Buying a Car in Santiago

My first week of being a Chevrolet car owner has passed.

So, I stalled out on Andres Bello - the busy, main drag in Providencia. Stalled out? Yup. In rush hour traffic no less.  I learned to drive stick in Colorado this July (thanks to Chris) and bought a stick shift car.  Why not add it to the list of "big life changes in the month of July?"

More on the driving part later.

This was the first time I've bought a car and I had to do it in a country that loves, deeply and madly loves, paperwork and signatures. I signed my name 10 times before they handed me the keys. First off, you need the magical RUT number. You have to buy one at the Registro Civil and they may tell you that you can't buy one. But you can. Then the dealership may tell you you can't purchase a car with the RUT that you have - because it doesn't look like a 'normal' Chilean RUT, but you can. When people tell me I can't do something here, I say I've already done it somewhere else - then magically, I can do it. 

The Search.  One chilly, winter Saturday I went searching with Pablo in tow for a decent used car. From 10:30 - 4:00 I looked 1) price: 3,000,000 pesos ($6000) 2) & 2) 120,000 kilometers and 3) age under 10 years. In all that time, I browsed through 100 cars and found 4 that fit my conditions.

Car dealerships here do not negotiate like in the States. Out of 10 dealerships,  only one caved under my negotiating prowess - and then I didn't buy it. If you negotiate a car price down, you must have done something scandalous. I'm a blond, cute girl from the US and they didn't budge ni un peso.

One week later, before buying a bottle of wine I casually walked through the dealership right next to my normal grocery store - 5 minutes from my front door. 30 minutes later and I was signing paperwork!  I got a 2005 Chevy Aveo, 4 doors, double airbag, one owner, alarm and electric windows for a decent price and a 3 month guaranty.  She's a hottie!

Factory Color: Red SUPER

Not standard in Chilean cars: airbags. How is that not a minimum standard? Forgot about dealerships filling up your gas tank, changing the oil or replacing the windshield wipers.

Purchase tip: If you buy through chileautos.cl or vivastreet.cl, you have to do lots of paperwork that will cost about 200.000 pesos and 2 days of lines and waiting. Dealerships do the paperwork and your title gets mailed to your house. And buy from a used dealership that guarantees the car for at least 3 months; most of them will tell you No so keep looking!

Chile has obligatory national car insurance that covers your car if someone hits you. But I got full insurance through Falabella for about $80/month US.

Now, on to driving a stick shift in city traffic with very minimal traffic law enforcement.