Have posted this one hour ago in the South American section - perhaps this one is more adapted. Thanks

Buenos Aires destination charges
Hi there.

I have written to some of you who are based or just travelled through Buenos Aires, but am also posting as others may be able to reply.

I am shipping from Montreal to Buenos Aires and have been quotes US$1300 of port fees (obligatory) and US$1000 for a local customs broker. Can you confirm whether these are normal fees?

I would greatly appreciate advice as we are meant to ship on 1st November.
We have also been in touch with others who have not used local agents, some have found the experience difficult recently. Can you thus confirm whether an agent is necessary for Argentina?

Many thanks in advance

Hi Cruz,

We (wife and I) are currently getting our motorcycle released from the port of Buenos Aires. From what I gather, you are shipping a 4x4 so some charges would be higher for you but...

It seems to me that both charges are unusually high, one more than the other. The quoted price of 1300$ for port fees should probably be more in the range of 600$ to 900$ max. I base this on what I have heard about others getting their vehicles out of the port.

But the 1000$ fee for a local customs broker is ridiculously high. I would guess that you could get away with paying half of that amount or less. I recommend asking Sandra from Dakar Motos to help you out with this. She has very good rates and has been doing this sort of thing for a while.

Hope this helps and I am sure you will have a blast once you get down to South-America. It will all be worth it!

__________________
Brian

www.2uprtw.com

Thank you Brian for confirming this. I am in touch with Sandra.
Will let you know the conclusion when all is sorted.

Happy travels to you too!

Brian and Marie, you're from Montreal too?!
I'm there now.

Yup,

Slowly heading back up there once we get our bike out of the port.

I suspect we shall meet somewhere on the road as we expect to be in Argentina for another 2 months.

Cheers,

__________________
Brian

www.2uprtw.com

... make it a slowly head back, and enjoy!

My husband John has just read your website and is impressed. Says there is some buddhist philosophy in there!

We'll be happy to meet up. Arriving in BA mid-November, probably staying in the capital for a while, getting the vehicle released and all. Let's be in touch.

Isa & John

Take this advice from a porteño who lived abroad quite a long time, has travelled through Latin America on a vintage bike and has shipped his own motorcycle doing all customs and shipping paperwork myself.
Ah and I forgot, I shipped and imported all my personal belongings into Buenos Aires and also imported another of my motorcycles and nationalized it paying duties, and getting Argentinian number plates.

Are you ready for the advice now? Here it goes:

AVOID BUENOS AIRES AT ALL COSTS
AVOID ARGENTINA AT ALL COSTS

You have been warned.
Ship to Uruguay instead, a more progressive country with less red tape and less corruption. Or Chile.

Your better and cheaper option for shipping worldwide is Wallenius Willhelmsen Ro-Ro, there are heaps of them and you can get as far as Rio Grande Brazil, great place to dig your vehicle out of customs, easy relaxed port, honest people, simple paperwork, cheaper port fees and cheaper cost of living.

Hope this helps.

Ah and one final thing, in caps again:

WHILE IN OUR COUNTRIES PLEASE NEVER EVER BRIBE!
You will get arrested in your country if you try to bribe an officer, so don't do it here, not even for fun. If you bribe you are helping perpetuate this practice. You would not like me going to your place in the world and and do something illegal there.

BRIBING IS SERIOUSLY UNCOOL

Thank you for your reply.
May I ask for the details why you so strongly disapprove using Buenos Aires?

Hi Cruz,

Just came back from dealing with the co-loader and customs here in Buenos Aires. The co-loader is the company usually chosen by your shipper to take the container with your vehicle from the ship to a warehouse. In BA, some warehouses are free while some charge you a substantial fee (1000 pesos is a figure I have heard thrown around). The co-loader gets to decide where they store your vehicle while you do the paperwork (2 to 5 days from the moment you are notified of arrival, notification is done by both co-loader and shipper to the e-mail and phone number you provided your shipper as it appears on the Bill of Lading).

Customs will cost you nothing here in BA. It is the co-loader and the warehouse that will cost you but it is par for the course. We ended up paying the co-loader 425 USD (in our opinion too high for a motorcycle, we have been told this is what you can expect to pay for a truck) and we expect to pay another 300 to 500 USD in warehouse fees. Depends on their mood tomorrow morning when we go get the bike.

