Buying versus shipping a vehicle

I'm usually not a proponent of shipping a car here, but in this case, I think I would. Sounds like the perfect island car, particularly since he got a good deal on it. Jeep Wranglers are at a premium here. A lot of the used ones have been the the car rental pools and have had rough treatment, and they are still expensive.

I brought my Jeep Wrangler from the states. Check with VI Cargo, you may have to get it to Florida to be affordable, but, it's better to have a paid for vehicle! I have no regrets and VI Cargo is awesome.

I can assure you that generally speaking used cars cost a lot more here because there's not as much competition and the cost of shipping is baked in. In your case you're talking about a bargain price for acquisition and a premium price if you sell here so either way your best bet is to ship the Jeep here and decide after whether you want to keep it or sell it (of course if you need 2 cars and want to sell it I'd recommend buying your replacement in Florida and shipping it here at some point also.)

What is the bluebook for a 1990 Jeep?
If it were newer, it would be a no-brainer.
If it helps, expect to pay around $1500 for shipping & road tax.

Another vote for bringing it, if you can. You'll get your money and a good chunk of the shipping cost back out of it if you sell within a reasonable timeframe.

Used cars here are very expensive and are generally in very poor shape by comparison to their stateside equivalents.

There is a good business in buying reasonable used cars in the states and shipping them down. I think it's Neal from Marios who makes a good business out of bringing down off-lease or fleet vehicles and selling them on the side of the road.

Thank you all for your help!

DUN, the bluebook for a Jeep like this one is $2600. And the estimate we got for shipping (with Fleming) is more like $3000, including ground transportation from Arizona, customs, BMV, etc.

Sounds like we should ship it. Brian is always selling things on eBay and Craigslist, so maybe he will end up trying to make a profit on it. We'll see...

If you could drive it from Arizona to Florida you would probably cut your costs in half.

I didn't know about the Arizona part(was that mentioned)?
Linda is right,

Customs is easy, if the VIN starts with a 1 or 4 it`s free.
IRB for road tax is based on the # @.16/lb. I believe
BMV, don't go at the end of the month!

With bluebook of $2600 and shipping, etc. of $3000, it sounds like you should sell it in AZ, and use the money to buy a similar vehicle here. Either way, you end up with a similar vehicle here, but in one of those ways, you spend nothing on shipping.

I would like (sort of) to be able to drive it to Florida myself, but I don't have enough time before I start my new job. Fleming lets you pack stuff in your car if it's not shipped to their Florida site... if you drive up with a full car, they'll take it. As far as cost saving... it might save a couple hundred, but by the time you factor in the cost of gas (at 15mpg), hotels, etc., it's really not much less than the $900 they charge. And honestly, I've done enough cross-country driving. I'm tired of it!

It's one of the rare Jeeps that were made in Canada, giving it a non-1, non-4 VIN first digit. Oh well...

By the way, for the adventurous, there is a website called uship.com (somehow connected to eBay) where you can have people bid on stuff that needs to be shipped. People will make offers to ship your car or whatever, and the lowest bidder wins. I have a friend who lives in NY and New Orleans and always takes a bunch of people's stuff when he makes the drive back and forth, so he ends up paying for the trip with the fees that people pay him for the shipment. Might be an option for some people who need to ship their car or household stuff or whatever and don't want to pay a professional service. Wonder if you could do it by plane for small items that need to go to/from the VI/mainland.

I thinks the feds call that trafficking......be careful what ya take for a fee....:D

Hmm... I see what you mean. 🙂 It appears that they somehow keep it legal. I can't imagine an eBay-affiliated company doing otherwise. But who knows... stranger things have happened. For the record, I haven't had any involvement with the organization myself!

if you put stuff in your car and ship don't count on still being in car when it get's there i hear tell things disapaer that way

I looked at uship.com briefly, and it appears that they mostly match busineses with consumers, not consumers with consumers. So mainly you'll get bids from movers. I didn't look at it closely enough to figure out if just anybody can bid on your move.

Does anyone know about or done business with Top of the Line shipping company? We just got a quote to ship our Chevy Venture out of Port Everglades for $1278.00, which we thought was a good rate.

Never heard of them. It has been a long while since I shipped a car here but that is twice what I paid for a similar sized car. If your vehicle is in Port Everglades, compare Crowley American Transport and VI Cargo. I don't know Crowley's number but VI Cargo in FL is 305.863.0081

Thank you rks, I did get a quote from Crowley for $2100.00, but have not called VI Cargo. I will now and when we get on Island, I owe you a drink. Thank you again!
Cheers
Christopher

Does anyone know about or done business with Top of the Line shipping company? We just got a quote to ship our Chevy Venture out of Port Everglades for $1278.00, which we thought was a good rate.

Sounds right for a big SUV, I'm not sure what a Venture is.

Uship was not at all competitive for a commercial shipment here(at least 5 months ago).
I ended up shipping with Matthew Leonard | Island Manager | Caribtrans | W 340.719.5272 | F 340.719.5257
Very professional, & competitive!
They don't do cars though.

The Venture is a mini van. We also have a Saturn SL1, but we are selling that, and just bringing the chevy. We are also shipping our TV, blu ray player, and other electronics. If all works out, we decided to sell off pretty much everything except for a few essentials.