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We are looking to buy a 4 X 4. Need suggestions of honest Used Car dealers. Looking for landcruiser,galloper, pathfinder or something like that. Thanks in advance.
l2fI can’t recommend a dealer, but I can tell you that Grecia, with some thirty-five used car dealers, is the used car capitol of Costa Rica.
We bought a new Hyundai Terracan 2.9L turbodiesel in 2006. It’s the best vehicle we’ve ever owned. Put those on your list, too.
And, by the way, there’s a compelling argument for importing a car from the U.S.
I’m not sure what David’s reasons are. but I can tell you why we decided to import rather than buy here:
1. the cars built for export to Costa Rica are not built to US safety standards.
2. there do not seem to be any laws about rolling back odometers, so you don’t know
how many miles are really on that car.
3. they do very good body work here, so you don’t know how many times that car has
been wrecked.
4. no CarFax!It was a bit expensive but at least we know what we have.
Good luck on your search.
Exactly what Susan said, Ed F.
What’s more, regardless whether you buy a car here or import one, you, the ultimate owner, will pay the import duty.
I’ve suggested elsewhere that, were I in the market, I’d buy a three year-old vehicle off lease in the U.S. A three year-old vehicle will have already seen the majority of its depreciation, so the purchase price should be reasonably low and yet it will be fairly new. And a leased car will probably have been treated gently, as the user knows from day one that s/he will be responsible for the condition of the vehicle when it is turned in.
Import duties go up with the age of the vehicle in three year brackets. Vehicles one to three years pay the least percentage (about 58%) of the “black book” value of the vehicle plus shipping and insurance. Vehicles four to six years old pay about 69%, if memory serves. And vehicles over six years old pay about 78%. Clearly, Costa Rica is discouraging the importation of junkers.
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