Selling a Bike in Argentina or Brazil
 

Ok, I'm running out of time and money and the idea of riding all the way back home to New Mexico seems more and more unlikely.

1) Better to sell the bike in Brazil or Argentina? As in, where will I get a better price?

2) Now, as far as the hassles of dodging customs goes? Which country would be easier? So far, I haven't seem much at all in terms of stamps in my passport saying I have a bike with me, not like Central America. I could sell it for cash and just fly home, right?

Thanks,
Ed, in Cordoba, Argentina

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I'm Ed, and I've gone south.
www.edsgonesouth.com

Hi Ed,
how did you get on? We will have a similar problem to solve soon - we are on our way to Brazil .. then leaving SA, so will need to off-load two motorcycles. Would love to take them with us to Cape Town, but think the cost of shipping will be too high.

Argentina
 

As for Argentina, I can confirm what has been said many times in this forum. It is impossible to sell a bike to locals, I have been trying for four weeks. I actually found Argentines who really wanted to buy the bike, but there is no way they can get the papers in their name.
You can only sell to another traveller which is also illegal, but possbile. At the moment it is very difficult though, there are a lot more people selling than buying (see all the ´KLR for sale´ posts). The few I met who managed to sell their bike did so for a very low price in my opinion.
I shipped my bike back home yesterday, by the way.

Selling foreign registered motorcycles in Argentina
 

I try not to forget that I am a guest in another country. Hopefully, traveling to another country is like going to a friend's house. I try, out of respect to my host, to abide by the customs and laws of the country.

As posted on the Hub, recently several foreign diplomats were busted for selling their foreign registered vehicles in Argentina. It was front page news for a day or two. Some were sent home, others are facing criminal charges here in Buenos Aires.

Unless your foreign registered bike is legally registered in Argentina it cannot be sold. To legally register your motorcycle in Argentina, the owner ( I believe, and I am not absolutely sure about this) must either be Argentine or have a permanent foreign residence permit (DNI), and a pay hefty import tax must be paid before the motorcycle can even be registered in Argentina.

Please verify with local aduana officials and good luck. My suggestion is obtain an 8 month Temporary Vehicle Import Permit when entering Argentina, park your bike in Argentina, legally leave the country and return in 8 months or before to continue your tour. This is legal.
xfiltrate

Selling your bike in Argentina
 

Having recently attempted this from a distance I was hoping to fly in to Ushuaia, buy a friend's bike, he would fly home and I would ride north. The closest that I got to finding an answer on how to do this after much email correspondence, conversations with the Consulate, ect, ect. was this: Both parties will travel together exiting Argentina and before entering the next country (Chile?) you would switch plates and registration to the new owner and the new owner would bring the bike into the country. Soooooo as you can imagine this is fraught with all kinds of dark incantation's . :nono: You want to weird out a boarder official I guess this is a good way to do it! It sounded way to "out there" for me to try it. So the short answer is "impossible".
Xfiltrate's input above is excellent. They just don't want a foreigner to sell their bike in Argentina.

The above was my experience however having said that, another friend that was passing through that area has said that it is possible to make a sale in Punta Arenas as it is a duty free area. I know nothing more on this but it may be a lead worth looking into.

Good luck