Customs were very friendly and helpful. We shared a few good laughs with them. But they are a little slow with the paperwork. The co-loader made mistakes on the Bill of Lading (they provide you with a new one once you go pay their fee) which we had to correct. We speak some spanish so it went well.

One last thing, we met a couple from Austria who were getting their Landrover and starting a big South-America trip. The process seemed to be going well for them.

Hope this helps,

__________________
Brian

www.2uprtw.com

Didn't I explain myself?
Here you will pay more have more hassles, be actively enticed to bribe your way out of inefficiency and delays.
They want your money, badly.
Feel free to try...

Posted yesterday in the South American section

I just come back from the Grimaldi office in Buenos Aires and the port.

3 years ago, i shared a container and getting things sorted cost us one week and 600 USD, which was already unjustified. The "free parking" used to be 5 days, so you had time to do it on yourself, even tho clerks were not very cooperative with foreigners.

Today, getting the vehicules out cost us 1360 dollars. They changed the 5 days rule to include non worked days like the weekend. Since they need one day to unload, unless the ship arrives on Monday, you just dont have enough time to do it alone, getting an agent to accelerate the process is simply compulsary. You will then have to add 320 dollars to the 1360. Total damage : 1680 dollars to use a crane to move the container and get the vehicules out. Add to this that if you want to do it on yourself, you will need to give a "warranty" of 5000 USD to your agent CASH till the process is finished. Paying in pesos will cost you 3% more than in dollars or euros.

This is a plain nonsense, totally uncorrelated to real costs, i would strongly advise you to ship to Brazil, Uruguay or Chili, Buenos Aires has become simply unaffordable unless you send a container with 10 motorcycles and share the cost between all the people, but then good luck with the organisation.

Here are the details as of 10/28/2009 for a 20 ft container :

Port charges :
Handling (5 dias) : 196,60 USD
AGPxTN4 : 15 USD
Desonsolidado : 450 USD
Cargo ISPS : 8 USD
Gate : 25 USD
Total : 618 USD
IVA : 62 USD
Total+IVA : 880 USD

Agent charges :
THC : 221 USD
TOLL : 90 USD
BL : 35 USD
Handling : 25 USD
Delivery order : 45 USD
Logistic fee : 25 USD
Gastos Gravados+IVA : 169 USD
Total : 480 USD

Total compulsary : 1360 USD

Optional but compulsary due to lack of time : Agent broker : 320 USD

Total of total of total :1680 USD/1142 Euros.

Hi Cruz,

Yesterday we got our motorcycle out of the warehouse so we can give you a better idea of costs (at least for a bike) and difficulties in getting our vehicle. In the end, we paid the warehouse 425 USD, the exact same price as what we paid the co-loader. The process to retrieve from the warehouse was fairly easy but we did feel we were taken advantage of by about 300$ (based on what others have paid). As for total costs to get our bike from Malaysia to BA:

Shipping fees (Wilhelmsen Ships Service): approx 1000 USD
Co-loader fee (PlusCargo) : 425 USD
Warehouse fee (Gemez 1) : 425 USD

Total cost : 1850 USD.

If I were to start over, I would do it the same way. Send the bike by ship.

I hope all goes well for shipping your truck and look forward to seeing you on the road!

__________________
Brian

www.2uprtw.com

Wow! This thread scares me. I'm planning on shipping my bike by air on LAN Cargo from Miami to Buenos Aires in 20 days and had not budgeted the cost desribed in these post. Can anyone tell me if there will be simulat "port" cost with my air frieghted motorcycle? Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the detailed info.
We will see you guys in two weeks in BA. Will PM you.

Cruz was loaded into container this morning and should get there in four weeks roughly.

Hope all goes well and we get the best option this time with prices, customs and all. We hear the comments about how expensive it can be, but also hear the good stories and need to believe in them now (Brian&Marie, Coen&Karin from Landcruising and others).

PS We had to get three guys to stand in the back of the car to lower it so it would fit in the container with roof rack and tent! We hope to be able to get help on the other side too.

edited