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what can the brothers who know tell me about buying a car in CR.
I will be retiring at the end of this month and am planning a long term stay in Central and South America. I thought about driving down from the U.S. But then thought buying a vehicle "native" to the area would be better for parts and service if and when needed.
What would be the process for a non-resident. I see lots of vehicle with current RTV and taxes paid. I assume the RTV is some sort of inspection?
How would a non-resident go about renewing these?
Thanks ahead of time.
ed

[quote="Special_Ed"]what can the brothers who know tell me about buying a car in CR.
I will be retiring at the end of this month and am planning a long term stay in Central and South America. I thought about driving down from the U.S. But then thought buying a vehicle "native" to the area would be better for parts and service if and when needed.
What would be the process for a non-resident. I see lots of vehicle with current RTV and taxes paid. I assume the RTV is some sort of inspection?
How would a non-resident go about renewing these?
Thanks ahead of time.
ed[/quote

RTV is short for Retieve, the inspection site you must do annually for your car.

I would suggest that you see a lawyer and set-up a corporation to buy the car.

There are several "buying services" that are trustworthy and reliable. PM me if you want their names.

If you have a Tico that you totally trust, take him to Grecia (about 30 minutes west of the airport) to assist in buying/translations. Grecia is the home of used cars in Costa Rica. Car dealerships for miles to choose from.

I can give you the name of the dealership I buy from if you want. And I have a Tico friend of many years that helps Americans buy cars. He speaks good english and is 100% trustworthy.

Be very careful in buying a car as there are many pitfalls. Parts availability, cost of parts, reliability, and not a lemon brought in for the US. Finally, be prepared to pay a high price for an old car with high mileage. The good news is your mechanic can keep it on the road forever.

PM me for more info.

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Voted San Jose's #1 Maripepino

There is no difference in the procedure of buying a car between residents and non-residents.

You shop around and find the car you want to purchase. The website http://crautos.com/ is a good place to start. Even if you do find the car you want there you will find enough listings to establish the going price for vehicles which will make you an informed buyer if you find a car listed on craiglist or in La Nacion.

Once you find the car and agree on the price you and the seller go to an attorney, the choice of attorney is made by the buyer, who will complete all the paperwork for the purchase. The fee is for the registration, transfer tax and attorney fees and is based on the sale price and is paid by the buyer.The attorney takes care of filing all the paperwork at the National Registro changing the ownership to you. More importantly the attorney makes sure their are no outstanding unpaid traffic citations or liens on the car which is wise to make sure you use your attorney, The fee for the attorney is the same no matter which one you use. If you do not have an attorney go to the ARCR and use one of theirs.To give you an idea I sold a car last year for $7200.00 and the fees were $360.00. Once you sign the papers at the attorneys office the car is your and the buyer takes a taxi home. License plates stay with the car.

RTV is the acronym for Retieve which is the annual inspection for safety and pollution. The inspection is due the month corresponding to the last number of your placa (license plate). The other fee you pay annually is the marchamo which is basically similar to the annual registration fee in the states. It is due for all vehicles in December each year. There are stickers on the windshield signifying compliance with both the marchamo and the RTV.

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

Having a Tico friend you can trust is good for all things car, and not just the buying process. I had a really good guy in Jaco that for like 3 years in a row would take my car for a few days and get it ready for inspection. He brought me all receipts and the repairs he got done for me were ridiculously cheap compared to me, Joe Gringo, taking the car in. I did have a Tico mechanic that did cheap work for me and was extremely honest. Believe me, without going into the story, he could have ripped me off big time a couple of times. So getting a good mechanic you can trust will be an important part of the process. And don't go dealership or expensive gringo spots. Hole in the walls are the way to go, but you will have to find that right person. Wish you good luck. Me, I'm glad I am totally without again.

Here's another online site for cars, for price/mileage comparison purposes: http://www.encuentra24.com/costa-rica-e ... s-used-car
After you tire of looking at motor vehicles, try this attraction in Grecia: http://www.theworldofsnakes.com/ << amusing to have 2 different kinds of snakes in the same town--these crawl on their bellies

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

where's Greengo when u need him? Now he'll give you some real advice.................

