Before you start

Cédula de identidad
Your foreign licence and, where required, an official translation
Medical and psychosensometric assessment at an authorised centre
Proof of a Quito address

Step-by-step

1
Check whether your licence can be converted at all
Ecuador converts licences from some countries and requires the full course and examination from others, and the position has changed over time. Confirm with the ANT rather than with a driving school before paying for anything.
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2
Complete the medical and psychosensometric assessment
An authorised centre tests sight, hearing, reaction time and coordination. It is required for issue and renewal and is a standard part of the process rather than an obstacle.
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3
Take the course and examination if you are not exempt
Where conversion is not available, the route is a licensed driving school course followed by theory and practical examinations, in Spanish. Budget several weeks and a real time commitment.
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4
Learn the current pico y placa schedule
The metropolitan district restricts vehicles by the last digit of the plate on one weekday each week during peak hours. The scheme has been suspended, reinstated and varied more than once, so check the Municipio's current rule rather than a guide.
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5
Get the vehicle through the annual revisión técnica
Quito requires an annual technical inspection at a municipal centre before the matriculación can be renewed. Bookings are made online and the schedule keys off the plate number.
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6
Consider the Metro and the trolley corridors instead
Metro Line 1 began commercial operation in December 2023, running 22.5 km and fifteen stations underground from the south of the city through the historic centre to the north. Combined with the trolley and Ecovía corridors, a great deal of Quito is reachable without a car.
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Documents you’ll need

Cédula de identidad
Foreign licence with translation if required
Medical and psychosensometric certificate
Vehicle matriculación and revisión técnica certificate, once you own a car

Things most newcomers don’t know

Altitude changes how a car behaves, and most people are not told.

At 2,850 metres a naturally aspirated engine loses a substantial fraction of its power because there is simply less oxygen, so overtaking on a mountain road takes longer than your instincts expect. Turbocharged and diesel engines cope better, which is why they are disproportionately common here. Brakes also work harder on the long descents into the valleys, and the standard advice — engine braking rather than riding the pedal — is not a formality on the road down to Tumbaco.

Source: community-reported

Quito is forty kilometres long and a few kilometres wide, which makes the Metro unusually valuable.

The city is squeezed onto a plateau between the Pichincha volcano and a canyon, so it grew north to south in a strip. That geography is why one underground line running the length of the city covers so much of it — Line 1 opened commercially in December 2023 with fifteen stations over 22.5 km. For most newcomers the honest answer is that a car is optional in the strip and near-essential in the valleys.

Source: Metro de Quito

Pico y placa is a live, changing rule and getting it wrong is expensive.

The metropolitan district restricts circulation by the last digit of the number plate on a designated weekday during peak hours. It has been suspended during emergencies, reinstated, and had its hours varied. Guides go out of date within months. Check the Municipio's own current announcement before you rely on any schedule, and remember that hire cars and borrowed cars are restricted by their own plates, not yours.

Source: Municipio del Distrito Metropolitano de Quito

The airport is in Tababela, and that is a forty-five-minute planning fact.

Mariscal Sucre international airport moved out of the city in 2013 to Tababela, beyond the eastern valleys. From northern Quito it is typically forty-five minutes to an hour by the Ruta Viva, more at peak. This reshapes where people choose to live if they fly frequently — the valleys are much closer to the airport than the city is — and it is a routine cause of missed flights among newcomers who budget for a city-centre airport.

Source: community-reported

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming your licence can simply be exchanged without checking the ANT's current position.
Relying on an out-of-date pico y placa schedule.
Underestimating the drive to the airport at Tababela.
Buying a naturally aspirated car and finding it gutless at 2,850 metres.
Missing the annual revisión técnica and being unable to renew the matriculación.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.