Newcomer It's been almost 1 month since I paid, but I still haven't seen my car

[AliciaMaravilla]

I purchased a VW Bora from Alra, a reputed VW dealership. They assured me that the car was in stock and would be delivered within 7-10 business days once I made the full payment. Initially, I was hesitant to pay without seeing the actual car, but they explained that it was in a warehouse far away, and they would only bring it after payment, which they claimed was a normal practice.

Reluctantly, I deposited the money into their account on July 20. Initially, they said my passport was sufficient, but later, they informed me that I needed a tax ID or something similar. I promptly obtained it the next day. It's been almost a month now, and I haven't laid eyes on my car.

The person handling paperwork is unresponsive, neither answering calls nor replying to emails. My sales representative only picks up my calls when I dial from a different number. This has raised concerns, and I feel they might be intentionally avoiding me. Has anyone else experienced a similar situation? I'm anxious because I've paid for a car I've never seen, and every time I contact Alra, they keep delaying the delivery, claiming it will be ready next Monday, which has been the case for more than three weeks now.

 

[Mart]

Not unusual at all. Yes, you pay in full before you get the car. They probably didn't have it in stock and it takes a long time to get them in. I knew someone who had to wait several months for his car.

I would go down and find out when your car will *really* be available. And remember, manana is an idea here, not an actual measurement of time

ETA - Are you fully fluent in Spanish? If not, maybe bring a friend with you when you have the discussion and make sure you aren't missing ANY documentation that is needed to release the car.

 

[TareantelaNapo]

Agree with Mart. Not unusual at all. Best to go there in person , and see what is going on. Remember customer service is a very vague concept in Argentina.

 

[earlyretirement]

I bought a new import car several years ago. While I did have to wait over 2 months for the car, I did NOT have to pay for the car in full until it arrived. I had to put down something like 3,000 pesos but that was it until the car came in.

It was VERY frustrating waiting. As I recall it took something like 2.5 months but I didn't have to pay for the entire thing.

These salesmen are the worst though...so like many things in Argentina you will hear "manana, manana, manana".

 

[CarliNeces]

Is it better to buy a brand new car from the dealership or a 2nd hand car from car lot?

Especially if money is not the issue.

 

[earlyretirement]

Is it better to buy a brand new car from the dealership or a 2nd hand car from car lot?

Especially if money is not the issue.

If you're not in any hurry I'd say just buy a new one. Used cars are fairly expensive there. I was amazed how much I could get for my car when I sold it.

I wasn't in a big hurry to get my car so I just ordered new. Plus you can customize and get what you want. Many of the stuff they had in stock was manual transmission and I definitely wanted an automatic transmission.

Plus I didn't want the hassles if the previous owner treated their car like crap. The locals aren't the best drivers.

 

[CarliNeces]

If you're not in any hurry I'd say just buy a new one. Used cars are fairly expensive there. I was amazed how much I could get for my car when I sold it.

I wasn't in a big hurry to get my car so I just ordered new. Plus you can customize and get what you want. Many of the stuff they had in stock was manual transmission and I definitely wanted an automatic transmission.

Plus I didn't want the hassles if the previous owner treated their car like crap. The locals aren't the best drivers.

Its shocking people still drive manual transmission cars! They call it "real driving!" I call it "what a pain"!

 

[earlyretirement]

Its shocking people still drive manual transmission cars! They call it "real driving!" I call it "what a pain"!

LOL! Yeah, no kidding. I couldn't understand all my local friends that always bought manual transmissions. Traffic in Buenos Aires is really horrible. And the drivers are utterly horrible drivers. Some of the worst in the world.

I'd say before you buy, take a good look how much you will use it. I didn't use my car too often. Luckily I owned a garage space but garage spaces aren't too cheap now if your place doesn't include it. Especially if you're around Palermo, parking is really tough to find as most of the pay-to-park garages came down or soon will to sell to land developers.

Then you have the issue of car insurance which isn't cheap. Funny I paid more in Buenos Aires to insure my car than I did in the USA. Also, the license plate fees (especially if you have an import car) are relatively expensive each year.

The other hassle is several times my car was hit in parking lots and of course, no one ever left a note saying they hit it. So I spent money getting it fixed a few times with dings. Probably you're best to just keep the dings in there without fixing it...

I didn't use it much because parking was a pain, traffic was a pain. But it was nice on the weekends I'd drive around when traffic wasn't as bad. We'd also use it whenever we went over to Uruguay. Very easy to take it over on the Buquebus and just drive over there as rental cars are expensive over there, especially during the high season.

But probably worth taking a good look how much you will actually drive it, especially if you live in the Capital.

 

[SimonChad]

Some good points ER. I am thinking of getting a car. I am really missing the flexibility but also wanting to use it to get out more, and we would also like to drive it up to the north around christmas and use it up there to get around and to get to the coast etc.

