Yes, you can buy this tiny 34-year-old Fiat 600s toy-looking car for only 3,100 US dollars. And you can call any time during the day!*
New vehicles in Uruguay are ridiculously overpriced. You can expect to pay close to double what similar would cost in the US. Comparative used vehicles, however, can cost much more than that—not that you could back this thing out of your driveway in northern North America without getting arrested.
When we moved here in 2009, I had sold my 2002 Toyota 4Runner in Texas. In mint condition, I might have gotten $8,000 for it. Here, I saw same year, diesel engine, same mileage, advertised for $32,000. Yes, USD 32,000.
You think this is an anomaly? Look here to see other Fiat 600s for sale in Uruguay. “U$S” means US dollars; “$” means Uruguayan pesos, currently trading at 22-23 per dollar.
* see comments; doesn’t mean what I thought
If you effectively ban the importation of used vehicles except by returning Uruguayans, you limit the supply of vehicles and thus keep used vehicle prices ridiculously high. This is an ultra-ridiculous example. However, the cost of new vehicles, a shock for former residents of the US, is not so shocking if you come from other countries. As I have said before, our new (in 2009) Fiat would have only been about $1000 less in Canada, where we formerly resided.
“Todo al día” doesn't mean that you can call any time during the day (well, actually yes, people call any time of the day and also in the night, being 10 p.m. the unwritten time limit). Well, todo al día means that all taxes and fines are paid (patente y multas). Also it means that the car or vehicle is not under an embargo or mortgage or involved in legal issue about heritage or divorce, etc…When you are going to buy an used car like this, your escribano does the job of collect all the information needed to prove that the car is effectively free of any trouble that may bother you in the future, because if the car is under embargo it can not legally be sold, and the unpaid patente and finer are due by the car, and are transferred to the new owner…Saludos
Wow, thank you. I had no idea: makes perfect sense. Though I would tend to discredit the assumption of competent escribanos. My experience has been that their five years of education grants them a license to generate income at will, regardless of value provided. My experience in Uruguay has taught me to regard escribanos the same way I regard used-car salesmen in the north. Honesty is not a prerequisite.
Or perhaps I should say integrity is not a prerequisite. Clearly, in our experience, it is not.
Perhaps you are dealing with the wrong escribano…my escribana is a good one and saved me from doing bad business…of course there are good and bad ones. It is not easy to know in a foreign land who are you dealing with…
I have bought three properties here, and not one of the three different escribanas (Montevideo, Atlántida, Pando) acted in a fully professional manner. The last was simply annoying (and threatened to let the deal fall through because of her laziness), but not financially damaging as were the other two in their errors of omission. For people who supposedly study for five years for the privilege of printing their own money, the first two apparently missed the the first five hours, during which, presumably, professional expectations were described. I know that others have found good escribanas, but then I think of the one our German “facilitator” used for my son's residency, who flat-out lied in her written documents, inventing a bank account number for him and giving him an address in Punta del Este. No, my experience with these leeches has not been good.
We ended up in court dealing with that same facilitator, but we have a good escribana now.
I would like to know what kind of car can you buy with US$ 3100 in the states.
Our last location in the USA was Vancouver, Washington, across the river from Portland, Oregon. The population of the greater Portland area is about 2.3 million, so about 50% greater than Montevideo. From Craigslist, Portland Oregon:
Feb 20 2000 chevrolet tahoe $2700 only this weekend $2700 (Hillsboro) pic map
Feb 20 95 toyota celica GT 2000 O.B.O $2000 (vancouver) pic map
Feb 20 1997 ford f150 $2500 (portland) pic map
