What does a 'beihu' car mean?
2 Answers
'Beihu' car refers to a vehicle that cannot be transferred to a new owner, and purchasing such a car is illegal. A 'beihu' car is a completely normal vehicle with all necessary documents possibly in order, and annual insurance payments up to date, except for the lack of ownership transfer. Regulations: According to the 'Resident Identity Card Law of the People's Republic of China', renting, lending, or transferring a resident identity card is illegal. Therefore, 'beihu' for profit is illegal. Agreements for selling cars through natural backdoors are also not protected by law. Reasons for the lack of ownership transfer after vehicle transactions: the license plate registration location is too far, making the cost of going to the registration location too high; vehicles used to repay debts, which may have gone through multiple rounds of debt repayment without clear records; the owner has passed away without the vehicle being deregistered; transferring license plates with the car in restricted areas; relocated vehicles that cannot be registered locally due to relocation restrictions; some scammers may also sell non-grade vehicles as 'beihu' cars at low prices.
A 'beihu' car, in simple terms, is a car where the owner's name isn't yours, but you're the one actually driving it—kind of like having a front person hold the title. This usually happens in cities with purchase restrictions, like Beijing or Shanghai, where people can't get a license plate through the lottery and resort to using someone else's name for the sake of affordability and convenience. But the risks are huge: if the real owner suddenly denies the arrangement, you could hit a snag when trying to sell or transfer the car; if you get into an accident, the insurance company might refuse to pay because the owner doesn't match; worse, if the 'beihu' person has debts, the court could seize the car, leaving you with a massive loss. I've seen too many people lose tens of thousands over this. As someone who's been driving for over a decade, my advice to new buyers is to register the car in your own name—don't play these risky games. Safety and peace of mind are what matter most. Car ownership should be enjoyable, and getting tangled in legal disputes just isn't worth it.
