How to buy a car in Chile step by step

How to buy a car in Chile South America. It is possible for tourists to buy vehicles in Chile. Santiago is one of the best places to make a purchase in South America. Renting a vehicle is also possible but you may not be able to take it to other countries due to insurance issues. The buying process can be complex, challenging and can take days or weeks to complete. Many people have been successful but most seem to have various challenges along the way. We bought a 2006 Diesel Hyundai H1 van and converted it in to a basic camper to sleep in. Here is a basic summary from our experience.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Patients, Passpost, valid visa, any Residential address (house, hostel, hotel)

1. First you will need to get a RUT number (this is a Chilean tax number), this is obtained from any Sii office. They close at 2pm. You will need to complete one form and pay a small fee. A temporary official RUT document in your name is issued instantly. You will require a residential address in the area of the Sii office that you go to. You can collect the final official document within 3 months or have it posted to you at the address that you used on the application form.

2. Once you have found a vehicle, it would pay to check if the vehicle has any fines owing because once you buy the vehicle you also own any fines owing on it. Check at a police station and Registro Civil office and it is possible to check online. If the vehicle does have fines it is your call weather you want to get the owner to pay the fines and prove it to you, or just let it be. In some cases the fine must be paid and then the receipt must be taken to a judge in the area the fine was incurred and cleared off the system.

3. If the fines and chassis number are all clear and ok you will need to start the process of transferring the vehicle into your name. For a private deal you must go with the current owner or seller to a Notaria who will complete the process for you. The process is usually easier when you buy from a second hand car dealer than a private deal. You don’t need to go to a Notaria and the paper work is all done at the dealer’s office. You are required to pay a 5% tax on top of the purchase price of the vehicle, hence the reason to have a RUT number.
   A Padron is what the ownership paper is commonly called however it is not what it says on the document itself. The official name is certificado de inscription and this paper needs to have your name on it before you can cross borders, however it is OK to drive within Chile in the meantime with the doc in the previous owner’s name. It is totally illegal to drive with out carrying this doc & a Police officer may ask to see it at random. The Notaria or car dealer will give you temporary official paper work to prove that you own the vehicle. I have heard you can also go to a notaria and have someone sign the car across to you – perhaps quicker, but might cause problems further down the line. Make sure you receive from the seller, all of these 5 documents during the hand over.
   1.Padron (certificado de inscription) yellow paper . This is the ownership paper.
   2. Certificado de seguro obligatorio, Purple paper , This is the compulsory third party insurance.
   3. certificado de revision technical, blue paper. All vehicles are required to have a safety check annually – Check when this is due because you can only have it re-checked in Chile within the month it runs out.
   4. Certificado de emisiones de contaminantes, green paper. Some vehicles may have restrictions on the days of the week that they are allowed to drive in Santiago because of carbon emissions. This is a large green sticker on the windscreen.
   5. Permisos de circulacion. Green paper.

4. An additional third party only insurance (insurance/seguro) is required for crossing borders to Argentina. This can be purchased from any major bank in Chile. Banks close at 2pm.

5. * It has been experienced by many good folk that there are many delays in the process of changing ownership, and this can hold you up if you want to pass borders. This can cause issues if you have time restrictions on your visa. If the Padron is in the previous owner´s name, you can have them sign a "nota de permiso" in the presence of a notario to say the owner gives you permission to take it over the border. Perhaps quicker, but this might cause problems further down the line. If you have bought a vehicle and are wondering why your Padron is not being issued and sent, it may have something to do with your RUT number being a tourist or temporary number and this could be holding up the process. Keep digging.

