Another thing to think about having a car here - you have to make a monthly "patente" payment to own the car, any car newer than 20 years old. It can be a bit expensive. It's like a luxury tax.
Also, a large majority of drivers here are completely clueless. You better be ready to drive a bit offensively, or else sit in the right lane and whinge while cars pass you and buses cut you off and such. People turning from the left lane to the right and vice versa. People driving you crazy by placing themselves in the middle of an intersection and blocking the other street whose light is about to turn green because they don't want to wait at the light they were just at any more.
I have a car here. I've been involved in two accidents, neither one my fault, and due to the stupidity of the other driver. I won't go into details here as I've written about the incidents a few times. But one thing that you should know - if you are involved in an accident that results in injury of the other driver and the other driver has a smaller vehicle (such as a motorcycle, for example), the fault of the accident is automatically placed on the person in the larger vehicle until investigations (after the fact) determine whose fault it actually was.
I was almost taken to jail for the night and my car impounded because a motorcycle ran into me from behind while I was stopped at a traffic light. (yeah, I'm not kidding or exaggerating!) He cut his leg on his own motorcycle as a result of the accident. The cops convinced the motorcyclist not to go forward with pressing charges because they knew whose fault it was and convinced the guy that he would be doing himself a great disservice when the investigation went forward.
Also, you have to be careful with things like what street you drive on, and at what time. Some of the main streets downtown have been turned into bus/taxi lane only up until 8 at night. I got in my car today for the first time in a year (driver's license expired and I just recently got an Argentine license) and forgot about this as I turned onto Santa Fe from Pelligrini (right behind another private vehicle, I might add) and there was a police checkpoint. I was going one block to Libertador to park my car and spaced out on not being able to turn there.
Then there's parking - see what Gringoboy wrote recently about parking and make sure you understand all of the rules and even then you probably will get your car towed at some point because you're sure you can park there and you can't really
Not trying to dissuade you, and you might already know all of this, but it's good to know these things before you spend the money and effort getting a car here. And the truth is, I would not want to be without a car myself even if I only drive it one weekend out of the month to get out of the city and breathe fresher air...
Also, a large majority of drivers here are completely clueless. You better be ready to drive a bit offensively, or else sit in the right lane and whinge while cars pass you and buses cut you off and such. People turning from the left lane to the right and vice versa. People driving you crazy by placing themselves in the middle of an intersection and blocking the other street whose light is about to turn green because they don't want to wait at the light they were just at any more.
I have a car here. I've been involved in two accidents, neither one my fault, and due to the stupidity of the other driver. I won't go into details here as I've written about the incidents a few times. But one thing that you should know - if you are involved in an accident that results in injury of the other driver and the other driver has a smaller vehicle (such as a motorcycle, for example), the fault of the accident is automatically placed on the person in the larger vehicle until investigations (after the fact) determine whose fault it actually was.
I was almost taken to jail for the night and my car impounded because a motorcycle ran into me from behind while I was stopped at a traffic light. (yeah, I'm not kidding or exaggerating!) He cut his leg on his own motorcycle as a result of the accident. The cops convinced the motorcyclist not to go forward with pressing charges because they knew whose fault it was and convinced the guy that he would be doing himself a great disservice when the investigation went forward.
Also, you have to be careful with things like what street you drive on, and at what time. Some of the main streets downtown have been turned into bus/taxi lane only up until 8 at night. I got in my car today for the first time in a year (driver's license expired and I just recently got an Argentine license) and forgot about this as I turned onto Santa Fe from Pelligrini (right behind another private vehicle, I might add) and there was a police checkpoint. I was going one block to Libertador to park my car and spaced out on not being able to turn there.
Then there's parking - see what Gringoboy wrote recently about parking and make sure you understand all of the rules and even then you probably will get your car towed at some point because you're sure you can park there and you can't really
Not trying to dissuade you, and you might already know all of this, but it's good to know these things before you spend the money and effort getting a car here. And the truth is, I would not want to be without a car myself even if I only drive it one weekend out of the month to get out of the city and breathe fresher air...
