RNE for buying a car

09/09/22 Hi, flyangel669.  You cannot get a CRNM (which replaced the RNE in 2017) on a tourist visa -- you need to have a visa that permits permanent or indefinite residency. 

If the cartório isn't willing to transfer the registration of the car to a person without a CRNM it's probably game over, but if your friend really wants to sell you the car, s/he should contact the local DETRAN, the state motor vehicle department, to ask whether there's a workaround that would accommodate your plans.

Hi, flyangel669,

It is true you may not own a vehicle without a Permanent Resident Visa. IPVA (State registration), DETRANS, and insurance companies all require a Brazil ID and CPF.

An RNE or RNM is NOT required to buy or own a car in Brazil. Foreigners are quite welcome to buy and own vehicles in

Brazil. You do not need residency or a Brazilian driver's license to buy a vehicle or to purchase vehicle insurance.

You must have your foreign passport, a CPF number, and an address you can verify in Brazil, like with a real telephone phone bill, power bill, propane bill, etc. Buying from a dealer in Brazil will always be easier. The car transfer process in Brazil is not humorous as it requires an independent VIN check, and registration background checks for expired registration, past fees, tickets, liens, etc., all of which the vehicle buyer, not the seller is responsible for If the vehicle has the old style license plates, OR if you will be registering the vehicle in a different city and have the older plates, DETRAN will make you change the license plates, which you cannot do yourself, so you have to go to yet another agency. Even getting insurance was easy, at least it was/is for me. The insurance companies just want the same thing, money, a passport, and they may want to inspect your vehicle. In my case, all they ever wanted was a list of certain photographs.

I bought two cars before getting my residency, and this year, I bought a new one with my CRNM. There was no real difference, DETRAN couldn't care less, as long as they get all of their money. I still have one of my other cars which I bought before getting my RNM. I thought DETRAN would want to change something in my registration, but no. 

@rraypo thank you so much for your reply !! I will go to another Cartorio and try with them. It is so nice to hear I will be able to buy a car.

Can you tell me how can I check if the car is clean( no previous fines etc) ? I have all the information of the car. P.S. I am buying a car in the same city where I live.

09/09/22 @flyangel669.  Which state are you trying to buy the car in?

Ray, that is strange! (Well maybe not in Brazil)

There was no way I was able to buy a car without at least my protocol.

09/10/22 Ray, that is strange! (Well maybe not in Brazil)
There was no way I was able to buy a car without at least my protocol.
-@Texanbrazil

I agree.  The rules in Brazil have a lot of weird catches and trap doors in them, but they're still the rules. I believe Ray about his experiences, because I think that one of those trap doors just inexplicably opened up for him.  I wouldn't count on that kind of luck repeating for someone else.

It's probably just a coincidence, but I'm struck by the fact that we found out around the same time about one person buying a car without being a legal resident, and another person having his cartório-issued união estável certificate rejected by the Federal Police.   Neither of those things should have happened, yet both of them did.  Ah, Brazil! 🤯

@rraypo thank you so much for your reply !! I will go to another Cartorio and try with them. It is so nice to hear I will be able to buy a car.
Can you tell me how can I check if the car is clean( no previous fines etc) ? I have all the information of the car. P.S. I am buying a car in the same city where I live.
-@flyangel669

Go to DETRAN to check if the car is ok and to get all done. You can also hire someone to do that for you (here we call it "despachante" that is an agent). Normally when you buy/sell a car from a big dealer, all this work is done by the retailer itself, you just have to pay the taxes.

@rraypo thank you so much for your reply !! I will go to another Cartorio and try with them. It is so nice to hear I will be able to buy a car.
Can you tell me how can I check if the car is clean( no previous fines etc) ? I have all the information of the car. P.S. I am buying a car in the same city where I live.
-@flyangel669

DETRAN should be your first stop. When you go to DETRAN, the very first thing they will do is to check if anyone owes them money and to see if the registration is current. If the registration has expired, but for less than one year, you can just pay the registration then. If it has expired for more than one year, then the payment is a lot more difficult, and will actually have to clear your bank, and clear their system,m before you can proceed. That happened with the last car I bought, the registration was two years expired. Once it was paid, it was about a week before we could do anything more, for example, the registration must be current before any fines can even be paid.

