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Hello,
Has anyone bought a car in Costa Rica from local people?
How difficult is registering and getting auto insurance and what are the costs?Buying a car in Costa Rica is risky business. If you’re buying a car that was sold here new, well… don’t. To find out why, read the articles archived on this site about buying a car here vs. bringing one.
Your best bet is to buy a car recently imported from the US which has a clean CarFax or AutoCheck report showing that the mileage is correct and that it has no salvage, flood, lemon history, etc. There are lots of reasons, but the short story is that you could easily buy a disaster without knowing it and that you don’t want to be driving a dangerous car on these streets with these drivers. It happens to people all the time, but now you know in advance so you don’t have to be one of them.
As for the paperwork and insurance, you can probably get someone who knows the system to do it for you for a small fee. Anyone at shipcostarica.com can recommend someone for you if you need the help. INS is the only insurer of vehicles, so the price is etched in stone for whatever vehicle you buy. The good news is that it’s reasonable. The bad news is that collecting (hope you don’t need to) can be quite challenging.
Buena Suerte!
You can see some useful articles on this topic at [ https://www.welovecostarica.com/public/1535.cfm ] and search for articles by ‘Arden Brink’
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comWe bought a new car here in Costa Rica — a 2006 Hyundai Terracan diesel. It’s the finest car we’ve ever owned.
That said, if I had it to do again, I’d buy a two or three year-old car in the U.S. and import it. I’d shop for a make and model that’s common here and I think I’d try to get it from a U.S. leasing company.
There are some new people who specialize in helping Gringos buy cars here. I have known the owner of this one for 20 years and had him help with two cars I have bought and one that I sold and I do recommend you give him a look. Honesty in this business is hard to find and you will get that for sure. You can find his site at: bestcostaricacars.com
Who you buy from can be more important than what you buy from them.
I know a few people that have used Oscar with Import Xiux (8-844-6151 / OscarDiaz@gmail.com) in San Jose (Bario Cuba) and were VERY pleased!! Tell him Vicki referred you!
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