Hi,

There seems to be a lot of confusion and conflicting answers on the process of buying a bike in SA. Is there any country where it is pretty straight forward? the actual country i buy in does not bother me, i just need to know that border crossing will be ok.

Am i right in thinking that basiocally i need to sell in the same country as i bought in??

Thanks loadsaaTop, I agree that sifting through the multiple posts related to buying a bike in South America might leave one confused. Having lived in Central and South America for many years, I will answer as best I can. Here is what you have to know.

It is early morning October 8, 2009 in Buenos Aires, we are approaching spring time but there is still a slight nip in the air. Summer and vacations are November, December and January, very different from the northern hemisphere.

As one rides south in Argentina, it generally gets colder.

If your purchase of a motorcycle in South America is for the purpose of touring, please consider the climatic differences.

Yes, you can legally sell your Argentine registered motorcycle in Argentina. Selling in any other country would be a long expensive process and generally not worth the effort.

Buying new is easier and less risky than buying used. To buy a new motorcycle in Argentina as a foreign tourist.

Here is an overview of what you will need to do:

Secure a "domocillio" certificate issued by LOCAL Argentine police, you must go to the police station assigned to protect your neighborhood, (your hotel etc) in Argentina.

1. The domocillio costs about 10 pesos ($3 US) and is obtained by providing the police your ID (passport) or DNI and address. The next day, a police officer will hand deliver the stamped document to your residence, where you are staying in Argentina, pension, with a friend etc.

2. Take your passport. and domocillio to your assigned AFIP office, you will have to find out which office pertains to your residence address, and get a CDI which is a tax number for foreigners , not working in Argentina. This will take about 2 hours, faster if you go early. Cost approximately 10 argentine peso.

3. Investigate auto insurance, so after you purchase and your "Gestor" (one who transfers vehicle titles as a business) does the paperwork you can give the Vehicle ID and plate # to the insurance agency and you will be immediate covered, so you can drive your bike home. DO NOT DRIVE WITHOUT INSURANCE!

A foreign tourist can purchase a new or used motorcycle registered in Argentina, Chile and other South American countries, but legally and officially a foreign tourist cannot export, (cross the border) of either Argentina or Chile. I am currently working to have the law that restricts the travel of a foreign tourist riding his/her Argentine registered motorcycle reviewed and changed. You can help. Please see the last posts on my thread:

Buy new or used in Argentina and legally tour all of South America ( 1 2 3 ... Last Page) located and with a sticky, this regional forum.

As you will learn there is a way a foreign tourist can cross out of Argentina with his/her Argentine registered motorcycle, and that is to co-own the motorcycle with an Argentine or a permanent foreign resident of Argentina who has a DNI (National Identification Document) and lives in Argentina).

The Argentine or permanent foreign resident will have to accompany you to the border of Argentina, and "perhaps" secure a temporary export permit.

If you are buying used here are the documents the seller must provide:

In our continuing effort to bring the very latest and most accurate information to you regarding a foreign tourist buying and then selling a motorcycle/auto in Argentina and legally crossing the Argentine border for the purpose of touring other south American countries, we owe a great debt to Mariano of Motocare.com. Mariano sells and rents new and used motorcycles from his showroom/shop Motocare


Here is the list of documents needed from the owner of a used motorcycle.

1. Título de propiedad original: (Title)

2. Cédula verde original: (Green card, registration)

3. Formulario 08 o Contrato de Transferencia, firmado por el vendedor y, si es que el titular figura como casado en el titulo, entonces tambien por el cónyuge. Esta/s firmas certificadas por el Registro de Motovehiculos (aquel donde esta el legajo de la moto) o escribano publico: (No traslation for this but owner will know...it is a form to be signed.)

4. Verificacion Policial: ( Police check up for possible theft charges)

5. Informe de Dominio: (To check that the seller can legally sell the bike )

6. Estado de Deuda de Patentes, o libre deuda de Patentes: (Taxes up to date)

8. Libre deuda de Infracciones del Tránsito: ( No tickets or stolen vehicle reports)


Do not leave a deposit "reserva" for the bike unless you have a physical copy of each of these documents in hand , or are absolutely convinced missing documents are available and will be provided.

You can have the owner sign an agreement to legally sell the bike to you within the next week or return your deposit. The deposit will be no more than $20.00 US dollars.

As I have indicated on other threads, a foreign tourist can legally buy and sell a new or used moto or auto in Argentina, but can be very risky.

We are doing our best to eliminate any risk involved.

Our goal is to mark the path for those foreign tourists who want to fly to Buenos Aires, buy a new or used moto or auto, register it legally, buy appropriate insurance, tour other South America countries and then return to Argentina to sell or store the moto or auto. And, to do this as legally and as economically as possible.

