Hey! I bought a motorcycle in Colombia and was planning on selling it in Chile at the end of the trip. Yet, I found out that this isnt easy to do. I heard it is possible, however, in a Zona Franca. Does anyone have any information on that ?

thanks

Jan

The Zona Franca arrangement is an arrangment for local people living in that area and it has nothing to so with foreigners passing by. You are allowed to buy stuff in the Zona Franca - but your not allowed to sell anything.

I spent a good bit of time in Punta Arenas earlier this year as my bike broke down in that area and I talked to several riders that tried to sell their bikes down there and in general it seemed more difficult to sell a bike down there than other places in the country.
A couple who tried to sell their bike which they purchased in Colombia told me no Notario in town would write any poder or similar to them because selling things such as used foreign plated vehicles down there is a touchy subject due to the Zona Franca. You actually need to import the vehicle to Chile. It is possible but it will take at least a month and it will cost a good bit of money ~ 100 000-150 000 CHP for a 150 cc bike. Then you will get chilean plates on it. But then as you might know - according to other new information elsewhere on this site a foreigner buying a bike in Chile cannot under any circumstance take the bike out of the country. And that makes the whole point worthless more or less.

There is another option in Punta Arenas though - theres a bike shop that sells used bikes and the owner often buy foreign plated bikes from international travellers. He then imports them to Chile and sell them to locals. But dont expect to get a whole lot for the bike.

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In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

Thanks a lot for your reply !! Do you happen to knoe the name of the guy? Or any other shop that would buy for cheap further up north? Im happy even selling it to a mechanic for parts

Hej jan !
Where you able to sell your bike in the end? Im doing the same trip as you, coming from Colombia, in Peru now and wanted to sell the bike in Santiago...

Thanks and best regards


Robert

Hej jan !
Where you able to sell your bike in the end? Im doing the same trip as you, coming from Colombia, in Peru now and wanted to sell the bike in Santiago...

Thanks and best regards


Robert

I am interested in the opposite, buying the bike in Chile, riding it up to Colombia, and selling it there. Would that work anywhere?
I would arrive in Chile around December 27th 2017.

I just saw that two Americans sold their KLRs fairly easily in a Zona Franca (Punta Arenas or Iquique). Here’s the process, per their ADV post:

We sold one bike to a foreigner and one bike to a Chilean. The process for selling the bike to a Chilean is quite straight forward if you are in a Zona Franca (Punta Arenas or Iquique). Step one is go to a notary to create a document of sale. Step two is go Aduana with your documents and buyer and seller, have them create all the appropriate paper work, and then drive the bike to aduana storage and leave it there. For the seller, your part is done here. TVIP cancelled and situation noted on back of PDI document.

We had a tougher time selling to a foreigner, but now that we know the drill it would be easier. At the notary we needed to create not only a sale document but also a power to use document. We returned to aduana with these documents and I believe the original TVIP was conserved but with a note from the aduana director permitting exit of the country. The buyer left the country and entered Argentina the following day without issue.

Lots of speculation of the internet about selling bikes down south; we found the process quite simple and got excellent prices. We had many offers from Argentinians, Chileans and foreigners. In some cases we could have sold the bike without papers, and in some with. It just so happened that the best offers we got were also folks wanting a legal transfer. It helps to have time, patience, and the language.