Amazing! You’ve decided you want to overland South America and explore for an extended period of time.
Now comes the fun part. Deciding what type of vehicle you want, how to get it and how to buy it.
The most common options of how to buy a car in South America typically come down to buying in Chile or Colombia. This guide will apply to locally registered, Chilean plated car, trucks, vans. You could also buy a foreign plated (US & Europe are most of what I’ve seen but have too many different processes to cover here).
For us, Chile was the right choice as Chile and Argentina were our primary destinations we wanted to explore so we could see Patagonia and the Carretera Austral.
There are many different questions to ask, but generally know you're in for an awesome adventure. There will be some challenges along the way no matter what you decide, but that is part of the journey. In many cases our most challenging moments opened up the deepest connections with locals and other travelers.
Deciding What Type Of Car You Want
The first thing to figure out is what type of vehicle you want to buy in Chile.
Do you want 4x4? Do you want a rooftop tent? Do you want a Van? Do you want a truck with a camper?
Generally, 4x4 is awesome because it opens up new potential places you can go. If you drive places during rain/snow seasons you have a better chance of getting yourself unstuck. But it also means you will probably have less inventory to choose from and mechanics will probably be less familiar with 4x4 as it’s not the most common type of drivetrain here. (Not to mention we’ve talked to many folks with 4x4 who got stuck and still needed assistance to get out)
For us we wanted a 4x4 initially, didn’t find it, but haven’t been limited at all due to only being in a 2WD truck.
The most important thing we’ve found is high-clearance. Needing to be able to get around large rocks, potholes, water crossings or bumps along the road is more needed than 4x4 in most cases.
From there you’ll have a lot of other options of whether you want to have to convert the bed nightly, or if you want a bathroom inside, a dedicated sitting space, water storage and more.
Make a list of things you think are need to have and nice to have, knowing you probably won’t find it all perfectly and that’s OK.
Things to think about could be:
clearance, a workspace, refrigerator, solar power, shower, hot water, toilet (type can be important too), cooking supplies, heater, air conditioner (takes a TON of power), fan, windows, additional storage (inside & out), spare gas can, type of tires on vehicle….the list goes on.
Figure out what’s important to you.
Where To Look To Buy A Car In Chile?
There are a few places to research where to buy a car in Chile and find what’s available. Most of what we found were groups on Facebook:
PanAmerican Travelers Association
Overlanding Buy & Sell Americas
We would highly recommend to start looking months before you want to depart. You can start getting a sense of what’s available, prices, and more. Vehicles aren’t sold everyday, so this may take some time depending on budget and seasonality.
Most people are making purchases to start/end around the Austral Summer. So December/January are really popular times for cars to be sold and purchased in Chile but it also means there is a lot of competition and is one of the reasons we purchased before arriving because we found a vehicle we really liked.
Now you can contact the seller and start to get any questions answered. You’ll want to clarify things that you have on your need/nice to have list and more like:
-Maintenance records
-What is included with the vehicle?
-Kitchen supplies? Solar? Battery? Table & chairs?
-Gas bottle? (Chilean or Argentinian hookup?)
We found ours in a Facebook group, started the conversation, had some WhatsApp discussions, calls, video tours and the rest is history.
How To Use A 3rd Party To Help Buy A Car
We chose to use a 3rd party that enabled us to complete the purchase before we arrived in Chile. That way the vehicle would be ready upon arrival.
This is by no means mandatory, but helped us in a few ways because:
- It was someone familiar with the process
- There's a good amount of. paperwork that needs to be done and have some wait time
- The mechanical inspection of the vehicle can be done simultaneously
- They are native Spanish speakers
- They can work on the vehicle before arrival
If you want help from a 3rd party - it will typically only cost a few hundred $$’s, you can take care of payment on your own if you are VERY trusting, or the 3rd party can help too for an additional fee.
We worked with Noam of Suzi Santiago CTW who was great. There are 2 Suzi's so be sure to look for CTW (Center for Traveling on Wheels) as that is the one we have heard the best reviews for and have personal experience, here's their Instagram @SuziSantiagoCTW too.
We spoke to them, had them make some upgrades and changes to the vehicle while still at home and were in touch the whole time.
Upon arrival we met with Fabiola at their office in Santiago, Chile, went to the Notary’s office and had all the paperwork complete in a few hours. All we needed to do was sign a few forms, provide our passport and pay the notary fees you would have even if you did it on your own.
We were off in the vehicle within 24 hours, ready to travel!
We’ve also heard great things about Juan @Overandes on IG or www.Overandes.com.
Both Suzi & Overandes typically have inventory of vehicles or can help custom build from scratch if you're interested too.
These folks should also help insure things like:
RUT (Rol Ùnico Tributario) Application - we had to get a notary and secretary of state to authorize a document and then DHL it to Santiago
Mechanical Inspection
Padron- Ownership of vehicle proof
Certificado Revision Technica- Annual Safety Inspection
Permisa de Circulación - Annual vehicle tax
Segurado Obligatrio- Mandatory Annual Insurance
You can buy a car in Chile on your own, but you will need to be there in person, speak Spanish fluently and coordinate a bunch of different resources to align with you and the seller. If the seller is another traveler that can be really tough, so we recommend using a 3rd party to help facilitate the transaction.
Those are the main steps on how to buy a van in Chile, especially easy if you’re abroad and want to get moving as soon as possible.
Follow along on our trip and get travel inspiration, follow us on Instagram @VitaminSeeMore
What questions do you have?
