Hi there to anyone who may be able to help out! I have a friend who bought a BMW in Bogota, Columbia, and has ridden it to Mendoza, Argentina. He will store the bike, and I wish to fly into Mendoza, retrieve the bike out of storage, and ride around Argentina for 2 months. Can it stay registered in his name, or how do we transfer title/ownership so that I can legally ride the bike, or do I even have to have the bike in my name? He is willing to let me use it for travel and I do not have to buy it. Thank you in advance!

Yes it's possible, and fairly straightforward.

All he has to do is stop off at a notaria and get them to write a "carta poder vehículo" which is basically a power of attorney letter giving you the permission to legally ride the bike. You'll have to send him a high quality scan of of your passport for the notary to confirm your details.

Once the Poder is done and stamped by the notary, he'll have to get it apostilled at the ministry of foreign affairs. This sounds like a big deal/difficult thing. But it takes 5 minutes. Basically to verify that the notary was a real notary.

And still need to carry all the original documents and insurance.

Sounds like a place to start! Thanks for the advice.

Then can the bike be ridden across the borders to Chile and Bolivia ?


Max

Yeah absolutely. As long as the Poder states it (usually ask them to write todo los países en sur América incluido chile argentina Bolivia etc). And make sure it's apostilled.

Im in the same boat, wanting to 'buy' a Colombian registered bike in Argentina from a foreign owner. The Power of Attorney is in progress, and I am wondering how the bike can exit the country on its TIP while the original owners name is on it? Surely the owner needs to be present? And entering the next country a TIP needs to have the new rider with POA named instead of the original owner.

This is a minefield, can you explain how you know the above information?

Kind regards

Q

If you have the "poder" or power of attorney over the bike then you have the right to leave the country with it regardless of whose name is on the TIP. I've done it twice in the past year no problems. When you enter the next country (Chile for example) the new TIP will be made in your name, it's really that simple.

I think people make up scare horror stories about travelling with Poder. It's nonsense, if you have a poder made by a genuine notary and apostilled by the ministry YOU WILL HAVE NO PROBLEMS. Other than 1 border that I know of at the coast in Peru to Ecuador where they don't accept vehicles which aren't titled to the owner. I crossed at the inland border here to avoid it.

A tip for you though, as I've bought a Colombian bike from a different country before. As well as the Poder, download from the Colombian SIM website the documents for ownership transfer and have the original owner sign and fingerprint them. Also download a "contrato compra venta" and fill that out, and have the owner sign and fingerprint it too. This will save you A LOT of hassle when you get to Colombia.

Also, the Poder: try to make it a PODER ILIMITADO. And also make sure (100% SURE) that you get the Poder apostilled by the ministry of foreign affairs (ministerio de relaciones exteriores). Otherwise the Poder will not be valid for anything.