What Kind of Car To Drive in Central America?

This section is growing. Updated November 9, 2008.

How to Choose a Car

You already have a car that's in working order. Should you take that one, or a different one?

The simple answer is that it simply matters whether you choose to leave/sell your car, or if you are going to drive down, and drive all the way back.

If you're going to try to sell it, a diesel will sell much easier than a gasoine engine. With the price of gas these days, diesel power is widely coveted.

You also want to choose something that you'll be comfortable driving, and that will fit your people and gear.

What We Took

We took a single cab 4x4. We figured that one person in the back at all times wouldn't be a problem, but it got pretty cold at night fairly often. That meant we all rode up front quite a bit.

That got cramped.

The next car we took was a Toyota 4Runner. That worked quite well for four people.

How to Take a Boat

To fish the areas we wanted, we took an aluminun Jon boat with a 25 HP Mercury engine.

The boat we bought new at a local sporting goods store. It was not outrageously expensive; it cost around $800. If you want to sell your boat somewhere, Belize is perfect for selling. They have access to cheap engines, too, so just selling a boat would work.

We rigged the truck with a metal work rack. The boat was strapped to the rack. Ultimately, our rack's welds were broken, and we had to find someone to weld it. Before you leave, refinforce all joints with crossmembers.

Car and Truck Accessories

The countries you'll be driving through will have most of what you need as far as car repair goes.

If you need a fuel filter for a major car brand, you'll probably have no problem finding one in any town. It's likely you'll need one if you don't buy the best gas.

Other accessories you should consider are a come-along and some heavy rope/chain for getting out of stuck positions, a car charger plugin air compressor, and a tire patch kit.