Buying a motorcycle in Chile
By Phill Wicks
Firstly (as you may well know) you need your RUT number which enables you to purchase a motor vehicle
The government agency (cant remember the name) that you need to go to is at Alonso De Ovalle #680 (on the south side of the Alameda, close to Santa Lucia Metro Station)
I walked in with my passport for ID and brandishing the following letter in spanish
"Por Favour necesito obtener un RUT para efectivos de comprar un vehiculo con el cud voy a vizjar dentro y fuera de chile
muchos gracias"
I was helped by the friendly staff and 15 minutes later I had a temporary document with my RUT number on it, the original being posted to my hostel at a later date.
Finding a motorcycle, either see a dealer on ave vitacura, or ave las condes or look in the internet classifieds,
www.chileautos.cl ,
www.deremate.cl, www.elmercurio.cl, or www. mercadolibre.cl
The vendor needs to have the following documents
*Inscription - (ownership document)
*Permiso de circulation - (road tax)
*Certificado de emisiones contaminantes (emmisions certificate)
*Technica Class B - (roadworthy certificate)
*Certificado seguro obligatorio accidentes personales (third party insurance)
If a any of these documents are up for renewal it is easier if the vendor sorts them out before the bike is sold to you
When you and the vendor have reached an agreement you need to go to the Notaria, which is an agency that handles transactions of this sort (and others i presume)
Both the vendor and yourselves present all your documentation, (for you this means your passport, RUT number, and a postal address in Chile for the Registro Racional de Veiculos Motorizados to send the original inscription paper to, i used a friends and will pick up the original when i pass Santiago again on my way North)
The Notaria needs to give you two documents
1.) The Compra Ventor
This is an original document that indicates that you have puchased the motorcycle from the vendor for the agreed amount of money
This document is signed by both the Vendor and yourself
2.) The Carta Poder
This is a declaration signed by the Vendor that will allow you to leave Chile with the motorcycle before the original inscription document is received (10-ish days)
At the completion of the formalities you should
1.) pay the Notaria (cant remember how much)2.) pay the vendor in front of the Notaria and receive ALL of the documents listed above
And the you are free to travel within and outside Chile
So in THEORY if you found a bike on Monday, got your RUT and went to the Notaria on Tuesday, you could be in Argentina on Wednesday, nice theory and things didnt quite work out that way for me, but its true
I admit that I was very lucky in that
* all the vehicle documents for the bike that I purchased were up to date,
*the vendor was a good guy and spoke some english
* That my good friends Jose Valdez and Ricardo Baros helped me immeasurably
So there you go, by the way im currently in Argentina Heading South, and
If ive left anything out or got something wrong feel free to correct me
Cheers
phill