This was posted on the AllChile.net Chile Forum by the web admin who knows a lot about this stuff.
Bad news for anyone who wants to buy a bike or car in Chile and travel around SA.
As always in Chile it may not be implemented in a uniform manner.

New regulation by Chilean aduanas in regards to the temporary export of cars and foreign owners.


This has NOTHING TO DO WITH FOREIGNERS WITH RESIDENCY IN CHILE!!!!! You can still come and go from the country with your Chilean registered car.


This only applies to people coming to Chile with tourist visas, and buying a car with a temporary RUT for foreigners, and intending to leave Chile with there car under a temporary export permit. We are still looking in to how this applies to the rental car industry, but that is a different problem.


O.k., the original regulation required a non-resident foreigner that owned a car, to just have a "RUT", without distinction between a resident with a permanent RUT number and a foreigner with a temporary tax payer ID RUT number, in order to do a temporary export of a car to say drive in Argentina, Bolivia, and so on.


Well, for all the neighboring countries, the benefit is by treaty to temporarily import a car, was in fact only meant to be extended to Chilean citizens or residents. It is essentially a temporary tax waiver between the countries. Chile has been very strict about enforcing this on foreigners. If you bring a foreign registered car in to the country, you have like 90 days and you either have to leave or formally import the car and register it.


Well, I guess it was not happening the other way around for years, due to that little blooper in the regulations. We get foreigners all the time that bought cars in Chile, say drove to the United States, and then are trying to sell the car. Cars were going out, under the temporary import benefit to neighboring countries, and for one reason or another never coming back. They essentially had an exit stamp, but no entry stamp, for the car papers.


So, for now, a foreigner that does not have residency in Chile must formally export the car in order to leave the country with it.


So, for all those tourist that were planning on buying a car in Chile, driving around South America, then returning to Chile to sell it. Sorry.


Is it stupid? yea. Will they fix this? Probably not any time soon. That is a very small part of the car market, with very specific circumstances. We are not sure what this means for the rental industry however; and, they might be the first to do something about changing this.


We are also looking for a legal work around, but also a very, very small part of our business too. So not a major priority.