For the people who wanna get rid of their bike in a clean and oficial way, Punta Arenas, Chile, could be an option for you, it´s a free trade zone... I´ve sold my Wee Strom to a local, 3 weeks ago. Went to notary then to custom (Internacion del vehiculo). Pretty smooth deal... The other free trade zone is Iquique (which is also way bigger...) Good luck! Arno
Yup, you cannot have used motorcycles permanently imported into Chile, except for the two zona franca areas in Punta Arenas and Iquique. Don´t know about Argentina, but anybody doing the popular trip to Patagonia and not wanting to ride back or have its bike shipped should consider selling it in Punta Arenas. I was happy to help Jan -aka Highhorse Rider- sell his 1150gs a couple of weeks ago. Not a big market though but with a little luck...
That really helps if it's that easy to sell it down there. If I buy a bike in Arg. or Chile for the return trip is it possible to import it into he US or is there a place like that in the states bordering Mexico?
hey man...a little bit more details please. panama has a zona franca too, anyone know if you can sell your moto there too and get that stamp out of your passport?
Amo, Congrats, do you know, does it need to be a free trade zone? I was hoping to sell in Santiago. Figured a bigger market might be faster and easier? Thanks
You cannot import used vehicles into Chile. Only exception are the zona francas in Punta Arenas and Iquique.
Can you give a little mOre explanation on how the process of going to the Notary and Aduana works? Also what streets or sectors of town those are in? Could I import my US bike and essentially make it Chilean and just store it long term in chile until I return ?
What about buying in Punta Arenas. I saw when I went to the Zona Franca when I was was there a couple of new KLR's, I couldn't get a price, but would it be cheap for a gringo to go to Punta Arenas, buy a KLR & travel S Am? Would it be cheaper than shipping?
Best thing to do once you find a buyer is contacting a Customs Agent to do the paperwork for you. If you are interested I can give you the contact information for the one who did it for a fellow inmate like a month ago. Notaries are easy to find in downtown and they have standard contract forms to fill.
If you buy in Punta Arenas you would have to pay all custom duties and VAT so the price would be no different and perhaps even higher than buying in Santiago. If you don't, by taking advantage of the Zona Franca exemptions, the bike will be restricted to be used in the region and can not be taken out of the region for more than 90 days a year. Also, you would have to sell it within the Zona Franca area since used bikes cannot be imported into Chile.
Leaving zona franca area you have to produce a guarantee in the form of a letter of credit or something that would be made effective if you don't return the vehicle on time. I don't know how effective enforcing of this is going to be or how this could taint your credit if you never ever return to Chile. Maybe you can get away with it. In all it would be like 19% VAT + 6% customs duties if you do it legally. Again, permanently importing (selling it before leaving) a used bike into most countries is still illegal, but that's not part of the Chile problem...
Thanks Acampao for all these infos. Once you find a buyer, papers in notary will take about 10-15 minutes, and in customs 5 (I gave my original title and a copy of my passport) The buyer paid me in $100 bill in the notary. My buyer took a risk that if there is something wrong with the bike (stolen?) it takes customs about a week to find out if the bike/seller is clean. Meanwhile the bike stays in a warehouse located just in front of customs. I think the process of importing the bike will take about 3 weeks. Arno
Arno et al, How did you guys go about finding a buyer? Im toying with the idea of letting Adrianna (my bike) go to another rider. Still have about 2 months to find a buyer, so Im not rushed. Have already posted here in the FM and over at the hubb
It is a sad moment... You re thinking about selling Adrianna..... Anyway, I went to 2 mechanics north of the entrance of the cemetary,a Honda dealer west of cemetary. Another mechanic left side of independencia, 3 -4 block from waterfront. One of the mechanic in front of the cemetary found me a buyer... By the way, Tyler just sold his Russian Beast a few days ago in PA.... Good luck
Returned from Ushuaia at 9 last night to Punta Arenas. Now have cash and Aduana papers. Put it in an Aduana garage where I saw 3 other bikes with CA plates. Hope everything goes smooth at the border...