Hello everyone,

It looks like the coronavirus is starting to affect us in south america as the rest of the world is closing their borders and we still have to go home! We are currently in Chile and are selling both our colombian plated motorcycles in Chile.

The buyer is flying in on the 9th of april but we are now thinking of possibly flying home before that time. Is there any way to sell the motorcycles without him being there? Could we fill in and sign all the paperwork, do a poder from our end and cancel the TIP at the airport before he arrives? I have been unable to find any recent information and we might be the first people to be stuck in a situation like this but with the borders closing rapidly and for a length of time, it feels like we are having to consider this as an option.

He does have some contacts in santiago that could help so if anyone thinks it's possible with the help of some locals then at least we have that!

Hopefully someone here knows how to deal with this because this seems like a pain in the behind to figure out!

I tried buying a U.S plated motorcycle in Chile a year ago and the Aduanas were far from helpful. They originally told us that the TIP was transferable from one person to another, with no issue. Yet we were later told no, this was not the case, and that selling a foreign vehicle on Chilean soil was illegal and punishable by JAIL, yes that's right they threatened to put us in jail for buying a vehicle in this way because it avoided paying Chilean taxes despite the vehicle not being registered in Chile.

In the end, me and the seller of the bike doubled up on the motorcycle and rode across the border to Argentina, swapping out our paperwork between borders so the Chilean TIP could get canceled and a new Argentine TIP could be issued in my name, thus legitimizing my ownership of the bike. I was then able to ride back into Chile no problem.

I think it would be difficult enough to perform the sale of the bike with both you AND the seller in Chile... or rather the sale is easy because any notary will write up a bill of sale but the customs in Chile will present a significant road block. So yeah, i think you would have a really difficult time if the buyer of the bike weren't even present!

If i recall correctly, customs in Chile does allow bikes to park in their special parking lots, a sort of quarantine for vehicles that dont have their paperwork in order, and they will hold these vehicles for a period of time before seizing them. Maybe you can call one of these parking lots and see if people have ever done what you're trying to do, you might get a more helpful customs official than i did!

No problem, find a notary to do both poders (I've used one a couple of times in Santiago, I'll find the name if you need it). You'll just need good colour copies of the new owners passports, they don't need to be present. You don't need to cancel or do anything with the TVIP, leave it in your name, the new "owner" will hand it in when they cross the borders. Don't mention that you're selling the bikes to the notary, your friends (new owners) are going to ride them to Colombia for you, that's it.

And anyway, the actual sale transfer of the paperwork is handled in Colombia when they get there and pay the relevant taxes there (before anyone jumps in about the legality of it, don't bother).

And then leave the bikes in casa de matte, 0320 Ricardo Matte Pérez. Done.

Fill and sign the Colombian sale transfer paperwork but don't date it, and the new owners can use that to transfer it to their names in Colombia.

NewbRider to the rescue again! If you could give me the contact information of the attorney that would be fantastic!

What do you mean with both poders?

We will definitely be storing our bikes there! I just hope the next owner will be crossing a border within 3 months so that the TVIP doesn't expire for us. Would that leave us in a bad situation? If that's the case would it be better to leave it at a government agency where the TVIP will not expire?

I have also heard some bad stories about people not being able to cancel the TVIP when it is in the name of someone else. Would you be able to shed some light on this? Could it be that they said that they "sold" the bike to the new owner?

Here is the link to my post on problems I had leaving Chile with an open TVIP. Maybe I was just unlucky but the fact you have a TVIP is recorded on the visitor visa (the strip of printed paper that goes in your passport when you enter Chile).

https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hu...-bolivia-75729

The notaria is Clovis toro campos, they can be funny though depending what day it is/how they're feeling (same as all notaries in south America, grumpy guts!).

By both poders I mean 2 bikes = two poders? Or it's just one bike?

Doesn't cause you any problems unless you want to re enter and the bikes are still registered in the system with expired TVIP, so get a copy of the Poder and keep it safe just in case for future reference. I'm sure with the covid19 nonsense though that it'd be easily explained anyway.

People get over complicated with the TVIP, trying to go to customs in the airport and border runs together etc. If you've got the Poder, then you've got the power of attorney to cross borders, in all of south America.

I've done 3 crossings with poders and a tvip in someone else's name, never an issue.

Perfect I'll give them a call in the hope that they're friendly to us!

yes that right I thought maybe we needed 2 different poders for both bikes!

Ok that does settle some nerves and I hope we wont have any problems regarding the TVIP.

The buyer does have some friends in Chile and we were thinking of assig ing the poder to his friends name first and then the buyer can swap the poder onto his name when he comes to Chile. Would that work at all? I'm a little bit skeptic because I think the residents have a different way of transferring a motorcycle in Chile compared to foreigners. I read that they have to import the bike and put Chilean plates on it. Do you know anything about this?

Does not sound right. Any sort of used motorcycle is a prohibited import apart perhaps from one belonging to a returning resident and motorcycles on a TVIP

Ok, so more research has gotten me this far..

To store the motorcycle we need to go with a chilean resident to a customs office to notify them that we are storing the motorcycles at his address.

In order to leave the country we need a chilean resident who is registered in the RUNT to temporarily register the motorcycles under his name and/or address(?). Then technically speaking we would have to contact the customs office before returning to say that we want it back in our names.

I am assuming that in our situation we would have to get the new owner to call before flying in to say that the title has been swapped over to him and that he wants the TIP to be registered into his name.

Again the situation we're in is not common so I understand if there are no concrete answer but if anyone has any info that would be great!

Take a copy of the Poder with you incase they ask at aduana, explain that you're leaving the bike to someone else to ride to Colombia. If they ask. Go to casa de matte and speak to Christian.

Have met many many people who've left Chile with TIPs in their name. The process that you're describing is part of the way you could suspend the TVIP. I've heard rumours that people had trouble leaving Chile but never actually anything concrete. If they did I'd say it's becuase they didn't explain themselves well at the airport.

But I've not actually heard first hand of them asking when you leave. And I do have personal experience of leaving with an active TIP.

And don't leave the Poder to the friends first, just over complicates it. And don't let any Chileans get involved unless it's Christian, they'll likely make things much worse for you. Remember this bike is NOT BEING SOLD IN CHILE. It will be sold in Colombia, they're just riding it there for you.

Don't let all this get overcomplicated. "can I give someone power of attorney to ride my bike to Colombia and all the countries of south America?" yes. "can I pre-fill the vehicle transfer papers so that I don't need to be present to transfer it in Colombia?" yes. "do I need to do anything about the import permit?" no.

Don't ask Chileans anything, 1) they haven't got a clue 2) they looooove to make a drama.

Good luck man, don't stress. I've bought two Colombian bikes and rode both to Colombia, 1 from Chile 1 from Bolivia. I've just helped 3 Czech guys transfer 3 Colombian bikes in Peru.

Hahaha this is all great info! We will be heading to casa de matte tomorrow and hopefully talk to Christian there! Thanks for all your help so far!

Well NewbRider is suggesting my problems leaving with an open TVIP were perhaps that I did not explain myself properly and that he has not heard of these problems first hand. Sorry to say there was no misunderstanding and now you have it first hand. I was not allowed to leave and fortunately a friend who lived nearby the airport had time to come over to the airport and sign the bike TVIP into his name. The reality is that the customs people do not always apply the rules the same way. Good luck

DLyttle thanks for your input, we are planning on going to the airport really early and will also arrange to have a guy on standby to go to the airport if we cant get in for this reason!

I am hoping that this virus will allow for some more leniency by the airport..