1. You must wear a shirt while driving.
It sounds silly, but its true. I know people who have gotten tickets for ignoring this law. Keep your shirt on while driving, even if the AC goes out.
2. If you run over a chicken, you must pay for it.
It is expected that if you kill someone's chicken, you will stop and find out who owns it. You will then pay for the chicken. Depending upon the age and size of the chicken and the attitude of the owner, it could cost you $5 - $15.
It is unlikely that you will be tracked down if you don't do this, but you should. For some people, that chicken may be the difference between eating or not.
I had forgotten to mention those items in my longer and more detailed post about driving in Panama. That post covers items like cell phone use, seat belts, insurance, and what type of driver's license you need to have.
In that post, I also discuss I what it is like to share the road with erratic taxis and more.
I hope you don't hit any chickens during your Panama travels.
It has you going into Costa Rica to get from David to Puerto.
Do not do that.
1. Drive to Paso Canoas (It's on the Costa Rica border)
2. Turn left (south) at border
3. Arrive in Puerto Armuelles (The road ends in Puerto & at Pacific Ocean)
I wrote a page with detailed instructions on how to get to Puerto Armuelles.
It includes what to expect at the police check points along the way.
There is a bit on buses and taxis as well.
Please comment below.
Learn about Puerto Armuelles here.
But that doesn't mean we don't like the mountains too. We do.
It works the other way too.
We are running into more and more ex-pats who live in the highlands of Boquete or Volcan who “love the mountains”, but who also like the beach.
Some of the hype you hear about Panama, says that these beach and mountain lovers can quickly go back and forth.
For example, the hype says that in one leisurely Panamanian day, you take a dip in the ocean, a hike in the mountains and eat dinner back at the beach.
I decided to test that out.
Recently, while my family was away in the states, I decided to see if I could use the mountains as a quick get away from Puerto Armuelles.
I was particularly enthusiastic since it was the dry (hot) season, and there were no waves for surfing.
What I found was that all the hype is true.
I took off my flip flops, drove to Volcan, put on my hiking shoes, and went for a brisk hike. I was back in my car before dark and driving home - all in the same day.
Specifically, I did the following.
- Left Puerto Armuelles after lunch
- Drove up to Volcan (1-1/2 hrs)
- Enjoyed a 3-hour hike
- Returned to Puerto in time for dinner.
When I left the beach it was pretty hot (high 80’s). I was up in the cool mountains (low 60’s to 70’s) of Volcan in a matter of an hour and a half. It would have taken 2 hours to go to Boquete.
I continued this experiment and visited Cerro Punta, which is ~2 hours from Puerto Armuelles.
I drove to Cerro Punta, took a nice afternoon hike, then spent the night at the wonderful Hotel Los Quetzales.
I woke up, had a lazy breakfast, then went for a real jungle hike. I kept a look out for the beautiful and elusive Quetzal, but never saw it.
I could have returned to my hotel, checked out, and been back in Puerto Armuelles for a swim in the Ocean before dusk, but I didn't. I stayed another night.
Obviously, I have always known that this was possible. But we had never tested it.
Our getaways to the highlands and other places in Panama, tend to be for 4 or more days. We haven't done many quick trips. More often then not we stay contendedly at home in Puerto Armuelles. I think that now that our children are getting older, and more adventuresome, we may start to take more quick trips to the highlands. Or maybe just Betsy and I will just take off more often for a night or 2 and stay at one of the many great mountain hotels
It seems that I'm not the only one doing more quick visits.
With increasing frequency, we run into expats from Volcan & Boquete here our beach town of Puerto Armuelles. They are indulging in a weekend getaway from their mountain homes and staying at Heavenly’s Hotel or the Tsunami Inn.
It was chatting with these expats that inspired me to try a quick getaway myself.
They told me it was easy. They were right.
But I did wonder why they didn't go to the beaches somewhat closer to them such as Las Lajas, Boca Chica, and La Barqueta. They told me that Puerto Armuelles is just a “whole lot more real” than those more resort-type beach areas. In Puerto, you get the beach, but you also get a real beach town, with 20k residents, and all the services and community that this entails.
For more about Puerto Armuelles, go here.
Sheryl is happy she shipped her car (and other stuff) to Panama.
But it really isn't that much trouble to buy a car in Panama.
There are things to look out for, but it can be a very pleasant experience.
I describe our experience buying a used car in Panama here.
