Cars in Costa Rica. Pay the ‘marchamo’ and stay street legal.
At one point or another, my clients want to know what needs to be done to keep a vehicle street legal here in Costa Rica. I thought I would take a moment to write an article about the basic necessities needed to when owning a vehicle in Costa Rica.
The first thing you will need is the most obvious, a legal driver’s license, but besides this there are 2 other items needed that are very important to keep the vehicle of usage street legal.
These items would be your Marchamo and Riteve stickers. The Marchamo is the equivalent to getting liability insurance on your vehicle in the USA and will offer some basic insurance coverage.
The Marchamo payment is due by December 31st of this year. All vehicle owners in Costa Rica must pay the marchamo or risk getting ticketed or paying a fine in January.
This Marchamo sticker needs to be placed on your windshield along with a Riteve sticker that is up to date. The Riteve sticker represents a vehicle inspection office known as the Revision Tecnica de Vehiculos (RTV) en Costa Rica.
This vehicle inspection group works with the government of Costa Rica and is designed to keep good running vehicles on the road in Costa Rica. They check to make sure all lights, seat belts, brakes, etc…are in good running condition and will also check your vehicles gases to protect from air pollution.
The Marchamo payment can be taken care of at a local bank (Banco Nacional) and the Riteve payment can be done at one of their stations in your region. In the Guanacaste, we have Riteve stations in Liberia and Nicoya and scheduling an appointment for your vehicles inspection is easy to do online.
Apart from these stickers that keep your vehicle street legal, you will need to have a safety kit in your vehicle as well. Each vehicle should have at least 2 reflective triangles and reflective jacket (called a chaleco) so that others can see you at night time if you are on the side of the road and also a fire extinguisher.
On top of these items, I recommend that you carry good spare tire & jack (which actually could be necessities for passing your vehicle inspection, but good ones!), battery cables, a big bottle of water and a bottle of ‘fix a flat’.
These are items that can always be used and are super handy to have as you are traveling throughout the country or even to the local grocery store.
For those of you who plan to rent a vehicle to vacation or explore around the country, you will need to be 23 years of age and have at least 2 year’s of experience of driving legally. You will also need to carry your passport with you as well when operation a vehicle.
Do not be confused with books and literature that say you can carry a photocopy of your passport, you will need the real thing when driving a vehicle to avoid any issues should you get pulled over by a traffic police known as the transit police (transitos).
In the past, it was easy to carry a copy of a passport, but the problem with a copy is that the stamps in the back can be easily manipulated and false.
Should you stay in Costa Rica for longer than 3 months without leaving or renewing your passport, then you will need to go and get your Costa Rica driver’s license.
It is one thing to be on vacation and use your country of residences driver license, but the moment you decide to stay here in paradise and become a resident, you will need a Costa Rica driver’s license. You will need to get your Costa Rica driver’s license from an institution called MOPT.
This institution is equivalent to the DMV in the USA and for people applying for a license here, it is quite easy as long as you have a driving license from ‘back home and you have your approved temporary or permanent residency here in Costa Rica.
The MOPT will require a blood and visual exam to be taken prior to giving you a Costa Rican driving license and will need to know if you would like to be an organ donor.
I recommend that you get your Costa Rica driver’s license in San Jose as the larger offices in San Jose always seem to be the most efficient in getting things done. There are several medical examiner locations off of the main road in front of the MOPT in San Jose as well.
The above is the nuts and bolts and what is needed to stay street legal in Costa Rica, along with some general advice and thoughts to help guide you in the right direction when traveling this beautiful country.
So buckle up and head out, there is an abundance of incredible things to see in this country and you can now venture out without any concerns that you are not prepared. Viaje bien… Pura vida!
Cars in Costa Rica. How to stay street legal.
Article/Property ID Number 5416
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Andrew Makarik
to@welovecostarica.comAndrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.
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