Feb 20 94 mazda protege runs good $500 $500 (se portland) pic map
Feb 20 2000 Subaru Outback manual AWD $2000 map
Feb 20 1999 Limited Edition Eddie Bauer Ford Expedition pic
Feb 20 Ford Econoline E250 cargo Van $2200 (Portland) pic
Feb 20 93 ford escort ASAP $500 (portland) pic
Feb 20 Honda prelude si $1200 (clark) pic map
Feb 20 2000 Honda accord EX $2500 pic map
Feb 20 1978 Chevy Caprice $800 (northeast portland) pic map
Feb 20 2001 Suzuki Grand Vitara XL7 Limited. Leather, Bluetooth, 4×4, Sunroof $2500 (Camas, WA) pic
Feb 20 95 acura integra rs.clean title-rebuilt gsr motor.. $2600 (vancouver wa) pic map
Feb 20 2002 kia spectra $2950 (se portland) pic
Feb 20 Low Mileage 1997 VW Cabrio $2950 (nw portland) pic
Feb 20 02 Cadillac Seville STS black on black beauty sale or trade $2500 (Beaverton) pic
Feb 20 1986 Ford F-150 300 6 Engine Semi-Restored Pickup Longbed $1675 pic
Feb 20 1989 carpet van ford $1800 (beaverton) pic
Feb 19 1997 Honda Civic cx hatchback 105k original miles excellent condition $3000 (Damascus, OR) pic
Feb 19 *2003 GMC S10 SLS 3 door * $3000 (N.E. sandy BLVD) pic
Feb 19 2001 jeep cherokee top end just rebuilt 02/13/15 $4 (N.E. sandy BLVD) pic map
Feb 19 Toyota Camry LE $600 (Woodburn) pic
Feb 19 95 chevy cavalier $950 (tigard) pic
Feb 19 2000 volvo s80 $1200 (multnomah) pic map
Feb 19 Honda CRX $2700 (beaverton) pic
Feb 19 2001 mazda 626 $2500 (multnomah co) pic
Feb 19 2001 Audi A6 2.7T $3000 pic
Feb 19 2000 VOLVO S80 $1300 (multnomah co) pic
Feb 19 1983 chevy 4×4 *updated* $1700 (east vancouver) pic
Feb 19 1994 SATURN SL2 $850 (gresham) pic map
Feb 19 2006 ford E150 econoline (Vancouver) pic
Feb 19 2005 crown victoria interceptor $2500 (portland) pic
Feb 19 Wheeler/ 1988 jeep Cherokee trade for dirt bike $1800 (Scappoose) pic map
Feb 19 1990 Nissan Pathfinder $700 (se portland)
Feb 19 2001 TOYOTA COROLLA GAS SAVER $2450 (Portland)
Feb 19 1993 ford thunder bird $250 (se foster) pic
Feb 19 1999 Infiniti Q45 *Price reduced* $2600 (Vancouver WA) pic
Feb 19 2002 Volvo XC70 AWD Wagon heated seats Runs great! $1400 pic map
Feb 19 1999 FORD EXPLORER XLT 4X4 NEW TIRES $2495 (NE PORTLAND) pic
Feb 19 Jaguar XJ6 $2700 (SE Vancouver) pic map
Feb 19 98 volvo turbo v70xc $1300 pic
Feb 19 NEEDS TO GO ASAP! 96 Honda Accord!!!!! $1850 (Hillsboro) pic
Feb 19 Bmw 323is 1999 coupe $3000 (vancouver wa) pic map
Feb 19 1998 Toyota Corolla $2500 (eugene) pic map
Feb 19 1977 Scout Terra v-8, AT, 4×4 $2500 (Eagle Creek) pic map
Feb 19 1997 5.0 AT Ford Explorer AWD Miles 161K $1500 (Eagle Creek,OR) pic map
Feb 19 97 ford 1 ton van $1300 pic
Feb 19 1973 Chevy van $1800 (Estacada)
Feb 19 1979 Jeep J-20 $2800 (NW Hillsboro) pic
Feb 19 1966 Ford F-250 $1800 (Hillsboro) pic map
Feb 19 93 Geo Tracker Convertible $550 (Newberg) pic map
Feb 19 1996 toyota camry $1500 (banks) pic
Feb 19 1990 300 SEL 176k $2850 (The Dalles)
Feb 19 1999 Ford Taurus $1000 (ne portland) pic map
Feb 19 SUBARU FORESTER S A.W.D. ECONOMY CAR. $2750 (PORTLAND OREGON) pic
Feb 19 1963 Avanti Studebaker (Hillsboro) pic
Feb 19 1991 Acura Legend 4 Door $2650 (ne portland) pic map
Feb 19 2000 Toyota Corolla VE LOW Miles $2995 pic map
Feb 19 1998 Honda Civic EX Coupe 87k miles WOW $2500 pic map
Feb 19 1990 Honda Accord LX $1500 (ne portland) pic
Feb 19 1994 Mazda Navajo 4×4 $1700 (Camas) pic
Feb 19 2002 Volkswagen VW Jetta Wagon low miles pic
Feb 19 96 civic coupe hx $1 (Yakima) pic
Feb 19 ford focus 2003 1800 OBO $1800 (WILSONVILLE) pic map
Feb 19 Buick lesabre $1500 (SE portland) pic
Feb 19 Mercury Sable GS $2000 (Beaverton) pic
Feb 19 1992 Buick LeSabre $1122 (Rainier) pic map
Feb 19 1990 chevy silverado 4×4 117k miles (hillsboro) pic
Feb 19 1998 Toyota corolla LE $2650 (east vancouver) pic map
Feb 19 1998 jeep Cherokee 4.0 inline 6 $1400 (102 &Sandy Blvd) pic
Feb 19 1968 camaro/327 auto $20 (bend) pic
Feb 19 2001 honda odyssey minivan really nice family car $1300 (se portland) pic map
Feb 19 1997 ACURA $2200 (vancouver wa)
Feb 19 1976 Chevy Nova $1180 (Clark County) pic
Feb 19 1951 VINTAGE REO F22 DUMP TRUCK $2850 (Silverton) pic map
Feb 19 1991 Chevrolet Astro $1000 (se portland) pic map
Feb 19 1993 mazda mx-6 $2100 (longview) pic map
Feb 19 1991 Honda Accord LX $795 (Tigard) pic
Feb 19 2002 Kia Sedona $1700 pic map
Feb 19 GMC high sierra 76 $1500 pic
Feb 19 2000 Ford Focus ZXW $1900