www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Here's the LemonCheck site Brother CRGolfer mentioned: http://www.lemoncheck.com/

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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

With all due respect to CRG all of that is personnel experience and does not accurately portrait the experience of the everyone who purchases a car here.

I and many others I know use mechanics who are well trained and who perform professional work on cars at extremely reasonable cost.

I have never had a problem passing the Ritieve inspection as do most of the people I know who own cars. It is simply a matter of having normal maintenance performed on your car. Is the inspection tough? Yes it is but it is if your car is maintained you will have no problem. A note of caution however. The standard a car must meet regarding emissions and mandatory equipment such a high brake lights or rear seat head rests are based on the year the car was imported into CR not on the manufactured year. So if a piece of safety equipment became mandatory in 2000 and your 1998 car was imported into CR in 2003 it would have to meet the 2000 standard.

Some used cars imported from the states are lemons but they are in the minority. A simple carfax check will expose those that are not what they seem.

I sympathize with golfer that he has had bad experience with owning a car but that would seem to be the exception not the rule.

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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

+1
I've owned 2 vehicles over the last 3 years here. One was a '96 and my current SUV is a '99. Never failed RTV once and they have been solid. Several small nuances like AC belts breaking but so far all has been good.

Just like in the States, use your friends (Tico) to find a reliable dealer and mechanic and treat them well.

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Voted San Jose's #1 Maripepino

I will agree with you that both of you may have had cars that always passed RTV, I also have been fortunate that in 7 years I only had one stumble with RTV.

My routine for RTV is to leave my car with my mechanic and he takes it to RTV for me. This is a 10,000 Colones charge. Mechanics have appointment spots blocked everyday and this eliminates my need to call and do the appointment thing. Plus it is not a gringo driving the car during the process. The first car I owned here did not pass the emissions test the first run through. The mechanic called me and suggested changing the oil as he claimed it would help. He did that and charged me and additional, I think, 18.000 Colones to do so. Car passed, and all of this happened in the same day.

I am now on my 5th and 6th cars since moving here in May 2005. A couple were company cars, currently have one in San Jose and one in Guanacaste.

Mechanics overall are significantly different in San Jose than they are here in Guanacaste.

I can tip my hat and say you are correct, but in my post I am only stating what I have watched countless others go through while living here over the last several years. I have had friends and employees do everything from import their own vehicles to buy used cars, to buy new cars, and even do long term leasing from various companies in the country. All in all it is very expensive to drive. If it is in any way a stretch to your finances to have a car in Costa Rica you should stick to taxi's and busses.

I'll pipe in with a couple comments. A lot of cars that are in the country were brought in were salvage in the U.S., could have been in a flood, etc. A car that's been here for while has probably taken a beating from the roads. My car was tight as a drum when I bought it with 60K mi. (or 100K km), after 40K miles the suspension was in horrible shape. Just spent $500 at a local shop to replace a lot of the front end.

The other issue is a lot of cars have their odometers spun back. I'm told (and not an expert) that the newer electronic odometers can't be spun back, but I'm not so sure that's true.

Grecia prices are lower than San Jose. When I returned to a dealer to take a second look at a used SUV (without the Tico friend on the 1st look see), the price quoted was $1,500 higher. Gringo pricing!

Skip the new dealers for service. Honda quoted me $3000 to fix the suspension on my CR-V. Six times what I paid by some good guys in Escazu. (BTW, car is tight as a drum again).

thanks for all the useful input, guess its like buying used here, having someone you know and trust to do an inspection is good idea.
Will see what will shake out. May still end up driving down in my own rig.
Really appreciate all the the advice.
thanks again.
ed

CRGolfer's post was correct. However....when I started visiting very regularly about 4 years ago I tried all the options - taxis, buses & car rentals. In the end, for me, it made sense to buy a car - we used to live near the Tobias B. airport in Rohrmoser but now have a condo behind the Best Western Irazu on the way to the airport.

Bottom line - IMHO it makes no sense to buy a used car. For what we were looking for we could have bought a 5 y/o car, same make & model or very similar, and saved about $5,000. Instead we bought a brand new 2011 (in Oct '11) Nissan Tiida. Total cost was $19,900 US. That included the 1st oil change, a 3 year - 100,000 km warranty and the inspection was good for about 18 months.

Clearly, if you go for a really old car you can save more but then you'll have all the CRGolfer issues to deal with. Different strokes, I guess.


/dddick

We gringos really do love our cars, and, if ya gotta have one here in CR, then you gotta have one. But, I suggest that you try a spell without one. I have spent lots of time in CR and have never even rented a vehicle. I walk alot, particularly around San Jose. Once you learn the bus system, which is not hard, you can get anywhere in the metro area for 50 cents or less. And, you can catch a taxi cheap when you want. I sometimes think of all the money I have saved by walking and using public transportation here, and it is substantial. And, you can always rent a vehicle when you really need one.

A very helpful post indeed. Although I can't really see myself not using car for some time, but maybe it won't hurt to try this huh?

The ONLY reason I would suggest buying a car here would be if you live out in the country. If you live anywhere in the San Jose metro area, it is a waste of time and money to own a car. The public transport system is very good and inexpensive whereas cars burn the almost $6 a gallon gas and sit in endless traffic. Not to mention the yearly taxes, the insurance, maintenance (not the least of which is finding a reliable mechanic) and the high fines for even minor violations of the traffic laws. And driving here is just insanity...trust me

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

A friend of mine in the US (Florida) who is in the car biz and another frend of mine who lives in Costa Rica and involved in the logistcs business are organizing now to bring in cars from the US, have a Costa Rica corporation (SA) set up as the owner and pay all Aduana charges, inspections, Marchama, INS insurance coverage, etc. for buyers. They are primarily focusing upon hard to find luxury vehicles. If you wish to make contact with them, send me a PM.

Years ago I evaluated the alternatives as you are and chose to buy in CR rather than ship from the US due to the unclear legal issues of car ownership in CR if you import it yourself. Be sure to remember the cost of a CR corporation as well since you do not want to own a car in CR in your own name. It's way more preferable to own a car in a sociadad anonymous (SA) that does not disclose your name in the CR Registry unless you choose to do so.

My History:
I sold my car in CR after 18 months and after assesing the costs, I realized that I could have used a stretch limo driver full time to take me where I wanted to go for less money than the cost of car, repairs, fuel, insurance, Marchama, etc.. All of these costs have just gone up in recent years. Plus, you have to keep in mind that in San Jose and surrounding areas, parking is usually difficult.

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Slut Puppy in Training

Is low self esteem a prerequisite for being a good Ho or is it a result? ;-)

Unless I lived and stayed in the Escazu/Santa Ana area I wouldn't own a newer car. My car gets beat to death hitting deep potholes, I've been side swiped by a bus, not to mention having to dodge the crazy Tico drivers.

My car is mechanically sound, gets good gas mileage, but looks like a shit clunker on the outside!

Now this is funny........but real, it seems. Here's a link to the local news about the First Car to be Designed and Built in Costa Rica. http://qcostarica.com/2013/12/04/the-fi ... osta-rica/

It's made out of balsa wood and aluminum. and looks like a door stop with ittsy bitsy wheels. Another thing Muy Tico.

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Slut Puppy in Training

Is low self esteem a prerequisite for being a good Ho or is it a result? ;-)

It's for real when I see it and sell-throughs here: http://sfliautoshow.com/ << my breath is being held.

_________________
"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