Renting a Car in Salta, Argentina: Licence, Gravel and Kit

Can you drive in Argentina on a foreign licence?

Argentina's transport ministry sets out the rule on its international licence page. A visitor renting a car must carry a passport stamped on entry and a driving licence that meets one of these tests:

• a national licence issued by a party to the 1949 Geneva or 1968 Vienna conventions, valid for up to one year from entry; or
• a national or international licence issued under the 1943 Washington convention; the international version, valid for one year from issue, becomes necessary if your own country does not require a driving licence.

The rental desk adds its own conditions. Hertz Argentina's terms ask for a passport, a valid licence and a physical credit card from a bank, with no prepaid or virtual cards. One clause catches dual nationals: the nationality of the licence must match the nationality of the identity document you show.

Costs on a Salta rental contract

The Hertz terms describe the structure that most rentals in Argentina follow:

• Guarantee. A pre-authorisation on your credit card; Hertz asks you to phone or ask the branch for the amount, because it depends on the car.
• Deductible. The rate includes cover with a deductible that varies by vehicle. You pay up to that amount for theft, collision, weather damage and broken tyres or wheels, with a separate deductible for rollovers.
• Not covered at all. Engine damage is billed in full at an official dealer's quote, as are airbag deployments.
• Provincial stamp tax. Between about 0.6% and 2% of the contract, depending on the province where the rental begins.
• Fines. Traffic fines recorded during the rental, including by cameras, are charged to the card, even if they arrive after you return the car.

Can you drive a rental car on Ruta 40 gravel in Salta?

The Calchaquí valleys loop from Salta through Cachi and Cafayate is the classic drive, and it is where the rental contract matters most. Hertz Argentina's terms state that passenger cars may only be driven on paved roads; gravel and dirt roads are prohibited. Breaking a contract condition can cost you the cover it provides.

Official sources confirm that stretches of Ruta Nacional 40 in Salta are unpaved. In May 2024, Vialidad Nacional reported regrading the gravel surface between Payogasta and La Poma, north of Cachi. In September 2024, the Salta provincial government said the Cafayate to Cachi stretch would get work to improve its passability, and described the road's state as a concern for the valley towns.

What does an Argentine police check look for in your car?

The national traffic law, Ley 24.449, sets what a car must carry and how it must be driven, and a roadside check can ask to see any of it:

• Kit (Art. 40). A car may only be driven with a standard fire extinguisher and portable warning triangles. The road safety agency ANSV specifies a 1 kg extinguisher, and lists the insurance certificate and vehicle identification card among the papers to carry.
• Lights (Art. 47). Dipped headlights or daytime running lights must be on day and night on national routes.
• Alcohol (Art. 48). The limit has been zero milligrams per litre of blood since Law 27.714 of May 2023.
• Seat belts and children. ANSV says there must be a belt for every occupant and a child seat suited to each child's age or weight.

Speed limits for cars

These come from Article 51, summarised in the justice ministry's plain-language guide. Signs can set lower limits.

How fines are sized

Article 84 sets fines in UF (unidades fijas). One UF equals the lowest retail price of a litre of premium petrol (nafta especial), and fines range from 50 to 5,000 UF. So the peso value of a fine follows the pump price, and a minimum 50 UF fine costs roughly what 50 litres of that fuel would. The exact UF amount for each offence is set by regulation and applied by provincial and municipal authorities, so we do not quote a single Salta figure here.

Can you drive a Salta rental car to Chile?

Salta's own crossing is Paso de Sico, on RN 51 from San Antonio de los Cobres to San Pedro de Atacama. On 23 September 2026 the security ministry's pass page listed hours of 09:00 to 19:00 and a Vialidad warning of machinery working on the road. The busier alternative, Paso de Jama on RN 52 in neighbouring Jujuy, was open 09:00 to 19:15. Both pages update daily with road and weather notes; check them the morning you cross.

Paperwork for a rental car

A renter is not the car's owner, which changes the paperwork on the Chilean side. Chile's customs service requires, for a car entering from Argentina, the driver's identity document, the ownership document, third-party liability insurance and, if the driver is not the owner, a notarised authorisation from the owner. The permit is free and lasts up to 90 days.

The Argentine consulate in Valparaíso adds that cars with Argentine plates need Chile's compulsory SOAPEX accident insurance, a current technical inspection, and on board an extinguisher, warning triangles, reflective vests and child seats for children under 9 or under 135 cm or 33 kg. Carabineros can check all of this on the road.

Worked example: a four-day valleys and Atacama loop

Day one is Salta to Cachi, day two Cachi to Cafayate on Ruta 40, day three back to Salta, day four towards Sico. With an ordinary Hertz car, the gravel stretches on day two already break the paved-only rule, and any unpaved section on the way to Sico would too. The cheaper car becomes the costlier choice if anything happens, because damage on a forbidden road falls outside the deductible deal.

A 4x4 whose contract allows gravel, plus a cross-border permit ordered at booking, covers the whole plan. If the permit cannot be arranged in time, turn the loop around at San Antonio de los Cobres and cross to Chile by bus instead.

Coming the other way from Santiago in a Chilean rental? The Chilean customs form and TAG toll rules are covered in renting a car in Santiago and paying TAG tolls.