I am planning to travel around China in a classic mienbaoche van (So I can sleep inside). I am thinking to chose between 2 types of cars a new WULING or an old JINBEI ... and want to pay maximum of CNY 35k - 40k for it.

The Wuling 'Sunshine' is a longer version of the classic Wuling more than 2m's long, enough to fit in a mattress but some people told me it's better to get an used Jinbei for the same price since it's firmer. I am thinking of doing 50k km's with it. Please if you have any knowledge about these vehicles let me know ...

I am currently living in Sh. but I heard this is a good place to post a thread and receive a good answer thank you!

SHORT ANSWER
Go with the new car if you've NEVER bought a used car in China.

LONG ANSWER
The JINBEI is significantly more popular as a work van, so if/when things go wrong, as they usually do, there's a JINBEI repair shop almost everywhere.

That being said - it's also subject to more abusive driving (have you ever seen JINBEI drivers - they're Formula 1 wannabes). They overload their vehicles (so you should expect the shock absorbers to be on the verge of collapse) and the engine and transmission systems are bound to be near death.

Buying a vehicle new in theory should theoretically alleviate the plethora of things that can and will go wrong with heavily abused used vans - brakes, brake fluid lines leaking, transmission and transmission fluid problems, radiator issues, fuel issues (like did they replace the fuel filter), oil system issues, engine issues, tires, lubrication points, stupid electrical problems, water damage, etc etc ad infinitum.

Again, if you've zero experience buying a used car in China - best to just avoid the issue as the used car dealer is almost certain to promote and foist his lemons onto the unsuspecting foreigner. You'll spend many a day kicking and cussing your vehicle and everything else in sight.

IF you elect to go with the new car - the above problems are also possible to arise - but at a lower incidence and probability - but this is all just statistics as the reliability of new domestic cars also requires research into the Chinese vehicle boards.

You'll need to identify all of the new car dealers & service centers for all of your major and perhaps even minor destinations - if WULING isn't there - you may have problems if/when your vehicle breaks down.

Finally - if you're planning on driving into Beijing - be advised you need PERMISSION to enter Beijing if your car carries non-Beijing plates. You should take care of that at your local Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)...dunno the Chinese name...but you'll experience that when you buy your new vehicle.

Finally - beware of car thieves - these two brands are high theft items. I'd probably add an ignition kill switch in the glove box or some other super stealthy location (like the cigarette lighter)...but I'm paranoid (for good reason).

if you are planning on doing 50k miles on a budget, i would think about service and fuel costs. if you buy used you also risk buying a dog.

Thank you Laotou and Dazzer, especially for your 'long answer'. Seems like we have the same opinion about the used vehicles here. It's not like getting a second hand van somewhere in Germany and at the same time we are dealing with very low quality vehicles. Things nowadays are not built to last but to buy more.

On the other hand JINBEI seems to be more massive ... but still I want to use it only one year and it's more about getting me from A to B (definitely avoiding big cities though) on paved roads and a place to sleep than going off road and hitting the deserts and jungles (For that I would like to attach a bike on the top of the vehicle).

I have few more questions;

By the way if I bought this brand new 'WULING sunshine' via one of the official dealers ... how does the registration works? I don't want to get my plates in Sh. ... so I just get my vehicle through some small town dealer. ( for example; in Heilongjiang where I would like to start the trip and even I will continue to have my residence permit for an address in Sh. they just give me Heilongjiang plates? )

Do you know exactly what documents will I need for the purchase registration and how long will this process take exactly?

What is you experience about car theft in China? ... Why would anyone want to steal a little ugly WULING instead of some expensive car .... or did you experience break in at some place?

Thank you ... and wish you guys a nice week!

not sure about registration in non-dom city. registration takes a couple of hours including getting plate in kunming so assume other cities similar (except bj sh). theft? even and ugly piece of tin is worth money and easy to sell on for a low price to the kinda people who are desperate to get a van. some people would sell their grandmas teeth. size of van, if yo go into country villages and take a wrong turn some streets and corners are very tight. you can get well stuck. think if you can remove front seat for extra room and have one back seat if you have a passenger this gives you length for sleeping

Sleep diagonal; get a couple more inches or ten cm. Carry two spare tires; all kinds of bolts or razor sharp rocks on Yunnan back roads. Minivans are pretty high on theft list as they are quite useful and easy to flip. But since you'll be sleeping in the van, your theft chances lessen.

I should imagine a lot of the stolen vans are broken for spares. Seeing as there are so many commercially used and brutally abused, I think there will be a ready market for second hand engines, gear boxes, shock absorbers, wheels, tires, etc. etc.

You will be running into some legal issues here.
1.
You only can get a car registered in the place where you have your residence license. In SH there are all kind of restrictions so it will not be possible there.
2.
All vans are registered with the amount of seats available (Even stencilled on the outside). Removing seats in order to sleep in it is therefore illegal. They are actually checking this nowadays in Kunming.
3.
Adding a roof rack (For your bike) has to be registered as well. If your van does not have it you will have to reregister it.
4.
Sleeping in a van is illegal. All foreigners are obliged to register for every night. Now I know that this is not always happening but it is the law. A condition of your visa or RP is that you are able to support yourself. Sleeping in a van is regarded as tramping and can therefore be reason for expulsion.

You will have to do an annual MOT check. This has to be done there where the car is registered. A new car has the advantage that you only have to do this after two years.

I would vote against a used vehicle unless you really know what you are doing. Especially this type of vans are often abused and will be full of hidden (or even open) problems.

The Jinbei is a very outdated concept with terrible fuel consumption. Be aware as well that this model has no safety cage for the front occupants and basically your feet will act as an energy absorption zone. Therefore newer concept have the wheels in front of the driver.

The Wuling is the most produced car in China. The 3 cylinder engines are however horrible so make sure you have a 4 cylinder one.

I personally would go for a Changan. They are more robust and here in Yunnan you see Changans used in the rural area and Wulings in the towns.

It might be worth considering doing a private arrangement, with a long lease, if you know someone local. They would then be effectively loaning you the van, under their insurance and registration.

Wow ... so many things to be aware. Really thanks for your help guys! Anyone of you have a van in China or drove it out there? I would like to circle the whole country ... I know they won't let me to Tibet but at least all the other places for a year.

Yeah and spare parts are a good reason for theft ...thanks

Lemon Lover ...

#1. So if my RP is in SH there is no way I could register a brand new car in Yunnan for example?

#2.Is it possible to register the car already with the seats removed? I would say I need to transport a boat/raft there or something.

#3. Do you know of anyone who was expulsed because of that? I mean policemen are also people ... can't I just tell them I am planning to register in the next city and I was driving the whole night / took a nap?

Is there any foreigner who ever traveled in a van you know of?

Anyway I agree with you on many points and will check out the Chang'ans.

... and "Tiger" - doing that would actually save me from many troubles, brilliant idea! ... btw Have you ever seen a Private Arrangement? ... I mean let's say a Chinese friend from Sh lends me his van and then somewhere in Qinghai the police ask me for papers ... what do I tell?

Thanks again and I am truly surprised I got so many valuable infos! That's basically the hardest thing to get by in this country. :)