watched Forums

Car License Plate Fee - One Time or Annual

Shanghai Expat Forum Index » City Living Forums » Questions and Answers

Author

Message

imafan2

Barker

Joined: Aug 18, 2005
Posts: 157

Status: Offline

Posted: Nov 15, 2005 - 12:14 AM
Post subject: Car License Plate Fee - One Time or Annual

Pardon me if this question sounds stupid...but surprises are perhaps the only constant for an expat in this country, and I want to clarify this before I go off and bid for a license plate.

i.) Is the license plate fee [average 4000USD or so] annual or a once in a lifetime fee?

ii.) When selling or buying a used car, is the license plate tranferable? Is there another steep fee involved in transfering a license plate to/from another individual?

iii.) The following link http://www.entershanghai.info/country/Ci_02_set.htm says "Monthly maintenance, tolls and insurance comes to about US$3,000 annually, while the cost of a base license plate is about US$ 4,000.". In your experience [those of you who own cars] is this about right?

iv) What is the logical sequence of steps involved in buying a car? Assuming I'm paying cash for a new car,

a. I just walk into a dealership, pick out the model/color/etc
b. Either drive the car [with dealer plates] or have that car shipped to my apartment/villa.
c. Bid at the next auction and hope to get license plates - which will somehow be either sent home or however that works.
d. Fix the new license plates and then u are free to drive in and around Shanghai.

Your inputs - most appreciated!
PSX

imafan2

Barker

Joined: Aug 18, 2005
Posts: 157

Status: Offline

Posted: Nov 15, 2005 - 12:17 AM

Better yet, could someone write an article or post on their experience buying a new/used car in Shanghai --- from Concept to Delivery or Dealership to Commute or whatever the business flow is?

I promise to share my own experience when I am done buying my car!

PSX

Anthonysay

Talker

Joined: Mar 29, 2005
Posts: 78

Status: Offline

Posted: Nov 15, 2005 - 08:26 AM

I just brought a used car from a dealer.

The currently the licence plates cost about RMB29,000. The dealer would be able to apply for you.
This licence can be transfer to another car when you choose to upgrade.
This is a one time payment for this one plate.
You can buy a used car which include the plate or without (then you need to apply for one)
Later, if you want to sell your car. You have the same choice, to buy with ot without the plate.

Buying new car, additional Sale Tax of about 8% of the car price to be pay.

Buying used car, no such fee.

There are also a annual road tax of about RMB4200

I brought full cover for insurance which cost about RMB$5000 per annual

That my experience.

GoPlayer

Talker

Joined: Aug 04, 2005
Posts: 116

Status: Offline

Posted: Nov 15, 2005 - 08:33 AM

I recently learnt that there are different kinds of license plates, some are transferable, others are not.

That's all I know.

shanghaiceltic

Board Royalty

Joined: Sep 20, 2005
Posts: 7625
Location: Perth WA
Status: Offline

Posted: Nov 15, 2005 - 08:44 AM

The licence plate fee can be a one off. You can sell the plate with the car or you can transfer it to a new car. I do not know what the level of transfer fees are, they might only make an admin charge. When I got the entitlement certificate for my new car I then handed that over to the dealer who got the plate.

If your company is a Representative Office then you have an entitlement to a 'free' plate. To do this you have to take the company documentation to Fuxin Zhong Lu, there is a Tax office there. The section dealing with car plates is on the ground floor. WOFE's are entitled up to 6 free plates. there are rumours that the free plate entitlement might come to an end next year.

Up until 2 years ago car sales companies could attend the plate auctions for you. Officially you are expected to go yourself if you are getting a private plate not a company one. However this being China I am pretty sure they can still help. The auction system for car plates is one of the reasons they are so high in price. Only about 3000 plates are sold each month and there are always more bidders than plates.

You can drive without a plate providing you have paperwork showing you have applied, but I am unsure of the legality of it, even my wife was unsure.

Basically when you buy a car you walk in choose the model, haggle, pay the deposit. You have to pick the car up from the dealership. You might well need a Chinese speaking person with you. All the forms etc are in Chinese. They can arrange insurance too.

You will need a Chinese driving licence. From my own experience Yongda are one of the more reputable car dealerships in town. Good after sales service too.

My fuel bills come to about $1200 a year. Maintenance and servicing about $400 a year, insurance and road tax about $1000 a year so your figure is not far off. Add road tolls (which in MHO) are high and the road safety checks which start 2 years after the car is bought and occur every two years and parking and you would probably hit about $4500 a year.

