Buy a Car

This task deserves its own page as there are lots of considerations. I know some and welcome more input.
Note that when you are driving a vehicle in Nicargua, make sure you have the Circulacion, your insurance card and your driver's license. There are lots of police checkpoints and this is what they will want to see.

Buy or Import?

While this isn't a hard and fast rule, buy is usually going to be the right answer. There are lots of cars available in Nicaragua and, with duties lower than other countries in the area, they are generally reasonably priced. On the other hand, importing has enough duties and red tape that it will likely not be fun. In addition, there is a new law in place that says you cannot import a vehicle over five years of age.

What Type?

Nicaraguan main roads are is reasonable condition. Thus, if you are just going to the store, around town or on major roads, there is nothing special here. On the other hand, if you plan to explore, a 4WD vehicle with good ground clearance is virtually essential.

Another important consideration is fuel economy. Fuel costs more in Nicaragua than the U.S. (unless you include the military budget in your fuel cost) so fuel economy is more important. Diesel is readily available all over the country so, unless your vehicle will be used most of the time for very short trips, consider a diesel.

What Brand?

The best answer here is "one you can get fixed". Even if you are willing to do the work yourself, parts availability must be considered. Knowing that you just need a new framus for your Fiat x97/203M and it costs $5 is not very useful if you don't know if you will ever get the part without a trip to Europe.

I have been told that Toyota is a very good choice. This fits in with what I see in Costa Rica where about half the non-disposable cars are Toyotas. (Note that I count a Hyundai as disposable--feel free to prove me wrong.) In the small 4WD vehicles, a Montero sounds like it is #2 in popularity.

I would recommend finding a mechanic first, then buying a car. Talk to some mechanics (and their customers--word of mouth is a powerful tool in Central America) and find one you are comfortable with. Then, ask for his or her recomendation on a brand and model of car.
When you find one, bring it in to have it checked out before you close the deal.

Purchase Process

Major updates here based on getting new plates and required tests. 08 Sep 2005.

Much like you would expect anywere, there are two issues: ownership and permission to have it in use. It sounds like the Administracion de Rentas is where the ownership is registered. To drive it, you need a Circulacion permit.

It is apparently quite common to just "give the next person ownership" rather than officially transfer it. That is, whoever is the legal owner will just write up something that says he sold it to the next person. This avoids transfer tax but could leave you with a pile of paperwork pointing back to, for example, someone that died.

If this doesn't concern you, fine. But, there are some more issues. First, if you aren't really the owner then you cannot get permission to take the vehicle out of the country. On the other hand, if you are the owner and you just "sorta sell" it but the ownership remains in your name, you will likely get involved if the vehicle is in an accident. You will now get bit if you need to get new plates because you have to show ownership at various steps in the process.

No matter what you are doing, you need to go to a lawyer and get her to write up an Escritura that describes the sale. The "correct" thing if there are previous Escrituras would be one that transfers the last person's interest to you. But, this will officially mean that you would then have to pay the transfer tax on each of the documented transfers in order to get the Circulacion in your name. If you could find the person whose name is on the Curculacion and then them to do a transfer to you directly then you would avoid that. Or, it is worth a try to get an Escritura written that says that the current dude is here and ok with this and the real owner says fine but they aren't available to sign this right now. Sounds, well, shady and it is.

In any case, when you get the Escritura saying you now own it and the original Curculacion, you can pay for the car and get on with your life. And, in theory, if you used the shady method, it is the seller, not you, that committed a crime. I just found a new catch. Records are done semi-locally. So, if the current Curculacion is from a different department (that means state for gringos), it will be necessary to get a Cambio de Domecilio (change of residence) for the car. That means a trip by someone to the department where the car used to live.

Next you need to go to the taxing authority (Administracion de La Renta) and they decide how much you owe in taxes to do the transfer. This is an important step to do right. That is, to have the right person--one with connections--talk to them for you. I did and what should have been almost $500 on this transfer and possibly getting caught with previous untaxed ones turned out to be C$615--a little less than $40.

You pay the tax in La Renta but it appears the fee for the new circulation and plates is now something you do in BANPRO. When you get there you will find some deposit slips that say "DEPOSITO-INGRESOS NO TRIBUTARIOS". On the bottom is what appears to be "check boxes" for all sorts of things. We all know that on web pages check boxes are square and you can check any number of them. Well, not so. They are "radio buttons". That is, you have to fill out a different deposit slip for each fee you are paying. For example, one for plates and one for circulación. The fees are nominal--I just paid C$100 for motorcycle plates and C$75 for circulación. I think car plates are C$125.

