Buying a used car

Thank you for posting this! I will try to contact him!

I have been trying to get him for a week.....

Has not signed on to WhatsApp for a week..... very odd

I sensed he was sick....by the no response
we talk frequently

I am hoping !!

Hi everyone. I have an update on Crufman, aka Mike. 

He is pretty sick with Covid and is in hospital in Santo Domingo.  Please keep him in your thoughts.  If I have any updates I will post.

Thanks for the information.
We will keep him in our prayers.

Just picked up on this worrying news about Mike.

I sincerely hope he pulls through. He is so helpful on all things cars and has a sharp mind with a love for music.

Never met him in person but had plans in the near future for a vehicle purchase through him. He has been a fantastic addition to this forum.

I hope so too!

Our thoughts and prayers are certainly going out for him..

Here's good news !
I got a message from Mike this morning.  He sounds much better and he expects to be out of hospital in few days.

That is very good to hear.  Let's continue to keep him in prayers.

Yes, he is back communicating w/ people

and he asked me to thank all of you who were so kind as to remember him.
He truly appreciates the support you all are giving him

Glad to hear his is doing better.

Hello, friends! Well, we did it! Husby and i ate here in the capital. Just over a week now. Can someone help us purchase a used car? Not looking to spend too much, and not wanting a monthly car payment. Just something to get around. ☺️ Nothing fancy... Just reliable. Thank you! Reina*

Hi congrats on you new adventure!

I am looking for a car or at least I was.

First thing is that cars here seem expensive to me. A pal of mine just purchased a 2009 Hyundai Elantra with 90 thousand or so mileage. Price he says was 450k pesos. Didn't ask if the included tax or not. It sounds like a lot of money for not much car.

Another thing I found about driving here is there is some confusion around obtaining a drivers license. To get one we apparently  must be a resident. That costs a bit and would be nice to have but I am told it can take a year or more to obtain. Someone please correct of if I AM wrong about any of this. So cedula then license. It is my understanding is that we can only drive on our home countries license for the 30 days we are allowed since we don't have cedulas. I am not sure about length of time for an international license. Thus could be a problem if police enforce or God forbid we are in a bad accident. The insurance company will quite possibly discover that you did not have a valid license and then refuse to pay out on the insurance you presumably bought. Big potential liability.

Just some stuff to be aware of. There is probably much more more to know as I have only been here for a few months. My decision was basically to hold off on the car purchase for now. How do you feel about scooters as an alternative to driving? I went this route for now and picked up a Yamaha scooter with 125 cc engine and  less than a thousand kilometers for 1500 Dollars. Its fine around town but not at all  practical for longer trips. Insurance costs about 25 dollars annual from a private company and no operator license is required.

One other thing I have learned is that standard transmission cars are not easy to sell around h ere. People here just don't like them. You might be able to get a bit of a bargain on one of these.

Let us know what happens and how you are finding life around here.

From one newbie to another welcome!

Reina - if you decide to move forward contact Cruffman on here.  He helps many of us find good vehicles.

The above post is full of good info too!  International drivers license is no different than your license from where you are from. Unless you have residency or a work visa your license will not be valid once your legal status is expired.   As you are in the capital use Uber!  Works pretty well and less expensive than taxis.  Try not to use them in peak traffic hours or on rainy Friday or on payday!  Prices increase with heavy traffic!

As for car costs.... 40-50% more than USA/Canada is the rule of thumb

Use Cruffman to avoid scams. He has a large following here

As a point of interest,  my company owns a 2018 pick up truck.   When we renewed the insurance in December - its now a full year older - the insurance premium went UP because the value of the truck is HIGHER!   I have never seen this in my life!

One of the quirks in today's vehicle world....

Used vehicles are selling for more than you paid- sometimes equal to a new one

I was car shopping w/ my daughter recently -
New cars were MSRP + $10K (US$)....
The demos/loaners had no such mark-up....

Guess which she bought !!??

It seems that right now, there is a great shortage of good used vehicles and as a result, when the demand goes  up and the supply down, the prices go up.  I was going to get another vehicle this month but we could not find a good sedan for $1,000,000 pesos.  Then we had to up the price and start searching for SUV's.  In the end I did buy for a number of reasons.  Just saying, the market is different now in this country.  Cruffman is good and decent, but I pulled out.

Reina - if you decide to move forward contact Cruffman on here. He helps many of us find good vehicles.

The above post is full of good info too! International drivers license is no different than your license from where you are from. Unless you have residency or a work visa your license will not be valid once your legal status is expired.  As you are in the capital use Uber! Works pretty well and less expensive than taxis. Try not to use them in peak traffic hours or on rainy Friday or on payday! Prices increase with heavy traffic!
-@planner

Hello Planner. Two years ago, I was on a quest to DR. Now I am happy to say that I am officially an owner of a home in the DR. During the pandemic I did not post or check anything on expat. Now I have reconnected and I was not sure how to get back to post and getting into the forum and asked questions so I had to repost an old post of planner and reply. Please let me know how to start over. Also I am looking for a pool cleaner to clean my pool while I am away. I am in Punta Cana in a gated community.

Respectfully