Tips & Warnings

• Some good web sites to search for a vehicle are , www.chileautos.cl, www.demotores.cl, www.rastro.com
• The best road maps can be purchased from Copec service stations and cover all of Chile, written in Spanish only. You can also have your oil changed here for cheap. Diesel is called diesel or petrol. Gasoline is called gasoline. Check that the pump is set is to zero $ before the person fills your vehicle up.
• Jumbo, Easy and The Homecentre are located at large shopping malls and are the best places to buy camping gear, cooking gear, jerry cans, water tanks and all that stuff. The Franklin Markets have cheap mattresses and bed frames/slats for vans.
• We bought a GPS in Los Condas from a shop called The GPS Shop for 135000 pesos and it has been sooo good. It came with maps of Chile and a free case. Pablo works there and speaks some English. You can also try and down load mapas of other countries for free.
• Parking dudes are common and not always official. Don’t park on yellow lines even if they say it NO PROBLEM. The official parking dudes will put a ticket with the time on your car at the start and issue another ticket with the price and collect the money when you return. Unofficial parking dudes just make a price up and if you don’t pay them, they might do something to your car when you walk away. Best pay the small fee.
• In Santiago there a number of large car yards with many different dealers selling a few vehicles each located beside the ring road called Americo Vesprusio including 2 within walking distance from San Ramon metro station and La Granja metro station. There is also one next to Franklin Metro Markets. These yards typically have small offices where an office person completes the transaction and then takes the documents to a Notaria. This is normal and seems legitimate.
• An alarm is recommended and we found a very trust worthy family business near Franklin Markets to install ours.
• Remember to check the vehicle has Chassis numbers located on a small steal riveted plate and also the same number stamp printed on the vehicle chassis somewhere. If not it may be stolen or suspicious as we have found before.
• Road Tolls are common on the main highways and tunnels within the city. You must have a small electronic device called a TAG for these particular roads that sends a signal as charges up an account you must pay each month. Its also possible to pre-pay on the internet. The best thing to do is avoid these highways. Out side Santiago the highway tolls are paid at booths as you pass them and can be paid in cash.
• Be aware of major streets that change traffic directions at certain times of the day. We just follow other cars when unsure.
• Unless you have a Chilean bank account, you will need cash to buy a vehicle. This will require many visits to a bank machine. Our limit was 350,000 pesos per day, per card. Make sure you allow a few days to get enough money. Be carefull with all that cash!!!

[nickvh]

on 10/27/2009 Woops. Had text space issues so please email me here for more details and pics, [e-mail]

[nickvh]

on 10/27/2009 We are selling our camper van in Chile. Hyundai H1, Year: 2006, 100,000 Kilometers Approximately, White, 5 Speed Manual Diesel, 3 Seats, Stereo, Alarm (with Spare Remotes)
Central Locking, Kill Switch, Power Steering, 4 Near New Tires, Regular Servicing Including: New Breaks, New Cam Belt at 90,000 Kilometers, New Filter, Oil Changes, & General TLC (Tender Loving Care). $6,000,000.00 Chilean Pesos PLUS FREE TREASURE.. We have comfortably driven this van over all of Chile & a significant amount of Argentina. It reliably & easily handles all terrain & conditions - from the driest desert in the world, to high altitude & snow storms. We did our homework taking tremendous care & researched our selection of this vehicle & setting it up, analysing - safety, costs, comfort & of course have maximised the fun factor. When it is time for us to part with it we will have lived in it for approx 15...

[nickvh]

on 10/27/2009 Our van is for sale.

Motor Home / Casa
Van Hyundai H1
Year: 2006
100, 000 Kilometers Approximately
White
5 Speed Manual
Diesel
3 Seats
Stereo
Alarm (with Spare Remotes)
Central Locking
Kill Switch
Power Steering
4 Near New Tires
Regular Servicing Including: New Breaks, New Cam Belt at 90,000 Kilometers, New Filter, Oil Changes, & General TLC (Tender Loving Care)

$6,000,000.00 Chilean Pesos PLUS FREE TREASURE

We have comfortably driven this van over all of Chile & a significant amount of Argentina.
It reliably & easily handles all terrain & conditions - from the driest desert in the world, to high altitude & snow storms.
We did our homework taking tremendous care & researched our selection of this vehicle & setting it up, analysing - safety, costs, comfort & of course have maximised the fun factor.
Having the engine at the front of the vehicle is a serious safety consideration - it...