Hi, I am travelling with my own bike through South America. I will cross the border from Ecuador to Colombia at Tulcan. Please can anyone tell me how and where to buy SOAT for my bike? Is it possible to do it online before I cross the border? Or do I have to go to an agent, and if so, can any provide a reputable agent with name and address at or close to the border? This seems a simple ask, but nowhere have I found a simple answer. Much appreciated, Isabelle

Hi Isabelle,

You should be able to get a Colombian SOAT in ipiales.
iOverlander has 3 places listed.

N 0°49.845', W 77°38.164' is the one near the Exito.

All the best!

I would like to add a warning here. Expect that the Colombians will make you pay a gringo price when you buy or sell a used vehicle. I'm not talking about the amount you will pay or the amount you will sell.

I know What I'm talking about. I'm married to a Colombian native, and have lived in Colombia. I have bought and sold numerous vehicles, not once my wife's family let me buy or sold a vehicle alone. The problem is due to the fact that the government wants his dues paid and the Colombian try to make someone else pay.

The first time i bought a brand new motorcycle. The dealer assured me that I can insure the motorcycle in case of accident, theft. It turned out that I was told this was not possible without the Colombian cedula. I rode a few thousands motorcycle before getting my cedula.

The dealer lied. When I got my cedula I contacted an insurance broker thrue my wife's best friend daughter to get health coverage. I told her that I was glad that I could also get insurance coverage for the motorcycle and healthcare.

She replied this is not true, and she showed me that a passport in an accepted ID to have any kind of insurance coverage.

To insure the motorcycle, as I had some KM on it I had to take it to company that the motorcycle could be certified has no damage afterward a lawyer wrote a certification that there was not any holding of any kind. The insurance paid for that.

And when is vehicle is sold, the seller must make sure that a lawyer must certify a clearance that the seller is no longer the owner, or burry the dam vehicle so it would be impossible to use the datos of the seller and charge him.

Really sorry to hear about your experience.
Are you registered in the RUNT?

But as an update to this thread.. I did successfully sell the motorcycle a month ago.. I'm back home in India right now.

Before selling the motorcycle. I had to to the Technico mechanica as well as the SOAT (insurance). as well as impuestos(taxes)

I was able to do both myself without any agent. I'll put up a detailed post on that soon.

I then helped the new owner(another foreign traveller) get registered in the RUNT.

I then sold the bike to him. Hopefully i'll post up that thread quickly..

Hey guys, I'm currently in Bogota and looking to buy a motorbike.

It seems to tiring to find a used one that I think I'll just get a new XRE 300. I'm afraid it's not going to be powerful enough for Patagonia long highways but well, more powerful models are so expensive.

Ad rider in Colombia is a small world. There is a motorcycle shop in Buga that ad riders from all over Colombia like to hang around to have their motorcycle serviced.

He sometimes has motorcycles in consignation for sale. I sold one to him 3 years ago. I have seem BMW 1200 GS, and a Ducati 1200. The owner is Begium, the manager is a real pro.

I'm currently in Mexico, but I will fly to Montreal thursday, the 26th I will be home in Vancouver. I will contact him then, to see what he has anything interesting avaiable and let you know.

@poorbuthappy, do you have an (internet)address and contact details of the shop you mention?

Me and my mate are planning for a 4 month trip from Colombia to south of argentina in October, and are now pondering the possibility to buy locally instead of airfreight from the Netherlands...
Maybe the Belgian owner even speaks a little word in dutch , since our spanish is.... Uhmmm... not really existing

Cheers! Christaan

I'm interested in the contact info of this MotoShop in Buga. I'm planning to arrive in Cali in a couple of months and I'm actively looking for a bike tu buy.
Thanks!

I'd just like to chuck another piece of advice on this topic. If you buy in Colombia, take with you an extra copy of the transfer forms and a forma contraco compraventa. This way, if you want to sell it to another foreigner let's say in Chile, the paperwork will be much easier for the new owner when they arrive in Colombia.

Also, wherever a bike is from is where you must transfer the paperwork (if it's a Medellín bike, gotta do the transfer in Medellín, same goes for paying the taxes).

So if you sell it in Chile, give the new owner a "poder" to ride the bike, fill out the transfer forms, sign and fingerprint them but don't date them. New owner gets to Colombia, into the simit office, transfer is done.

Thanks a lot to both of the contributors.
It is great to have words from real experiences.
(Compared to opinoins, guesse and asumptions).

Now we know that it works.
And this is a good option for the future.

Thanks


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I am hoping to buy two motorcycles this coming week in bogota (royal enfield Himalayan!) and this write-up is helping me a lot! We are planning on driving south to chile/Argentina and selling it there. My question however is... If we buy the bikes here in colombia with a soat and technico mechanico valid until, let's say June 2020. Will the person buying our bikes and riding to colombia not be able to cross the border because the soat and technico mechanico have expired?

I'm asking this because if I understand correctly you cannot ride in colombia unless the soat and TM are valid but you also need to buy new soat and TM in the place where it was originally purchased from (in this case bogota). Is this correct?

Thanks in advance!

No to all of that. They can enter without soat and técnico and they can buy both anywhere in Colombia.

Ok great that's a relief!

Sorry for asking even more questions I'm trying to look for answers on the forum but can't find any up to date info! We are planning on buying the bikes in colombia and then driving to chile where we want to sell them. I have heard a couple of times now that you can't sell a colombian motorcycle in chile unless it's from 2019 or newer. Is that true? I'm looking at a 2017 himalayan right now but if that's the case it would a deal breaker..

Thanks again!

Don't worry at all, it's only by asking that you and future readers will know.

OK, this is your likely scenario : you'll sell the bikes to other travellers.

In which case you don't transfer the ownership IN Chile. You give them power of attorney over the bikes using a carta poder in a notaria. So you don't import the bikes into Chile (which is what you're referring to with the 2019+ rule).

So it goes like this: buy the bikes in Colombia. As I mentioned in this post before get a second copy of the transfer document forms from the transit office in Colombia. When you're ready to sell, advertise them here or on Facebook or whatever.

Go with the buyer to a notary in Chile (this can also be done without the buyer present but will require good Spanish). At the notary make up a carta poder (power of attorney document). Also fill out the transfer documents, sign and fingerprint them but don't date them. The new oner rides the bikes to Colombia (including any and all countries along the way) with the carta poder. When they reach Colombia they go into the transfer office and use the transfer documents you've already filled and signed to transfer the bikes to their names.

NOTES : MAKE SURE YOU GET THE PODER APOSTILLED IN THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS. This takes 5 minutes but it's essential.

Also a PS: I know I shouldn't say it if you've got your heart set on a himalayan... But really for south America consider an XRE300 or a Tenere 250...because, well, they're not crap (no offence RE owners)