Permit Probleme bei Fahrzeugkauf in Costa Rica (Papierkram)

IVECO Tony , Wherever., Sonntag, 02. August 2015, 03:39 (vor 3181 Tagen) @ Simmer
bearbeitet von IVECO Tony, Sonntag, 02. August 2015, 03:59

The problem with driving on a Poder is who is actually responsible for taking out the insurance, the legal owner or the actual owner. Adds to the complication, especially where an accident is due to the mechanical condition of the vehicle, or if the driver abandons the vehicle leaving the long-absent registered owner (but who is maybe not the legal owner) holding the bag.

However a properly drafted PODER will make the driver completely responsible for anything and everything that happens so the driver must either take out insurance on a car he doesn't own (which may not even be possible with some insurers), or the previous owner should keep the car and any driver insured until the car is across the border. Seems to me it all adds up to a feast for ambulance chasers and a lot of uncertainty for all concerned.

I've been in this position twice and each time I have been able to gain full legal ownership back in the country of origin while both myself and the previous owner were back in our respective home countries, but of course to get it out of the first country, we had to have a poder signed by the previous owner (pretending to be the actual owner - which he is clearly not but...) The poder was always drawn up and signed by the previous owner before he left the country. Our presence wasn't necessary and we just had to pick it up from the lawyer.

So obviously we could never be 100% legal and 100% sure we were covered, but I did try to cover a few of the bases by arranging liability insurance in the previous owners name using all of his details and using his registration and title details to cover us from the time we started driving the vehicle until we reached the border. In addition, we had insurance in our name and with our registration and title details to cover us from the border on. Obviously there was some overlap because timing was not definite, but we only had one set of policies and one set of details live at any one time. Changeover was in that fictitious nomans land.The other reason for having valid insurance policies on hand is that we were less likely to run into problems if we got stopped by police and asked for insurance (which is their job) and then there would be less likely that any deficiencies would escalate to include aduana.

Have we ever been asked to produce insurance papers - NO.
Have I ever been asked to produce an International Driving Permit - No.
But I have both - not because I'm a goody-goody, but because I prefer not having hassles over things that can easily be avoided.

No, I don't carry a special white sheet, but I figure the slightly grubby one off our bed will do.

For those who claim that the outgoing aduana people don't bother to look at the TIP and just chuck it under the desk or in the bin, my small sample leads to a 50/50 result. One lot couldn't have cared less and I wasted my money getting a Poder while the other lot read every single detail on every bit of paper I initially handed over and once they saw that my details didn't match those on the TIP, asked for more documentation and I eventually gave them the PODER and every officer in the station was involved in checking every word and sentence before lining up at the boom gate and giving us a royal sendoff.

One big thing we didn't have to deal with is an out-of-date TIP. Couple of countries have very long TIP validities so that made it easier. Peru supposedly is sudden death. Be one day late getting to the border and you lose the vehicle(supposedly). Others such as Bolivia have a fine that is a daily amount and not very much either.

I know of people who have left their vehicle in Uruguay and not been able to sell them within the 12-month TIP, yet I have met the new owners who were somehow able to get the vehicle out with an out of date TIP and maybe not even a proper PODER

Don't forget that my limited experience took place far from where you are so your local situation may be completely different, although from what you have told us, I doubt whether things there are all that difference to other central and south American countries - other than perhaps the theory that the smaller and poorer the country, the worse the red tape is.

One factor that is relevant, or may be, is all of the cases that involved a heap of trouble have one thing in common - that the officials were given information that essentially proved that the sale took place within that country. A sort of 'own-goal' that the new owners thought would improve their chances, but it actually worked against them.

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Tony Lee
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