California 2 Puerto Rico

Stefan and I bought a truck yesterday! This is Stefans new Toyota Tacoma:

It’s a 2001 Toyota Tacoma with 4×4, automatic transmission, power everything, 8-cyl, 106,000 miles, etc. It also has dual exhaust, tinted windows, a bed liner and some other bells and whistles. Not exactly the beater truck we were planning on getting, but the price was right and Stefan really really really likes it. We bought it from Ideal Auto Sales in Aguada for $12000 out the door. They were asking $14K for it and we only wanted to spend $10, so we split the difference. Since it was already more then we had planned to spend, we also told them that we didn’t want to pay tax, or any other fees on top of the $12K. They agreed and they were very nice and easy to work with.

The process was very simple and took less then 30 minutes to complete. When buying a car in Puerto Rico (at least from a dealership), you need your license and social security card or birth certificate. That’s pretty much it. They even let us pay with a personal check. Ideal Auto Sales will file all the transfer of ownership paperwork and will call us when our plates come in (approximately 30 days).

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I think Stefan and I are both in agreement on this one. We need a new car (or two). The Bronco that we bought is a hoopty. The radiator blew up, the windows no longer roll up (and we busted one out trying to force it up), the rear window only rolls up if you press on the sweet spot on the tailgate, the AC doesn’t work, the transmission is days away from dropping out, the driver side seat doesn’t lock into place so it slides back and forth when you are trying to drive, the brakes are fucked (for lack of a better description), the smokey exhaust fills the cab with carbon monoxide, it burns through gas/oil/transmission fluid like it’s going out of style, the windshield wipers work great, until it actually rains, the seats are so soggy/mildewed that we have to sit on big black trashbags, etc. Seriously. I could go on about the Bronco…

Stefan and I don’t mind roughing it. We actually enjoy it (to a certain extent). But, now that I’m down here fulltime(ish), we really do need two cars and I think it’s time to start looking.

Summer’s Puerto Rican car wishlist: Jeep Wrangler or Toyota 4Runner. White. Standard transmission, 4-wheel drive, 6-cylinders, under $10K.

Stefan’s Puerto Rican car wishlist: Toyota truck. 4-wheel drive, 6-cylinders, under $10K.

We were trying to hold out until after taxes, but I think it’s time to start shopping…

FYI. I’ve found Clasidicados Online quite helpful for car shopping in Puerto Rico :).

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This is not going to be as easy as I had hoped. I thought there was a slim chance that I would be able to exchange my California drivers license for a Puerto Rico license and be on my way. Not so much. It really isn’t an easy thing to do, there are many hoops to jump through, and of course, the hoops are in espanol. I will do my best to explain what you need to do to get your license here in Puerto Rico.

Getting Your Drivers License in Puerto Rico;

• Original Birth Certificate
• Passport
• Social Security Card
• Official Copy of your drivers record from your home state
• Written Test
• Health Physical (Certificacion Medical)
• Three 2×2 passport photos
• Sellos (DMV Stamps)

Most of the things you need to give the Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico Departamento de Transportacion y Obras Publicas would be realatively easy to find if Summer and I weren’t in the middle of a move. I have my birth certificate, passport and social security card in a travel folder….that is packed away somewhere…so that may take a while to find.

The Health Exam, passport photos and sellos can all be purchased right next door to the DMV for $30..so that’s not hard either.

Puerto Rico does offer the Drivers Test in English by special request, and although they don’t have English versions of the Puerto Rico drivers manual, the pharmacy right down the walkway of the mini-mall sells them for $2.99. There are two mistakes in the English Version of the handbook.

Mistakes in the English Puerto Rico Drivers Test Handbook

• Between midnight and five am (12:00am-5:00am) you must stop and red lights, then you can go through them.
• Parking next to a sidewalk with Yellow paint is a $50 fine

I really think the most difficult aspect of all this is going to be getting a copy of my California Driving Record. Have you ever tried calling the DMV in California? It’s all automated messaging that has never offered the option of “Fax Copy of California Driving Record to Puerto Rico”. Regardless of this not being an option, I am going to try to get a human being on the line and explain my situation. If they send me in the right direction, I will report back to you guys with my findings.

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If you buy a car in Puerto Rico, there is one thing that remains the same…the owner needs to sign the original title over to you. Here is where they spin you a little…if the owner is not around (like our truck) and they send you the signed title you will need to do the following;

• Get a lawyer to notarize a letter stating the owner signed the car over to you but is not around ($20)
• Go to the Department of Motor Vehicles and pay $10 for the new title
• Pay $30 for physical inspection
• Pay $20 for smog inspection

The easiest thing to do is have the owner go with you the local collectoria (local DMV office) and sign the title over to you there. That will only cost you $10 and you don’t have to worry about anything else besides showing up at the DMV within 10 days with the new paperwork to make it official.

Luckily, the old owner was in town this week, and after going to the DMV, I decided to call her and take the easy route. As of today, I have 10 days to make the transfer final.

