Few questions about buying a scooter/motorcycle

[KurtVD]

23 minutes ago, Jack Peterson said:

Which part do you not understand? 

 

You mentioned ‘headaches and problems’ when buying a second hand scooter, and I have no idea what kind of problems you are referring to. Mechanical problems? Administrative problems (as in virginprune’s post)?

[Jack Peterson]

2 minutes ago, virginprune said:

You need to have all the details about previous owners which are not always straight forward to get.

Absolutely what I was getting at on Used Bikes.

Now last year i wanted to buy my wife a Birthday gift of a new Honda Wave as a surprise. I did not have a Philippine license at that time so NO you can't buy one, can you get your wife to come and buy it. NO it will not be a surprise then will it? OK so Off I go and get a PI License. No real problem except they would not give me a class 2 M/C as I did not have a Bike  So I came home and got her other Bike Registration and then all was OK so I now have Class 1 & 2 Bike Bought but about 2 weeks late for her Birthday 

The Problem we have here is that whenever we get a new Commissioner of BI or LTO we get Rule Changes that make little or no sense to us But it is what it is.

 Now on Top of that @KurtVD is the exchanging of Licences. The Licence you want to exchange HAS to be in English, I see you are Swiss so I imagine yours will be either I German or maybe French depending on which part you are from, You will now need to get it Translated full into English ( If it is already in English well that's fine)

 I had a hell of a problem when I came here with a Spanish License as it was of course in Spanish ( They will not accept any IDP  ( International Driving Permit. I did not have it translated I just took the Tests and away we go.

 Life here is easy except, for the Bureaucracy that is with us

 

 Hope you can understand all this now? 

JP

[Jack Peterson]

5 minutes ago, KurtVD said:

Mechanical problems? Administrative problems (as in virginprune’s post)?

 Unfortunately Both. The Locals do not look after things like they should and consider it bought as seen ( Little recourse & warranties on used bikes?) and yes, on the Administration side very largely no one seems Bothered about Registrations BUT and there is always a But when it comes to Foreigners and Road Checks things can get very difficult so we all try and be 100% legal and that can be so very difficult at times

[KurtVD]

15 minutes ago, virginprune said:

I think what Jack means is that their can be issues around change of registration. You need to have all the details about previous owners which are not always straight forward to get.

Thank you, that is some valuable information. I guess that’s still not a dealbreaker, as long as it’s possible. I would prefer an old one by far - I just don’t like the modern ones. 

When you say ‘previous owners’, do you mean all the previous owners, if there have been more than one?

[KurtVD]

13 minutes ago, Jack Peterson said:

Hope you can understand all this now? 

Very clearly, thanks a lot :)

But you have to admit that this is not exactly the same as writing ‘headaches and problems’ and expecting me to understand what you mean by that ;)

[Jack Peterson]

6 minutes ago, KurtVD said:

Very clearly, thanks a lot :)

But you have to admit that this is not exactly the same as writing ‘headaches and problems’ and expecting me to understand what you mean by that ;)

 Ah! well That is the English in me, Sorry for that but you need to get used to some of the English Slang type phrases here and  You will need help on some of the Ozzie ( Slang for Australian ) Wording sometimes . Sorry Cobbers ( Friends) But............

[virginprune]

22 minutes ago, KurtVD said:

 

When you say ‘previous owners’, do you mean all the previous owners, if there have been more than one?

That I am unable to confirm. Maybe someone on here who has purchased secondhand can answer that or failing that drop into your local LTO office and make enquiries.

[Jollygoodfellow]

I bought a used bike once. The next night she was back working in the bar 

[fillipino_wannabe]

12 hours ago, KurtVD said:

You seem to say that the risk of getting robbed is bigger while driving a motorcycle, can you explain why? As for getting run over, Manila seems a lot safer to me than some places I’ve been driving before, so that wouldn’t be my biggest concern (go drive in Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City on a Saturday evening, after that not much can scare you)

True, I didn’t think about that, since in most countries, as a tourist, you’re allowed to drive with your license from your home country. Is it different in the Philippines? 

Just because you're out in the open, in a car you can lock your door. I see videos of people getting robbed on EDSA nearly every day on my wifes facebook, as a white guy you'll be their first target. The roads may be safer than Saigon but they're still very dangerous.

But up to you, I was fairly care free until I had my dog stolen, got blacklisted, someone try to snatch my wifes bag, house burgled and my maid attempt to burn my house down during my first 2 years here lol and I barely even go out or talk to anyone, let alone piss them off lol.

[Dave Hounddriver]

I would estimate that about 90% of expats I have met started out saying:

22 hours ago, KurtVD said:

So I’m thinking about getting a second-hand scooter, or motorbike, the cheaper the better. I’m pretty good with vehicles and engines (mechanically speaking), so I would like to get something a bit older, maybe from a private owner.

And then that 90 % ended up buying new because there is just no value left in the overpriced crap that people sell as used motorcycles here.  They drive them until they are ready to fall apart and then expect to get a ridiculously high price for them.

Of course, there are the 10% who find good deals.  They are generally the expats who have been here a long time, know a good deal the instant they hear it and immediately pull out their wallet.  There are no second chances on the good deals.  Too many sharks looking for them.  But you may be one of the 10%.  I have got lucky with second-hand bikes 3 times.  Always from another foreigner who was either leaving the country or who was selling to me at a "friend" price.

So good luck,  you may find a deal, but not if someone like me finds it first.