Anyhoo for those who have experience of paying for a car here at a dealer, can you actually pay the larger dealers to an account outside the country?

 

[earlyretirement]

Some good points ER. I am thinking of getting a car. I am really missing the flexibility but also wanting to use it to get out more, and we would also like to drive it up to the north around christmas and use it up there to get around and to get to the coast etc.

Anyhoo for those who have experience of paying for a car here at a dealer, can you actually pay the larger dealers to an account outside the country?

I'm not saying it was all bad owning. We used it a lot when it rained and taxis were harder to get. We also used it when we wanted to stock up at stock at Easy or Jumbo and didn't want to wait for their delivery service.

Back when I bought, currency controls wasn't an issue so I just paid the dealer with cash. But now, I'd think that EVERY dealer has a way for you to pay for the funds doing a wire abroad.

All the dealers work with money exchange firms. And if you already have funds abroad, you can easily arrange with them to get funds wired and it won't cost you a cent. However, I'd say the safer method is wiring the funds to yourself and then just paying in cash and getting a receipt at the moment you bought it.

Later if AFIP ever questions how you paid for the car, just say you brought it in when you entered Argentina. For every passport entry stamp you have in your passport it's good for $10,000 US worth of cash.

Call me paranoid but I probably wouldn't want to wire in directly to some account the dealer has abroad. I'd go into the transaction assuming they could somehow screw you.

This way, if you get the funds wired to yourself you can pick up the cash and take it directly to the dealership when it's due. Much safer route to take.

 

[CarliNeces]

I'm not saying it was all bad owning. We used it a lot when it rained and taxis were harder to get. We also used it when we wanted to stock up at stock at Easy or Jumbo and didn't want to wait for their delivery service.

Back when I bought, currency controls wasn't an issue so I just paid the dealer with cash. But now, I'd think that EVERY dealer has a way for you to pay for the funds doing a wire abroad.

All the dealers work with money exchange firms. And if you already have funds abroad, you can easily arrange with them to get funds wired and it won't cost you a cent. However, I'd say the safer method is wiring the funds to yourself and then just paying in cash and getting a receipt at the moment you bought it.

Later if AFIP ever questions how you paid for the car, just say you brought it in when you entered Argentina. For every passport entry stamp you have in your passport it's good for $10,000 US worth of cash.

Call me paranoid but I probably wouldn't want to wire in directly to some account the dealer has abroad. I'd go into the transaction assuming they could somehow screw you.

This way, if you get the funds wired to yourself you can pick up the cash and take it directly to the dealership when it's due. Much safer route to take.

Thanks. That sounds like a brilliant idea to me!

Will this work if I am new citizen of Argentina? But the entry stamps on my previous passport would still be there of course.

But I sure, loved your idea.

 

[earlyretirement]

Thanks. That sounds like a brilliant idea to me!

Will this work if I am new citizen of Argentina? But the entry stamps on my previous passport would still be there of course.

But I sure, loved your idea.

Yes, it will work if you're a new resident of Argentina. Do you have a DNI? Typically you're supposed to report all assets you have abroad including bank accounts but it's VERY rare to find a local that declares their offshore accounts.

Back when I got my DNI I ignored my accountant's advice and declared several bank accounts I had outside of Argentina. As an American I was so accustomed to not "cheating on my taxes". Boy I felt like an idiot soon after when I saw that it was foolish to declare them.

For the vast majority of ex-pats you don't have to worry too much about AFIP but if you plan on living in Argentina or doing business there then you have to really think things through and almost go about it like a Chess match thinking many steps ahead.

Typically just with the explanation of passport entry stamps that is good enough because they can't prove that you didn't have cash savings in a safe deposit box wherever you are from.

But if you wanted to go one step further, you could keep a bank account and just always write yourself checks from that same account and write checks to yourself and deposit them in another account. And you can keep the cancelled checks as proof for the "withdrawals" and say you cashed those checks and brought the funds down each entry.

Of course if you get audited you'll have to justify where the money came in the first place. But any American would have tax returns to prove that from prior years.

My best advice is to take the approach of a chess match thinking many steps ahead of time.

But you shouldn't have problems if you keep everything documented. I've had non-resident friends that used this approach when selling their properties. They bought properties many years ago and couldn't even remember how they got the funds in the country but they just showed their passport entry stamps and said they brought $9,900 each time and that was good enough for AFIP.

 

[Scottishgaucho]

If you suspect some shenanigans contact your Local Consumer Protection office.

Defensa del consumidor

Iniciá un reclamo, conocé tus derechos como consumidor, capacitate e informate para mejorar tu experiencia en el consumo.

www-argentina-gob-ar.translate.goog

 

[Avocado]

Yes, the Defensa del consumidor is always a good first step. They actually will investigate and businesses don't want the hassles as AFIP usually gets involved later. They don't want that.