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Jerry and I are heading to the Department of Motor Vehicles this morning to take care of two things. Jerry is a great translator and he also needs to apply for a new license since he lost his old one.

• Marbete (registration)
• Puerto Rican Drivers License

Apparently, Marbete registers your vehicle and provides you with basic collision coverage on your vehicle. The caveat of that is that even if you are driving a vehicle with updated Marbete, it doesn’t mean you are covered if you get into an accident. If you have been in Puerto Rico for more than 30 days and you don’t have a Puerto Rican drivers license you aren’t covered if you get into an accident. The key to being covered is also having a Puerto Rican drivers license; then your collision and health care costs from an accident are covered.

I was told by a few people that the only thing I need to do to get my Puerto Rican drivers license (I have been here for 4 months) is hand them my license from California and get my picture taken. I researched this some more online (not much on the web in English, and a lot of the spanish sites are all graphic based, so cool translation tools like BabelFish don’t work) and I think I am going to have to take the drivers test…which is only offered in Spanish.

I’ll update you on how my Puerto Rico Department of Motor Vehicle adventure goes today. I’ll post a more detailed explanation on how to register your car in Puerto Rico and how to get your drivers license in Puerto Rico. Wish me luck….bueno suerte (i just wished myself luck)!

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Yesterday I flew in to San Juan and met Stefan before he flew out to Oklahoma for business (yes, we do actually have jobs ;)…). After he left, I had to drive The Red Baron (also known as the Bulldozer) from San Juan to our house in Rincon. I was a bit nervous because I’ve never driven the Bronco before and I’ve never driven in Puerto Rico before, but I made it and I only almost crashed once.

Here is how to get from the San Juan Airport to Rincon:

As you exit the airport, you are going to stay to the right and get on the 26 Oeste (West), stay to the right and in about 5 miles, you are going to take the tunnel exit to get on the 22. You drive on the 22 for about 30 - 40 minutes and it turns into the 2, which at some points is a two lane highway with stop lights (it looks more like a main street then a highway). About 1 - 1.5 hours into your drive there is a huge stadium on the left of the freeway. After the stadium, at the bottom of the hill, you are going to turn right at the Esso gas station and the Walgreens. Make your 1st left at the stop sign. Follow the signs to the 115 and then follow the signs to Rincon, which will put you on the 413. The 413 will put you in Rincon, Puerto Rico.

Total Distance: 92 miles

Driving Time: 1:45 - 2:00 hours

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I’m back in San Diego for a couple of weeks, but when I get back down to Puerto Rico, I’m going to have to start driving. Which means, I will probably be getting lost a lot and asking for directions (direcciones). So, here are Las Palabras del Dia:

Left - Izquierda
Right - Derecha
Up/Above - Arriba
Down - Abajo
Below - Debajo
Near - Cerca
Ahead/Forward - Adelante

La casa es debajo del panaderia. (The house is below the bakery.)

Vamos izquierda a la vaca cafe. (You go left at the brown cow.)

Torco a la derecha despues de restaurante China. (I turn left after the Chinese restaurant.)

El pajaro es abajo mi casa. (The bird is above my house.)

Hay un raton cerca de tu pie. (There is a rat near your foot.)

Abajo este calle. (Down that street.)

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When I was back in California, Forrest came up to me and asked why I haven’t gotten rid of the nickel plated steps on the side of the Bronco . He told me it made it look like an old lady car instead of a bad ass 4wd truck. So, at the end of the day yesterday I pulled out the tools and removed the nickel plated runners and decided that the truck looks great! In a totally different way from the van, this thing is a classic.

Here is the Bronco without the granny steps. Forrest, what do you think?

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Josh, Summer, Jerry and I drove up to the highest point in Rincon last week to have a traditional dinner with one of Jerry’s friends, Matty. She cooked us Pastellas, rice and beans and some pork. The dish is a traditional dinner and we really appreciated Jerry and Matty inviting us into their lives to check out the local cuisine.

On the way up there…the truck started running really hot. By the time we got to the top, I could hear the radiator boiling away and spewing out water. After we let it cool down and checked it out, we found a huge crack that allowed 3 streams of water to shoot out of it like a water gun. We filled it back up with water, coasted as much as possible to the bottom of the mountain and missed the the Radiator Guy (another one of Jerry’s friends) by 5 minutes. So, with a radiator spewing water and a drive to the airport one day away, we went to the gas station and bought some “radiator stuff.” It looked like little metal shavings in a plastic sheath. I had my doubts, but we poured two packages into the radiator and like magic, it stopped leaking.

Getting a new radiator or the old one repaired is on the “to do” list, but for now, she is running good again (knock on wood).

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Finding a truck was one of my top priorities this week. Rental cars are expensive and we are just throwing away money by renting a car somewhere we are going to move.

I found out about this truck before I even flew down to Puerto Rico. It was a “friend of a friend” type deal. I test drove it in the pouring rain and couldn’t get the AC to work…but aside from that and a few jammed up power windows the truck runs well.

Now we will need to tackle registration.

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