You might also enjoy reading these tips on driving in Panama.
You may not want to sell your car before moving to Panama.
We have always been thankful that we keep one of our cars in the States.
Visits are much cheaper if you don't have to rent a car.
Of course you must figure out how to store it when you are not there.
But it isn't very difficult. Usually we found a friend with some extra space in their garage. A much cheaper option than using a car storage facility.
Make sure you reduce your insurance rates to cover a car in storage. I think the cost of insurance on our garaged 1998 Honda Odyssey is $120 a year.
Updated: July 4, 2017
In this post, I describe many aspects of driving in Panama
The roads are generally well maintained and there aren't usually alot of other cars on the road.
The exception is Panama City. (Also, driving to Almirante, more on that later)
Driving in a big and unfamiliar city is always daunting. And Panama City with all its traffic, pedestrians, erratic taxis, and vendors can be a scary place to drive.
We never used to drive in Panama City. Now we feel more comfortable driving there. The WAZE app has help us feel much more confident driving here. We can now find our way from place to place in the city easily.
We used to ask a taxi if we could follow them to our destination. Keep that option in mind if you find yourself lost when driving in Panama City. Taxis are happy to do it, for the price of a fare, of course.
Typically, even now that we are experienced, we park our car at our hotel and leave it there til we leave. In the city we take taxis, uber, and the subway. You might want to do the same, especially at first, in Panama City.
Timing is critical if you plan to drive into or out of Panama City. You will be stuck in unholy traffic if you attempt to travel across the Punte de las Americas (the bridge linking Panama City to the Inter-Americana) during rush hour. Many workers live outside the city and commute into their jobs every day.
On major holidays, Panama City empties as everyone goes back to their hometowns to celebrate. When the traffic gets very bad, the police transform parts of the Inter-Americana & other impacted roads from 2 way roads into one-way roads.
At the start of the holiday, the Inter-Americana near Panama City will at times only go one way. That is, one way going west, out of Panama City. At the end of the holiday, it is reversed. The Inter-Americana near Panama City will turn into a one-way road going east, into Panama City.
For more about holidays in Panama read this post
While it can be stressful to drive in Panama City, that stress is caused by the traffic, lack of street signs, and general difficulties navigating the city. While the mountainous stretches of road from David to Almirante can be dangerous. This because cars tend to make use of the on-coming traffic's lane when going around curves. Usually this is not an issue since there is not much traffic on the road. However, it can be heart stopping.
Just yesterday, we were driving back from Bocas. We went around a curve to see 2 semis coming toward us. They were neck and neck. One in each lane of this 2 lane road. Thankfully, the semi in our lane made it into his lane before we collided, but it did take our breath away. In that case, it was the semi passing another semi, not a car making generous use of both lanes when taking a turn.
We have driven this road many times, and that was our most scary drive. And we will go again. But you should be aware of the danger. Use caution going around blind turns. Be aware that cars will also swerve to avoid pot holes. Also there can be fog in the highest elevations of this road. On the plus side, the views and scenery on the drive are quite beautiful
Keep in mind that there are few services along the way, so make sure you have a full tank of gas for the drive. If you are going to be catching a passenger ferry in Almirante to Bocas, be aware that the last one leaves at 6pm, so make it there before then.
The WAZE App
I highly recommend that you download the WAZE app onto your smart phone before you come to Panama.
It is useful both in Panama City, and throughout Panama. I believe it is the most useful navigation app to use in Panama. It will even give you a heads up when there are police with radar guns (hidden or visible) on the road. It tells you the current speed limit, and what speed you are traveling at.
I use the WAZE app in the US as well. An excellent app that is very easy to set up and use.
Keep these driving rules in mind in Panama.
You Must Carry
If you drive across Panama, will encounter police check points and you should be ready to show your ID and/or license. I talk more about these checkpoints below.
By law you are also supposed to carry these in your car
I have never heard of anyone being asked for either an accident form or driver's manual. We have never had them in our car.
It is against the law to drink and drive in Panama. I believe the allowable blood alcohol content for driving in Panama is zero. There is not alot of public pressure against drinking and driving.
If you are caught drinking and driving, you will be fined and may have your vehicle retained. I have seen drunk driving check points a few times during some hard-drinking holidays. But such check points are not common.