When you do drive you will need the small registration/ownership doc and your driving licence in the car at all times........ plus a pair of man sized nappies for those 'aldrenalin is brown' moments which unhappily occur on most days driving here.

_________________
I have parrallel bars at home, one for gin and one for whiskey

venz

Talker

Joined: Sep 01, 2004
Posts: 82
Location: shanghai
Status: Offline

Posted: Nov 15, 2005 - 10:46 AM

i have a question about car ownership - are foreigners with L visa allowed to own a car? i am going to inherit a car from my brother (he is going back to our home country for good, and his work permit expired already), but i heard that i need to have a resident card before i can register the car under my private name.

_________________
I love Mommy Mode maternity clothes and Tresor Bebe kids t-shirts!

YariGuy

LoopKicker

Joined: July 13, 2004
Posts: 874
Location: Puxi
Status: Offline

Posted: Nov 15, 2005 - 12:29 PM

Anthonysay wrote:

Hi, what kind of car did you get, and how much did it cost? If you don't feel comfortable answering, please let me know whether used cars can be got at a big discount from new ones (or PM me).

Thanks!

imafan2

Barker

Joined: Aug 18, 2005
Posts: 157

Status: Offline

Posted: Nov 15, 2005 - 04:18 PM

Thanks for all the replies. This does help clarify quite a bit.

Anthonysay, it would indeed help if you can throw some light on the kind of car and the purchase price.

I am wondering if there is a published list of new car MSRPs that someone could post out here. I've found the GM site pretty useful, but most of the other manufacturers do not have an English version of their websites and it's next to impossible to navigate.

I am leaning towards an economy car....something like Buick Excelle (sp?) seems to be going for about 120K RMB [plus there is the license plate fee, the road taxes, the insurance and all]. It just seems like something I can work within my budget.

Regards,
PSX

imafan2

Barker

Joined: Aug 18, 2005
Posts: 157

Status: Offline

Posted: Nov 15, 2005 - 04:38 PM

ShanghaiCeltic: Thanks for the tip on Yongda. Found a real nice article on this web site: http://www.carlist.com/autonews/2004/autonews_28.html

Here are the excerpts:

The average price for a new car is around $20,000. The topsellers Volkswagen Passat, Buick Regal and Honda Accord.

Yongda Auto in Shanghai sells about 1,500 Regals a month. Rong listed the price for a Regal from 203,800 China Yuan Renminbi (CNY) ($24,608.47) to 336,000 (CNY) ($40,571.3 Cool

. Interestingly, the lesser cars all have an 8 in the money figure, meaning one is seeking prosperity. The more expensive cars don’t have an 8 in their figure, because it is assumed that if you can afford that car, you have already reached prosperity. Needless to say, the group that feels they have already "made it", the elite group, buy the luxury cars that don’t have an 8 in them.

Automotive Resources Asia breaks down the first year costs for a car; For starters, individuals must purchase the rights to buy a car, which costs between $3,000-$5,000. A 2.5 liter Regal goes today for about $32,000. Then there are the annual fees: insurance ($1,000), parking ($600), road maintenance fee ($200) and gasoline ($2 a gallon or about $600 per year for the average driver). All up the costs get close to $40,000 for the first year of driving pleasure.

Automotive Resources Asia breaks down the second group of buyers - the "8" buyers, as the Yuppies, or as we say, the DINKs (double income, no (or one) kid). China has a one child policy, so you don’t see one family with a gaggle of kids. This also means cars will be smaller. The 8 buyers buy vehicles such as the Honda Fit, Hyundai Elantra, Volkswagen Polo and the Buick Excelle.

Yongda Auto sells an average of 1,800 Excelles a month, ranging in price from 129,800 CNY ($15,673) to 179,800 CNY ($21,710).

PSX

Anthonysay

Talker

Joined: Mar 29, 2005
Posts: 78

Status: Offline

Posted: Nov 17, 2005 - 07:32 AM

As my company has a free licence plate, only for use to buy new car. I manage to switch it and get it exchange.
My 4 years old Buick, 5 doors Hatch back, auto with leather seats.1.6 litre engine. Cost RMB60,000 (without licence plate),(US$7.500) only done 41,000 km mileage. 6 month warranty from used car dealer. There are alot of good used car as expat like us would not be staying long in China.
Current new model cost RMB98,500 plus 8% sale tax (without licence plate)
Hope this would help those looking at whether to get new or use car.

imafan2

Barker

Joined: Aug 18, 2005
Posts: 157

Status: Offline

Posted: Nov 17, 2005 - 11:45 AM

Thanks Anthonysay....that gives us better perspective on used car pricing.

