Buying a Car

We finally bought a car on December 8th 2017. The process of buying a car in Costa Rica is slightly more complicated than in the U.S; than in D.C. anyway. When we sold our cars in D.C., we signed the titles over to the buyers and it was done. We thought it would be as simple in Costa Rica but we were wrong. In Costa Rica, a lawyer is needed during a car sale, which means lawyer fees in addition to title transfer taxes, as well as “Marchamo” and “Riteve” fees. Marchamo is a vehicle permit that must be paid every year. If the car isn’t up to date with the Riteve, a very thorough emissions inspection done every year for older cars and every two years for newer cars, then you would also have to handle that, which apparently can be quite a challenge. Thankfully the Jeep we bought had just passed the Riteve inspection in September and we therefore don’t have to worry about getting it inspected until September of 2018.

We bought our 25yo Jeep Grand Cherokee from a good friend’s family who reside in the U.S. We were lucky because the family’s lawyer traveled to the U.S. at the end of November and was able to get a POA from the Jeep’s former owners to make it possible for our friend, who lives in Costa Rica, to sell us the Jeep.

Once the lawyer was back in Costa Rica, he was nice enough to drive to Guanacaste, where we live (he lives San Jose; 4.5 hours away), for the deed signing. After signing the paperwork that he prepared, the car was ours! He then instructed me to go to a local bank to pay for the Marchamo as soon as possible, as he cannot process the paperwork to Costa Rica’s registry until that was done.

Once the car transfer paperwork was signed, Abe, his nanny, and I headed to the bank to pay for the Marchamo. It felt so good to drive off in our car! Finally! It’s funny because as mentioned in one of my previous blog posts, when we first moved to Costa Rica, we were convinced that we could get by without a car. As time went by, however, we realized how wrong we were… especially as I got more pregnant. Walking anywhere, especially up the massive hill that we live on with Abe’s stroller, became quite challenging as my pregnancy progressed. I can’t begin to tell you how good it feels to finally have a car.

Paying for the Marchamo at the bank was quite easy. Upon completing that task, I was excited to get in our car, drive home, prepare Abe’s lunch, feed him, and put him down for a nap. The car situation was FINALLY handled and our journey to childbirth, which was to begin the next morning, was looking promising, I thought, until I realized that the car wouldn’t start. Ha! I immediately knew it wasn’t a big deal though because the former owners, and our friend, who was familiar with the car, gave us a heads up regarding the messed up alarm system that the car has. Basically if you turn off the car the wrong way, or lock the doors in the wrong order, it triggers the security system, which then doesn’t allow you to start the car until you disconnect the battery. I certainly was not prepared for that to happen on my first drive and therefore did not have the proper wrench to disconnect the battery with. Thankfully the bank, which is super close to our home, is also very close to a hardware store.

Abe, his nanny, and I walked to the hardware store and bought a few wrenches since I did not know what the right size was. We walked back to the car, only to find out that of course none of the wrenches I bought would fit. I gave up, left the car in the parking lot, and walked home because at that point I was exhausted, hot, 9 months pregnant, and it was Abe’s lunch time.

New accessory in my purse

Our friend who sold us the car was nice enough to pick me up from our house and help get the car working again when he was free that evening. He showed me what to do to get the car started again whenever this happened. He had explained what to do before but to be honest, I barely remembered any of it because well… pregnancy brain happens. I therefore was super thankful that I triggered the security system while we were still in Guanacaste, near him, rather than somewhere between Nicaragua and Turrialba, where we would be for the next few days.

Once we got the car to work again, I drove it to the hardware store to get the right type of wrench, only to find out they didn’t have the size we were looking for. I ended up settling for pliers (a wonderful new addition to my purse). It’s funny because this reminded me of a Swahili description of old cars – “spana mkononi” – literally meaning wrench/spanner on hand (at all times). Ha! We probably triggered the security system six more times in the next 24 hours! Thankfully the pliers worked like a charm. After day 2, however, we managed to get so much better at handling the car and have not triggered the security system ever since. We are overall happy with the new addition to our family.

Packed and headed for Nicaragua