However, years ago while I was driving through Paso Canoas, an obviously drunken driver suddenly appeared in front of me. Surprisingly a police car immediately pulled it over. A very pleasant surprise.
The speed limits on the Inter-Americana change often. There are not many speed limit signs so you may miss the change.
In general, if you are going through an area with a noticeable increase in the number of houses and/or store fronts, assume the speed limit has dropped. The maximum speed on the InterAmericana is 100 kilometers an hour (i.e., 62 mph). The speed limit through more densely inhabited sections of the road can go down to 60 kilometers an hour. In other areas, the speed limit drops to 80 kilometer an hour. The changes don't always make sense.
It is yet another reason to download the WAZE app. It displays the current speed limit and indicates the whether you are traveling above that limit.
Getting Out of a Speeding Ticket
If you are stopped for speeding, please don't try to bribe the officer not to give you a ticket. Even if it works, you are simply encouraging that officer to stop more foreigners, whether they are speeding or not. Plus, in my opinion, it just makes the whole Panama experience seem a bit yucky. Just pay the ticket. (See below for link on how to do that.)
You can of course, protest the accuracy of the radar gun. Just the other day we were stopped for speeding. However, my husband had just been looking at the speedometer so he knew he was well under the speed limit. He denied that he was speeding, and the cop said okay and told him to drive off. It looked to us like the officer was still figuring out how to use the radar gun.
I have heard some people suggest telling the cop that you will protest the ticket in court. Since he or she will then have to appear in court, perhaps the officer will decide not to give you the ticket. We tried it once, and the police officer just looked at my husband and gave him the ticket.
Flashing Lights
It is the custom in Panama for other drivers to warn you of upcoming police speed traps by flashing their headlights. If someone flashes their headlights at you, especially during the day, slow down! There is a cop with a radar gun ahead. It is a very friendly and helpful costume.
If you do get ticket, learn how to pay a traffic ticket in Panama's Chiriqui Province.
If you are on a tourist visa, you can only drive for 3 months - even if you have a 6 month tourist visa. You cannot legally drive for longer than the first 3 months of your tourist visa.
A tourist used to be able to renew his or her visa quickly by checking out and back into the country, but no longer. Read about new rules for Panama Tourist visas.
Because Puerto Armuelles is so close to the Costa Rica border, we have alot of experience with the custom police (Adunas) check points.
There is one checkpoint between Puerto and the Frontera (the border town of Pasa Canoas). And one between the Frontera and David.
The reason for the checkpoints is not to catch expats with expired visas. They want to catch criminals, drug smugglers, and other such.
Most of the time the Police say, "Buenas" and wave you through. They may do a brief visual check of your car.
When they do ask for documents, usually they only check the passport/cedula of the driver. Sometimes they ask to see the driver's license. Occasionally they will ask to see everyone's passport.
They will look for your entry stamp to make sure your visa is still good.
My husband swears that if you wear sunglasses while at the check point, they never ask to see your passport.
Assume everyone on the road is 17 years old. That is, a new driver.
You just never know what another driver will do in a tight spot. I have now realized how much most of us picked up about driving while in the back seat as kids. It seeped in.
Many people here are the first generation in the family to drive.
Driver's education is not required in Panama. Most people learn by driving. On the same road you are driving on. Everyone must pass both a written and driving test to get a drivers license.
In general the rules of the road are same as in the US. However, although the rules may be the same, what people actually do can be different. For instance, there is no consensus on how to use turn signals or emergency blinkers. Often people will put on their left turn blinkers when they are moving to the right side of the road. This is can be an helpful thing to remember.
Also keep in mind that taxis will stop to pick people up, whenever and where ever. They will come to a careening stop, sometimes in the middle of the road. Be prepared. Expect erratic behavior.
There are all sorts of regulations about what you should do in the case of an accident. For instance, neither car is suppose to be moved until the transit police arrive. It can take hours for them to arrive. For more information on what the law requires see this post in Chiriqui Chatter.
Obviously, you want to avoid being in an accident. We have been in 3 small fender benders over the years. Neither party felt compelled to call the police over a dent we didn't care about. We were all fine with just moving on with our days. All without repercussions.
The Police Helped My Friend
An expat friend of mine was sideswiped by a bus here in Puerto Armuelles. It damaged the passenger side of her truck. The bus just kept going. She was not even sure that the bus noticed the accident.
