Importing Cars

[fred mertz]

The number 1 reason for living in BA is that you DO NOT NEED A CAR !!!!!

 

[Philsword]

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

The reason a used car of a particular model costs more than a new one is that the government sets the price on the new ones. The problem is that they have often set them so low that only a very few if any are actually available at the set price and hence used ones actually go for the same or more than the theoretical price set by the government for a new one. How this makes sense or benefits anyone is beyond me but that's how things are done in Argentina. All of this makes good cars very expensive and hard to find. In addition credit is costly and hard to come by which results in people driving cars for years and years(i.e. maintaining an old one is much cheaper than buying a new one). I don't know the average age of cars on the road in Argentina but they are a lot older than what you see in Europe or North America.

 

[optcsa]

Please keep in mind the following:

a) It's illegal to import used cars in Argentina, except for 2 or 3 small exceptions.

b) When you import, you pay 35% in customs + Importing Tax + V.A.T. on the FOB price + you must pay Impuesto a las Ganancias (income tax) when you import the car. For every U$S 10.000 it's about U$S 8.100 in taxes.

I'm a lawyer, specialized in corporate and tax matters in Argentina. Originally I'm from the USA, but I grew up in Argentina. If anybody want's more details on car imports, send me a message and I'll be glad to give my opinion.

 

[ghost]

Walk into a new car dealer, perhaps the one where you might buy, and ask the service manager the cost of an oil change.....? ie. new Peugeot 307, oil change at dealer $500 pesos. [there now you know why cars go to hell fast here]
Or you can take the car to your local guy who will swear that he's putting in Castrol GTX and a new filter and what you get is recycled crap oil and your old filter wiped clean and shiny on the outside.
After that experiment go find just one mechanic that even owns an OBD11 scanner. Or for even more fun ask one to do a transmission flush on an automatic tranny. Good luck.

 

[steveinbsas]

Walk into a new car dealer, perhaps the one where you might buy, and ask the service manager the cost of an oil change.....? ie. new Peugeot 307, oil change at dealer $500 pesos. [there now you know why cars go to hell fast here]
Or you can take the car to your local guy who will swear that he's putting in Castrol GTX and a new filter and what you get is recycled crap oil and your old filter wiped clean and shiny on the outside.
After that experiment go find just one mechanic that even owns an OBD11 scanner. Or for even more fun ask one to do a transmission flush on an automatic tranny. Good luck.

I buy Castrol oil at Walmart and new filters at local shops. The oil costs about $150 pesos and the filter about $50 pesos. If I don't want to change the oil myself (I have a service bay in my galpon) I just go to a YPF station where they charge $50 pesos for the service for my Peugeot 405. The super clean "waiting area" is actually located in the service bay less than two meters from the front of the car. You can watch while it is being serviced. There is never any doubt about the quality of the oil or the filter.

With due diligence in Argentina you don't necessarily have to be a victim of Argentina.

 

[steveinbsas]

The reason a used car of a particular model costs more than a new one is that the government sets the price on the new ones. The problem is that they have often set them so low that only a very few if any are actually available at the set price and hence used ones actually go for the same or more than the theoretical price set by the government for a new one. How this makes sense or benefits anyone is beyond me but that's how things are done in Argentina. All of this makes good cars very expensive and hard to find. In addition credit is costly and hard to come by which results in people driving cars for years and years(i.e. maintaining an old one is much cheaper than buying a new one). I don't know the average age of cars on the road in Argentina but they are a lot older than what you see in Europe or North America.

If new cars are not available at the set price, how can any new cars be sold?

Just over a year ago I inquired about buying a new car at several dealerships in CF. I was told that new cars were available for delivery within ten days. Has there been a dramatic change since then or was I being misled in the first place?

(I waited until I arrived in the south of Prov. Bs. As. and I bought a used car, but I'm still curious about buying new.)