buying a car on STX vs. shipping one from mainland

buy a car here...........I have done both.....shipped and bought on island...........you can find a good car for 5k......or pay 3k to ship and tax.......just my opinion

hi snapper!
if it's cheaper to ship (hypothetically), then why do you say buy one there?
thanks!

If you are only planning on being on the island for only a year doing research it is likely to be much cheaper to buy a good car here and sell it before you leave -- you will probably get about the same price you paid when you sell it - maybe a bit less but certainly it will be less than the shipping costs especially if you plan to ship it back home - the registration,insurance and running costs will be the same - a well bought $6-12K car here that is well maintained will not depreciate in price by very much in one year - less than the shipping, excise and import costs for sure.

Don't plan on getting by cheap if buying a car on island. Yes it can be done, but not usually through the channels a newbie would have to take.
Most people who have bought "good" used cars have bought from friends, cars that they know are good.
This environment is much harder on cars than most stateside.
As Exit Zero said, figure $6K to $12K.

If you are only here for a year I wouldn't ship a car here, I'd buy on island. I bought a POS Ford Focus when I first got here from Hertz for $7500. After about 2 years it started having some issues, I put about $2000 into it and its still running 5+ years later. I can't complain and it was an easy transaction which was importatnt at the time for me. I wouldn't necessarily recommend buying a rental but it worked out ok for me.

If you are going to buy new and stay on island than buying stateside and shipping is generally better. Unless you have time to haggle a lot or can get a "hook up" its no comparison for most vehicles. With the internet you can just shop online, get competitive bids etc. My boss has a very good dealer in FLA near a shipping dock that he got a great deal on a Pilot from. I bought my CRV stateside for under $20,000, added in about $3500 for shipping from DC, taxes, tags etc for a total of about $23500 for a 2008. Hendricks wouldn't go below $25,000 for a 2007 (year older model)...I saved $2000 and got a model-year newer car. I used Magic Carpet as my shipping broker/dealer and it was easy as could be. One thing to note is that most banks won't let you ship a car off the mainland, if you need to finance than Pentagon Federal Credit Union is the way to go, you pay $20 to join some military family support group if you're not military which lets you take out loans from Pentagon. They know all about shipping cars and have no problems with it and their rates are great.

Sean

Cagrace............to answer the question I have 3 cars I have bought here on STX all 3 are great and cost about the same as the states except for my truck, they seem to cost more for less here.............also shipping was just a pain......and with taxes ran me $3700.00.............put a bigger value on my jeep than I can sell it here for..............and friends and new acquaintances you meet on island can direct you to good used cars............just my opinion .............

For one year buy one here. Make sure you don't over pay for it, so you don't end up eating a loss at the end of the year when you sell it. Like other posters have said expect to pay around $5k for one with only minor problems.

Is buying on the island a better idea if your jeep wrangler without any problems is paid off!?? I will most likely be on the island for 1 yr as well.

I would bring it. IMHO

Leave it on STX and it might work out OK. If you ship it back then it is just a love affair with the car.

If you do decide to buy a car here I suggest checking out buying from the rental companies. I bought a 2004 Chevy Cavalier last January with about 40,000 miles for $4500. The rental cars are maintained and they sell them with very little milage.