New cars are very expensive here in Peru, due to customs and taxes. The average Peruvian cannot afford a car and even having a driver’s license is not common. Of those who can afford cars, most buy used cars that have been imported from Japan. After the cars arrive here, they are converted from right-hand drive to left-hand drive. If you are an experienced converter, they do a very good job, and at first glance, you will never realize that you have converted. There is a big sale of these cars in Tacna, a city in southern Peru near the border with Chile, where there is a seaport.
I bought my first car here in Arequipa, more than three years ago, and it was not a good experience. Due to incorrect import documents, it took me six months to get the license and be able to drive it. It was a Nissan 4×4 truck, but it was not made for the rough off-road driving that we have to do here in Cotahuasi. After endless repairs I finally decided to purchase a different vehicle as I needed something better for my adventure travel business. I spoke with Lucho, whose family has become my family here, and he gave me a lot of advice.
First of all, as important as tourism is to Peru, taking advantage of gringos is something of a national pastime here. Lucho protects me like a younger brother, even though I think I’m older than him. He also used to be a cop, so he has a lot of experiential wisdom to draw on. He gave me detailed instructions on what to do and what not to do in Tacna. Most cars are sold in a special area called Ceticos, which is a low duty import zone. It looks like a low budget used car mall, with probably 40 or 50 dealerships selling cars.
Knowing that I would pay more for the same car than a Peruvian, I wanted a Peruvian friend to come with me to negotiate. However, no one could accompany me last week, when I had to go. I sold my old car in Arequipa on Monday afternoon and headed out on the bus that night for the six-hour trip to Tacna. One of my friends, Hector, said that he could help me but only for one day. I said I’d spend Tuesday and Wednesday looking, and if I found something suitable I’d call him and he’d catch the Wednesday night bus to help me Thursday. It wasn’t an ideal situation, but Lucho told me that mid-week was the best and safest time to buy a car there, it’s too crowded and not safe on weekends. Checks are not commonly used here, which meant you would pay cash.
Because of this, many important transactions take place in banks. Lucho told me to take the seller to my bank, give him the money there and sign the papers there, so that he wouldn’t have more than $10,000 in his pocket. He also told me to ignore anyone who tried to talk to me, help me or ask me for help. He warned me to be careful that no one bumps into me or touches me on the bench, because they do that “accidentally” and then they mark your back. When you leave the bank, an achievement sees the mark and knows that you have a lot of cash with you. They will then follow you around until they have a chance to rob you.
I arrived in Tacna around 4:30 am; Fortunately, we were allowed to sleep on the bus until a more reasonable hour in the morning. I finally gave up trying to sleep around 6:00 and went to find a nearby hostel. They said they would hold my bag until I came back in the evening to check in, so I didn’t have to pay the room charge for an extra day. There were no restaurants around, so I went back to the bus terminal and had breakfast, before going to Ceticos.
There have been some changes to the import laws so fewer vehicles are being brought into Peru than there used to be, but there were still hundreds of cars, vans and vans surrounding department store like buildings in Ceticos. The conversions are also done there, which is only feasible because they can buy the cars at a very low price, and labor is also very cheap here in Peru. One factor made it easier for me; He knew exactly what vehicle he was looking for: a Toyota Hi-Ace pickup, 4 wheel drive, and manual transmission. Most of the combis (small bus service) are Hi-Aces and all are manual gear; I just needed to find a 4×4 like the one I had seen here in Cotahuasi.
When we left Japan 20 years ago, almost all vehicles sold there were still stick-shift, very few automatic. However, in the last 10 years automatics have become much more popular there as well, probably due to the almost universal use of mobile phones. I found several beautiful Hi-Ace trucks, with good seating for 8, but most were automatics and none were 4-wheel drive. The Town-Ace is a bit smaller but I looked them up too, same problem. I found a 4×4 van but it was a Mitsubishi and an automatic and it was too expensive. I eventually started looking into small SUVs like the 4Runner and Pathfinder, but they were also automatic only. They also had some Land Cruisers, but they were close to $20,000. One seller said that a friend of his, who was a notary public, had a manual 4Runner for sale, but was back in town, about 10 minutes away.
Remembering Lucho’s advice, I declined his offer to take me to see him. I rode with him and his co-worker all over Ceticos trying to find me one, as well as his friend’s office phone number, so we could call him. During this time we picked up another friend of his, who said he also knew of one for sale in town, and they wanted to take me there to see it. Finally, after finding nothing on Ceticos, I nervously agreed to go find the ones in town as they seemed like nice guys and were trying to find a vehicle for me.
I had doubts (whether it was fifth or sixth) when we picked up a fourth young man (he was a relative of one of the owners) in Tacna, and he had not yet seen any vehicle there. After driving everywhere, far from the city center, he was really nervous and was thinking of jumping out of the car if he saw a policeman, we finally got to where one of the trucks was supposed to be. Another five minutes later, someone pulled out a very beat up 4Runner that they wanted $10,000 for, and it had an automatic! Then we went to the notary public’s office. He had sold the one they wanted to show me, but had a newer one for sale for $19,000. I said that it was nice but too expensive, and that it was also automatic. Then they wanted to show me another one somewhere and I said no, “Take me back to Ceticos!” After wasting a couple of hours and 10 soles in gas that they asked me to pay for, I was glad to be safe in Ceticos, where I checked out the remaining places I hadn’t been before.
There was no 4×4 manual van at any of the vendors, and I was about to give up and head back to town. First I decided to look at the Mitsubishi again and see if they could have something cheaper. It turned out that I had misunderstood the price and it was within my budget. Using my best negotiating tactics, I managed to get the price down to a thousand dollars, but it was probably still more than a Peruvian would have had to pay. I really needed to get a vehicle so I decided to buy it even though it was an automatic. I spent the entire next day doing the paperwork, getting my money out of the US, transferring the money, and doing some minor repairs to the truck. The paperwork had to be done by a notary, the one the seller used was the same one I had been to the day before! Fortunately, Hector arrived in Tacna in the morning to help with all of that and make sure everything was correct.
We got the required permit to drive it back to Arequipa without registration, and by 7:30 pm we were finally ready to go. We bought some roast chicken and chips, our first meal since breakfast, picked up my bag at the hotel and headed to Arequipa. We still had to go through the customs checkpoint, but Hector took care of everything there, and within 30 minutes we were on our way again. As we drove through a small town, I saw a policeman standing near the road and a sign that said “Control.” I asked Hector if we needed to stop and he said no so we passed. About an hour and a half later, as we passed a tollbooth, a policeman waved us over to the highway. I showed him the permit papers and he said we had to go back about 60 miles to the checkpoint to get them stamped. He was getting late and didn’t want to waste fuel so I asked if there was any way to avoid going back. He took me to the building, sealed the papers and said we could continue!
We arrive at Hector’s house, where I park my car when I’m in Arequipa, at 2:00 am, tired but grateful for a successful trip. The next day, after spending a few hours waiting and standing in lines, all the registration paperwork was submitted and now I only have to wait 10 days to get the title, and then a couple more days to get the plates. So I can drive my car!