Yea, if you are interested in going to Panama and you have your secret decoder ring handy.

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

Rumor has it that this vehicle is with Greengo for long-term durability testing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hummer_HX_NY.jpg

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

i just knew that Greengo would chime in here with some spot on advice...

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When I was born, I was given a choice - a big pecker or a good memory.... I don't remember what I chose.

I plan on moving to Latin-South America someday. If I decide to buy a vehicle it will be either a large truck or SUV. In my observation the people have terrible driving habits not to mention the often poor condition of the infrastructure.

I know that a small tin can Hyundai car would be the most economical to purchase and operate but what is your health and safety worth? When I travel I always try to pick a van or larger car when I need a taxi.

Devo

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The most dangerous adversaries are the ones that come with a smile instead of a sword

thanks for all the input guys especially ID and SB. Nothing better than getting it from people who have done it.
Sea Breeze I might very well take you up on your offer. Still researching prices in different countries. Seems like Panama has the best prices but I understand now there is a new law there that forbids non-residents from driving cars outta the country into CR?
thanks for the site links, I knew of encuentra24 but will check the others as well.
Thanks again guys.

Remember if you plan to license the car in Costa Rica and you have imported it from another country you will have to nationalize the car. This means that when you bring it in from Panama, United States or anywhere you will get 90 days in which you can drive it in CR with foreign plates. After that if you have not nationalized the car you must remove it from the country. You are allowed to bring it back for one additional period but then if you have not nationalized it you must remove it from the country and can not bring it back into Costa Rica.

To nationalize the car you pay the import tax and other fees which can total the price you bought the car for in Panama so your good price because not so good in many cases. I think it is wiser to buy the car here since all that hassle has already been done by someone else.

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

Yeah, I personally would not go through the hassle that it takes to get a car from another country legal. In fact, avoid anything in CR that involves papers and legalities. There is a decent enough selection of cars here in CR.

Have to third what ID and 3rd said...buy one in Costa Rica. On the larger car issue, be careful since the new tax law basically doubled the yearly tax for what they call 'luxury cars' or anything over $32K or 16 million colones. A lot of larger cars, especially an SUV will put you into that category and will end up costing you at least $1500 a year for the marchamo.

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The only thing that matters is happiness in all it forms...

It is just f-ing expensive when it comes to cars in Costa Rica.

I have owned several while I have lived here, also had three different company cars along the way.

Gasoline is about the equivalent of a little more than $5 a gallon, diesel is less (no heating oil to compete with so diesel is always cheaper here).

Tires will cost you about double or triple what you are used to paying.

Mechanics don't know what the F they are doing. My first car was destroyed by a large mechanic shop when they installed a new distributor cap wrong and bent a cam shaft. That car was sold for parts as it was going to cost like $5k to repair all the damage, and no they did not stand behind their work and repair what they caused by the mistake in the first place.

Full coverage insurance is available from INS, is a little cheaper than what you would pay in the U.S.

Don't forget that when buying a car you must use a lawyer to transfer the titles. This will cost you 3% as the blood sucking lawyer will charge you this as his fee to do the paper work.

You will almost NEVER pass RTV on the first try, neither will most of the Tico's in their cars either... this is not a gringo thing, just the way the tests are set up.

To give you an idea on the cost of cars here.... A 2012 Toyota Prado VX, with a turbo diesel is $139,000. If you want to finance it, they want a minimum of 25% down and will finance the balance at 18% for 60 months, and will also add an additional $150 a month or so from the Purdy Motors insurance plan for all financed purchases. A Toyota Prado is the exact same as a Lexus LX 470 but with a Toyota logo and a turbo diesel engine.

Used cars are a crap shoot.... they may be "native" as you say, but that also mean the hacks that call themselves mechanics have touched them.

Many imported U.S. versions of cars were actually complete and total write offs from an insurance company and were rebuilt here. They would never be approved to be on a roadway again if they were still in the U.S. Years ago we also had many flood damaged cars from the likes of Katrina on the road here. A good rule of thumb would be to run the VIN # on a web site such as lemoncheck.com or whatever that site is called. Certainly worth the $10 to check it out before you spend a few K on a car in C.R.