Bring the Pick-Up?

If its bought and paid for, I say bring it on down. If you have large payments, try to sell and buy something here.

Thanks Linda. It's new with a large payment. Everyone tells me it will get beat up or broken in to or stolen. Is this really the case?

It's not that it will be targeted to be beat up or broken into...but the island is very tuff on vehicles to begin with, so, within a year, it'll probably have aged about 5...plus, the expense of shipping is prohibitive....then you have the costs to ship it back..and all of this is assuming that your bank will allow you to bring it here to begin with (many banks will not let you leave America with a financed vehicle..guess they're afraid you won't bring it back...)

Thanks Marty. Luckily the Coast Guard pays for the shipping. I'm leaning towards selling the truck (which I hate to do) and buying an older, used vehicle for STT.

You do mean buying an older used vehicle in the states, right, not after you get here.? If the Coast Guard is paying, definitely ship something here!

Yes. Buying in the states and shipping from here.

Do you know if your bank will allow it? If so, and the CG is paying...I'd bring it.

Hi, Tropical Shipping told me they will not ship without the actual title. The customs form requires it. A note from the bank saying its OK probably will not work. I would trade down to something smaller with 4wd that runs good but looks bad.

I see a lot of the Coast Guard guys with their stateside cars and trucks. I believe you do not have to go through the local licensing and registration process, either. You might want to check with someone in the Coast Guard. And welcome. I promise to wear my life jacket and to follow all the safety rules at sea! 😉

Thanks East Ender. I'll be looking for you on the water. Fortunately, we do not have to go through local licensing and registration.

Why don't you have to go through local licensing and registrations? You mean you can keep you Statesdie plates and insurance? No taxes, either?

Yeah. It's a military transfer that gets me around some of those requirements.

congasan, I think Tropical was wrong.

As it happens I'm in a similar situation. I just started a new job here in STX two weeks ago. I have luxury European vehicles back at the house in Seattle (Sammamish) and after our PMV in December decided not to bring them. As we have a boat in Seattle and plan to replace it for a boat suitable for here I went out and bought an '08 Ford F250 diesel just before I came here and arranged to have it shipped (my employer is paying.)

There is some paperwork involved but it's not too bad if planned ahead. In my case I had to go through a lot of phone calls on Friday to straighten out my situation as it turns out that Customs used to take letters from lien holders granting permission up until 2 weeks ago (in lieu of a copy of the paper title.) Now their new policy is to only take paper copies of titles. The problem is some states including Washington and Pennsylvannia for example have recently moved to electronic titles and can't provide a copy of a paper title since there isn't one. There are other details that had to be tended to including proof of specific insurance coverages but in the end my shipping company was able to get an exception from Customs. I think Customs will have to figure out a new policy as they clearly are not in synch with the states on this one.

I can't speak for STT but based on the vehicles I see routinely driving around STX I don't have concerns specific to having a big truck (I do have a concern about cosmetic damage to ANY vehicle given what I found had happened to my Avis rental upon returning from a local Kmart!)

Anyone know if that law actually went into effect prohibiting vehicles with other 100,000 miles from being shipped to the VI. Our 15-passenger Chevy van is ugly and dented, but trusty and indispensible with all our kids, however its got 103k miles on it, so knowing as early as possible if we'd have to sell it and ship a newer one will help us.

simkiss,
Why don't you call the shipping companies and ask. Or you could call the VI government. No idea which department, maybe customs, maybe dmv, but the go to office when you need to know who to call is the Lt. Gov.'s office. The number is 340-774-2991.

i would except i'm anti-phone internet-only! 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

simkiss: Then you are going to be "the man not in the know", as many offices here are not internet connected. Some of them barely answer the phone.

that's what i gather is the case. fortunately, one saving grace is that i do like to go in person to find everything out and i enjoy waiting in line and chatting with people... something i read will be a natural fit. 🙂