I've been searching for the past 5 hours and haven't found the answer to my specific question (googling with site:horizonsunlimited and a variety of search terms), so hopefully someone who has done this can help. There seems to be a ton of information about Argentina, Peru, Chile, but almost none about Uruguay.

I have a friend who has a US registered bike in Montevideo that I'm going to buy. He's in Colombia now and won't be in Uruguay when I pick up the bike. Before I leave the states, I'm going to get the title transferred to my name, and registered in my name (I know there is some dispute about whether this is possible, I've done it personally before, have spoken on the phone to the dmv to verify, and am 100% certain I will have title, reg, bill of sale, and plates in hand when I leave). The bike right now is on temporary import papers in his name.

Does he need to be there when I leave the country with his bike? Can I just put the new plates on and leave the country, canceling his import papers at the border and entering argentina on my new papers? Or do I need to leave the country with the bike still on his plates and title, and change everything on the ferry to BA?

If I need to leave the country on his plates, will a simple poder allow me to do that, even if the old title and reg are no longer legally valid? Also, I'll need to surrender the original title when I change the title here, so i'd only have a photocopy of the old (his) title.

Anyone successfully transferred ownership of a foreign bike in uruguay (or anyone else) know the answers?

Thanks in advance...

What state? It's always worth knowing about the easy ones. FWIW, you won't get any argument out of me about being able to make the transfer: I've bought and sold in a half-dozen states and have never been required to have the seller present.

About that TIP: basically, he's supposed to be present to export the bike. I don't know whether you can do it yourself with a notarized authorization (poder notarial), but I'm always interested in hearing more. The standard routine is that you show your TIP, registration and passport (sic) to cancel the TIP when departing. They're all supposed to denote the same person.

The only constructive bit of information I've got to offer is that I didn't need a title in Uruguay, so I assume you won't either--old or new. The registration is all that matters.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

Washington state is really easy going about title transfers. If you go into the office (the main office in Seattle), all you need is the title with the signatures on it, a bill of sale, and that's it. The other person doesn't need to be present, nor do you need the bike present.

In 2008 I did this with a bike I bought from a friend from Alaska. He'd moved back and left his bike with me to sell, and I eventually bought it myself. I took the title that he had signed before he left, went to the dmv, and in a matter of minutes had the quick title and plates in hand, no mess.

I just today called the DMV in Seattle to confirm this was still the case in 2013, and the very nice woman on the phone said yes to all, no problem. Hope this info helps someone.

As for my situation, still not sure about getting the bike out. I've been researching and haven't found anyone yet who left the country with someone else's TIP.

Señor Boludo(why did you choose that nic?)
Two years ago a friend crossed from Argentina into Uruguay.Both(old owner drowe in and new owner drowe out).
They stay in Uruguay 48hs.Only remarc at the border in Uruguay was they changed very fast ownership(papers) of that bike! It was in the system the older owner.She said yes paid extra fast fee in the origin country to do that!
Papers where doctored at a PC at place.
Don´t know exactly today how things are working......but if the bike was longer there maybe you are lucky.Remember they can stay only 12 month.After that it could be problem.

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America is a nice continent,not a country.All people who lives in this continent are americans.Discover it in peace!

The bike will have been there for 11 months when I cross, so it hopefull won't trigger issues from the computer. And the title i have will be 4 months old by the time i leave uruguay as well...

To clarify, they entered uruguay with the old owner driving and got a permit in his name, and then did the new ownership doc, and then left with the new owner driving on the new papers?

To close the loop for anyone looking for this info, I went into the DMV in Seattle two days ago with the alaskan title, a bill of sale, and my California ID and did the title transfer. No problems, they don't care if the bike is present or not. They needed a Washington address, but didn't ask for any verification. I paid $50 extra for a quick title, which meant that in 20 minutes they had printed out a new title, registration, and gave me license plates. No hassle. I have now done this twice, and can confirm that it's 100% doable in Washington state.

To close the last loop: the answer is yes, you can get a bike out with someone else's TVIP. However, it's a very YMMV situation. Here's what happened:

I picked up the bike and rode to Colonia for the ferry. I got a ticket for the 8pm ferry, and went to kill time till the ride. I planned to get there 1 hour early in case of any issues. At ~6:40, I stopped in to the store across the street to get a coke and whatever, casually asked the clerk how early I should get there for the 8pm ferry, and she told me that since it was 7:45 I should already be there. I had forgotten Uruguay is an hour ahead of Argentina. Shit.

So I ran to the bike, roared across the street and up to the gates. The guy waived me through the first gates and told me to park the bike in the line of cars waiting to board and come back in through the side of the terminal to get my ticket and passport stamped, etc. They let me cut the line, the immigration guys looked over my ticket, etc. (no TVIP or anything here), and stamped me through. When I got back to the bike, the last of the cars in line was just boarding. I raced up to the guys checking tickets and papers at the boat loading dock. He looked at my ticket, and I handed him the TVIP as well. He looked at it, looked at my name, and started to say something, so I just handed him the power of attorney we had made up authorizing me to use the bike. He started to turn to his superior behind him, but the guy just said "it's fine, let him through", and they waived me on the boat.

So long story short: it can work, but it could be a situation where you just have to talk your way through (or get lucky by being stupid).

Just for those who wish to afford themselves the protection of motorcycle insurance in South America, it is illegal to transfer the title of a foreign registered while the motorcycle is in Uruguay by way of a TVIP.

Before paying claims all insurance companies will validate title and previous title transfers for any illegalities. And, if the title transfer was illegal, the insurance company will not pay any claim and possibly complain to the police that the insurance was fraudulently purchased.

Xfiltrate

Hope this reply is not to late... I did it. it works. Was few years back. I do not think what I did was Illegal in any way.
The situation was similar: A friend riding with California license plates sign the title and passed to me.I titled the bike in my name and registered the bike in Georgia were I live. to cover more bases we went to a local layer/notary and did a bill of sale. Then we boarded the ferry and I switch to the GA license plates and I arrived to Argentina with a bike on my name.
nothing was illegal since he left Uruguay with the bike in his name and I enter argentina legally with the bike being my property and registered on my name. Hope this help.

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Altazor