Buying a car

Hello again, I have a question that I am sure has been answered before but believe me I looked back on the forum 3 weeks and didn't find anything, so I was hoping someone could give me the complete low down on buying a car in puerto rico. My group of friends and I are going down for 7 months and were planning on shipping a car down there until we found out how much the import tax would be.. now we're planning on buying something used and hopefully cheap... So what I'm asking is what exactly do I need to do? do I need to get a Puerto Rican drivers license? Who should I avoid to not be scammed? Please be as detailed as possible and thank you!!

You can purchase a car either from a dealer and let they do all the paperwork for you. Yes you may pay more for the car but less chances to be scam.
If you go the route of purchasing thru a private seller, make sure the seller in willing to go with you to the CESCO (DMV) office to do the transaction. This way you are sure the car don't have any fines and the person selling it to you is the legal owner of the vehicle.
You do not need to have a PR driving license to own or register a vehicle.
You will be require to show ID (current license, passport, government issue ID).
You need to show proof of residence (water, electric, landlord contract, ect.)

This site may help;

http://www.pr.gov/CitizenPortal/049-026-000-000.htm

Use Google to translate.

Thank you!

One more question, is there an insurance company you recommend?

conriz wrote:

One more question, is there an insurance company you recommend?


In PR, your registration include liability insurance, basically it will cover the other vehicle if you are responsible for the accident.

I am not sure what insurance there are available since once I register the vehicle in our name I can add it to my USAA policy.

Maybe other members will be able to help....