Here is the good news. The regulations state: tourists entering Argentina on a 3 month tourist visa can legally buy, ride and sell a new or used Argentine registered motorcycle in Argentina. Tourists can leave their Argentine registered motorcycle in Argentina indefinitely. TVIPs (temporary vehicle import permits) are not required in Argentina for Argentine registered motorcycles.
Here is the bad news, tourists cannot exit their Argentine registered motorcycle from Argentina.
I agree with Erik_G do your "homework" and do not trust all marketing messages.

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Discover how to legally Buy, Tour and Sell a motorcycle in Argentina

So as a tourist, if I want to travel between countries, do I have to buy or rent a different bike in each country? Are TVIPs only given to residents and foreigners on their imported bikes?

You can legally take a bike through a border if you are the owner of the bike. The problem is that in some countries its difficult or impossible to get ownership of vehicle as a tourist- and thus you cannot cross any borders with it.

Then there are special rules in some countries as for example Argentina that let you buy a bike as a tourist but dont let you take the bike outside the country.

Then there are this thing called a «poder» Its a document where which a owner of a vehicle (seller) gives the right to use and cross borders to another person (buyer) Technically and juridically the «buyer» dont own the vehicle, only the right to use it. This used to be a way of «selling» travel bikes from one traveller to another. It was usually ok to cross borders with such an arrangement but some borders were not allowing this type of documents. It seems to be that the poder thing is less in use than before.

TVIPs are given to owners of bikes and «owners» with a poder.
Rental companies seldom let you take their bikes out of their respective countries but a few will. You have to contact each and every rental companies to know if they let you take their bikes out of the country.

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In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

Hi at
all,

i'm new to this website but i love it already. I saw lots of interesting posts, but as some are a bit old I'd like to ask a few questions in the event things have changed.

I'm planning a motorbike trip across Chile and Argentina in 2026. I think it's best to buy a bike in Santiago and sell it back to the same place.

I read posts about registrations etc, and i wonder what are my best options to have a smooth and fast buying experience. I was hoping that it would be possible to buy a second hand bike at let's say a BMW shop and sell it back there at the end of the trip. Would thy help speeding up the procedure and ensure all the docs i need will be correct and functional? or is it a crazy idea and i have to forget it and better rent a motobike .

let me know your thoughts thanks a lot

There is a long thread about this topic.

My opinion.
Any such arrangements as sell back should be agreed with the dealer in advance. As part of the buying. Probably he wan't buy it back, but can sell it for you for a provision. He should also the help with transfer of ownership and other formalism. The dealer should fix this for you. To do this yourself buying from a private persons require quite some knowledge of all procedures and good Spanish. But of course possible. To sell private will also require some knowledge and maybe a lot of time.

You can't leave Chile until you have the formal documents as owner. I have heard that it may take 4 weeks for new bikes and 8 weeks for used bikes. But if you buy from a dealer(that I recommend you do. Ask him). Or if someone in forum has done this lately has updated information. The temporary documents can only be used inside Chile.
Take a tour along Caretera Austral to start with ?
While you wait for documents.

You can't sell it outside the country where you bought it. Then it would need to be exported and imported. Work + money. Not worth it.

You can never exit the country on a rented bike.

You do not mention how long time you will spend. Buying and selling takes time. Renting is for shorter period.

Where are you from ? There is good shipping service from Germany to Chile, if you are from Europe. To bring your own bike.
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I know that the often there are posts proposal creative ideas of how to get around legal aspects. But......