Friday, September 18, 2026

I'm Andrew Macia from the Medellin Buzz YouTube channel. You're getting this email newsletter because you opted in by filling out a form from one of my videos.

Drop

I had a consultation call with a couple in Florida, a little younger than my parents, who are planning to retire in Medellin in a couple of months.

We covered the normal stuff, you know, apartment, which neighborhood's actually good, private insurance, the usual. Then they brought up buying a car. They said they'd like to get a Renault Duster. I kinda chuckled and thought, oh man, they don't know!
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So I said, a decked-out Duster here runs you about 110, 113 million pesos. That's like 35 grand US. And the Tesla, the base Model Y, that's 120 million (about 38K USD). So yeah, we're talking three, four thousand dollars more. For a Tesla. Not some beat-up truck, a Tesla, lol.
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Tesla showed up here last November, opened showrooms in Bogotá and Medellín, selling direct, no dealer markup, and it set off this whole price war. Something like 32 different electric and hybrid models dropped their prices in the next few months. Kia knocked 40 million pesos off one of theirs. Porsche, the Taycan, dropped over 80 million pesos.
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​And by March, the Model Y wasn't just the top-selling electric car here. It was the best-selling car in Colombia.​
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Real Life

This is Lorenzo driving "Betty Ford." My 2010 Ford Escape.

Opinion

I love Betty Ford, but the new tunnel that will connect Medellín to the Caribbean coast is going to be opening in the near future. It takes about 8 hours to get to Urabá right now. The new tunnel will cut that down to 4.5 hours.
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As a family, we like to take road trips. Soooo...that means that I'm thinking of getting a new car soon.
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On the call, I mentioned Tesla because it's what most people understand. But it's not what I really want. The cars I've been looking at are the Chery and the Tank.

Between you and me, I'm going with the Tank. Bigger, looks cooler. What do you think?
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​Plug

Where to see these in person:

Chery — San Diego (Cl. 31 #43-73) or Mayorca mall, both in Medellín
Tank — Ayurauto, Calle 26 Sur & Cra 48, Envigado (same spot sells both Chery and Tank)
Tesla — El Tesoro mall

As for Betty Ford — got her washed this weekend at a hole-in-the-wall spot while we hit up the botanical garden for the book fair (full video here if you haven't seen it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qkTjK6fvkU&t=1s). She's looking good. So yeah, no rush to buy anything right now.