Article updated on 06.24.24
Honestly, there’s nothing easier than selling your vehicle (with Chilean plates) in Chile. It’s true that at first you can be intimidated by all the paperwork, which is also in Spanish, but if you’re well accompanied, everything will go smoothly 😉
If you’ve done things properly from the moment you bought the car (see our article Buying a vehicle in South America), there will be no problem selling your vehicle legally in South America.
Requirements:
- Be the owner of the vehicle
- Having a buyer
- Be in contact with Jupa of OverAndes
Step 1: Find a buyer
The most popular channel for selling vehicles is travel groups on Facebook (for example those groups : https://www.facebook.com/groups/panamtravelers or https://www.facebook.com/groups/1277741719772126/ or https://www.facebook.com/groups/3506591059366805 ). There are also agencies that help travellers to buy a van. We strongly advise you to contact Jupa de OverAndes (from his website or from his instagram account) who can help you sell your van.
Once you’ve found a buyer, you’ll need to draw up a written contract of sale.
Tip: use Revolut to receive the money. There are no fees. The buyer can choose the currency in which you want to receive the money. If the buyer also has Revolut, the transaction is instantaneous.
Step 2: Get a RUT for the buyer
A RUT is a tax number held by all Chileans. This RUT number makes it possible to buy and sell a vehicle legally in Chile.
The steps for the buyer to obtain a RUT are the same as those you followed when you bought your vehicle (see the steps in our article). It takes about 3-5 working days to receive the RUT.
If your buyer is still abroad, he can go to a Chilean embassy and apply for the RUT. However, this option is more expensive (around USD 300) and takes several weeks (at least a month).
Step 3: Officialise the purchase at the notary's office
Once you have received the RUT, you can go to the notaire with the buyer. You can either do the paperwork yourself or ask OverAndes assist you through the process of selling the vehicle (approximately USD 250 including the price of the RUT).
At the notary’s office, you’ll need to draw up these various documents:
- The contract of sale
- The new circulation permit in the name of the purchaser (padrón)
- He won’t get it straight away. You will have to wait about 4 weeks before you receive it. (Please bear this in mind when crossing the border into Bolivia. Customs officers can be annoying and won’t let you through).
- A notarised letter stating that you are allowing him to drive the vehicle that is still in your name until you receive the new padrón in his name. It is important to do this because the new driving licence (padrón) takes around 4 weeks to arrive. If he doesn’t have it and has a check-up, he could be in trouble.
- The Jurada declaration
- This is a notarised letter that he will need at every border crossing when he leaves Chile. It states that he will return to Chile within 6 months. Customs are concerned that the vehicles will not return to the country.
You will also have to pay the notary around USD 80 + 1.5% of the value of the vehicle (note that it is not the final price paid that is binding. It depends on the age, chassis, make, etc., and the notary will tell you how much the vehicle should cost, which is always a very low amount. You should therefore expect to pay between USD 10 and USD 100).



Before going to the notary, make sure you have these documents:
- The title (padrón)
- Your passeport
- The buyer’s passeport
- Your RUT
- The buyer’s RUT
- Cash to pay the notary (because it’s not always possible to pay by credit card)
We advise you to make notarised copies of the documents you receive. In other words:
- The contract of sale
- The authorisation to drive the vehicle
- The Jurada declaration
With these copies, you have to go to the customs office in a town to have them “Apostilled”. This means that all the documents are approved by the authorities and customs officers, and there will be no problems when crossing the border. Customs officers may keep these documents at customs. That’s why it’s important to have copies (at least 5, as there are a lot of border crossings between Chile and Argentina).
Please note: unfortunately, there are still customs posts in the north of the country where it is virtually impossible to pass through as a foreigner with a Chilean vehicle. You can find out more directly on the iOverlander application.
Step 4: Waiting for the traffic permit (padrón)
As mentioned above, the buyer will have to wait several weeks before receiving the vehicle registration document in his or her name. This will take around 3-4 weeks. Once this period has elapsed, the purchaser can go to the Civil Registry office in any town and apply for a padrón.
So don’t hesitate if you have any questions. We know that all these steps can be a little intimidating at first, but we promise that if you’re well accompanied, everything will go perfectly smoothly.
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