Thread: car sharing or renting? (boquete)

im thinking of relocating to boquete ae (p.s. other recommendations?) but not really finding out any info about the transportation system....ill be with a my young family, we have a 1 year old child so i dont really envision riding busses alot.
does anyone know if theres anything like car sharing, long term rentals, or how cheap are the taxis?

thanks for any info!

Originally Posted by petergus

im thinking of relocating to boquete ae (p.s. other recommendations?) but not really finding out any info about the transportation system....ill be with a my young family, we have a 1 year old child so i dont really envision riding busses alot.
does anyone know if theres anything like car sharing, long term rentals, or how cheap are the taxis?

thanks for any info!

never heard of car sharing here , , the car rental places will rent you one until you run out of money , taxis are cheap for short round town trips , and lots of locals use the bus with kids and even chickens if they are on the way to a cock fight .

cool thanks!
so having an american DL is pretty much enough i seem to see.

could you maby give me a quick overview of prices? specially the car rental, and a taxi trip back and forth from home in the mountains some few km?

thanks alot!

Originally Posted by petergus

cool thanks!
so having an american DL is pretty much enough i seem to see.

could you maby give me a quick overview of prices? specially the car rental, and a taxi trip back and forth from home in the mountains some few km?

thanks alot!

ok , on the DL , it is good for 90 days , your tourist visa is good for 180 days , welcome to panama LOL . no idea on car rentals , i own a couple of cars and never rent . i have heard to rent them in the city after you get here , not at the airport , so taxi to your hotel and get it sorted out . . i believe a taxi in the city anywhere is like $4 if you are not getting the shaft , they have zones and it goes by how many zones you cover .

right, ive heard that! so how do they tell, check your passport entry stamp when asking for your drivers license? or you need to get something else?
you can buy a car on a tourist visa? while renting a house?

Originally Posted by petergus

right, ive heard that! so how do they tell, check your passport entry stamp when asking for your drivers license? or you need to get something else?
you can buy a car on a tourist visa? while renting a house?

yes on a tourist visa you need to always carry your pasport or they can arrest you on the spot , and yes you can buy a car on a tourist visa . word to the wise , used cars are a crap shoot here , maintance is done right after it breaks , and i would never buy anything imported from the states , two reasons , first trying to find local parts can be a bear and as i was driving down here there were truck loads of writeoffs being hauled into central america from the states . in my mine it is better to buy cheaper new , than older more expensive , example , a new little hyundia over a older montero . and unless you are beach running or live on some dead end dirt road out in the sticks you do not need a 4 by 4

good to know. sounds like you drove down from the states? how did that go? im thinking about MABY doing that as ive already got a chevy here. or in any case looks like their cheaper here.

but youre saying, getting a car repaired down there is quite difficult in any case?

Originally Posted by petergus

good to know. sounds like you drove down from the states? how did that go? im thinking about MABY doing that as ive already got a chevy here. or in any case looks like their cheaper here.

but youre saying, getting a car repaired down there is quite difficult in any case?

i drove down in a 32 ft motorhome pulling a 30 ft enclosed trailer , 4 yrs ago from canada , i am not sure if i would do it again with everything going on in mexico and el salvador . when i came you had northern mexico to worry about , that has changed , and i know i would never drive down in a car just to have a car here , buy something you can buy parts for . for example . i have two friends in the states right now filling their suitcases with parts , 1 a tacoma pickup , the other a gmc yukon . why bother ?

right, i start to get the picture. read somewhere about mostly japanese cars down there, and those are even different from the america ones.

so any ideas or experience/tips how it works buying a new car with a loan (how are loans??) and selling it several months later if need be?

let me get this straight, you are more or less broke since you look to share a car and you want to move to boquete with a 1 year old child and the mother from germany. you have no job nor income and have no plan to find any. there is no way on earth you are doing this so you might as well stop day dreaming. go back to the drawing board and organize your brain first so that it appears to be functional, then you can get all the help you need.

you should drop the entire subject before we and you waste more time on this nonsense.

sorry to say, but you appear to be completely out of your mind.

Originally Posted by petergus

right, i start to get the picture. read somewhere about mostly japanese cars down there, and those are even different from the america ones.

so any ideas or experience/tips how it works buying a new car with a loan (how are loans??) and selling it several months later if need be?

dude, of course i have job and income, ive been doing web design and that can be done anywhere as ive already done. the fact that its cheaper down there then where i am now only makes it sweeter.
i am making a quick move, but it feels possible.
of course im not loaded with savings, so buying a new car outright is simply not an option, so im just trying to gather ideas to know how close to town we should live at the start.
sorry if i seem to have wasted your time, i am a dreamer, but im quite serious.
in anycase thank you for your input!

it's not cheaper in panama. you will not be able to get any loans. they do not accept us citizens as clients in the banks anymore, on a tourist visa you can forget it completely regardless. when you rent a furnished place with linea blanca and water heater try multiplying what you expect to pay by 3 and you might be close.

you are doing the "right thing" for all the wrong reasons. panama is the place to go to when you already have money, not when you are close to broke. some bs emotional issues your german girlfriend has about being as a tourist in the us while the paper work is processed is just plain crazy.

Originally Posted by petergus

dude, of course i have job and income, ive been doing web design and that can be done anywhere as ive already done. the fact that its cheaper down there then where i am now only makes it sweeter.
i am making a quick move, but it feels possible.
of course im not loaded with savings, so buying a new car outright is simply not an option, so im just trying to gather ideas to know how close to town we should live at the start.
sorry if i seem to have wasted your time, i am a dreamer, but im quite serious.
in anycase thank you for your input!

ok, please again correct me if im wrong....
(first, we've looked into all about her coming to america, it doesnt work, we tried, we applied, the whole 9 yards. either i go to germany or we go together elsewhere. we are young and so is the child so why not move around before she needs school)
anyway, i like the idea of living down there...that ASIDE: (keep in mind i will have atleast 80% the same earning capacity no matter where i am with internet)
i could *try* and rent a place in the town i live in now (overcrowded boulder, co), and get a small 1 bedroom apartment or a mobile home out of town, for about 800$, utilities not included.
ive been looking at alot of places to rent in and around boquete and there are some full houses going for about 800. thus i was asking about the car, because some are far out, some are within walking distance to town. maby a bus to DAvid if need be, taxis for heavy shopping, whatever.

do you see what i mean here? is that really so incredibly unreasonable? i mean it could be, again, appreciate your input as a first hand resident there.

ok please tell us why boquete ? is it the cool weather ? the 20 ft of rain ? why ?

mostly that ya and it seems also much cheaper.
its also just what ive come across as being the nicest place ive found there (strictly from reviews and recommendations)
do you disagree? i can see why someone wouldn't like rain but we happen to and being only an hour or 2 to the beach makes it better!

Originally Posted by petergus

mostly that ya and it seems also much cheaper.
its also just what ive come across as being the nicest place ive found there (strictly from reviews and recommendations)
do you disagree? i can see why someone wouldn't like rain but we happen to and being only an hour or 2 to the beach makes it better!

if you want cheap ,dont move to where there are a ton of gringos , gringos do not drive prices down . and if you like rain you will be in 7th heaven .

well, guess it would also be nice to sometimes have some people around that are also gringos...if they are nice and polite 'gringos' that is, which i guess those that end up in mountain towns usually are. ( you know what i mean i guess, ive been in beach towns of foreigners who simply come there to complain and lay on the beach and roast)

but ok, where else would you recommend please? im all ears!

(another reason, David is close and ive also heard its a cool place, can get easily most all shopping items)

and i did notice that rainy season ends around november-ish in boquete? does that simply mean less rain haha