Come to Costa Rica for 3 months and buying a car?

[Judy Bolden]

My wife and I have Social Security income and are considering relocating to CR. We plan to arrive in Jan, ’04 and stay for about 3 months to “scope things out” and decide whether to stay and if so, where to settle.

I plan to purchase a vehicle and keep it if we decide to stay and sell it if we do not. I plan to buy the car before we arrive and to spend in the $8,000 to $10,000 range for something reliable.

I hope to find someone to look one over and give me an opinion as to condition. Some questions.

1. With a 90 day temporary Visa, am I allowed to own a vehicle?
2. If so, approximately what will insurance cost.
3. I have read some about owning cars in corporations as apposed to individually. What does a corp cost and what is the advantage? I will consult an attorney for details but need some reliable general info please.

[costaricabill]

[quote=”Judy Bolden”]My wife and I have Social Security income and are considering relocating to CR. We plan to arrive in Jan, ’04 and stay for about 3 months to “scope things out” and decide whether to stay and if so, where to settle. I plan to purchase a vehicle and keep it if we decide to stay and sell it if we do not. I plan to buy the car before we arrive and to spend in the $8,000 to $10,000 range for something reliable. I hope to find someone to look one over and give me an opinion as to condition. Some questions.
1. With a 90 day temporary Visa, am I allowed to own a vehicle?
2. If so, approximately what will insurance cost.
3. I have read some about owning cars in corporations as apposed to individually. What does a corp cost and what is the advantage? I will consult an attorney for details but need some reliable general info please.[/quote]

Hi Judy –
the ability to live on SS depends on how much that monthly stipend amounts to, where you intend to live and what lifestyle you want to maintain.

answers:
yes, you can buy a vehicle upon arrival, but keep in mind that if/when you decide to leave you may not be able to sell it before your departure date unless you want to “dump” it at a used car lot. As far as I know (which may not be the entirety of the real situation) insurance is sold on an annual basis with payment available monthly, quarterly, or on a 6-month basis. The costs will be based on the value of the vehicle, the coverage you want (without “theft” you can save 35-40%), the deductible you select, and what amount you are willing to self insure,(under value the car). You can buy in either a corp or as an individual. Buying in a corp offers some degree of additional liability but not as much as in the past and the corp will cost you $400-$600 depending on the attorney you choose to use.

Let us know what part of CR you are interested in and you will get a lot of valuable information!

[costaricafinca]

If you decide to stay, and want be able to apply for legal residency, you will have to have brought the [url=http://www.costaricalaw.com/Immigration-and-Residency/residency-general-information-and-summary.html]required documents[/url] that is needed to make this application.

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