Need to buy a car

Hi Rochelle

You best bet is to look in the Island Trader. It has a "Deals on Wheels" section. It is hard to say what you are looking at as far as a price range goes. What are you setting as a limit? My husband and I bought a car when we 1st got to St. Thomas for $1,000 and we already have to get rid of it after 3 months because it keeps needing more and more work done on it. You do not get even close to what you would find stateside for $1,000-$2,000. After my personal experience and what I have heard from other residents, I highly suggest shipping your car or buying a more expensive one that is a newer model. You will save yourself a lot of time and money wasted on repairs if you are looking to buy a lower priced vehicle. If you are really set on buying an island car ask locals if they know anyone looking to sell their car or check the Island Trader. You may luck out and find a great deal:-)

Good luck with your move and search for a car!

Rochelle - congrats on the having a moving date set. I really got a laugh from your post - - a car that gets you where you are going without pushing it - well quite a few island cars get to that state unfortunately.

Like Kelly suggested the Island Trader is a great place to look, read the classifieds for used cars, call folks, set up appointments to go check them out, look at the body, look at the engine, test drives, take it to a car mechanic if you are thinking of buying it .. so they can check it out for you before you buy it unless of course you know lots about cars and can do a general inspection yourself. Another good place to check is with the rental car places - give them a call and see if they have any for sale - often they sell some cars every year to get new ones - you can get good deals there. Like Kelly said if you buy a $1000 car you are pretty much guaranteed a headache in terms of repairs... a newer one in the $3000-4500 that is a newer model and better shape will do better for you - again have the car checked out if its from an individual just to make sure its ok even if its newer.

You can also check car lots some have both new and used cars.

If you are buying the car from someone, a used car from an individual... you have to take a few different steps... and you have to do it yourself (although I suppose someone else could do the inspection part if you wanted... but not the whole thing). You have to go with the person to a notary and have the back of the present registration signed (signed over to you basically) and notarized. This paper then goes to the DMV - some individuals will go down with you to insure that you are infact having the car re-registered on your name so they are no longer accountable for the car. The steps at DMV will require the inspection and paying of registration fee and getting a new registration with your name on it. But no need to do all the paperwork for moving the car, road tax, import tax stuff you do with shipping a car and this is what some folks run from doing themselves. Also you have to get an insurance policy before you can register the car on your name.

All the best with your move.

--Islander

Rochelle,

I have been emailing Dependable car rental and they have cars for sale. They sell their Neons for 5595.00, Wranglers for 10,995 and a few "island cars" which are also Neon's but the A/C doesn't work and those are 3,499.00. Also if you rent from them and then decide to purchase, a portion of your rental fee goes twords the purchase of the vehicle. The "island cars" are 1998. Couldn't tell you anything about the other rental agencies because I don't know, but Dependable has been really good to me. 🙂

Kelly--I had to LOL when I read your post b/c your experience was exactly like ours (except we went from a $5000 headache up to $12K ). I quickly learned that it is better to ship a trusted car than to buy one here at the same cost--if not more.
BTW, Rochelle, the other thing to consider is that even on STT some parts of the island are relatively remote and there is no AAA to the rescue. There are tow trucks, but I would be concerned about having a beater car that might be OK in a city, but on STT would strand me on some unknown road somewhere.

Thanks so much to all! I am really excited about the move (FINALLY HAPPENING!!). I appreciate all of your postings - previously and to mine. I had to sell my car- it was a beater- It was going to cost more to ship it than it was worth 🙂

So I will be thinking of all of you, as I purchase one on island. Also, i will make sure to come back and let everyone know how it turns out.

By the way- this is the BEST place to get good information on EVERYTHING about the Islands. Thanks- I can't express enough, how important it has been to me!!
See you soon!

I agree with Rochelle - this IS the best place to receive info about anything and everything! I've been pretty addicted to this board for the last several months! Hope I can be of some help in the future with my experiences!

~S

Onika: That should go in the "You know you are a Virgin Islander when..." file: ...when you have your favorite tow truck driver on your cell phone speed dial!!!
Mine is Marlon at All Around 513-3584!!!!