It happened near the police station here in Puerto Armuelles. She went into the police station in a fury. The police tracked down the bus (the bus station is down the street). The police then took my expat friend and the driver to a body repair shop and the driver paid for it.
A car accident in Panama is not necessarily a tragedy. But it can be. It all depends upon who is involved and the damage done.
In Panama, there is no such thing as a no fault accident. Someone is assumed to be at fault. Most likely, as the foreigner, it is you. If a person is hurt in the accident, you and/or your auto insurance will be paying. The owner of the car and the driver, if not the same person, are considered equally liable.
If it looks like the other party thinks you are at fault and wants you to pay, you may just want to do that. Assuming it is a reasonable amount of money and no one was injured in the accident. Once the transit police arrive, no matter whose fault it is, it will take a long time to resolve.
If the worst happens and someone dies, that is simply a tragedy. No matter why it happened or who was at fault.
But putting that aside, lets look at the legal aspects and liability. In general, it is assumed that, if you are not the one who died, then it is your fault. A long court case can ensue. In the likely event that you are found guilty, you are responsible for all that person's lost earnings, medical bills, etc. Even if everyone knows it was not your fault.
Some people install a movie camera on their dashboard to record an accident as it happens. Then fault can be correctly assigned.
To increase the odds of such a tragedy never happening to me, I never drive at night here if I can help it. Too many people walk and bike in dark clothes. Although, more and more people are wearing reflective vests when biking at night.
The rules of the road are similar to those in North America. But not everyone knows those rules.
In most places there are no traffic jams, or much traffic at all. It is easy to be safe while driving - if you assume that a driver could act erratically at any time.
The exception, as I said, is Panama City and increasingly in David. The traffic in those places makes driving a little more dicey. We drive in David, but we mostly take taxis in Panama City.
Driving to Puerto Armuelles? Get directions to Puerto Armuelles.
With vital tidbits along the way, like
Over the last 8 years, our family has always gotten by with our truck. A 1999 Mitsubishi L-200 four door pickup truck.
The truck has proven to be a reliable work truck. I call it my burro. It has also been "just bearable" for our trips to David, Panama City, and Bocas del Toro.
However, as the truck has aged, it has become less and less "bearable" for longer trips. Also my wife needed another car so she didn't feel trapped at home. I often take the truck to work on projects and to surf.
Because of this and that, I am often gone much longer than I predicted. To keep our
marriage a happy one, it was clear we needed to buy another car.
We wanted to buy a used car. We had purchased our truck used and it worked out well.
We bought if from a guy in David, Panama who sold cars from out of his front yard. That was 8 years ago. He is still there, so is his house, but his front yard has grown into an official used car lot. I'm glad he is doing well, but...
This time we wanted to cut out the middleman and buy directly from the car owner.
We did this so we could get 2 things
Like other places, in Panama, the sales price of a car is lower if you buy directly from an owner, rather than a car dealer.
We also wanted to find out how, and if, the car had been well maintained. It is much harder to get a full history of a car from a dealer – especially a story you can trust.
Review of Prior Maintenance Is Critical
How well a car has been maintained is a critical consideration in Panama.
Cars are often not well maintained here. It is very common to find shoddy repair work, oil not changed regularly, and the like.
Many cars on the road in Panama are owned by first time car owners. Often no one in the family has ever owned a car before. They may not even know you need change the oil – ever.
Ease & Cost of Repairs
Look around. See what cars you see on the road in Panama.
Notice the ones you see alot of. Those are the cars that local mechanics know how to fix. Those are the cars with easy to find parts.
The 3 best selling car brands in Panama (2013)
The 3 most popular model
(Thanks to Matt at bestsellingcarsblog.com for that information)
Mitsubishi, Nissan, and Suzuki cars & trucks are also commonly seen on the road in Panama.
If you decide to bring your car to Panama, make sure it isn't going to be a maintenance nightmare with no one who knows how to fix your car or where to get the parts.
Our Car Decision
We decided on the car we wanted before we started searching the classifieds. This made the whole car buying experience much easier and less time consuming.
We wanted a 2011 or 2012 Toyota RAV4 with under 50K kilometers.
Toyota is very popular and highly valued brand in Panama. Which means the car also has a good resale value. The Toyota RAV4 has great reviews and it is the right size for our family. My wife was disappointed that in Panama the RAV4 does not include the 3rd seat row option, but it still is a good choice for our small family.
