About a Bike
Posted on June 14, 2010 - Filed Under Guatemala, Simple Life | 10 Comments
Those of you who read this blog regularly will know that we have been without a vehicle for some time now. Well, we just recently got the motorbike back and I thought now would be a good time to share a bit more about what happened with it.
Before I start, let it be known that I do NOT approve of the purchasing methods here in Guatemala and had nothing to do with the motorbike’s purchase.
When you buy a vehicle here, the papers are very rarely transferred. That means, in the case of the motorbike, some vehicles have had several owners. We think the motorbike had six or seven before Irving. This also means that when something happens, that original owner is still on the hook for everything.
Now, in this case, Irving’s paperwork for the bike had all been stolen a while back. He can’t get the right paperwork without finding the original owner who’s name is still on the bike’s papers. And when the bike was confiscated . . . well, you can’t get it back without the papers, either.
Unfortunately, Irving tried to track the original guy and he has essentially disappeared. With the help of his friend, who sold him the bike, they managed to track back three owners before the trail was lost.
Finally, Irving’s dad told him that he had a friend of a friend who might be able to help. Irving went to talk to the guy who was less than helpful. “Sorry, I can’t do anything if you can’t prove you’re the rightful owner.” he said. Irving tried again and the guy told him to wait til he had a minute. He waited for an hour, only to be told that there was nothing to be done.
Just then, a judge who studied with Irving from first grade to graduation came in and said he would vouch for him. Then his padrino or godfather, showed up . . . he’s a doctor and a close friend of the mayor of Antigua and said he would vouch for him, too. (btw, I have NO idea what his padrino was doing in the Muni, but that is just an example of Irving’s luck)
Well, in the face of two renowned pillars of the community, the guy at the desk couldn’t say a lot. He called down to the impound lot and told Irving to come in on Monday. They did up the accounts and the grand total came out to Q2,400. That’s just over $300.
Since Irving’s cousin has no intention of paying us for any of the stuff that was his fault (bypassing an officer who told him to stop, not having paperwork or license, sassing the officer who DID stop him, etc.) it was an awful lot to pay. Irving told the guy he might as well buy a new bike instead of paying that much.
Surprisingly, the discussion went on and a number of fees were waived, dropping the grand total to Q750, or just under $100.
On Monday, Irving went back to get his bike and was told at the impound lot that they weren’t going to charge him the full price of having his bike in there for over two months. Instead, they dropped it to just Q150, so we ended up having to only pay Q550.
And now we have the bike again. Which is going to be sold, supposedly, to someone who can either fabricate paperwork or do a better job of sleuthing out the original owner to fix the papers on it. In the meantime, Irving can ride it because he still has the police paper that says everything was stolen.
The Moral of the story: Don’t buy a used vehicle in Guate unless you can get the paperwork transferred from the original owner.
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10 Responses to “About a Bike”
Talk to Me, People!
Doesn’t this stuff kind of boggle your mind sometimes? We sold our house over a year ago, and the paperwork is still in turmoil because of a discrepancy in the address. It’s frustrating for the guy who bought it, because he planned on doing construction – but can’t without the final papers. And it’s embarrassing to my husband, because he hired the lawyer who’s taking such a long time to get everything fixed.
While I don’t really approve with the bribes and payoffs that typically get things done here, there’s SO much red tape involved in any transaction, I can understand the frustration that makes people do it!
Yup. As Irving put it, he only has to pay Q200 to switch the paperwork over . . . but it takes weeks and might even require several trips to the capital, which he hates to do because it’s so dangerous these days.
Does it run? I know lots of people who’ll buy a running bike without papers….
Runs just fine.
Have you ever read “Guatemalan Journey” by Stephen Connely Benz? There’s a thread throughout it about a very similar experience he had with a motorbike. If you don’t have a copy I’ll try to squeeze one into my luggage and bring it to you (still have some kids books for you but my trip May 28 got postponed by volcano and tropical storm) – I got a great deal on a bunch of them a few years ago on overstock.com and still have a few left to give out!
In SO many ways, that is such a ludicrous story, not that I am saying it didn’t happen, its just that ALL of you stars seemed to align for Irving at JUST the right time!!! How lucky are you guys!!!
And then to have a lot of the fees waived, does it get any better!?! I am so glad you have (some of) your wheels back to get around…
Also, in Aust, you can NOT sell a car UNLESS you have the paperwork…
WHat a pain! So glad Irving has good connections
Same in Canada, Bernie! I didn’t even realize how it worked here until it was too late.
And as for lucky stars, Irving is just insane that way. It NEVER happens for me, but he has something about him . . .
I haven’t read that book, Caroline. Hadn’t even heard of it, actually, but it doesn’t surprise me someone wrote about these crazy things! I’ve been considering writing something myself.
And thanks for thinking of us!
Email me the pics, specs and the price and I’ll see what I can do.