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Vehicle repair

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ocasodemalpais
  5/22/2021 09:42 EST

I live in Mal Pais and just bought a 1988 Range Rover. Need to find a good honest (if there is one) mechanic in Santa Teresa area to work on it. Does anyone have a recommendation? Thanks.

WeOld
  7/13/2021 10:00 EST

Plenty of 'shade tree' mechanics in CR. Ask some of the business owners in Santa Teresa for an honest mechanic recommendation. When you move to CR you need a good mechanic and an honest lawyer.

Whatever the reason the danger on our roads continues to be the order of the day, especially when it is confirmed that almost 120,000 vehicles – 119,858 to be exact – vehicles are without a vehicle the obligatory inspection, according to official Riteve data for the first six months of the year.

For this semester, all vehicles that provide public service and transport of dangerous substances have already been summoned, as well as plates from 1 to 6 of private vehicles.

According to Riteve, of the 119,858 vehicles that were supposed to submit to the inspection, 25,487 did not pass the inspection, while 94,371 have not done so at all.

Of the approximately 700,000 vehicles that made the revision during this first semester, 413,000 (59%) passed in the first attempt.

The others failed due to various reasons.

Among the major faults are some 115,976 rejections were due to emissions; 54,129 with excessive tire wear and 42,789 faulty brakes.

Among the minor faults, 231,821 vehicles showed excessive engine oil leak; 174,221 had leaks in the transmission and 145,220 cases had some lights in bad condition.

“Faced with this figure, of course, to make a call to us, remembering that road accidents are another of the great struggles that we must fight as a country and that traveling in safe vehicles is a guarantee to counteract this situation and protect the health and life of both of us. as well as those who circulate alongside us on the road,” commented Jennifer Hidalgo, Communications and Social Responsibility Deputy Manager at Riteve.

According to Riteve, the most common major failures, labeled as “grave” of inspections is polluting emissions, followed by tire wear and braking imbalance.

Riteve also warns about paying attention to minor defects, which, although they do not cause rejection, labeled as “leve”/minor, are the beginning of serious defects, so doing the “maje” (closing an eye to the problem) can not only cause problems in the medium term, but they will also need, at some point, of greater investment in repairs.

To pass the inspection, vehicles are submitted to a number of mechanical and visual tests. A result with an entire page minor faults or leves will pass the inspection, but just one major or grave will mean a fail.

The owner of the vehicle then has 30 days to repair the fault and resubmit for inspections, at the same station of the original inspection, at half the cost on each occasion. After the 30 days, the vehicle must undergo a completely new inspection.

The cost of inspection for a passenger vehicle currently is ¢16,277 colones. www.qcostarica.com
You cannot obtain the annual marchamo-registration in Nov./Dec. w/o passing the Riteve inspection.

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Costa Rica Legal Residency is an articulately bi-lingual boutique firm with 15 + years of successful experience and exclusive focus on Costa Rica Temporary and Permanent Residency, Renewals, Digital Nomad, and Citizenship. Located minutes from the Department of Immigration.
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ILuvCR
  7/13/2021 10:38 EST

WeOld,

good advice but why not use quotation marks and attribute your source of the information about car inspections lest we think that you're some kind of expert on that subject?

https://qcostarica.com/almost-120-thousand-time-bombs-on-the-streets-of-costa-rica/?fbclid=IwAR2mzwo35zc0hfsfa4wGUR52bP44A4onB0EGKz-bbKD2z71jdH_cESTNS3w

Pura Vida!

MRH123
  7/13/2021 11:45 EST

Very good info! Thank you.
We will be in CR the month of Nov on a house hunting (rental) expedition with an anticipated move in the spring. I'm trying to understand the many "nuances" of the country prior to our move minimize surprises. Vehicle safety and inspection was one I had not considered until this point. So, thank you again.

WeOld
  7/13/2021 13:05 EST

You are welcome MRH123. This year, between January and June, despite the ban-on-driving rule, the closure of bars, stores and places to buy liquor at night, the traffic police reported 1,703 drivers that tested positive on the Driving Under Influence test, DUI. That's an average of about 10 drunk drivers per day....just the ones they caught! I bet some Ticos would rather drink and drive than fix their vehicles, which is why I do not recommend driving at night, especially at the end of the month or around the 15th day of each month (pay days).
www.amcostarica.com

jim42
  7/14/2021 08:40 EST

ILuvCR........lol

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