Car Registration after Shipping

I have bought cars and had them shipped immediately but in my case I never registered them in the states. I purchased, had the title signed and notarized by the seller and took the car directly to the port. In both cases, the seller allowed me to hold their registration and insurance until I got the car to the port. Not all sellers will be so kind though. They may be more willing to do that if you use inland freight to transport the car. I did that with one car. If you use a logistics company to help with your shipping and registration here they can help walk you through the process. That's what you pay them for after all 😉 They can also arrange inland freight of the vehicle to the port if you need to do that.

You’ll have to pay a Customs fee if the car was “manufactured” outside of the USA. It’s sometimes a little tricky, for example I purchased a Ford, but it was “manufactured” in Canada, I therefore had to pay around $2500 extra to Customs.

Some Toyota’s, Hyundai’s ect... are manufactured in the USA and the extra Custom fee is waived.

It’s sometimes a little tricky, for example I purchased a Ford, but it was “manufactured” in Canada, I therefore had to pay around $2500 extra to Customs.

It's all determined by the VIN.

My all in price was $2,300 for shipping, customs, road tax, registration, and paying the logistics company. That was for a Subaru Impreza with a purchase price of $3000 in FL.

Your car will get re-titled here in the VI once it arrives anyhow. My suggestion, call Beep Business Services, they do this kind of thing day-in-day-out, telephone call won’t cost you anything, although I found that their vehicle and household clearance services are a good value too, from my experience...talk to Daniel or Darwin (340) 776-8720.

Thanks, everyone for the info.

I contacted Beep Business Services, very helpful; but they only offer clearance on St. Croix. (They do everything on St. Thomas) Is there a business that helps with clearing and titling on St. Croix? If there is not a company that does everything on St. Croix, we are definitely using them for clearance services. Thanks for the tip!

Try Ferrol Trucking. I think they do everything. 340-778-9602

Usually the shipping company can provide that service. Ask them.
Or they can provide a recommendation.
Beep provides good services if you're on STT.
Don't know who does this on STX.

Good luck.

It's really best to hire someone to do the customs, road tax payment vehicle registration, etc.
It can be frustrating if you're new to island, don't know where you have to go and getting back and forth, waiting in long lines and getting things done, before closing time at 3 p.m. as nothing that has to be done is close by to each other.
(At least on STT.)
It's worth the price not to have the hassle.

I used International Logistics and except for me going in person to get insurance coverage, they did both of our vehicles. They advertise on this website. When we picked them up at the port, they tags and sticker were on and ready to go. Yes, I thought most shipping companies offered that service.