moving to STT.... planning on shipping a truck

Sunflowr,

We just shipped our Ford Ranger pick-up down via Tropical shipping, www.tropical.com

One of their departure ports is Riviera Beach near W. Palm Beach. You must have full title to the vehicle and no liens.

Check their website and 800 number to find out more info. Typically they will hold the car 3 days in FL for customs search and then depending when they ship from FL takes about 3-5 days. Keep in mind there is a process here for registering it - 7 steps with associated costs.

Good luck.

Good Afternoon,

Thanks for posting for quickly. I do own the vehicle and there are no liens. These 7 steps and associated costs you mention..... might you be able to offer a ballpark? In your experience would it have been easier to buy a car there?

Thanks again!

Approx $2000. to ship from florida (one way) Approx $1200. Plates/insurance fee's and in another 8 months a $2000. Return to florida trip.

Greetings sunflowr

I shipped a 4-Runner in May.

$1,063 ocean freight with SeaStar. Their port is near Jacksonville.
$1,062 upon arrival to have an "expediter" get the registration, title, tags, inspection, customs, and excise taxes.
$277 insurance prepaid for one year.

SeaStar was excellent to work with. I dropped the truck off on Friday. It was here 4 days later unscratched.

Used Toyota trucks are worth more here than they are on the mainland. Instead of shipping it back, you might want to consider selling it before you return home.

Best of luck!

I keep doing the math, and it's not adding up. If it's going to cost you $4000 to ship the truck 'round trip, that's $500 per month for the time you're here. You can buy an island car for much less, and sell it when you leave for about the same you paid (depending on the car and assuming you paid a fair price).

aussie was right about your truck being worth more here. Toyota trucks are like gold! However, you can only get so much more than blue book. If your truck is in good shape, you will certainly be able to recoup your shipping, but maybe not much more. By that, I mean over and above the actual blue book value. And... you will need to buy a new truck when you get home. I happen to know Toyota trucks are hard to find in the states, too. My son-in-law had to have one shipped from NJ to OR. Couldn't find a good used one any closer. Probably could, but not from a company that would ship it.

Your post did say "at least 8 months". Without knowing your circumstances, I would consider leaving the truck with a friend or relative (or somewhere safe). Come on down, and see how it goes. You may decide 8 months is too long. A lot of people do. If everything is going well, and you plan to stay a while, you can always arrange shipping later. (Be sure to leave your truck with a really good friend.)

Good luck to you. If you ship it down and decide to sell it, PM me. My husband would like a Toyota, if it's the smaller model with the crew cab and in a lighter color.

It is not $2k to ship a truck back to the states. You don't have to pay the road tax and the use tax. Also registering a vehicle is simpler so you don't have to hire someone to do the job for you.

Jim

I only know one person who shipped a car back and it was a MAJOR hassle. Although I'm not sure why.

Becky R who posts on this board shipped her jeep back. Maybe she can help. Becky?

Here's a thread with "some" info on shipping vehicles back. Might help a bit:

https://www.vimovingcenter.com/talk/read.php?4,58620,58620#msg-58620

Tropical isn't the only container ship on the water. Crowley ( http://www.crowley.com/ ) ships as well. Two weeks ago I got some pricing from both and Crowley was more competitive than Tropical. They're both in the same area/block in STT/Crown Bay/subbase.

We shipped our Ford Explorer (new) down and shipped it back two years later when we moved back stateside. It was over $2,000 to ship down and have road ready. It cost $1500 + insurance to ship it back. We left the truck with a shipping company on island and flew stateside. It took 6 weeks to get our truck and everyday the moving company said it was on the next shipping container - if we could get a hold of them. When we picked up the truck the tires were ruined from sitting on hot pavement in St. Thomas for a month. The computer system was messed up and the engine would not start as it would not except the chip in the key. A Ford dealership had to reset all the electronics which messed up the ABS break system and the auto 4 wheel drive. Our brakes were shot even though we had them replaced on island about two months previous. The truck was two years old at this point. We have numerous door dings and bumper scrapes. A few of them I can account for, the rest is just the island. Customs also held our truck for a week due to dirt on the bottom of the truck (we had washed it before we left, but it probably got dusty sitting on St. Thomas for a month) and by the time we got our truck we wished we had never taken it in the first place. We still drive it since the resale value had dropped considerably. The inside of the truck is still nice though.

I think with all the wear and tear it would have been better to buy on island and sell it back, but we moved without a solid plan to ever leave island. You can even rent jeeps long term if you want on island. There are a lot of options so do whatever is best for you.

Teresa

THANKS! everyone that has provided so much helpful information! Although I must say that this post has not made my decision any easier to make. maybe some of you can share with me your experiences? in your opinion would it have been more or less of a hassle to ship your vehicle from the states or buy one upon your arrival? i imagine that car dealers there are the same as they are in the states: they can be fair and reasonable or really bad and try to cheat you. and teresa, would you mind sharing which shipping company you used? and is it cost effective to rent a jeep long term?

thanks!

