Leaving Argentina with *your* car

[FAS]

In my particular case it's actually twice the crazy: the Ford EcoSport is built in Brazil, so typically high *import* taxes were already paid when it was shipped here. Both Chile and Brazil sell the same vehicle for 10 to 20% less than Argentina. The policy does nothing more than discourage consumption, which may be a good thing, but certainly isn't helping the local economy.

One argument for high export taxes is that they tend to curb inflation. By keeping more units in the local market, the costs per unit will remain marginally lower. Seems like a stretch in the case of touristmobiles, but at this point I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt as a way of assuaging my frustration...

 

[mini]

Sorry, we couldn't help you. But thanks for sharing your research. Some has said that an Argentine citizen can drive your car out for you. Have you found anything to confirm/deny this?

 

[FAS]

You can authorize an Argentinian to drive your car inside the country, but the owner of the vehicle has to be behind the wheel when you take it through customs at the frontier. Apparently, they're really strict about this.

The only solution is to give an Argentinian co-ownership of the car. When you leave the country the Argentinian would then have to come with you. Technically this should be true in all MercoSur countries. But I don't know whether it's enforced as strictly elsewhere as it is here. Argentina is doubly paranoid about export taxes according to the US Trade analysis I posted earlier.

The problem with the co-ownership strategy is that you are confined to no more than 90 days out of country, and you have to take your Argie with you every time you leave. That could get a little old after a while... I think this solution would work best for people who are in a relationship with a local. But for the rest of us it could be more trouble than it's worth.

 

[mini]

Yeah. No, that's not going to work.... What you need is a different set of headaches but one that let's you leave the country with the car: A foreign registered car.