# Why don't Cubans buy new cars from other countries? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 22, 2014, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cubans-buy-new-cars-from-other-countries/707874 "2014-12-22T02:11:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cubans-buy-new-cars-from-other-countries/707874/21 "2014-12-27T18:27:34Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Isn’t it more expensive to keep a 1950s car running than it is to buy a 1990s car? On craigslist a running late 90s car is only about $1000 or so. The parts for a 1950s car and the constant repairs are going to be far more than that. Well, _they_ have no _choice_. On the one hand, if the vehicle IS properly maintained it does not HAVE to suffer _catastrophic_ failure; OTOH, under the circumstances in Cuba the drivers do _ **not** _ have access to spec-compliant parts and it is moot to seek to fix the cars “up to standard”. The old cars in the streets of Cuba are kept up through a whole series of jerry-rigged repairs simply for the sake of keeping them rolling, whether that takes replacement parts that were machined in backyard shops or maybe cannibalized off of some discarded Soviet farm equipment or literally holding things together with baling-wire. So classic car buffs from stateside would face disappointment and heartbreak if they headed for Cuba looking for bargains. > [@](#): > > But then again you have to ship the cars in from Europe, or latin america or Canada which would add to the price. > > Either way, I don’t get it. I’m used to US prices. Here once a car is at least 15 years old, its price stops declining. It drops to a grand, and doesn’t seem to get lower. As linked before by myself and **boytyperanma** , Cuban government motor vehicle market policy makes ANY car that enters Cuba, whether factory-new or “preowned”, unaffordable for most Cubans. ---
**Author:** ![BrightNShiny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@BrightNShiny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightNShiny)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cubans-buy-new-cars-from-other-countries/707874/22 "2014-12-28T20:20:08Z")
I can’t really speak specifically to this policy, but from what I read, the Cubans have two currencies: an internal currency (CUP) and a currency which is pegged to dollars for foreign exchange (CUC). The CUP, because it’s an internal currency, can’t be used to import anything. And one tool the Cuban government can use to maintain the CUC peg is to restrict imports. So, that may be why the Cuban government makes owning cars so difficult. But, like I said, I can’t speak specifically to the origins of this policy. Apparently, the Cubans are going to merge the 2 currencies soon. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2014, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cubans-buy-new-cars-from-other-countries/707874/23 "2014-12-29T03:55:07Z")
As was said, the “classic cars” of Cuba are frankencars literally held together with baling wire and parts from everything. The reason they don’t just buy newer used cars from Mexico or Japan or Germany is that average Cubans don’t have any money and the government won’t let you buy a car unless you can prove you need one. And it turns out that according to the Cuban government the only people who need new cars are connected to the Cuban government. You can get rusted out old car bodies for dirt cheap here in the US. The Cuban cars aren’t lovingly maintained originals, they have no collectable value. It would be much easier to buy a chassis sitting in a junkyard here in the US and restore it, because it will have a much higher percentage of original parts. The price of a restored classic car is extremely high not because old car bodies are rare, but because it takes so much skilled labor to transform a heap of junk into a showpiece. The reason you hardly ever see street legal cars for less than $1000 or so is that it takes a certain amount of work to keep a car running, and if it’s not running and it costs more than a couple hundred to get it running then it’s often cheaper to just get a new running beater and the old one is scrapped. Also, we’re not lifting the embargo. That would require an act of Congress, and the Republicans aren’t going to vote for that. We are restoring diplomatic relations, which is the prerogative of the president and doesn’t require Congressional approval. We’re also changing certain administrative rules about who can qualify for permission to visit Cuba, and how much you’re allowed to spend there and how much you’re allowed to bring back, all things which are rules created by executive branch government agencies and don’t require Congressional approval. The embargo itself isn’t going anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2014, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cubans-buy-new-cars-from-other-countries/707874/24 "2014-12-30T18:48:03Z")
> [@bizerta](#): > > Cubans are ecstatic about ending the embargo. Who in USA would gain from this? Is Cuba going to return all the property they seized? What has the US gained by _maintaining_ the embargo? ---
**Author:** ![busterpickle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@busterpickle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/busterpickle)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cubans-buy-new-cars-from-other-countries/707874/25 "2014-12-31T15:44:58Z")
> [@bizerta](#): > > Views of Cuba show 1950s Buicks, Fords, etc. Since they can’t buy American cars, why don’t they just buy VWs, Hyundais, Toyotas, or other non-USA cars? > > Other embargo questions: Lifting the embargo will make it easier to send money to Cuba. Can’t an American send money to Cuba via Montreal or Kingston, Jamaica, or Mexico City, or the Cayman Islands? > > Cubans are ecstatic about ending the embargo. Who in USA would gain from this? Is Cuba going to return all the property they seized? Of course I can’t find it when I need it… but there was a statement somewhere that money was owed to US corporations that had invested in the infrastructure of the island. I’m not talking about the casinos and what not, but, the actual infrastructure: utilities, rail roads, roads, etc. US corporations had spent a lot of money building that all up. So, when Cuba nationalized there was some seriously hurt feelings. Also, this build up is one of the factors that prompted nationalization as the Cubans themselves were being displaced by US people/companies rolling in with money and buying stuff up. There were other countries as well that lost out but still kept some relationship with the country, the UK being one of them. I did a report for a history class about ten years ago. The ODU library in Norfolk, VA has this awesome book on Cuba. Very well written and it went over the history of the country, subsequent industrialization, and its nationalization, etc. Another country that nationalized and pissed off corporate interests that built infrastructure is Venezuela. Here’s an article about Exxon trying to recoup its losses: [http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Settlement-Denies-Exxon-Mobils-Excessive-Claim-20141009-0063.html](http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Settlement-Denies-Exxon-Mobils-Excessive-Claim-20141009-0063.html) ---
**Author:** ![busterpickle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@busterpickle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/busterpickle)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cubans-buy-new-cars-from-other-countries/707874/26 "2014-12-31T15:49:28Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Isn’t it more expensive to keep a 1950s car running than it is to buy a 1990s car? On craigslist a running late 90s car is only about $1000 or so. The parts for a 1950s car and the constant repairs are going to be far more than that. > > But then again you have to ship the cars in from Europe, or latin america or Canada which would add to the price. > > Either way, I don’t get it. I’m used to US prices. Here once a car is at least 15 years old, its price stops declining. It drops to a grand, and doesn’t seem to get lower. Something else is that Cuba is an island. Kinda like Hawaii you usually aren’t going to far. Also, something of interest, as I am using Bing maps to look at Cuba, and I go to aerial view and zoom in (surprising detail here), I see few cars. Even in areas that seem to have housing developments. I think the Cubans keep the cars for the sake of prosperity and don’t drive aside from occasions that warrant it. ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cubans-buy-new-cars-from-other-countries/707874/27 "2015-01-07T08:38:43Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > If the capitalists take over they will pull down the old buildings and put up concrete vomit in the name of money; if the progressives take over they will pull down the old buildings and put up concrete crap in the name of progress. There are plenty of old buildings still standing in the US - they haven’t all been pulled down by capitalists and progressives. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cubans-buy-new-cars-from-other-countries/707874.md?page=1)