Just wanted to add that I'm in the process of shipping my vehicle down. I'm using Crowley which charged me $1049 since I did customs myself (which by the way is a piece of cake and took less than 2 minutes). The people both in St. Thomas and in Port Everglades have been nothing but great. Another bonus to going with Crowley from Port Everglades is that they go straight to the VI and not through PR. I don't know whether the ships from other ports do or not.

sunflowr,

We drove our truck to Tropical shipping yard in West Palm, FL to ship down and used Crowley to ship back and picked up our truck in Jacksonville, FL. I would recommend Tropical although either way you need to have your paperwork in order and stay on top of things. I had some friends who lived on island almost 8 months and rented a jeep the whole time. I don't know the cost, but they said since it was long term they worked out a cheaper deal. I guess you just have to ask different rental car companies. Buying a car has the risk of having to fix things that go wrong or having an accident and it not being worth anything to sell. I couldn't tell you which way is cheaper or better. I will tell you that you definitely need a car as walking isn't much of an option. Although if you could use the dollar taxi service for work, you can get around okay and then use extra money for a cab ride to do other things. You will probably meet other people on island who have a vehicle and share gas expense or something. That would be the cheapest way to go, but could still be a hassle nonetheless. Do note that you have to expect wear and tear on your vehicle if you do ship it down. The hills can wear out brakes quickly, salt-water can eat your car, the bush can scrape the sides of your car on narrow roads, parking can get your bumpers scraped and for some reason many people will door ding your car.

Morna,

Yes shipping your vehicle down is the easy part. You still have to clear customs when it arrives on island, which is where you hear of hassles and hair pulling. It doesn't have to be that much of a hassle if you know what to expect and have estimated the charges and have money ready or someone to do it for you. Shipping from island to the states is also where you hear of customs hassles and we had everything go wrong. We have been back a year, but the government now tells us we need a VIN inspection before we can get our title. I guess they worry we switched trucks on the way back??? 🙂

Good luck to you all! All in all, I have to say, having my own vehicle on island was a huge benefit even with all the issues. We drove to Red Hook and took our truck to STJ all the time and generally enjoyed driving around and exploring. Other than gas and ferry fees, it was relatively free and fun.

Teresa

Thanks for the head's up Teresa. I'm hoping it will go smoothly. Just to avoid the headache I'm using Viking to do my leg work for me so I really am hoping that they will help prevent some drama. I don't know what I'll do when I move off island. I had thought about selling my vehicle. It's an 05 Honda CRV and I know that both Honda's and Toyota's are popular on island. So we'll see.

The decision as to whether to ship your truck or not is a tough call.

STT has the worst drivers/driving I've ever seen in my life - bar none! On STT, COUNT on having your car damaged while you are here. If you watch the cars going down the road, I'd say that 8 out of 10 have damage of some sort. Bumpers are all torn up, doors and fenders are caved in. These are not door dings. These are craters! If you ship it back, your vehicle will be worth considerably less on the stateside market after a trip here. The roads are narrow and twisting. People try to straighten out the road by jumping over the center. They do this even when they see you coming! The taxis are life-threatening. Passing on blind hills and curves is not uncommon. There are no shoulders here. Some roads have vertical drop offs right at the edge of the asphalt. You take your life in your hands if you let your tires stray 1" off the pavement. That tall grass hides rocks! They are not all loose rocks. They are part of the mountain. Hit them and you'll need to find a frame-bending machine. At night, it gets SOOO much worse - drunk drivers and headlight angled up at your windshield. Because you can't go off the pavement, I can't tell you how many times I've brought my truck to a stop and braced for impact.

The roads on STX are wider. They have shoulders. They are level and have far fewer curves. Most of the cars there appear to be undamaged. Traffic was heavy but flowed along quite well. STX seems like a much friendlier place to ship a truck.

The down side of buying a vehicle here, in my opinion, is maintenance. My impression is that the vehicles here are not maintained as well as they are stateside. Repairs are expensive! If you have to sink major repairs into a vehicle you buy here, you'll never get that money back. Dents and dings, however, don't render a vehicle unsellable here like they can stateside. A bit of a trade off.

My decision to ship my truck here was based on a few factors. 1.) It's an older truck. 2.) I will not be shipping it back. 3.) It's worth more here than it is there if I ever decide to leave the island. 4.) Sentimental reasons - I Love my truck! 5.) It's been meticulously maintained. and 6.) It's been meticulously maintained.

Brakes here are your best friend. Have them serviced often. A properly working emergency brake is a must.

Best of luck to you with your decision!