Carz

Consider yourself having heard what you're afraid to hear at least from me!

Luxury sedan? It won't be a luxury sedan for too long between all the dings and scrapes and the salt air.

Sports car? Have the chassis reconfigured to accommodate monster tires and at least you'll avoid it bottoming out in potholes and over speed bumps.

Practicality is key here where vehicles are concerned and on whichever island you live. Luxury sedans and sports cars aren't practical. If you don't know how long you're going to be staying, put them in storage or sell them, and pick up a good used vehicle here. 😀

I had a Triumph TR-7. After ripping the exhaust system off twice on STX roads, I gave up.

OT has good advice.

If you are planning on being here for a long time, do your cars a favor and leave them in the states where the roads and conditions are conducive to driving them.

Buy a vehicle here that has good ground clearance and won't make you cry everytime you hit a pothole, or get a scratch or a dent.

I have several scrapes and dings on my car, most of them incurred over the years while parked (stationary) in public areas. This is no place for a nice car, IMHO.

If the sports car is a weekend / fair weather fun car only, you will be ok as long as you know what roads to take. However the rust will get it sooner or later. I hope you have a garage to keep it in and don't live near the water.
What kind of paint does it have. If lacquer, have Maaco clear coat it before bringing it down.
I brought down a pristine 1985 Ford Bronco II. WIthin a year it was showing signs of rust. Under the hood it is terrible compared to what it was.
There is a guy with a Jag XKE and a 1945 MGTC that was a 100 point car. Hated to see it down here. He only drives them on special occasions.
A friend has a 1931 Ford Model A hot rod that has been here for about 10 years or so.

As the proud owner of a 14 year-old "econbox" rust-moblie, I'm a bit biased. Depending upon where you live and work will dictate the car. I see some benz and muscle cars around and they look in great shape. I drive my crappy car on all sorts on crazy ill maintained roads, I keep good tires and regular mechanical maitenance. I could careless about the sand and straches. It's liberating!

I wouldn't bring down any car that you really love unless you think you are going to live here for a long time. There are plenty of luxury cars here BMW, MB, Lexus, Jaguar, Accord etc. and some sportier Vehicles, Miatas, Crossfires, Z3s, and an occasional MGB and 911. [On STT] - It is not all SUVs and Jeeps but it does seem to be more of that every year - it will depend on where you live and work and assessing your personal needs versus wishes for a vehicle choice.
No Matter what you end up driving -- It is crushing however to come out of Kmart,Home Depot, or the Movies and see your tail light or head light smashed by a careless driver , and scratches, dents and dings are inevitable no matter what, it seems to me. Not many homes have a garage or even a carport so exposure to the elements will degrade the exterior even with a good car cover, tree sap and general tree debris are tough on the finish and paint.

Will add that having an "off brand" auto maintaned presents a challege. Not impossible.

Used to be that most cars on island (stx) were relatively inexpensive....sentras, civics, mitsubishi, minivans, lots of jeeps, etc, etc. Way back, there were about 3 mercedes...one always in the showroom window over near golden rock, one belonged to the folks who had a furniture/design business, and one or two others....this was in the early/mid-eighties. The new rental cars hit island in November, and by January would look like someone had jumped all over the hood and roof... Particularly after the EDC program took off, the car scene changed....in came lots of Lexus, mercedes, BMW, hummers, big fancy trucks and suvs...pretty much anything you wanted. I'm not a 'car' person so some of it seems sort of silly overkill to me, but others obviously have other ideas...the ground clearance might be one thing to remember though. Interestingly, there are a number of really antique restored VW bugs here....some really pretty ones! My kids used to know where they all 'lived'..

Thanks y'all.
Been lurking on this forum for more than a year and have learned a lot.
I'll likely scout things out during a PMV. The sedan will make it, the sports car may have to stay home if I don't like what I see. It'll cost about as much to send for the car as it will to find an island beater that I won't cry over.

Anyone ever been to American Samoa ? If so, how does it compare to STX ?
It's the only frame of reference I've got for STX.

I had a Triumph TR-7. After ripping the exhaust system off twice on STX roads, I gave up.

remember one thing my friend....i warned you!:-) miss you!!!

Linda - lol! So did I, but he just HAD to bring it.

anyone have suggestions on what to use to clean engines and undercarriages to minimize salt and humid air impact?

This is another post about the "toll" the island will take on your car, ...but from a "exporting" point of view, as opposed to importing.

I considered selling my car on island before moving back to the states, but with the glut and depressed economy, I figured that was a losing proposition. So I decided to ship it back to the states (it was a nice car, not too old, and owned outright). In addition to the $1100 to ship it to FL, it cost about $500 to title, register and plate.

I also discovered a cracked balljoint when I got the car to FL, "probably due to hitting a pothole" the mechanic said. Gee, I thought to myself, I wonder where they had potholes like that? :S Pretty much the whole front end has aged beyond its years, he said. When the balljoint fractured, the control arm took out the tire and wheel. Repairing all that, and replacing the balljoint on the opposite side too, just to be safe, was $700.

This is not a complaint, just a fact to throw into anyone's decision about having your car on an island.

anyone have suggestions on what to use to clean engines and undercarriages to minimize salt and humid air impact?

The simplest maintenance method is to frequently hose off the wheels and undercarriage with water, and you can purchase a steam cleaner (such as the McCulloch) relatively inexpensively which will clean off the engine. You can spend somewhat more applying undercoating spray which is readily available.

WD-40

I really don't care about all the reports about not bring a good car to the islands. We've lived there (STX) before. We are moving back in Nov. and I am bringing a Lincoln MKX AND a 17 year old Ford F-150. The F-150 cause it has very low miles on it and we know where it's been from the beginning. When we will need to go to various places on the island that I would not like my MKX to go, we will drive the truck. I've had the undercarriage taken care of on the MKX and will just hope for the best as it is a very dependable vehicle and I enjoy driving it very much and it has "cooling seats."

I didn't say don't bring a good car to the island. I said or meant to say, don't bring a car you love to the island. Not meaning a non-car person type of love, but a car person has a different type of love for a car. It will break his heart if it rusts, get dented, etc. A regular person doesn't like it when that type of stuff happens because it devalues the car for trade in.
I didn't love my 85 Ford Bronco II, I like it, but it saddens me to see it starting to rust.
There is no way I would bring my 1956 Chevy pick up ( street rod ) down. I would rather do without or sell it than to see it rust.

But us car types are strange.:@)

Not saying you can't have a new car - just make sure that it can survive the potholes and salt air.
I have a 1997 Toyota which I LOVE. It has been a wonderful vehicle and with proper continued maintenence, will be for a good while longer.
Mind you, If I had an extra 30 -40 K to spare, I still would not but a brand new truck.