Not too long ago I got myself talked into buying a car. It's been a rough road ever since. As you probably have already heard, cars in Ecuador are expensive. I paid a fortune for a clunker and then proceeded to fix the brakes, carburetor, transmission, starter, and replaced the battery.
OK, so now the car is roadworthy and ready for cross country trips. I assumed my wife would drive, since she's got an Ecuadorian license and I'm passed my 90 grace period driving on my Washington State license. Well, that assumption was wrong. She refuses to drive it. I had her dad drive a few times just to get passed known police checkpoints, but he likes to cruise in 5 gear at 30 miles an hour, so that won't do.
In the last 2 weeks I leaned some important lessons.
First, when approaching a police checkpoint, don't slow down unless they signal you to stop. If it's inconvenient to stop you, they'll probably just let you through. I stopped about 20 feet passed the police when at the last second they gave me a vague and confusing signal to stop, and they decided to just wave me on because it was too much trouble to walk to my car.
Second, if you get caught breaking the rules and you have an Ecuadorian with you, let them do the talking. I pretended not to understand any Spanish when the police asked me how long I'd been in Ecuador while my wife spun some confusing story. That got us through checkpoint number two.
Third, bribery works. $20 got me out of trouble when I forgot that my plate number is not allowed to drive in Quito during rush hour on Tuesdays.
Fourth, do not drive across country at night. There's just too much foolishness on the roads.
Fifth, it's not worth it. I should have stuck with the bus. So... anyone want to buy a car?