Riteve Part II - Vehicle Inspection in Costa Rica

We have our own car.

In my blog entry on October 28, 2018 I reported on the need to have a vehicle inspected in Costa Rica.  Inspections are done by a company known in Costa Rica as Riteve SyC or simply Riteve. It is part of a worldwide group of companies which operate under the umbrella of an organization known as Applus+.

In Costa Rica, all vehicles are required to have a sticker on their front window confirming that a required inspection has been done and that the vehicle passed. Serious issues can arise if you drive with an out of date sticker or, if it is out of date, without a paper indicating that you have an extension of time to correct any problems found during inspection. 

Last year, we elected to handle the matter ourselves. To say the least, the experience was interesting. But, the time and inconvenience was a bit much. This included time spent driving to and from Riteve, time spent parking and standing in a line-up of people to pay Riteve and be assigned to one of several inspection stations, time spent slowly progressing in a stop and go line-up of vehicles to the station, time spent progressing through several inspection points in the station, and time spent waiting while an inspection report was produced.

This year, we took a different approach. We knew that the car required maintenance and servicing - including a tune-up. It is a previously owned 2006 Subaru Forester with about 141,000 km (76,000 miles) - meaning that it is due for inspection on an annual basis. But, the engine was coughing and almost stalling on some start-ups. The air filter was making an obnoxious resonating noise when the car was struggling up steep hills while being forced to maintain speed. The dashboard lights … well … there weren’t any - so it was sometimes difficult to tell how fast we were going whether uphill, downhill or on the flat. 

We decided to take the car to Carlos Morera at Superior Automotriz in Grecia for servicing and also to ask whether he or an associate would be willing to take the car through Riteve. Happily, he was willing to do both. He was familiar with the vehicle and had previously done a first class job addressing a transmission problem.

Had we elected to take the car to Riteve ourselves before having the servicing done, the car would have failed miserably. Although not particularly noticeable, one rear shock was blown and leaking oil. The brakes required attention. The air filter had a cracked rim. The fuel injectors and spark plugs were on their last legs and needed replacement to cure the coughing problem - without which the car would have failed an exhaust emissions test. New dashboard lights were required.

In the end, the car passed Riteve without incident and was returned to our doorstep. The charges for taking the car through Riteve totaled 26,000 colones (about USD $45) and that included 16,000 colones paid to Riteve. I don't know, but the charges may have been more if the car had been in good condition beforehand and all Superior Automotriz was called upon to do is take the car through Riteve. In any case, it is highly unlikely that we will ever again take a car through Riteve ourselves.