Is it better to buy a car on island or ship one there?

I have a 2001 Mercury Villager (minivan). 69k miles. I'm moving to STT. Do you think a minivan is a bad idea or a good idea in STT? I live in FLAT florida now, so dont know how a minivan does on steep hills...or if the gas mileage will be terrible and I'd be better off buying a regular car or a truck...
Thanks for any input.

Gas is $3.999/gallon at some stations & a few cents cheaper at Domino. Does that answer your question? 🙂

Are these 2.5 - 6% fees assessed on current value or original MSRP/sales price?

Thanks.

I'm not the original poster of this, however, I just want to ask everybody re: my car situation too.

I have a fully paid 2002 Hyundai accent, less that 20k miles on it. Is it worth bringing to STT? It's a good utility car at least - groceries, shopping, etc. 🙂 BTW, I've been to STT last February for a PMV. STT is really nice. I don't like the hills though. I just hope I will not get into an accident on my first month there. 🙂

Also, I'm even surprise that they have Filipino restaurant there. The food were bit salty for my liking now though. 🙂

Wasame, is your van reliable? Do you think it will do well in alot of stop and go traffic and hills? Does it have a good braking system? If so and its paid off i would bring it. If you're not sure about its condition ask a mechanic you trust, to check out your car and ask him/her those questions. Its what we did before coming. It will at least give you some piece of mind. And if nothing else it will help to have the car inspected before selling it.

GoodtoGo, current value. They use a system simular to bluebook.

The Filipino restaurant gets a lot of their business from the cruise ship staff.

Folks:
what do you think of a Mercedes Benz on St Thomas roads?
Servicing?
bring or no bring?
Dealership or none?
Full name /phone number for Tropical [West Palm]?
Lest I forget ,"have a nice day".
Global

Does anyone have a standard car? We are thinking of shipping our truck, but it is a standard and we are worried about all the steep roads. Its either that or buy or lease a car on island. Is leasing a car there a reasonable option?

There are plenty of standard transmission cars and trucks , it may actually save on brake wear on the downhill part of your travel. Automatic transmission cars are commonly called 'two pedal' or simply 'mash and go'.

I've always used standard transmissions.

Hi, I have been here (in STT) for about a month now and kind of wish I did not bring my large Chevy express van. The roads are narrow and steep in town and all cars have a lot scratches and dents on them. I'm going to sell it before it is ugly and devalued too much. An island car that is in good shape but kind of beat up,4wd,not too big,is what is needed here. Just something to think about. The Filipino restaurant across from havensight (Fiesta) is where I have been paying $2 a day for Internet for the last month. It is a friendly place but the food seems better some days than others. I would wait and buy an island car.
We are still waiting for water and power from WAPA (something else to think about).