Also, we figured if we bought a newer car, not older than 2011, the issue of deferred maintenance wouldn’t be a major consideration.
Plus we simply wanted a newer, nice looking car. We were weary of taking long trips in our rattle-trap of a truck.
Ideally we wanted to find someone who had serviced the car exclusively at Ricardo Perez.
Ricardo Perez is Panama’s one and only Toyota dealer. He has car lots and repair shops throughout the country. I imagine that Mr. Perez must be very connected to have won an exclusive contract with Toyota.
Ricardo Perez has a centralized computer system which records each car’s service visits to any of its service stations. You can request a print out of all the work done a specific car. Also, their mechanics seem to be better trained and to do higher quality repairs.
We did look at a number of used car lots while we were in Panama City. But we did not find the car we were looking for.
I have heard good things about Patel Autos. P.S in Panama City. You may want to check them out: their website.
We found the best place to look for cars is on encuentra24.com. New ads seem to be added daily.
There was no shortage of ads for our model. But the prices were all over the place.
I think there are 2 reasons the asking price varies so much.
In our searches of the internet, we noticed that a number of cars in nearly new condition with low mileage had been listed on Encuentra24 for a month or more. This made us nervous until we considered all the whys.
If one thinks about it for a minute, it only stands to reason.
The number of buyers who can afford and want to buy a "nearly new" car for $10-$20,000 is very limited.
Although Panama is leading the way among Latin American countries in creating a viable middle class, the country still has a long way to go.
The RAV 4 that we purchased was the first that we looked at.
A 2011 with 29,000 kms, asking price: $15,000, Being sold by the original owner.
It was purchased at the Ricardo Perez Toyota Dealership. All of its service was done by the dealership.
I read somewhere that when you buy a used car, you are not "interviewing" the car so much as you are "interviewing" the sellers. 'If you don't trust, or like the seller, don't buy the car.'
If you have some common ground with the seller, you will be able to relate with, and understand their needs and desires, and thus their true reason for selling, and their manner of treating their car, even in the absence of a service record.
In our case, the sellers were from Venezuela. Like many Venezuelans of means, they had opted to leave their native country, because of the danger there. They had been attacked and robbed in their home. They were very fortunate that no one in the family was permanently injured during the violent break in.
The husband, Antonio, went to graduate school in the U.S.. He spoke English very well, His wife didn't speak English as well, but she could converse. We chatted in both English and in Spanish.
We swapped stories about Autumn leaves in Vermont, life in New York City, etc... Coincidentally, they had also traveled to Japan for a job interview. Since I had worked in Japan, we could also connect on that topic. We both have young children....anyway, we felt very comfortable with this couple. We liked them.
As far as the car sale was concerned, they said that they needed a car with a third row of seats, so that they could go to their son's traditional dance performances and have room for their two children, as well as the grand parents. The story made perfect sense. We own a mini van in the states, and we know how convenient a third row of seats is for car pooling a bunch of kids to their various activities.
The husband, Antonio, a very nice man, clearly prided himself on taking excellent care of the family cars. His car is a Toyota HiLux. It was clear how much he loved his truck. His wife just shook her head over it. (FYI Toyota HiLux is what the Toyota Tacoma is called in central America.). It was clear that he was a fastidious and careful man. He valued buying the best, and then taking immaculate care of it.
This is just the sort of seller we had hoped to meet. Later, I got to ride in Antonio's perfect HiLux. If I were ever in the market for a Hilux, I would certainly want to know if Antonio were ready to sell his.
The four of us took it in to Ricardo Perez for an inspection. We went to the Ricardo Perez Express site near the Albrook Mall.
The mechanic gave us a new printout of all service checks (basically just oil changes). The print out matched the service record that the sellers had shown us.
We also had them inspect and evaluate the car, including a full computer analysis.
Cost $130
The inspection revealed a great car.
We made an offer and we quickly agreed upon a price. We were happy to find out later that the sales price was under the Blue Book value for the car.
However, this is unusual, cars in Panama are usually the same or higher price than in the USA.
That was on a Saturday.
Sunday we hired a taxi for a driving tour of the city. There was very little traffic, since it was Sunday. We ended up at our favorite cafe in the Casco Viejo, the Tantalo
Early Monday morning I went to my bank to get a cashier's check for the agreed upon price. (Also on Monday, thinking the paperwork might take a few days, my wife flew home to our children.)
