It's been working well for us and we're getting about 50 km/gal! It doesn't have excessive power and it's not four-wheel drive, so we won't be driving it on the beach (which some people do), but it does everything we need.
Buying a car in Ecuador is a much different process than buying one back home. In the States, the car dealership provides one-stop shopping that covers everything. In Ecuador, we get to run all over the place to get it done. There are multiple times where I had to suppress my inner Lewis Black and exercise patience:
The Chevrolet (pronounced "sheev-ro-let") dealership, Autolasa, was about a half mile from our apartment at El Patio Suites. We worked with a very nice and informed dealer, Diego Villacis. He speaks some English and was very helpful in getting us through the process.
The first step was to pay for the vehicle. Diego gave us the account number at Banco Pichincha where we could wire the money, but he didn't give us a routing or SWIFT number for the bank. No problem, we thought. We went to the bank to confirm the incoming account number (didn't want the money to go to someone's personal account) and ask about the SWIFT number. No one at the bank could tell us what it was. We looked up the bank online and couldn't find the number either. Back to the dealership.
Diego gave us another account that Autolasa uses, this time at Banco de Guayaquil. Again, we went downtown to the bank to confirm the account number, and we also verified the SWIFT number that Diego had given us this time. It all checked out. We were able to transfer the money from the States, and the next day we went back to Autolasa to confirm payment. The money had been received, so they told us to come back the next day to complete the sale.
The next morning, we were excited and looking forward to picking up our new vehicle. Not so fast! Before we can purchase a vehicle, we had to prove either that we voted in the last election or were not eligible to do so. If we violated this law, we would need to pay a fine before conducting our purchase. This time, it's off to the Conesejo Nacional Electoral to register as voters. Diego was kind enough to drive us there, and we cleared in about ten minutes. (To pay the $3.00 fee, we went to a separate cashier's window. Diego told us that this was a new feature; normally a person would have to go to the bank to pay the fee.)
Next up, getting the matricula (title) for the vehicle. Back at the dealership, Diego produced a sales record showing that we had purchased the vehicle, but it was up to Emily and I go to back to the bank to get the matricula:
Now we're good, right? Wrong! We also have to purchase a SOAT ("so-at") for the vehicle. This is basic insurance that every vehicle in Ecuador must carry; it covers other parties in the case of an accident - it does not cover the driver's vehicle or passengers. Fortunately, they sell this at the dealership (and at small shops all around town):
Now can we have our car? Yes, Diego said. It will be ready tomorrow. (Insert suppressed Lewis Black here.)
We also decided to get full insurance for the vehicle (collision, comprehensive, etc.). Diego has a friend (of course) that works for Ecuadoriano Suiza that can do that for us. We went and met with Leticia ("leh-ti-si-a"). She spoke no English, but we were able to complete the process anyway. We paid and were told that the documents would be ready the day after tomorrow at 2:00p. (I don't know why, but 2:00p is a magical time in Ecuador. That's when everything will be ready.)
(FYI - insurance rates in Ecuador are about the same as they are in the States.)
The next day, we went to Autolasa and were finally given the keys to the car! After a walk-around with Diego and a demonstration of the security system, we drove off the lot. It was only a half-mile to the apartment, but Plaza Dañin is a busy street and it seemed as though everyone was targeting us, especially since we didn't have insurance yet. There were no issues, though, and we arrived at El Patio Suites with our car unscathed.
On Thursday, October 3rd, we were ready to head to the Pacific. We loaded the car in the morning with everything from our apartment and went downtown at 2:00p to get the insurance paperwork. (We took a taxi.) Was it ready? Of course not! (Full on suppressed Lewis Black here, complete with cussing and finger pointing.) The person that we talked with (not Leticia - she was out that day) said that the paperwork would be ready "tomorrow or Friday". (Tomorrow was Friday.) We cheerfully said "Gracias", went back to our apartment, got in the car and headed for the ocean.
We're going to go get the paperwork this week. Last Wednesday was "9 de Octubre" or Guayaquil's independence day, and, from my experience, I know that very little got done at the insurance office. It should be ready when we get there.
By the way, did I mention that the matricula says our vehicle absolutely rocks?
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