Buying a car with dollars

[glasgowjohn]

Is there any way to know the value of USD on the blue market?

This will give you an idea

Look at dolar informal



http://www.ambito.com/economia/mercados/dolar.asp

 

[ndcj]

Question for those who went to Colonia to withdraw USDs:
Do the ATMs always have USDs or are they empty at times?

I've never encountered BROU ATMs empty, and they have several tens of thousands of dollars in them for sure.

Is it possible that an Atm in Uraguay would dispense $15,000US in one day?

Yes, as long as you've got ATM card(s) that will let you withdraw that much in one day. You can withdraw U$S1000 per transaction at BROU ATMs.

The problem at the moment is it's a risky maneuver to travel by ferry with more than U$S10,000 because of the AFIP dollar sniffing dogs (which are fairly effective when they are in use).

The safest is to only travel with $10k at a time and make multiple trips if you need more. Make sure if you carry exactly $10k that you don't have a single moneda in any currency with you other than the US dollars, because the limit is U$S10,000 in *any* currency.

 

[citygirl]

Dealers have to follow the official exchange rate. Private sellers may/may not - when I bought my car, I offered dollars but the seller needed the pesos for buying his new car and needed to provide the provenance of the money . So I exchanged them with at the unofficial rate and paid him his asking price in pesos and saved myself a few thousand dollars in the process.

Best bet, change the dollars here and get the blue market rate and then buy the cars in pesos.

I assume you realize the cost of buying, maintaining and insuring a car here right? I was shocked and not in a good way after buying my car which in itself was ridiculously expensive. My insurance on a 3 YO car is 5000 pesos a year. The routine check every 15,000 kilometers (with no repairs) 1200 pesos. 300+ pesos to fill up the car every time. I don't even want to calculate what I'm spending a year on it.

 

[jeff1234]

Citygirl;

You say "So I exchanged them with at the unofficial rate ".
It seems like there is a word missing, who did you exchange the dollars with.

The costs you cite for owning a car are mind-boggling, as are the costs here.

I can't imagine how working class people buy gas, food, computers for their kids and all the other things they need.

J

 

[hannstew]

I assume you realize the cost of buying, maintaining and insuring a car here right? I was shocked and not in a good way after buying my car which in itself was ridiculously expensive. My insurance on a 3 YO car is 5000 pesos a year. The routine check every 15,000 kilometers (with no repairs) 1200 pesos. 300+ pesos to fill up the car every time. I don't even want to calculate what I'm spending a year on it.

I Agree 100% We live out in the burbs, and need a vehicle, 2 in fact.. Very costly

 

[trennod]

Dealers have to follow the official exchange rate. Private sellers may/may not - when I bought my car, I offered dollars but the seller needed the pesos for buying his new car and needed to provide the provenance of the money . So I exchanged them with at the unofficial rate and paid him his asking price in pesos and saved myself a few thousand dollars in the process.

Best bet, change the dollars here and get the blue market rate and then buy the cars in pesos.

I assume you realize the cost of buying, maintaining and insuring a car here right? I was shocked and not in a good way after buying my car which in itself was ridiculously expensive. My insurance on a 3 YO car is 5000 pesos a year. The routine check every 15,000 kilometers (with no repairs) 1200 pesos. 300+ pesos to fill up the car every time. I don't even want to calculate what I'm spending a year on it.

Citygirl and this also doesnt include the inspection (annually yes?) and any garage fees (as required..)?! Geez...

 

[LostinBA]

Thanks TERKILD.

I understand the calculation but not the mechanics.
The dealer tells me that even if I walk in with dollars he can only give me credit for about 4.5 for each dollar.
So lets say that I am able to get $14,000US here, how do I use the dollars?
Besides flying back to the US for dollars, is my only choice to purchase pesos on the street at a better rate and give them to the dealer?
Or I could try to take $14,000 out of atms in Uraguay.
I've seen discussion of Xoom and Western Union but they dont seem to transfer dollars anymore.

Thanks;
Jeff

The dealer will tell you that over the phone but if you go there with USD with knowledge of what 2-3 reputable cuevas will give you for an exchange rate AND you know the blue rate on ambito, I'm sure they'll gladly exchange your USD for pesos at an acceptable (near) blue rate. If not, call Juanse at FDI to get his advice.

 

[jeff1234]

The dealer will tell you that over the phone but if you go there with USD with knowledge of what 2-3 reputable cuevas will give you for an exchange rate AND you know the blue rate on ambito, I'm sure they'll gladly exchange your USD for pesos at an acceptable (near) blue rate. If not, call Juanse at FDI to get his advice.

I've only been here a week so pleas tell me.... whats a 'cueva'? whats 'ambito'? whats 'FDI'?

 

[nikad]

Jeff , use the search function on the board to find out what all of those things are

 

[starlucia]

The problem at the moment is it's a risky maneuver to travel by ferry with more than U$S10,000 because of the AFIP dollar sniffing dogs (which are fairly effective when they are in use).

So are they using the dogs at Ezeiza yet or what? I've read mentions of them being in airports, but I simply cannot imagine how that process would work (detaining every person in the security line carrying dollars in amounts that may or may not be over the legal limit?)