If it's ok with you, do post the Used Car Dealer contacts here, and I'll be sure to pay him a visit when I get there. Also, like everything else here, did your car buying experience involve a lot of price haggling - or are used car dealers more like Saturn Dealers back in the US --- PYSPYG - the price you see is the price you get types! I understand there isn't a blue book equivalent in Shanghai, right?

Thanks again, and hope you enjoy your Buick....safe riding!
PSX

shanghaiceltic

Board Royalty

Joined: Sep 20, 2005
Posts: 7625
Location: Perth WA
Status: Offline

Posted: Nov 17, 2005 - 12:52 PM

Our first car was the GM Sail SRV 1.6L engine. That cost about RMB 150,000 inc plates etc but that was three years ago. I know prices have gone down. I thought it was pricey at the time compared to UK prices for a similar model from Vauxhall.

The second car (my toy as Mrs SC can have the little one as it is nice and staid and does not go too fast...)is the Hyundai Coupe 2.8L V6. Surprisingly it was not expensive about RMB220K once Mrs SC had done some bargaining, cash buyer etc (well cash here but a loan from the UK). But that was without plates as I used my rep office entitlement.

Hyundai have some very good deals. The Coupe here was cheaper than it was in the UK by nearly GBP4K!!! The Hyundai dealerships are OK too.

BTW I saw that later this year there will be an additional duty for larger engined cars. Not just imports but all cars. Sorry I have forgotten the details. If you buy a 1.6 which has air-con fitted beware the air-con just sucks any power out of the engine when used. When I was using the Sail if the air-con was on and I wanted to move quickly I had to turn it off, bit like a booster switch. A 1.8 or 2.0 engine would be better and probably give you better economy as you would not floor the pedal when trying to pull away.

As I am here long long term I am not overly concerned about depreciation.

If you are buying second hand then I think buying from another ex-pat is a good idea. You just dont know what cheap and nasty spares would have been used by other people or second hand dealerships.

_________________
I have parrallel bars at home, one for gin and one for whiskey

Ranter

Joined: May 14, 2003
Posts: 559

Status: Offline

Posted: Nov 17, 2005 - 03:28 PM

Whereabouts for the Hyundai dealers, please.

Ms JD is looking for Mini, Beetle or ... Huyndai Coupe. Compared to the Mini and Beetle, it looks quite affordable choice.

Thanks in advance.

imafan2

Barker

Joined: Aug 18, 2005
Posts: 157

Status: Offline

Posted: Nov 17, 2005 - 08:56 PM

Quote:

Our first car was the GM Sail SRV 1.6L engine

ShanghaiCeltic: what'd you do with the Sail....did you sell it off or do you now have 2 cars...just curious. Do post any dealer contact information you may have...will come in handy!

PSX

shanghaiceltic

Board Royalty

Joined: Sep 20, 2005
Posts: 7625
Location: Perth WA
Status: Offline

Posted: Nov 18, 2005 - 07:59 AM

We kept the Sail, Mrs SC's car...except at the weekends when she nicks my keys and steals the Coupe.

There is a Hyundai dealership on Wuzhong Lu, head west from the inner ring road and it is near the Hong Xu Lu intersection on the right as you head out. Lots of other dealers there for ather cars.

The Sail was bought from Yongda on Hongmei Lu just south of the Caobao Lu intersection. That is a GM dealership. Excellent service.

_________________
I have parrallel bars at home, one for gin and one for whiskey

Sethkim

Squeeker

Joined: Nov 18, 2005
Posts: 11

Status: Offline

Posted: Nov 18, 2005 - 10:24 AM

Take a look at the following for an indication of second hand car prices:

www.autolist.com.cn/index_en.php#

I bought a second hand car in Beijing a couple of years ago and subsequently sold it. If anyone is interested in info for BJ let me know.

I now live in Shangai and I am looking at buying a second hand car here. Preferably a Jeep 2500, but would be interested in any information on the topic. Ideally would like to buy from another expat, but ideas of places to look in general would be appreciated.

imafan2

Barker

Joined: Aug 18, 2005
Posts: 157

Status: Offline

Posted: Nov 18, 2005 - 11:33 PM

The Beijing Jeep Company website lists the price of a Jeep 2500 as 120K RMB. There's another topic out there called Beijing Jeep - check it out for some more information!

Am having trouble accessing the autolist.com.cn site...but will try again!

Thanks,
PSX