We are testing the system today and tomorrow. Please post questions, comments and personal experiences on this thread.

There is an excellent description of buying a used motorcycle in Chile posted by lachy and found in this regional forum under:

"Steps to Buying a Used Bike in Santiago Chile"

A very similar post regarding buying used in Chile is found on my thread and and posted originally by jolaglabek.

I will leave it to others to respond to you regarding other South American countries.

Hope this helps and might I use your screen name to help convince Argentine legislature to change the law restricting the travel of foreign tourists on their Argentine registered motorcycles?

Eat, Drink and Be Careful xfiltrate

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Motorcycle Parking Buenos Aires, Argentina
www.xfiltrate.com
Discover how to legally Buy, Tour and Sell a motorcycle in Argentina

It seems to be much easyier to buy a used/new bike in central america , or at least in guatemalawhere i am living for the lasr 30 years
All you need beside your passport , is to get a NIT (numero de identificacion tributaria) : tax ID . It takes you 30 min to get it .
Once you have your NIT , you are ready to buy whatever bike you want .
The original owner has to endorse the title in the presence of a lawyer (30$)
Once you have bought your bike , you need to get it registered to your name . You bring in your paperwork (passport , endorsed title , registration) one day and you get your new registration back the next day ; the fee for used bikes (older then 1 year !) is aprox. $ 60.00
You can resell your bike in guatemala with no problem ; if you want to sell it in an other country , you will have to pay the import duties for the bike . This can get expensive !!!
There is no problem at all getting your bike out of the country ; with Guatemalan license plates you can get your bike into all the other central american countries without any paperwork at customs .

Hi Xfiltrate
Is there the same export restrictions on small motorbikes on 100 ccm or ciclomotors ?
Best regards
Uffe

Guaterider, you neglected to mention if it was legal for a Foreign tourist to buy a new or used Guatemalan motorcycle and ride across the border into Mexico? Is it possible?

Uffe, thanks for the question. Not sure what you consider a small motorbike, you mean 100 cc or less? I believe any motorvehicle/cycle that requires a license plate and even 50cc motorcycles and scooters do here, is bound by the export regulation.

If the ciclomoto is street legal with registration, it will be bound by the export restriction, but if you are talking about a motorized step scooter, with no registration requirement, you could probably just scoot across whatever border.

Eat, Drink and Be Careful xfiltrate

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Motorcycle Parking Buenos Aires, Argentina
www.xfiltrate.com
Discover how to legally Buy, Tour and Sell a motorcycle in Argentina

[quote=xfiltrate;259905]Guaterider, you neglected to mention if it was legal for a Foreign tourist to buy a new or used Guatemalan motorcycle and ride across the border into Mexico? Is it possible?

yes you can ride up to mexico ,us , canada ,...

Guaterider, Thanks, I will refer foreign tourists, with questions regarding Guatemala, to this thread. I have one more question.

Is a foreign tourist crossing out of Guatemala on his/her Guatemalan registered motorcycle issued a Temporary Export Permit at the border?

If so, what is the maximum time allowed for the Guatemalan registered motorcycle owned by a foreign tourist to remain out of Guatemala?

There may be no such restriction imposed by Central American borders...,

But I believe to cross into Mexico, the States, and Canada, a Temporary Export Permit, from country where bike was purchased, is required at each border. I could be wrong, but years ago, I had difficulty riding into Mexico and into the United States on a motorcycle I bought in Costa Rica. Basically Mexico wanted a Temporary Export Permit from Costa Rica.

The United States sort of looked the other way as I was a returning Peace Corps Volunteer, but cautioned me that an Export Permit from Costa Rica was required. And, the next time I exited Mexico or the States it had better be with the motorcycle I purchased in Costa Rica, or have proper documentation regarding the disposition of the bike. Otherwise, Mexicans, as foreign tourists in Guatemala might just be shuttling motorcycles/vehicles into Mexico for parts or whatever...

I remember this because each country stamped in my old passport (with vehicle) and the vin # of my motorcycle and the Costa Rican license plate #.

Great Info, thanks

eat, Drink and Be Careful xfiltrate

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Motorcycle Parking Buenos Aires, Argentina
www.xfiltrate.com
Discover how to legally Buy, Tour and Sell a motorcycle in Argentina

hola xfiltrate ,there is no need for a Temporary Export Permit ( i never even heard about such a document existing) .
when you enter mexico you get a Temporary Import Permit for your bike ;you need to cancel this permit when you leave mexico , otherwise you are in trouble when you try to reenter mexico again .

Guaterider, Argentina issues Temporary Vehicle Export Permits, but does so very rarely to foreign tourists (on a 3 month tourist card) if the foreign tourist has purchased a vehicle or motorcyle in Argentina and wants to ride across a border. Generally, these Temporary Vehicle Export Permits are not required for permanent foreign residents of Argentina or for Argentine citizens. But, before we became permanent residents, Elisa and I each bought new motorcycles in Buenos Aires for the purpose of touring South America.

