7 Tips for Buying a Van on another Continent

Every car I've bought since 2008, I've bought through an online forum like craigslist. As sketchy as that site seems sometimes, it's easy to take for granted the chance to see the car, meet the seller, and get a mechanical checkup, all working in your native language.

But for a van trip starting in South America, that may not be a choice! While we were incredibly fortunate to buy a quality van in the right place from owners we met face-to-face, that's not the common experience. Looking back, here's our tips:

1. Start early, and learn the market. This is definitely a niche, with something like the turnover of a small town car dealership. Check:

   • Facebook groups
   • Drive the Americas
   • [Overlander Forums?]

2. Decide what's best for you:

   • Purchase at Destination: If it all works out, this is the low-stress option. Fly in and pick up your new ride like it's a rental!
   • Purchase at Home and Ship: if you have needs that aren't met by what's on the market, it might be better for you to outfit a vehicle in your home country and ship it. This avoids paperwork issues in a foreign country, and then you know exactly what you're getting. You also get to decide when and where you start your trip.

3. Know the requirements of your travels. Think about things like:

   • Will you be spending time somewhere like Patagonia, where the natural conditions (gale-force winds on a daily basis) preclude an otherwise good solution, the rooftop tent? Or somewhere rainy like Central America, where you might appreciate having a steel roof over your head and not having to pitch the tent in a downpour?
   • Do you need 4x4 to get where you want to go? That eliminates almost any van.
   • Will you want to spend time in cities, where you'll need to fit into a normal parking space?
4. Know the rules of the country that (a) the vehicle is plated in and (b) where it will be transferred. Chilean cars, for example, can't leave the country for about 3 weeks after purchase, and even then for 180-day (extendable) windows, and must be returned to Chile to be sold again. Google is your friend - there's at least a decade of experience online about buying cars in Country X.
5. When you find one you like, act quickly! Get in touch with the owners, and ask for a video tour.

6. Make very flexible arrangements for the actual purchase of the van - nothing goes to plan, and that's especially true for two foreigners making an official transaction in a strange country and system! You'll need time for:

   • Inspecting the vehicle (see point 7)
   • Trying multiple different government offices/notaries when one says no for no good reason
   • Any fixes or modifications you'll want to make
   • Weekend, holiday time
7. Arrange for a true, in-depth, local inspection. No matter how much you think you trust the sellers, even they may not know everything that's wrong with it. Getting it fixed after purchase will be hard, especially when you're at your least experienced in that area, and even worse if you've already put some miles behind you and you're in the middle of nowhere. Find a well-reviewed mechanic on iOverlander in a convenient area and allot a day to this, or more if you can't arrange in advance. The custom in Chile seems to be that folks with busted cars drive up, give the shop a synopsis of the problem, and get told some future day to come back for the fix. An inspection will probably not get the highest priority.