Buying a second-hand car

[FrederikS]

Hi all!

This is my first post here. My girlfriend (user name Debster) and I moved to Buenos Aires about three weeks ago and have already been lucky enough to meet some of you during the Arg-Uru football game.

I'm planning to buy a second-hand car here in BA because we'd like to make a big road trip to Patagonia this summer, but also it seems like a great way to be able to travel outside the city easily. I'm mainly looking for an SUV/4WD type of car because of the condition of the roads in the south.

Now I've heard that it can be difficult for a foreigner to buy a car here, so I was wondering if any of you here has gone through this process and could give me some tips! Specifically I'm curious about the following:

- What documents do you need from the seller to be able to register the car in your own name?
- What do you need to do to register the car? Where do you go?
- At what point do you hand over the money to the seller? i.e. before or after getting the car registered in your name?

Thanks a lot!
Frederik

 

[FrederikS]

So no one here has any experience with this?

 

[gouchobob]

My belief is that you would have to be a resident before you can have a car registered in your name. Buying a used car there is the same as elsewhere, I purchased one the only difference was it took about 10 days to take possession, lots of paperwork by the dealer.

The price of used cars is very high compared to the U.S., especially SUV's. I sold a ten year old one for $13k U.S. that in the states wouldn't sell for more than $3 or $4 thousand.

If you are just want one for a single trip why don't you rent a vehicle, probably a lot cheaper.

Also driving there is very dangerous. There is a reckless disregard for safety. The stereo-type of the typical driver here is one of someone who consumed a bottle or 2 of vino beforehand, is driving erratically at twice the speed limit, with a 2 year old toddler standing on the front seat. A tip for driving here is that stop signs are universally ignored and traffic signals like red lights are considered only suggestions. Also Argentines generally don't use turn signals or seat belts(considered unmanly).

 

[mrisley]

You will have to have residency to put a car in your name. I would not worry too much about gouchobob and his traveling advice. Not sure where he is from, but I grew up driving in New Orleans and driving in Argentina is a dream compared to New Orleans. Anyway, I have lived here on the border of the patagonia for 6 years now, I put about 100,000km a year on my truck driving all over the country and have not encountered any of bob's whinos!

Good luck on your trip!

 

[gouchobob]

You will have to have residency to put a car in your name. I would not worry too much about gouchobob and his traveling advice. Not sure where he is from, but I grew up driving in New Orleans and driving in Argentina is a dream compared to New Orleans.

You have got to be kidding, you must be mistaken and are actually living in another country, not Argentina.

SAFETY AND SECURITY: Traffic accidents are the primary threat to life and limb in Argentina. Pedestrians and drivers should exercise caution. Drivers frequently ignore traffic laws and vehicles often travel at excessive speeds. The rate and toll of traffic accidents has been a topic of much media attention over the past year. The Institute of Road Safety and Education, a private Buenos Aires organization dedicated to transportation safety issues, reports that Argentina has the highest traffic mortality rate in South America per 100,000 inhabitants.

The above is from the State Department consular sheet on Argentina.

 

[gouchobob]

A very timely article was in the New York Times on the subject of traffic safety in Argentina.

http://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/08/world/argentina-gets-tough-on-drivers.html

The situation is actually worse than described in this article in my opinion. Most of the statistics are based rates per 100,000 persons. The rate of car ownership in Argentina is much lower than say the U.S. or Canada which makes the high rates of accidents and fatalities even worse.

 

[HowardinBA]

you said it.your opinion.......

 

[gouchobob]

you said it.your opinion.......

Here some more information to consider, the rate of car owner ship in Argentina is 170 cars per thousand people, in the U.S. the number is 765.

The U.S. has 4.5 times the number of vehicles per 1000 people compared to Argentina. If you take the fatality rate in Argentina of 28 per 100 thousand and multiply it times 4.5(the higher rate of ownership in the U.S.) you arrive at 126 deaths per 100 thousand person. The current U.S. population is roughly 300 million. If the U.S. had a similar fatality rate to Argentina adjusted for the different levels of car ownership (126) then U.S. fatalities would run about 350,000 a year. The actual fatality rate in the U.S. is currently running bit under 45 thousand per year. This analysis indicates you are about 8 times more likely to die driving in Argentina than in the U.S. Driving here is definitely dangerous.

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/tra_mot_veh-transportation-motor-vehicles

 

[HowardinBA]

and don,t forget it,s a third world country too,they don,t have the driving skills we were so fortunate to receive in our respective countries(England for me),I consider myself a very good driver,no accidents in 35 years of driving,touch wood,it doesn,t matter which country i am in,I still drive with the utmost care and attention,because that,s how I was taught..Don,t quite work like that here I,m afraid...

 

[gouchobob]

and don,t forget it,s a third world country too,they don,t have the driving skills we were so fortunate to receive in our respective countries(England for me),I consider myself a very good driver,no accidents in 35 years of driving,touch wood,it doesn,t matter which country i am in,I still drive with the utmost care and attention,because that,s how I was taught..Don,t quite work like that here I,m afraid...

I agree entirely. This is the wild west of driving and there is no sheriff.