Vehicles & Servicing Buying a Used Motorcycle

Make sure papers are under the sellers name. If the registration hasn't been transferred into the sellers name (they have a deed of sale for the vehicle but the OR/CR is still in the previous owners name) just walk away from it...especially during this pandemic when owners may be on different islands/provinces and are not available to show in person to have a deed of sale notarized. (Notarization is a requirement and lawyers are becoming much more strict on the showing in person part of that.) Also avoid blank "open deeds of sale". These should never be trusted as it ripe for abuse and scams.

Make sure the OR/CR do not have a lien/encumbrance on it. If it does that opens a whole new can of worms that involves banks, 3rd parties and government offices.

Original OR/CR. Information regarding the sale (price, addresses of both parties, etc) Both parties show in person to sign with a valid government ID. (Foreign passports and driver's licenses will work.) Photocopies of IDs and 3 sample signatures on those copies. Any respectable attorney/notary will make sure everything is in line.

Once you purchase you will need to transfer the OR/CR into your name at the LTO. Do this ASAP, if the previous owner loses a court case and doesn't pay the settlement all their assets can be frozen and you will not be able to transfer until they pay up and the freeze is lifted, you may even be ordered to turn the vehicle over...even if you purchased the vehicle years before the case was lost and the assets were frozen (this happened to me). If the registration is still valid you shouldn't need to pay for the LTO provided insurance again (not sure on this one). I have yet to find an insurance company that will provide full/comprehensive coverage on motorcycles but if the bike does happen to have that you should contact that insurance company to speak about the transfer of coverage.

Whenever the OR/CR needs to be renewed you will need to do a smoke test. It is a prerequisite for registration. The age of the bike does not play a part in this.

 

And as of now im still waiting on the registration of my bike,its been one month now due to the lto only doing 200 a day.

 

This is why, now more than ever, it is important to make sure all documents are in perfect order. Getting clean documents transferred is headache enough given the current pandemic, any deviance from perfection will only turn the normal headache into a debilitating and soul crushing migraine.

As for new vehicles; for some reason cars seem to be treated differently than motorcycles. When I bought a new motorcycle, around March 2020, no temporary plates were given (only a "for registration" plate...which fell off around 2 months ago) and I was given a short letter saying when it was purchased and that registration was pending, nothing saying I was allowed to drive it. No idea if this would do any good at a checkpoint...I just assume it doesn't really matter since I'm driving around with absolutely no plate on the rear and nobody has said anything or even asked for the documents at a checkpoint. Whereas the new car, purchased around a month ago, has orange LTO inspection stickers on the front and back windows, plates with numbers on it and a much more official sounding letter saying I'm authorized to drive until permanent plates and the registration are issued. Does this actually give me the right to drive it? No idea...but it gives me a warm fuzzy.

If I was ever asked about plates or registration at a checkpoint I would just say, "sorry sir, out of stock". It always worked and got a laugh from the person asking for the sticker requirements before, I assume it may work now. If one of my vehicles ever got impounded I would likely hire a lawyer and file a case against the LTO/police and plead my case to a judge and hope for the best. I just consider this nonsense as par for the course in the Philippines and go with the flow, complaining will do nothing.