Buying a car with dollars

[nikad]

I can suggest another method (and the safest). Call or visit your bank and purchase a draft check for the amount, made out at the dealer´s name. Usually all of them have accounts in the USA or Uruguay, and they also benefit avoing robberies and fake bills.
If they do not accept the check for some reason, make the check payable to you, and then go see Casa Piano, or a similar one, deposit the check until it clears (about a week) and presto! you´ll get the best rate posssible under the circumstances.
I did it many times before, (for smallers amounts, though).
If they send it by mail, use FEDEX,etc.

This is not good advice right now. PPIano will pay him at the official rate plus commission...

 

[nikad]

Has anyone considered pooling money to buy a taxi or rather remise and license to have potentially profit generating shared time vehicle?

It is a profitable business but you really have to know what you are doing, especially with licenses, etc lots of horror stories of people being scammed. If you know somebody in the business first hand, get their advice do not do it yourself.

 

[nikad]

Nikad;

I've noticed that, sadly, some contributors to this column go out of their way to be nasty, provoke arguments and not be helpful.

I was asking LostinBA to explain some terms he/she used.

No one asked you to jump in with stupid advice. Stupid because your advice doesnt work and clearly you haven't tried it yourself. You just preach it to others with the implication that we are too stupid or lazy to have thought of your brilliant idea.

If you had tried it, as I did, you'd find that Cueva is used in 12 posts, none of which explain what it is.

I've asked friends in BsAs, they don't know what it is either.

I've even tried searching with Google. Here's one of the many results that didn't apply to my question:
Cueva is a poorly attested and often misclassified extinct indigenous language of Panama.

Only after these efforts did I feel that it was reasonable to ask for help with a definition.


If some helpful person wants to answer my question, I'll appreciate it.

You are welcome, hope you get lots of help from other posters, if you want to be spoon fed, all the in formation is in here, sorry you just want to be babysit. Good luck in Argentina, with your attitude you will need it for sure...

 

[jeff1234]

Jeff,

A cueva (the translation is "cave") is a place where you can go and sell your dollars on the black market for better than the official exchange rate. There are hundreds throughout Buenos Aires.

Normal places to find them: travel agencies, jewelry stores... look for the "compramos oro" sign, money transfer places, and stock brokers.

When he was talking about "ambito", he meant the black market dollar rate published in the Ambito Financiero newspaper. You can find that here: http://www.ambito.com/economia/mercados/dolar.asp

Look where it says "dolar informal". They update that page every day with the exchange rate on the black market.

So if you are looking to buy your car with dollars, make sure the people give you that rate. And if not, you can change the dollars yourself at a cueva and get pesos at this rate. Try to get a recommendation from someone on this board to avoid getting cheated.

Best of luck with your car. Make sure you investigate the process of buying a car because there are a lot of people who can cheat you here. Don't assume that everything is going to go smoothly. Please take some time and learn a little first before getting yourself into a transaction with thousands of dollars at stake. Argentines are sharks. I'd hate to see you back on this board with a story about how you got cheated out of $15,000 USD.

Let me know if you need some help, and welcome to Argentina.

Thanks, sounds like solid advice.
I've searched for info on Argentinian car buying scams but haven't found much.
I'm planning to avoid the the classic US car dealer scams involving trade-ins, financing, bait and switch, etc.
Do you know of special Argentinian Car Dealer Scams to watch out for?

 

[el_expatriado]

Thanks, sounds like solid advice.
I've searched for info on car buying scams but havent found much.
If I go to a dealer, are there things to watch out for?

You buying new or used?

 

[earlyretirement]

I bought a new car several years ago. The process was fairly simple but I was buying an import car so it took 3 months to get! They said it would take less than 2 months and it was a hassle waiting so long for a new car.

I had to pay a deposit of around 2,000 pesos and the rest was paid once the car came in.

Funny showing up at the dealership with a bag full of pesos..... Total cost of the car was around $40,000 US or so.

Buying at a dealership is fairly idiot proof and very simple. And when I sold it several years later, I got a really good price and the car didn't depreciate too much even after almost 4 years when you consider the amount I paid in pesos. I sold the car in dollars and it was an import car with low mileage. I sold it in only a few days. The best part was I didn't even have to be in Argentina when I sold it. You just fill out a form and leave it with the dealership selling it. I think I paid around 2% commission to sell it. Very surprisingly simple.

 

[el_expatriado]

Yes, buying a new car is pretty easy. Where they normally screw you is on the "patentamiento". They will say it is included and then you have to pay it later. They will say just the service was included, but not the taxes.

So I always negotiate a low price on the car (I tell them since I will do the patentimiento they can lower the price of the car further) and then I do this process myself at the registro automotor.

 

[nikad]

I bought a new car several years ago. The process was fairly simple but I was buying an import car so it took 3 months to get! They said it would take less than 2 months and it was a hassle waiting so long for a new car.

I had to pay a deposit of around 2,000 pesos and the rest was paid once the car came in.

Funny showing up at the dealership with a bag full of pesos..... Total cost of the car was around $40,000 US or so.

Buying at a dealership is fairly idiot proof and very simple. And when I sold it several years later, I got a really good price and the car didn't depreciate too much even after almost 4 years when you consider the amount I paid in pesos. I sold the car in dollars and it was an import car with low mileage. I sold it in only a few days. The best part was I didn't even have to be in Argentina when I sold it. You just fill out a form and leave it with the dealership selling it. I think I paid around 2% commission to sell it. Very surprisingly simple.

He does need the idiot proof place indeed.

 

[el_expatriado]

He does need the idiot proof place indeed.

Hey, nikad, just give me the F.08 to your car and I will sell it for you, I promise! I'll only charge you 2% and I will to pay you after it sells. You don't even have to be here!

 

[jeff1234]

You buying new or used?

At the moment I'm thinking of a small new car.