DETRAN will provide you with a document to take to a local specialized shop where the VIN number will be verified and photographed in all six locations on the vehicle, (some cars have more, maybe some less. My first car had VIN numbers in 7 locations). Then you bring this information back to DETRAN to transfer the title. This is when they give you yet another document to take to the local you go to a Cartorio. That is the only time I have had to go to a Cartorio during title transfer. Yes, the old owner should be with you throughout all of this.

Keeping the car in the same city and state certainly makes things easier. In purchasing my first car, it stayed in the same state, but it did change cities. The car had the old-style license plates and that had to be changed. This took place after going to the Cartorio, but prior to finishing the title transfer. DETRAN provides you with yet another document which you get to take to yet another specialized shop, a shop that only changes license plates. Brasil has gone to a new standardized plate, replacing the one that had the city-state embossed onto it. Once the plate has been changed, your DETRAN document is signed by the license plate shop and back to DETRAN you go to finish the process.

In buying my last used car, we hired someone to do all of this for us, a despachante . OMG, that is the way to go. Never with either car was there any issue with my being a foreigner. DETRAN is just as difficult for you and I as they are for a Brasilian National. For the second car, the guy we hired didn't link when I said I was not Brazilian.  For my address in Brazil, he had a document for my landlord to sign saying I lived there, (I really did not and he knew that). That was my proof of address and we never had to go to DETRAN, we did have to take the car to the VIN shop and we did have to go to the Cartorio ourselves.

Go to DETRAN to check if the car is ok and to get all done. You can also hire someone to do that for you (here we call it "despachante" that is an agent). Normally when you buy/sell a car from a big dealer, all this work is done by the retailer itself, you just have to pay the taxes.
-@Texanbrazil

OMG yes, the despanchante did all of our DETRAN stuff on the one car, leaving us to do the fluff work, like the running around for the VIN check, license plates, etc. In  the end, I certainly understand now why you so rarely see people selling their own used cars and now it is very clear why there are so many used car dealers.

@rraypo Thank you ! What a value you add to this forum ! God bless you !

You were right, we went to another Cartorio and signed the contract. There was no need for RNE.

Since you are very knowledgeable on the topic of car, can you advise me about the insurance for the car ?

(Once the money is deposited to the owner's account, he will transfer the car to me and give me the car along with other documents. But he mentioned the car has no insurance now so I should get it.)

You must first sure it's not a fine on the car you can know this by Detran he show is the car title clean or you pay the fine

There are many insurance agencies and even banks such as BB, Bradesco, and others.

Porto Seguro is nationwide with 24 hr service.

@rraypo Thank you ! What a value you add to this forum ! God bless you !
You were right, we went to another Cartorio and signed the contract. There was no need for RNE.

Since you are very knowledgeable on the topic of car, can you advise me about the insurance for the car ?

(Once the money is deposited to the owner's account, he will transfer the car to me and give me the car along with other documents. But he mentioned the car has no insurance now so I should get it.)
-@flyangel669

Thank you, but like so many others here, I just like to help when I can, I know I have sure needed it from time to time.

I would be happy to share my car insurance info, even my agent's name with you if that would be of any help. She is in Sao Jose do Rio Pretor, north of the city of SP, but her company is all over. If you want this, you can send me a message and I will PM it as I do not want to advertise for anyone on this site.

I recently purchased a new vehicle which went smoothly but I needed the following.  I could not get the dealer to agree to a wire transfer for payment so I paid with a bank transfer.  If you do not have a local bank account, you could pay cash and avoid all the necessary documents needed to get that account.

CPF for the registration.

Brasilian License for the Insurance.

Driving without insurance in Brazil is common, but if you are on a visitor visa you are doing it at your own risk. 

I recently purchased a new vehicle which went smoothly but I needed the following. I could not get the dealer to agree to a wire transfer for payment so I paid with a bank transfer. If you do not have a local bank account, you could pay cash and avoid all the necessary documents needed to get that account.
CPF for the registration.
Brasilian License for the Insurance.

