www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I plan on driving down for the season next fall (Snowbird thing) and am inquiring if anybody knows the lenghth of time I can be in country without having to import the car or motorcycle{haven't decided yet on car or moto} I will be around from late oct to early march so I will have one 90 day break in between for sure. Any input greatly appeiciated.

90 Days then you have to park the vehicle or take it out of the country or pay import taxes which are usually about 60% of what you paid for the vehicle in the USA.

Warning: If you are caught driving after the 90 day time period, they will impound your vehicle and require taxes and fees to be paid.

This advice is for vehicles with USA tags. Vehicles from Panama may be treated differently. I have a friend that drives his vehicle from Panama and stays here a week at a time. I recall him saying he usually has a 4 hour process at the CR border and gets a 30 day permission.

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* These are the "Good Ole Days". Enjoy Them.

* RENT but, "Don't Buy a Home in Costa Rica" until you have lived here for THREE years.

You get 90 days, same as your tourist visa, and then must take the car out of the country. I believe that you can then get 1 additional 90 day period and after that you have to nationalize the vehicle. I do not know how much time, if any, the vehicle must be out of the country between the two 90 day periods.

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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

Here is a page that should answer a lot of you questions.

http://www.worldheadquarters.com/cr/vehicle_transport/


I once met a guy in Jaco that does exactly the same thing you want to do and has been doing so for many years according to him. Massachusetts tags on an almost brand new F-150 in Costa Rica sort of got my attention.

Good Luck

Thanks so it looks like a total of six months with the 90 day extension. This works out perfectly. I imagine it is the same for a moto.

How are you going to bypass Mexico?

Who wants to bypass Mexico? I will hit every resort town down the coast.

Be prepared to pay a bribe to every crooked cop the whole way down. I've had 2 friends make the drive. The first one said it cost him over $800 in $10's and $20's to get the cops to leave him alone. He was constantly getting pulled over for "speeding", "no turn signal", etc. And then the dirty cop would just radio ahead to his buddy and he'd pull him over too.

So, friend #2, heard this story and got smart. He went, bought a lanyard, made a fake CNN id, a CNN bumper sticker, and some business cards saying he was a CNN reporter. He got pulled over a few times but never had any problems once they saw all that. My advice? Invest in CNN gear.

My nephew brought a truck down several years ago. He avoided Mexico by taking a boat from New Orleans to Honduras and then drove from there to Costa Rica.

Avoiding Mexico on multiple levels is a wise thing.

My nephew brought a truck down several years ago. He avoided Mexico by taking a boat from New Orleans to Honduras and then drove from there to Costa Rica.

Avoiding Mexico on multiple levels is a wise thing.

My nephew brought a truck down several years ago. He avoided Mexico by taking a boat from New Orleans to Honduras and then drove from there to Costa Rica.

Avoiding Mexico on multiple levels is a wise thing.