does anyone know from their own experience if it is possible to purchase & register a car in Puerto Rico without having to get a PR license? We will be there temporarily next year, but for nearly 6 mo. & will thus probably buy a car.
When I first moved to Puerto Rico I kept my DC license for nearly a year. In the meantime, I bought a car, rented a house started working, etc. Don't go through the hassle of the local DMV if you are certain that you will only be here a short while.
If you are sure will only be here for six months, why not consider a long-term car rental?
Like Fond of Ibiza said, yes, it is possible to register a car, work, etc., without having a PR license. It may or may not be illegal to actually drive without having changed your license over to a PR license depending on how long you are in PR.
is a link that is in Spanish to the PR DTOP (DMV).
I've used Enterprise long-term (28+ days) rentals before but not in PR. If the short-term rental prices in PR are anything to go by, it'll cost top dollar.
Yes, we have also thought about long-term rental - just to avoid the hassle of buying & registering. But I am frequently in PR (usually for shorter stays) so it would be useful to own a car anyway, and I suspect I will be able to park it securely at a friend's house when I am not there. We will investigate both options. Thanks for all the suggestions.
you should have no trouble purchasing and registering a car with or without a license. If you consider a used car be very careful and make sure a reliable mechanic checks it out VERY well. The roads and the drivers here are VERY hard on cars. As far as a local license, you can probably get away without a local one. I believe the 'rules" are that if you stay here more than 6 consecutive months you SHOULD get a local one. You can get a local one without turning in you out of state one but you must be willing to take the written test ( in English) and a road test. It's really NOT a big deal, but be sure to read the book first.. they ask crazy questions like amounts of fines for certain infractions, if I remember correctly. I have a PR license and my NY license... I didn't give it up..
We had great success with enterprise month to month program. First month for economy car $550- And every month you renewed they took another $25 off each month. They notified you when service due with pep boys and billed directly to enterprise. We had a flat tire that was handled by pep boys never shelled out a cent. More than pleased with mayaquez personal as well as bqn airport personal. They also waived the fee for renting from one location turning into another.
I am very interested in anyone's experience with buying a car and registering it without a PR license. I had read that this could be an issue but I have nothing definitive-as in a first hand experience. We have recently purchased a condo in the Fajardo area (MonteSol Condos) and want to buy a car that we can leave there, as we have a covered parking spot right below our condo. From doing some research I know that it is very easy to get a taxi from SJU to Fajardo, and so we are planning to buy a car and then just take taxis to/from the airport.
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