Driving without insurance in Brazil is common, but if you are on a visitor visa you are doing it at your own risk.
-@dalezuk

I used Wise to transfer my funds, it worked great!  Congratulations on your purchase and transaction.

Not to hijack the thread, but I also asked around about buying a car without an RNE and no go at least via dealerships and online retailers (kavak and karvi). Paying is turning out to be quite complicated and if we didn't need the vehicle to move I'd just await residency to go through. My wife needs to purchase the vehicle, but the dealership said that if I pay with credit cards (also weird you can buy a car with credit cards but ok) all is well. My question is would my wife end up having tax liability (either in Brazil or the US, we will file separately) if I transferred the money from my bank account to hers and then she paid? How about if I ended up using my credit card? Does it matter if you're married or not? Thanks!

@rnbtg

you can buy a motorcycle with a credit card and no RNE ....or scooter, if you dont know how to shift ....its a good temporary solution.....

" the dealership said that if I pay with credit cards (also weird you can buy a car with credit cards but ok)"...
-@rnbtg

Not sure why that's weird, in the USA, I bought a new BMW motorcycle, sight unseen over the phone with a credit card, then rode Amtrak out to pick it up and ride it home 1,000 miles and in a different state. I also bought a new, sight-unseen, very uncommon Acura from another state and had it shipped to me by truck, all with a credit card. And, years ago, my wife and I were looking at new motorhomes on a Sunday, and the manager offered us a "today only deal". So, we bought a new large Class A, motorhome on my credit card. As long as the seller is willing to pay the card fee, then why not since the card also offers huge buyer protection?

@rraypo Hello, I'm researching buying a new vehicle in Brazil and see that you have a lot of experience. Can you recommend any website or calculator that will help me calculate the total on taxes I will pay by the time it's all said and done? I mean, aside from the taxes and fees that are built in to the dealers price. Is there a ballpark figure to give me a rough estimate: i.e. 30% of purchase price?

I have an CRNM, address, and a volunteer visa that is renewable every year for another year. We need a new van for our non-profit to continue our humanitarian work here and the one we want is not currently available in the States, plus shipping fees down here and import taxes, so we're thinking of buying locally.

Thank you so much!

Does anyone know if any of the car subscription services work with foreigners?

Hello,
I am on a tourist Visa and want to buy a car. I am actually buying a car from a friend. In cartorio they told us I need RNE. (I have cpf)

Can someone confirm please if I need RNE to buy a car? And also will I be able to obtain RNE as a tourist?

Thank you.
-@flyangel669

Good afternoon to you. I am so sorry for my delay, I just now saw your questions. Do you still need assistance?

Does anyone know if any of the car subscription services work with foreigners?
-@marcotenore

What do you mean by car "subscription service"? I am not familiar with that term

Just like opening a bank account , you will need to provide proof of residence (CRNM). Your friend can sell you the car. I believe you can even register the sale with Cartório but the real hurdle will be with DETRAN. They will ask for  Brazilian driver's license or CRNM if the former is not available. I mentioned BRAZILIAN driver's license because to get one you have to , either go the whole process of applying for one meaning taking classes , or swapping your license from your country of origin for a Brazilian one; that is if your country of origin is a signatory of the Geneva Convention regarding this issue. Either way, you will have to be a resident of Brazil to accomplish the above. Good luck

Just like opening a bank account , you will need to provide proof of residence (CRNM). Your friend can sell you the car. I believe you can even register the sale with Cartório but the real hurdle will be with DETRAN. They will ask for Brazilian driver's license or CRNM if the former is not available. I mentioned BRAZILIAN driver's license because to get one you have to , either go the whole process of applying for one meaning taking classes , or swapping your license from your country of origin for a Brazilian one; that is if your country of origin is a signatory of the Geneva Convention regarding this issue. Either way, you will have to be a resident of Brazil to accomplish the above. Good luck
-@kawakasbah

Some of what you have stated is unfortunately incorrect.

