Then came the big move. We sold our one and a half cars, landed in Costa Rica, and embraced public transportation. Life was perfect and we thought we would never, ever own a car again.
We enjoy taking the bus because it gives us a chance to visit with our neighbors. It's more relaxing than driving. And you never have to worry about finding a parking space.
We also enjoy walking - something we found we rarely did when we had a car parked in our garage.
Truth be told, we truly did not want to own another car.
But gradually over the past three years it became clear, that due to time lost to connecting routes, we simply couldn't realistically get to some places without a car. After all, every time we leave the house we have two dogs waiting anxiously for us to return home and give them relief and reassurance that they had not been abandoned.
Plus, we're not getting any younger. What we can haul on our backs today might become impossible one of these days.
So we decided to take the plunge and start looking for a car and embark on another phase of our education.
We started the process with a lot of research to determine exactly what kind of a car we wanted and ended up with:
- Toyota (dependable)
- Corolla (most common here)
- Station wagon (carries cargo)
- Older model (cheaper)
- Standard transmission (reliable).
Finding the right older Toyota Corolla station wagon posed some linguistic and logistical challenges. The process began with Vic combing the online car listings daily for suitable candidates. When he found one or two or three, it was time for me to put my Spanish to the test. On the phone, no less, which without the help of body language and gesticulation to help fill in the blanks, is the absolute most difficult for me. Lucky for us, the owners of almost every car we looked at had a friend or relative who spoke at least a little English to go along with my little bit of Spanish. So, with a little aspirin, a healthy sense of adventure and good sense of humor, we managed to both understand and be understood.
Once we established a time and place to view a car (typically at the central park in the hometown of the seller), we boarded a bus early in the morning to allow for the necessary connections and still arrive on time. On two occasions, that meant eleven hours start to finish and taking four buses each direction.
It also meant that we got to visit some really interesting towns for the first time, so the trips did have an up side.
Cartago - old church ruins
Church in Tibas
Church in Santa Ana
Regardless of the language, negotiating doesn't change much from one country to another. The same cannot be said for the process of paying for the car and securing a title. And this is where the process gets really interesting.
In the U.S., once the buyer and seller agree on a price, money changes hands - either the full amount or a deposit and a promise to return with the balance due. When the car is paid for, the seller turns the keys and a signed, notarized title over to the buyer, who drives the car home and later takes the title to the Department of Motor Vehicles to register the vehicle. Not here.
Rewind the tape, please, to the point where the buyer and seller have agreed on a price.
Now instead of handing over any money at all - even a deposit - the buyer simply returns home with nothing more than the license plate number, which is then given to an attorney. The attorney checks the title through the National Registry to make sure that there are no liens on the vehicle or outstanding tickets. He or she then prepares a contract transferring ownership of the vehicle to the buyer. All of this is generally completed in a day, after which both the buyer and the seller meet at the attorney's office, present identification, and sign the documents. Once the seller is paid, the buyer is given the keys and everybody goes their separate ways. Some time in the next few days, the attorney records the transfer of ownership with the National Registry and about a week later the buyers receives the executed contract and title to the car.
In our case, the attorney's fee was about $50 and the transfer fees were about $240.
Our "new" Toyota
(Note: Our car search took us about three months. We looked at cars as close as downtown Palmares and as far away as Cartago. We visited a few car lots, but mostly looked at cars for sale by their owners. Ultimately, we found our car in Tibas, which is an easy bus ride from San Jose centro.)
So how did we celebrate our new status as car owners? With a trip to Price Smart, of course! Just in time, I might add, as I was almost out of laundry detergent and we were really dreading having to haul a big jug of Tide home from Alajuela on the bus!
Until next time...
Pura Vida
