Cost of shipping a car?

The shipping cost from FL is about $1400. There are other considerations as well. All vehicles registered in the USVI are subject to a "road tax" collected when the vehicle arrives. That is .16/lb (check the weight on your title). Another consideration is duty. If your car (or any part of it) is assembled outside the United States (I think the Camry is), it is subject to US Customs duty up to 6% of the value of the car. Do a search online of your VIN#; you can find out where the vehicle was assembled. You may be better off buying one here.

There is a whole page on this website dedicated to shipping vehicles. You should start there.

Thanks so much. I read the page you refer to, but you gave me just what I was needing to know and a little more. That 6% tax might be the deal breaker for this 11 yo car.

consider that used cars here are more expensive than in the states. though you might be able to get good deals soon due to peole leaving island because of hovensa closing.

I shipped mine down on Sea Star from Jacksonville for 1700. Even though it is a 10 year old car,I was willing to pay the taxes to have a car I knew other than a used car whose backround I didint really know. Before I brought it down I had my mechanic give it a complete checkup.

you are right. my initial thought was to bring my 11 yo car because I am the only driver and it has fairly low mileage. So, maybe if the book value is not too high it might be worth it.

@speee1dy - I was going to mention the Hovensa issue too (that has been my thought process - that there would be a glut of cars on the market), but I have heard that Hovensa is paying shipping charges back to the states for up to two cars per separated employee. Have you heard anything about this?

no i had not heard that. if thats the case, it would be better to bring a car you know. when i moved down i brought my car and i did not regret it for a moment. sold it about 4 years ago. it is about 15 years old and still on the road.

on foreign cars depends on where they were actually made. we shipped a BMW down and it was actually made in the U.S. so it was exepmt from the 6% tax. where will you be shipping it from? we did from N.J. twice.
just recently shipped a toyota truck down and it was also exempt.

Thanks for all of your input. I am coming from MD, so I will look at both Jersey and Jacksonville ports for pricing. Even if I have to pay the 6% on my Camry,it might be the best thing considering all the factors you folks have pointed out.
Any good mechanics for Toyotas on island???

wheaties, we came from Maryland.
What we did is we drove our car down to Florida then shipped it from there.
We wanted to fly out of Miami since we had a big dog with us.

Toyotas are popular in the VI, so you should be able to find mechanics. Maybe even some good ones!

The vehicle duty is based on the VIN. My Camry was made in Kentucky, the VIN starts with 4, so I paid no duty.

From https://www.vimovingcenter.com/car/ :

Shipping your Car, Registration & Driver's License Info.

Customs: Clearing customs and paying duty is usually done at an office close to the shipping dock. The duty collected is based on country of origin on the car and is calculated using the book value or Bill of Sale, whichever is greater. The VIN number is used to determine origin: if the first digit is 1, 4 or 5 it is a U.S. car and there is a no duty owed. Vin’s starting with 2 or 3, there is a 6% duty. Vin’s starting with 6 or with a letter it is 3.5% duty. The U.S. Customs Office will accept personal checks, cash, certified checks and money order. You can call the Customs Office at (340) 714-1600 for more information.

Hey Bob,
Thanks so much for your input. I found my paperwork and my Vin also starts with 4. Yeah!

I have a diesel excursion, anyone know what the road tax would be if I shipped it? Thanks

Figure it out. Find out how heavy it is - the GVWR should be on the vehicle data plate installed in the driver's door well - and multiply by 0.16 for the dollar amount.

Bob