Bringing a vehicle into dr

Has anybody brought a car into the DR recently? Trying to acertain which is better to buy used locally or bring a used vehicle in from the USA. Will be able to get my residency this trip.

This will only work if you have OWNED it for one full year prior to bringing it in. And it must be less then 5 years old too. IF you already own it, tell us the make and year and we can probably give you some comparison prices from here.

Figure a car here new or used is about 30% more than you would pay in the states.

BObK

Hi Planner,
I am thinking about bringing in my car too.. it is a Toyota Camry 2014.. How many thousands of $$ would it take ? roughly!
thanks !

With residencia its easy, you pay shipping and i am not sure a 1% tax.  Then insurance, placa etc but that's normal.

Without residencia start with 18% ITBIS, plus duty.....shipping etc etc.

Thanks so much Planner... I just have to goggle an estimate for shipping now..  :)

However the car must be at least two years old and you have to have owned it for two years. So a 2014 vehicle may not work


Bob K

ive heard u must own it for 1 year . does any one realy know the deal

Vehicle needs to be between 2 and 5  years of age and you have to have owned it for 2 years. I have not heard of any change to this rule.  They did try to extend it to 7 years of age but it never was put into law.

Bob K

moved from St. Croix to Sosua in 2002. wanted to ship my '86 firebird. shipping & duty was $3000, basically the value of the car. did'nt do it.  people say how expensive car are here.  I haven't found that true.  in one day in La Vega I bought a chevy blazer & a ford explorer for $ 200,000 rd. both cherry condition relatively low miliage. very clean & good rubber. detailed them  & sold them for almost double my money. bought a 1995 camry for $ 80,000 rd. drove it for 3 yeats, sold it for 55,000 rd. a couple of other cars in the meantime. if you are patient & have contacts, very good deals can be made. I ride motorcycles, bought & sold 3 great bikes while living in Sosua. doubled at least my $ on all of them.  if you have a little knowledge of maintainence, you  can do the same. don't run off to a dealer to buy something, take your time & make contacts. you will be amazed at the deals you can make on just about anythng. my income is about half of the regular ex-pat, but I live very well , my personal needs are not a gated condo or a fancy life style, I'm content with good friends & an accommodating girlfriend. by accommodating , I don't mean subservient. you will better off buying a car here. pm me & I'll give you some contacts. wish you well, & welcome to the D.R.

I will CONFIRM the law tomorrow.  Bob I've seen nothing about 2 years, so will double check.

Older cars are easy to find and reasonable in price because they fix everything here.  Anything newer then about 8 years old is going to be more expensive then in North America - however - if you don't ship in free of tax and duty then you are not going to save anything.

And by they way - classic cars have rules unto themselves. You can bring in a classic, but, it will cost you.

ok that sounds more logical. I d like to talk to u. buying and reselling cars seems like a good business
contact me  [email protected], please

Thank you everyone for the info...
I am only gathering facts right now.. If I could,  I would move tomorrow !! but the earliest will be for 2016...
I googled a few shipping companies yesterday but before I can get a quote, they all want my name, email, phone # etc.. and I don't want to give it to them and get bombarded by emails and ads..
We are going to downsize when moving to the DR:  we will only take furniture for 2 bedrooms, kitchen goods, one living room, dinette set and a few other house goods and decoration items..
Kentucky to DR shipping.. I really don't know how much it would be.. as I am establishing a moving budget, I am thinking maybe it would cost $6,000  ..  I wonder if I am far off..

We moved an entire 40 foot container from Tennessee for less that that, but that was 8 years ago.

Bob K

Thanks for sharing Bob K.. at least it gives me a little idea of what kind of price to expect !

This guy in Boca Chica bring the vehicles regularly and sells in Boca Chica from us

Most dealers do that. Its common.

But be VERY careful.  Most of the cars the dealers here import are bought at auction. Many have bad titles in the US, bad accident history, are flood cars, very high mileage that almost all dealers here roll back, some even junk titles.

Bob K

if you don't have enough to fill a container, inquire about a LTL container (less than total load) you then pay for the percentage that you use. you can save $$ this way.  it might take longer to get that container filled but ask the shipper about the option.

I just looked at a vehicle, when we asked mileage - the answer - 0 - we imported it.............HAHAHAHAHAHA its a 2008!!!!

The seller gets 10 points for trying..... :lol:

Good one stumpy....

We bought  a used vehicle from a dealer in Moca that had 41,000 miles on it.  When we got home we checked it on Carfax and found that it left the US 10 days before with 141,000 miles on it.  We returned it the next day.  The dealer claimed we never asked the original miles and that all the used car dealers roll back the odometers.

If you are going to buy a used car then check it out with Carfax first. It will give you ALL the information on all cars that had been registered in the US.  You will be amazed at the crap they ship here, clean up and then sell.

Bob K

Buyer beware here too Bob.  There is almost NO protection here. YOU need to do the research etc.

Planner... Now , that's a funny story !
Bob K.. wow, you got lucky they took the vehicle back the next day !

Yes it was funny,  sad though cause this woman thought she was right..........LOL

We had called the bank and canceled our check.  When we told the dealer that he became irate and then gave us our check back that he had not yet deposited.

Bob K

Well put my friend!  Good advice. I'll need a Honda lead scooter when I arrive. 2010- 2013. My budget is 500 to 800 American dollars. Leave you number so I can call you ! VONZIP!

Vonzip welcome.   I am not sure what you are asking .  You need a scooter when you arrive 2010-2013??? Hate to tell you but it is now 2015 :D

Bob K

Bob its early..... he wants a 2010 - 2013 scooter .....  Vonzip - welcome to the forums.  what area are you moving to?  and we dont post phone or emails on the boards.  we do this privately.

See that's what happens if I try to read and type before the second cup of coffee :D

Bob K

No worries Bob, now switch to beer!!! LOL its Saturday of a long weekend, time to get started.......... :D

Yes a long relaxing weekend with basically nothing to do, no staff, no nada....ummmmm

Bob K

I am going to work,  I am going to relax, I am going to go to a pool,  and I am going to DANCE this weekend!!!!

Wow you will need a day off just to recover

Bob K

Sure do,  good thing  Monday is a holiday.....LOL

Steaks were great last night on the new BBQ

Yes Monday is another holiday in a month of holidays.

Bob K

way too little gets done in January!!!

So true and then it hard to get workers back on tract with not used to working a full week. :D

Bob K

The first full day after a holiday - totally useless!   Too many tired, hungover,  "sick" people.  We let 2 employees go last week - they showed up the day after the holiday still DRUNK!   Imagine.....LOL