The Scurvy Dog's Puerto Rican Blog

Or.. how I survived buying a used car in PR

I did finally score a used ride off Clasificados Online, but not without a lot of hassle. Seriously, if you only have a week or two to look around, then bite the bullet and pay the high price of renting a car. I had figured I might need one for up to 2 months but I’ve lost almost 2 weeks messing around.

After looking at many, many ads, the 1st one I went to check out was for a truly trashed Toyota Landcruiser.. well, it looked good in the photo! It was missing a tail-light lens and would not start upon arrival… I don’t know if he ever got it to go. He kept repeating in broken english- “You don’t want to buy this car”. The second vehicle was a very nice looking Landrover from a used car dealer. Its transmission failed on the freeway, within 10 miles of leaving the lot. The dealer sent a “Grua” (a flatbed type tow truck) to take it back to his lot. I tried to work with him on it, but after 4 days of waiting I called Visa and cancelled the contract. Its a real good thing it was bought on a card, otherwise I would have had no recourse. I ended up with a used Isuzu Rodeo I scored from a private party. Its in real clean shape and runs well. We will see how it holds up.

The ‘Lemon Law’ here only covers brand new vehicles and that only works with the original car makers warranty. Any ride with more than 100 miles on it is exempt. Which explains why there are so many new cars here.

Side Note- I could not get cash with my Wells Fargo ATM card using the local ATH machines (Puerto Rican-ATMs) which are everywhere. I was able to get cash from the Banco Popular’s ATMs (with a 1% fee), which are located at all branches and in most malls. They are the largest bank on the island with branches on the main land too.