When we first exited Argentina with our bikes on the Boquebus (ferry) to Uruguay, we sort of slipped though among all the Argentines, but upon return to Buenos Aires customs ask us for our Argentine Temporary Vehicle Export Permit. I did some pretty fast talking with the bottom line being, what do you care, we are returning the bikes to Argentina... Customs let us in.

So, at the next border we crossed, Paso de Hama, high in the Andes bordering Chile, I asked for Temporary Vehicle Export Permits for the bikes and they were issued, so we could tour for 6 months, before we we were obligated to return our bikes to Argentina.

Now that we are both permanent foreign residents of Argentina with DNI (National Identity booklets), we are not required to secure Temporary Vehicle Export Permits for our bikes when leaving Argentina.

If you are a permanent resident of Guatemala a Temporary Vehicle Export Permit may not be required, but it might be required for foreign tourists (on a tourist card or visa) when attempting to exit Guatemala with their Guatemal registered motorcycle.

I am more than aware of the Temporary Vehicle Import Permit, the credit card, or deposit required... the proof of insurance, payment to a bank etc upon entering Mexico. I lived in San Miguel de Allende three years and toured Mexico several times.

I also know there is a Sonora Only Permit that allows US and other Foreign Tourists on foreign registered bikes to ride within the State of Sonora, but an "interior" Temporary Vehicle Import Permit is required to transverse the country.

There is probably a similar situation for Foreign Tourists going into Mexico from the south. Is there?

Originally, I was just wondering if Temporary Vehicle Export Permits were required for "foreign tourists" exiting Guatemala with their Guatemala registered motorcycle, as are required in Argentina for foreign tourists exiting Argentina with their Argentine registered motorcycle. And, let me add here, there is no obligation for Argentina border officials to issue these Temporary Vehicle Export Permits to foreign tourists...and I personally know many foreign tourists who have been stopped at the Argentine border and not allowed to exit their Argentine registered motorcyles.

I guess Elisa and I were just very lucky.

Eat, Drink and Be Careful xfiltrate

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Motorcycle Parking Buenos Aires, Argentina
www.xfiltrate.com
Discover how to legally Buy, Tour and Sell a motorcycle in Argentina

Really really easy but you need an address and can make one up...such as 200m Oeste de Banco Naconal, Puntarenas..........the kicker is it takes up to a month to get plates and title and registro....the good part is you can pick these up when ready at your dealer. So spend a month in CR riding around on temp plates no problem
You can sell a Costa Rican registered moto in Peru, I've done it legally. Buyer has to pay 22% tax on it is all.
Avoid any Suzuki dealers, Honda is better, Yamaha dealers are almost honest believe it.

Hi guys

I am new to this thread.....in fact, I am new to most things motorcycles! My lovely girlfriend and I are planning a trip down to South America in July 2010 - hopefully for 4-5 months. After discussing the best way to get around, we turned to motorcycles. We can't think of a better way to travel and explore and escape all the tourists.

Planning (very loosely) on starting in Peru, then roaming around Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Brazil.

I guess my first question is where would the best and easiest place to buy 2 motorbikes be? I am hoping it is Peru as that is where we plan on starting. What do we need to know to do this? i have read a lot on here regarding buying / selling in Argentina but not a lot from other countries.

Any tips are much appreciated. Apologies if this has already been covered and I haven't found it on these threads yet

Happy travels

Peru may be easiest and cheapest place in SA to buy bike...you don't need any domicilio or anything...just buy bike and have papers registered to dealers address YOUR NAME of course...Papers take a couple of weeks to receive
Ecuador is REALLY expensive for motos.
You can sell almst any moto legally in Peru unless from Colombia, Ecuador, AR, CL, or surrounding countries
I sold Costa Rica bike legally no hassle

125's and under are cheap under 1500 USD
over that the prices climb steeply
Honda 200 AG is about 4100+
Yamaha 250 enduro I think as an example is about 46-5000 USD
Honda Falcon 400 A GREAT BIKE is about 7500
KLR would be around 9-9500
Forget beemers they are double the price from the states

Chile is a little cheaper than COL-ECU-PERU but still high and I dont know if you can resell anywhere else except back in Chile

Maybe pick your starting country and make a loop to end up back there
advertise your bike on mercado libre for sale or like in costa rica there is also crmotos.com

Thanks a lot for the advice, that is really helpful. I think you are right - buying a bike and doing a loop back to the starting point is probably the easiest way. What about crossing borders with bike registered in Peru? is this any problem?

Merry Christmas

as far as I know NONE except maybe Chile but Xfiltrate should know that one