As a tourist from the USA, I purchased two cars, one used, one new. No RNE, CRNM, or Brazilian Drivers license are required. You only need money, your foreign passport, a CPF, and yes, a proof of address. I had a friend simply sign a note stating I lived with them, no bills, rent receipts, nothing.

That's it, nothing more.

Yes, the DETRAN process for my first car, a used car from a private person, was a major PITS. I had to get the VIN numbers independently verified, and replace the old style license plates with the new style, which you cannot do yourself, only certified license plate shops can do this. I spoke no Portuguese then which did not help, taking more than a full day, but doable. Now, I hire people to do this stuff for me, it's simple and cheap. The other car was super fast and easy. Car dealers do all of this for you, easily.

Hello,
I am on a tourist Visa and want to buy a car. I am actually buying a car from a friend. In cartorio they told us I need RNE. (I have cpf)

Can someone confirm please if I need RNE to buy a car? And also will I be able to obtain RNE as a tourist?

Thank you.
-@flyangel669

It's easy, just requiring time and patience, no Brazilian driver's license, RNE or CRNM is required, you only need money, a CPF, your passport, and driver's license from whatever country your from. You will need a proof of address, but I had a friend sign a document stating I lived with them, nothing more.

I did it twice as a tourist from the USA. I bought my last car after becoming a Permanent Resident, with CRNM, and there was no difference in the process at all.

Please feel free to PM if I can help.

@rraypo then you misread what I wrote. I said you can buy a car but you can't transfer the title to your name without being a resident. this is not a contest of who right and who is wrong. You seem to be pushing that idea. I have read your other posts

@rraypo then you misread what I wrote. I said you can buy a car but you can't transfer the title to your name without being a resident. this is not a contest of who right and who is wrong. You seem to be pushing that idea. I have read your other posts
-@kawakasbah

No contest here at all, I just want the correct information to be passed along. I am sorry if being called out on posting something that was wrong hurt your feelings. I like this group way to much not to share what I know to be correct and to correct those that do not.

The vehicle title was transferred to me, in my name. I have since sold the first car, with no issues other than acquiring one ticket along with way during the last year. You are welcome to think anything you like of me. I am only here to give the CORRECT information, in this case, not your version.

Have a great day.

from what I gather you may have gotten a lucky break. In my case that was not the case. Getting lucky does not make it the norm. Like abthree said, Brazil is full wonderful and not so wonderful surprises.

Hi everyone ! I found a buyer for my car, can anyone explain to me the procedure please ? What I have to do as a seller? When the buyer should transfer me the money ? The buyer is a random person from OLX so I don't trust him.

Your best bet in making this transaction is to work with your local "depachante" -- they know the process, know which papers are needed, and can do all of the official registration papers for you. He'll then send you and the buyer to the local "cartorio" to get signatures authenticated and ensure that all is done properly.

Be careful to accept checks. Insist on payment via Pix. Lots of scams and scammers in Brazil, so be wary and follow the advice of your depachante.

@mjs30170

Thank you. But at which point I should receive money? 

Generally, the buyer will want to meet the seller, or their depachante, at DETRAN or in their office to be sure the ownership is clear and there are no fines/fees, late registration, etc. against the car and to transfer ownership. Somewhere at this point, you should get paid.

@rraypo Hi Ray, I found this post from a while ago but it's very pertinent to what I'm doing now. I'm in Brazil and looking to buy a car and drive it to California. Do you have any information about getting insurance for that sort of trip?

Kevin

04/04/24    @rraypo Hi Ray, I found this post from a while ago but it's very pertinent to what I'm doing now. I'm in Brazil and looking to buy a car and drive it to California. Do you have any information about getting insurance for that sort of trip?Kevin        -@kevingerrish

What's your plan for getting across the Darién Gap?

@abthree @kevingerrish

What's your plan for getting across the Darién Gap? ,Have you informed the Presidential Candidates. I think it is currently illegal to cross the border from Brazil to California with a CAR.

Roddie in Retirement

I would drive from Sao paulo to chile, then north to equador where I would take a boat to panama, then north to the border crossing Mexico/California. Many people travel north and south on the trans-American highway every year but I havent heard anything about insurance.

@abthree take a boat from Ecuador to panama