Importing Cars

[French jurist]

I wanted once to import a big fire truck (those that are bright red with a big ladder) but when I realized all the difficulties I would have to go through, I had to change my mind (not without crying a lot though).

Anyway, it's not relevant anymore since I've grown older now. Now I want to become an astronaut!

pin-pon pin-pon pin-pon pin-pon

 

[davonz]

An argentine friend imported a european audi - his reason being the south american made ones were not the same quality, and the interior finish wasnt as good.. It was second hand - only a few years old though, and didnt cost alot in europe, but after freight/import duty/taxes it ended up being as expensive as a new one purchased locally, which didnt seem to worry him to much.. but he was really pissed off how much of a hassle it was to get it through customs etc..

 

[ghost]

I'm going to be importing a new car from the US in the next few months, I'll let you know how it works out once i've gone through the process. I don't expect it to be easy, but it will be worth it in the long run, at least for me.

I hope this car is something special for you. Because once you finish the import hell that Argentina will provide, you will face the headache of maintaining a special car and garaging your prize. And then you get to watch as the local parking custom is to bash into your bumpers inorder to move the car so they can park. Good luck!
After about a year your prize will look like the rest of junk in the city. Unless you have a secure garage and never use street parking.
I will never import a nice car again. Ever.

 

[katti]

We have brought our Belgian car over, without importing it. In the beginning (before we lived here) my husband left the country with it every 3 (or is it 4?) months. Now that we live here, the company that brought our containers in and renews the licences every year also does the renewal of the car (every 8 months). So we don't have to leave the country anymore. The car still has the Belgian license plate.

My husband had assistance at the customs, and everything went smoothly, but he said that if that person (who seemed to know everyone there) hadn't been there, it would have been practically impossible.

 

[katti]

I hope this car is something special for you. Because once you finish the import hell that Argentina will provide, you will face the headache of maintaining a special car and garaging your prize. And then you get to watch as the local parking custom is to bash into your bumpers inorder to move the car so they can park. Good luck!
After about a year your prize will look like the rest of junk in the city. Unless you have a secure garage and never use street parking.
I will never import a nice car again. Ever.

We never had any problems with damage (although I got hit by a collectivo once- now I always stay at a safe distance of those ). The only thing is that our European car isn't made for the low quality fuel here. In the beginning it spend a lot of time in the garage for that. Did you know they even have products to put in your tank to 'clean' the gas thats in it??? Now we only take Shell, Exon or YPF, but even that is no guarantee for good quality.

Another problem is spare parts. Depending on what car you import of course. We have a crack in our windshield and they do not import the original ones.

 

[TheBlackHand]

I appreciate the advice. I know importing a vehicle wont be easy and i understand the high maintenance costs, but the alternative would be buying a ridiculously overpriced inferior car in Argentina. Neither prospect sounds pleasant. Anyway, i'll post my experience once i've finished the process.

I hope this car is something special for you. Because once you finish the import hell that Argentina will provide, you will face the headache of maintaining a special car and garaging your prize. And then you get to watch as the local parking custom is to bash into your bumpers inorder to move the car so they can park. Good luck!
After about a year your prize will look like the rest of junk in the city. Unless you have a secure garage and never use street parking.
I will never import a nice car again. Ever.

 

[Philsword]

I appreciate the advice. I know importing a vehicle wont be easy and i understand the high maintenance costs, but the alternative would be buying a ridiculously overpriced inferior car in Argentina. Neither prospect sounds pleasant. Anyway, i'll post my experience once i've finished the process.

Best of luck to you on the car, but if this made sense to do financially wouldn't everybody in Argentina being doing this because of the very high prices for cars (both new and used)? Have you been quoted a figure you expect to pay in taxes for the privilege of bringing it in? Is this just a temporary importation(i.e. you have to take the car with you when you leave) for use by you while you are in the country?

If this is the case its a completely different situation than the OP that wants to start a business importing and selling cars here.

 

[Mitch]

The amount of tax you pay, is not calculated on the invoice value, but on the market value here in Argentina. So importing cars that are cheaper abroud does not make a lot of sense.

At this time, Argentina must be about one of the only countries in the world where a car can actually go up in value over the years. It is possible to buy a second hand car at the same price as a new one. Only the new ones are not available

Best answer yet.

 

[citygirl]

As I'm car shopping right now, (and did look at importing from the US but it just wasn't worth it!), it's near & dear to me. The car market is really different here. I originally was looking for used assuming they would be cheaper but the price difference isn't that much btwn used and new. For me, it makes no sense to buy used (well, if you need the car now it does since you may have to wait a month or two for your new one to show up!). It's such a strange process here.

And for giggles, I looked at a 2007 BMW here. It was priced at about 65K USD. I looked at the same model, pretty much same # of kilometers on it in the US - the price was 29K USD. How insane is that?

 

[Dinny]

i know the feeling as iv been try to buy cars at fair market price , ie trader but cant understand a new car is little more expensive than cars bought 2/3yrs ago are been sold for same price...happy days for old owners. 15/20 yrs selling cars and im amazed , if i crack it ill let you know