Antonio (the owner) picked me up to go on the rounds to transfer ownership of the car to me.
Any person you buy the car from will do the same for you. Both owners, old and new, must be present to sign all the documents. It only took about 2 hours to get it all done.
They keep the insurance on the car for one week to give us time to get it. More about insurance below.
The couple ("Antonio and Carolina") who sold us the car have encouraged us to come for a visit, and to contact them if we ever "need any help" of any kind. In turn, we have invited them and their children to stay with our family if they are ever near Puerto Armuelles.
Both they and we agreed that the car purchase and sale was a pleasure for all of us. We feel as if we have made new friends.
Most of the cars, like most of the people in Panama, are in Panama City. We could have a good car in David. However, prices in Panama City were ~$2000 less for a comparable car. Plus all the cars we were interested in were in Panama City.
My wife and I decided to make a romantic weekend out of it too. We left the kids at home with a friend. We even flew to Panama City. It was fun & very fast to fly.
Call and make an appointment to see the car.
While you are at it, do alittle pre-interview on the phone.
We called about 2 cars we wanted to see on Saturday. One guys seemed alittle squirrelly in his answers to our questions. He seemed like he might be a car dealer pretending that his wife was the owner. We saw that he had other cars listed for sale on encuentra24 as well. The other owner seemed to be a better choice. We put off the questionable "owner" for later, if ever, in the day. It turns out we never did see that car.
Note: As in the states, we assumed that the weekend would be the best time to car shop, since more sellers would be available to show cars.
Our Tour of Car lots
Just for a quick comparison & to see if we were missing anything, we decided to stop in at some car lots. We went to:
- The auto transistmica, a 5 block area with a lot of used car lots.
- Ricardo Perezes' used car lot
- We went one other place, but it is a blur in my mind now.
Only one lot we visited had a newer Toyota RAV4, but looked trashed. The RAV4s at Ricardo Perez used lot were a lot more expensive than similar prices on encuentra24.
Given our experiences at the car lots, we were very happy to be dealing with car owners, not salespeople.
Chat with the owners. Ask about themselves, why they are selling the car. Ask about issues with the car. How they maintained it, if it has been in an accident, etc..
Get to know them alittle. Do they seem like fine people with a plausible reason for selling the car?
We accompanied the sellers to have it inspected. We went to the Ricardo Perez Express, which is close to Albrook Mall.
Even if the car does not have any connection to Ricardo Perez for you to ask them to do a car inspection.
Our inspection cost $130.
Once you agree upon the price, the typical way to pay for it is a cashier's check. It is called a Cheque de Gerencia. Remember, don't give the owner the check until you have transfer ownership.
You cannot get the deals on a car here that you can sometimes get in the States.
- New car prices are 25% higher in Panama. Think import taxes, etc..
- There are very few bargains on older cars. My wife bought her first car for $50 and it ran for 3 years (Okay it was a Ford Pinto, but still.) Old cars here are almost never in good shape. They are just not well-maintained.
Any person you buy the car from will take you on the rounds of all the required offices. Both owners, old and new, must be present to sign all the documents to transfer ownership.
The tour of the offices took us only 2 hours.
A friend of ours did the same office tour last year and it took days. It depends on both how effefient your seller is and the time of the month that buy your car. As I discuss below, do not go at the end of the month.
The car is now yours, but it is registered in Panama City.
This isn't a problem, unless you don't want to renew the registration in Panama City every year.
If you want to transfer it to another city you must go back to Panama City just before your registration expires. You do not need to bring the car. But you (or someone who is acting on your behalf) must visit city hall and get the documents necessary to transfer it to your city. You then must take the to the city hall in your city and both transfer the office and go through the registration renewal process.
Our car purchase took place near the beginning of the month. If it had been closer to the end of the month, especially the last day of the month (any month) the lines in the municipio and the ATT would have been much, much longer. Generally people come into pay car registration, taxes at the end or middle of the month. That is when people have the funds. Both paychecks and social security checks are issued then.
Panamanians, even more so than North Americans, are notorious for living paycheck to paycheck. Thus, you will see far longer lines at the grocery, hardware store, cell phone store, etc....right after payday, which is generally the middle and the end of each month.
Car insurance is the law in Panama.
I highly recommend that you at least get the minimum liability insurance required by law.
The cost is usually ~ $100 a year.
Related topics
Find out whether to ship your car to Panama