Next come inspections. There are three: emissions, mechanical and serial numbers. Three different places with three different procedures. The mechanical inspection requires you to take the car to the official inspection place. In Estelí it is across the street from the hospital. You go there, pay the fees (I paid C$290) and then they play with the car. They see if it stops, if the lights work and assorted stuff like that. On the form they list all the things wrong. Mine has about five things wrong including two important ones (according to the form). There was no driver's sunvisor and the license plate light didn't work.

They also check for the required items in the car: two reflective triangles, jack, fire extinguisher and something else I forgot. The list is on the wall. You will need your cedula or passport, old circulation permit and bill of sale.

Now, these defects apparently aren't important enough to fail you. So, I left with the inspection checklist and a 2-part "it passed" form. Note that while this makes no sense, when you do the title transfer they keep the inspection form so if you actually care what is wrong, make a copy.

Emission test is just that. The only complication is that you don't pay them--you have to make a deposit in their BANPRO account. Fill out three copies of the deposit slip with their account number (it should be on a list at the counter in the bank). I think it is C$100. Go to the inspection station. (In Estelí it is also across the street from the hopsital, maybe 30 meters away from the mechanical inspection station.) If you pass, they put a sticker on the windshield and give you two copies of the "it passed" slip.

For a motorcycle you don't do the emission test. For new vehicles you don't do either. But, apparently "new" also means this model year.

Now head to the Transit Police office (Transito). In Estelí it in on the west side of the Pan Am in the north end of town. I could go on and on explaining why not to get a number, which line to be in, ... but the reality is that there isn't anyone who really knows what they are doing--the required new plates is bringing everyone without a clue into town--and using the "be assertive" approach seems much better than taking a number.

Someone will check the serial numbers on your car to make sure they match. In Estelí the someone is in what looks like a guard shack at the entrance to their compound. He will then copy all the stuff on the old circulacion to a space on the back of the inspection form--so that someone can then type it into a computer even thought it is obviously there so they could print out the old circulacion.

Go inside armed with:

• Bill of Sale
• Three (or only two if not getting new placas) receipts from La Renta and BANPRO--one for the transfer tax and the other for the transfer fee.
• Insurance policy--you should have two copies of the actual policy and one is for the police)
• Copy of your cedula or passport and, maybe, your driver's license. (I am not sure about the license but they both fit on the same copy and it seemed like a good idea.)
• Old circulacion permit
• Emission test form
• Mechanical inspection checklist and form
• $20 bill (Sorry, joke but it might reduce the need for one of the forms. See http://www.nicaliving.com/node/4601)

Next, you wait. It seems that what they do is go off with this pile of paper and copy a bunch of information from it to another form. Then, someone enters stuff onto the computer. Eventually, they will have you sign a log book (another manual entry) and hand you your circulacion.

If you are getting new plates, you now need to trade in your old plates. In my case, the bolts didn't want to come off so I am still one step from being done. I got them off at home and will go in tomorrow morning. Anyway, you just bring in the old places and your new circulation permit and they will make a hand entry in a log book, you sign it and you get your plates.

Bottom line: bring a few books to read. I will say this again: The U.S. government controls you by fear. In Latin America they control you by lines.

Insurance

Insurance is now mandatory (Law 431--see http://www.nicaliving.com/files/ley431.pdf). You have choices. I originally went to Segurossa because they are in the Police station but I had to go across the street to get some photocopies at the Pacifico office. When I renewed my two venicles (one with inherited insurance, I sent to INISER which is biggest and the derivitive of what was the government monopoly. Whatever.

Here is what you get (and, yes, the numbers are in US dollars):

• Death or injury to one person: $2,500.00
• Death or injury to two or more persons $5,000.00
• Third person property damage: $2,500.00

The annual costs are:

Note that as of September 2007, Iniser is having a "sale". Motorcycles are $45 and everything else is a bot lower as well.

To get insurance you need the orginal Circulacion plus two copies for them and a copy of your driver's license. It seems you should have a copy of your ID as well but they didn't ask me for one. The insurance belongs to the vehicle, not the person so it should come with the vehicle. If you bought a vehicle without insurance this means you have to get the insurance before you can put the car in your name.

For a new vehicle, you do a dance with the insurance agent. That is, they ask for your Curculación which you can't get until you have insurance and they will probably ask you for the plate number you don't have. This time they were sane and said that when I got the places I could come back and they would write the plate number on the insurance card and then plasticize it.