Obtaining a RUT...
Things to take with you:
1. Passport
2. A Chilean address local to the Sii office you are going to, otherwise they may tell you to go to an office closer to your address
3. We also had a local mobile phone number that we used but it did not seem essential
When you arrive go to the first reception desk and tell them you want a RUT (pronounced ruoot). They will give you some documents and tell you to go to a machine and enter a number and you will get a docket to wait in the line. Use this time to fill out your form and when your number comes up present your completed paper work (Don't expect anyone to speak English!)
Once you get your temporary RUT printed by the attendant it is valid for three months and until then you can use it like an official RUT. You will be told that your official RUT will arrive at your chosen address in 3-4 weeks but in reality we found this not to be the case. Instead it will be sent to the office where you applied for it and just take some ID (we recommend your passport) to pick it up, again 3-4 weeks after you applied for it. But don't worry you won't need to wait for this to buy a car, the temporary one is fine. Though as a tourist your RUT will begin with the numbers 48 and you can expect that this may cause some confusion with people who have not seen a 'foreign' RUT before. If you encounter this issue, just smile and persevere as eventually they will call the right person who will ok it.
Finding the right vehicle...
For our journey we were looking for a value priced 4WD in the sub $7,000USD range. Depending on the vehicle you are looking for car/van/4WD/bus? you will need to try some different places. In central Santiago we found that there are a number of used car lots where there is a good range of small to medium sized used cars of varying price and condition, however mostly on the newer hence pricer side. Also in central Santiago for those people with the budget there are plenty of higher spec 4WD's for around $30,000USD. The car yards we found are focused around the area of two streets, Av Irarrazaval and Av 10 de Julio (The latter sometimes written Diez de Julio). The area around Av 10 de Julio also has a huge number of car parts shops, mechanics, service centres and tyre shops. To find a 4WD to suit our requirements (budget!) we found we had to look further afield. We discovered two websites, http://www.chileautos.cl is a great place to start, and will give you a good feel for what is available. Also http://www.autolocal.cl is worth a try. In addition there are two large car yards that we can highly recommend:
Planet Car
Address: Calle Americo Vespucio 2901, Cerrillos, Santiago, Región Metropolitana, Chile.
Website: http://www.planetcar.cl
Phone: (+56 2) 557 2217
Auto Trade
Address: Avda Departamental 4360, Macul, Santiago, Región Metropolitana, Chile.
Phone: (+56 2) 283 2421
These two car yards appeared to be a large number of small sellers individually operating under one roof so there is a huge variety of vehicles available. With some being in a state of disrepair and others a very good buy. We also discovered and looked around a local car market one afternoon but would not recommend buying privately due to the amount of paperwork and people involved with the process.
The Car Paperwork…
Here is a list of vehicle paperwork the seller must provide and you need to check is current and legitimate:
1. "Registro Nacional de Vehículos Motorizados" - known as a 'Padron'
2. "Certificado De Revision Tecnica" - Vehicle techecnical inspection
3. "Certificado De Emisiones Contaminantes" and accompanying green windscreen sticker
4. "Seguro Obligatorio" This is compulsory 3rd Party Insurance for the vehicle valid for 1 year
5. "Permiso de Circulacion" - Road taxes
You should also get a background check done on the registration number to make sure there are no outstanding taxes or fines.
Purchase process
Bargain bargain bargain! don't go out softly bargaining is definitely key and we managed to reduce the asking price of each vehicle we looked at quite significantly without even having to try much. As for the actual process of signing the car over once we had agreed on a price the seller - in our case a second hand car salesman - basically took care of everything from here. The car yard we used, Auto Trade, has its own "Registro Civil" which made the process even easier, after the writing up of all the agreements including fingerprinting our typewriter written documents and handing over our cash the car was ours to take away. It was a fairly simple process that only took 30mins. We had to come back 4 days later to pick-up our temporary padron but this is standard and was no problem because it gave us a few days to get the car serviced etc. Your official padron will arrive to your designated address about 3-4 weeks after you get your temporary pardon. It is no problem to leave Chile with the car with just the temporary pardon but if you have the opportunity to pick it up we recommend doing so because it is much more widely recognised. A good idea is then to get it cut and laminated because you will be required to show it along with your drivers licence many many times!
