Bringing a car to Ecuador

I wanted to know if there are any updates about bringing your car to Ecuador as part of your household goods (menaje de casa) and if anyone has recently gone through the process of obtaining a resident visa themselves vs. using channelers, in-country assistants or lawyers?

I assume you are not Ecuadorian returning?

Age and size of the car are a factor.

I know one person who did it 10 years ago, was very expensive and full of headaches. Was a brand new car.

We tried (wife is ecaudorian and was returning) and was not possible (old vehicle)

You definitely cannot bring any type of motor vehicle to Ecuador unless you are a Ecuadorian.

sszydeco is correct.  Unless you are a returning Ecuadorean citizen, or a registered diplomat being posted to Ecuador, you may not bring in your vehicle.  And there are many restrictions for what an Ecuadorean citizen may import.

I suggest you do a search here, and input "import car" for the search term, and you can read the extensive conversations in this forum about importing a vehicle to Ecuador.

https://www.expat.com/en/search/south-america/ecuador/

I further found out you must be a returning Ecuadorian with five years or more outside of Ecuador, and that the car must be within the last 2 or 3 model years. The only other way is to bring in an antique vehicle, with the attendant parts problems.

The only other way is to bring in an antique vehicle, with the attendant parts problems.
-@davidjb


I am pretty sure car parts is listed as a restricted item on my international courier service's site.

Besides the "menaje de casa" rule, it is possible to import a current model year car. However, there are significant taxes and procedures. You end up paying about 70% more on top of the original msrp of the vehicle and your vehicle no longer has a warranty.