Importing A Car Via Uruguay?

[kosta]

A friend of mine is a permatourist and has got a pretty nice car in Europe which he'd like to import to BA (for own use). Obviously the rates and toll here is absurd, but we we're thinking - maybe import it to Uruguay, register it there and come to Argentina as a tourist from Uruguay gonna be a nice and cheap solution? He's living as a tourist here anyway - It's legal to visit Argentina as a tourist with your own car, registered somewhere else, isn't it?

What do you think? Has anyone tried it?

 

[citygirl]

How would he register it in Uruguay if he is not an Uruguayan resident?? And then he needs to deal with making sure it goes back to Uruguay every 3 months, etc. Plus, I'm not sure importing to Uruguay would be all that much cheaper.

 

[db887]

If he is a tourist, why not just drive on euro registration and skip the formalities.

 

[Rich One]

Can a person under tourist visa status in Uruguay exit the country driving an Uruguay license plate car? The same case in Argentina is not clear yet.

 

[French jurist]

Can a person under tourist visa status in Uruguay exit the country driving an Uruguay license plate car? The same case in Argentina is not clear yet.

Speaking about Argentina:
It used to be impossible for a tourist to take an AR registered car outside of the country but it's now possible.

I guess the same applies to Uruguay

 

[cbonanni]

Frenchie,

Could you elaborate or reference a link that now it is possible to take an Arg. Registered car out of the country ? Or PM me if you do not want to continue this line in this thread.

Best

To OP: Best talk to a knowledgable Despanchante , or freight importer to get the current import requirements. A temporary import of cars are permitted in Argentina. Consider: a Nice car with non Argentina plates make an inviting target for robbery and theft.

 

[French jurist]

Hi Cbonanni,

As you maybe know (and as shown in threads of this forum which are +2 years old), it used to be forbidden for a tourist to take out an argentinean registered vehicle because the Customs wanted to make sure that all the taxes, fines, whatever were paid among other reasons (and had no tool to check about that).

Now the Customs at the border have such a tool, so it's possible to take out a vehicle.

A friend of this forum (european tourist) took her car (argentinean registered) out of the country last year near Iguazu and initially had a hard time.... mhhhh very hard time... taking it out (car got temporarly seized) but finally managed to resolve the situation (she got a bit unlucky since she dealt with a "boludo" at the border).
That's how I learned about this change (don't have much time today to dig out information but will later in the week if nobody provides such links).


EDIT: quickly searched for some links but found none. If you have any doubt, you can go to the AFIP offices on Plaza de Mayo (it's a building on the right when you look at Casa Rosada). Then when you go inside, enter the rooms on the right and ask for Resguardo 1/Aduana. In this service, they don't deal precisely with such a situation (they deal with permits for foreign vehicles entering Argentina) but there's a very, very helpful lady (dark hair, dark skin) whose name is Angie if I recall => she should be able to provide you a confirmation (obviously, in doubt, better lose one hour in BA than a whole day at a frontier).

 

[French jurist]

As for driving a foreign car as a permatourist here, I'd be careful with the insurance. Let's imagine the worst: you kill a whole family and a 6 figure amount is to be paid, then your foreign insurance company might investigate a bit your situation and if they find out that you live, even as a permatourist, since 2 years in Argentina, then they might refuse to cover you argueing that the insurance coverage they gave you for driving abroad was for tourist/vacation motives only, not for living (not the same risks if you compare driving permanently in Europe or in Argentina).

Like in any country, insurance companies tend to sell you umbrellas when it's sunny, and are prone to take those away when it starts to rain.

 

[lgpowell]

You are way better off bring your car through Argentina.

You can only import used cars into Uruguay by paying full import taxes and duties as if the car is brand new.

Importing brand new cars into Uruguay is FAR more expensive than importing into Argentina.

For example to but a brand new keep in Uruguay the cost is U$D77000! In Argentina U$D53,000!

Big difference.

 

[ajoknoblauch]

A friend of mine is a permatourist and has got a pretty nice car in Europe which he'd like to import to BA (for own use). Obviously the rates and toll here is absurd, but we we're thinking - maybe import it to Uruguay, register it there and come to Argentina as a tourist from Uruguay gonna be a nice and cheap solution? He's living as a tourist here anyway - It's legal to visit Argentina as a tourist with your own car, registered somewhere else, isn't it?

What do you think? Has anyone tried it?

I have frequently visited Argentina with my Chilean vehicle, though I am not a Chilean resident, but it's nearly impossible to import a foreign vehicle there.