Kitting out the Car
After our week of searching and several test drives, the car we finally settled on was a year 2000 Dodge Durango SLT 4X4. Its a fairly big American made SUV but that was the attraction of it as we had planned to be able to sleep in the car when it was required. This has turned out to be 75% of the time with our comfy 100mm mattress. It had great folding seats that all went amazingly flat creating an excellent bed space for two to sleep in. Compared to other vehicles we looked at it was in really good condition, all the doors closed and locked solidly, it had an alarm and central locking, a nudge bar with 2 sets of spotlights and roof rack crossbars. It had only done 124,000km had big tyres and the 4WD system worked stoutly. To give you an idea we paid a little under $7000USD.
Below is a list of equipment that we carry in the Dodge, bear in mind that our trip is a long one - 50,000odd km and that often we find ourselves in very remote places where you can get little of nothing so it has really paid off to have had all this gear in the truck, you can cater this list to your trip and add or leave out as much or as little as you want but here is what has been most handy for us:
- Heavy duty tow strop and 'D' shackle
- Mini air compressor
- Tyre pressure gauge (None of them work in gas stations)
- Check your car has a working jack and tyre iron
- Spade
- Sand tracks (We brought a set of Maxtrax from Aust they are excellent)
- Fuel containers - 2x 20ltr will keep you out of trouble
- Jumper leads
- Spare engine oil and oil filter
- Spare engine air filter
- Duct tape, CRC, grease and radiator stop leak
- Instant steel epoxy (Poxilina in S.A.)
- Spare fuses and headlight bulbs
- Fire extinguisher
- 2x Safety triangles
- Spare fan belt
For trying to buy bits and pieces there are many handy little hardware stores around called ferretera's and we can also recommend these two large chain stores:
Easy - More of a homeware store but with a big range of things including some auto stuff
Sodimac Constructor and Sodimac Homecentre - These two explain themselves they are the best and are easy to find
Other improvements we have made on the road so far:
Built a plywood storage shelf in the back in Usuhaia, Argentina. Cost approx. $150USD.
Fitted a 450W inverter in Salta, Argentina. Cost $120USD.
Replaced the rapidly disintegrating plastic bash plate with a 3mm Steel underbody skidplate in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Cost $115USD.
TAG. This is an electronic tollroad receiver that sticks on your windscreen and records and charges the automatic road tolls you drive through. However this is only for around Santiago and definitely not something to worry about if you are driving out of the city. We spent a whole day getting this registered only to hear it beep a few times as we left Santiago and never again!
Don't buy you car in either of the Tax free zones in Punta Arenas or Iquique. It will just create massive problems if you try to take the car out of these areas or Chile. However if you need to get some parts or other equipment these are two places to look for good prices.
Security:
- Window Tinting. Go as dark as you can! will keep you car cool and keep out prying eyes, no laws regarding this as far as we could find.
- Car Alarm. A must as far as we are concerned.
- Number Plate. Secure your plate well, pop rivets are a good backup also take a quality photo of it incase it is stolen you could always get another printed at a sign-writers.
- Steering wheel lock. We saw these used everywhere in the bigger cites and use one as an extra measure.
In Hindsight:
Custom built reliable vehicle from home, more built in storage, larger water supply, ability to cook inside the vehicle, full tool kit, these are just a few of the things on our wish list!. But don't get us wrong we came to this trip with limited time and money and for us what we did was the only option at the time. Although the Dodge has had its problems it hasn't been anything we couldn't get fixed and for the price we paid it is a great vehicle and we have loads of fun taking it to all the crazy places we want to go. For sure the roads are hard on vehicles here and obviously things can always go wrong with a new vehicle too so we are still really happy with our choice.
I hope this has been some help, all the best with your travels!
Will & Rochelle