Expert: Cesar - 1/15/2010

Question
i will coming as tourist from USA and would to buy a car to drive through south America.

is it possible and easy for a foreigner to buy a car in Colombia?

Answer
Dear Blo,

Yes, it is pretty easy for anyone -including a foreigner- to buy a car in Colombia. All you need is the money. I am not in the customs business and I do not know if there will be some restrictions when taking the car outside of Colombia, but I do not think so. I think that you can simply drive across to several countries as long as you have a visa, but they will probably ask you if you are going to import the car into the other country or if you are just passing by. You will probably have to fill out some custom forms.

To drive through South America you might need to check on some regulations when entering other countries. Most or all countries in the world require the person to have automobile insurance. You pretty much will have to be buying short-term insurance when entering each country (for example insurance for the days that you will be in that country). I do not know if each port of entry will have nearby an insurance company nearby that will sell you the short-term autoinsurance. I do not know if some countries will have additional regulations. You could check with the consulates for each country you intend to visit to know their regulations including entering in a car from another country. You could visit websites that list consulates and embassies for many countries and then visit the consulate/embassies to know about what you need to do.

Regards,

Cesar
www.CesarColombia.com