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My wife and I are planning a trip to St. Thomas for 6 months to a year visit. We are both retired. My question is, would it be better to buy a used vehicle on St. Thomas and then sell it upon our departure or ship our truck down to the Islands? We have a 2009 Nissan Frontier 4 door pickup with 16,000 miles on it currently and it's been paid off for ther past few years. One of the shipping companies here in Florida quoted me like $2500.00 to ship it one way or I could just buy a $5000.00-$6000.00 Hoopti when we arrive and the sell it upon leaving. I'm not sure I would want to leave my truck on island when we leave and be stuck having to buy another one here when we return. I had thought of just renting a vehicle, but at $75.00 a day and up, that would run better than $2000.00 a month.
Posted : January 12, 2013 11:20 pm
if you are only going to be here for 6 months, just buy one here. if you are planning to actually move down, i would suggest you bring yours
Posted : January 12, 2013 11:37 pm
You can check into to leasing a car as the monthly rates are lower.
Posted : January 13, 2013 12:12 am
I would buy and older pickup or SUV, USA built, in Florida shipping would be about 1600. Would be easy to sell you might even make a little money, just a option. or buy a island car Craigslist Virgin islands is a good place to start to compare price. Rent a car for a couple of weeks gives you time to house hunt and find a car. Also VI now has some cars listed. There are a number of post you can research that might be help full. It is help full to do as much research as possible before you move and a PMV is a good idea, good luck . Its not Heaven that's why they call it Paradise.
Posted : January 13, 2013 2:02 am
On the subject of cars, if you buy a used car from a private seller what's involved? In AZ u just have the title notorized and sign the back and then go to the DMV for a new on in your name. I looked on the BMV and it didn't really say much. Seems as long as the tags are good and the title is signed over you're good?
Posted : January 13, 2013 4:03 am
Shipping will be around $1600 from Florida plus the road tax which could run about $700 for your truck. So would cost close to $4k to ship here and back. Yikes! I would purchase a vehicle on st Thomas and sell before you leave. You could break even depending on what you find or maybe spend $1000 for a year.
Posted : January 13, 2013 8:43 am
I spoke with someone that rents cars today and they do monthly rentals for $550.00 if that helps with your decision making process.
Posted : January 14, 2013 4:57 pm
Who does a monthly rental on STT for $550? Does that include insurance? Just curious, as I've never heard a monthly rental quote on STT below $750; most weekly rentals are more than that!!
Posted : January 14, 2013 5:31 pm
On the subject of cars, if you buy a used car from a private seller what's involved? In AZ u just have the title notorized and sign the back and then go to the DMV for a new on in your name. I looked on the BMV and it didn't really say much. Seems as long as the tags are good and the title is signed over you're good?
You will have to bring proof of your Insurance to DMV to register it in your name - the seller cannot cancel the current Insurance w/o a copy of your new registration - also they check for tickets and liens while you are there - [1st window] - so you will be responsible for any accrued tickets, liens or fines so having the seller accompany you to register the car is not uncommon.
Posted : January 14, 2013 8:27 pm
I've rented a car for a month for $400, you just need to know who to ask and understand it's not exactly Hertz you're dealing with. The car I'm currently renting is $550/mo, I can send anyone a PM if you want.
Posted : January 15, 2013 1:12 pm
On the subject of cars, if you buy a used car from a private seller what's involved? In AZ u just have the title notorized and sign the back and then go to the DMV for a new on in your name. I looked on the BMV and it didn't really say much. Seems as long as the tags are good and the title is signed over you're good?
You will have to bring proof of your Insurance to DMV to register it in your name - the seller cannot cancel the current Insurance w/o a copy of your new registration - also they check for tickets and liens while you are there - [1st window] - so you will be responsible for any accrued tickets, liens or fines so having the seller accompany you to register the car is not uncommon.
Cool, thanks for that!
Posted : January 15, 2013 3:23 pm
