shipping

Which company are you referring to? We're using Tropical. We arranged shipping the car with Lee at Managed Freight (340.277.4504). The shipment of household goods was arranged through NorthAmerican International, but they also use Tropical to actually ship. The reason we used NorthAmerican was their prices were better and so far they've given us excellent service. Lee is also wonderful to work with.

The proof is in the pudding though. We ship Jan. 13th, so we'll see how it goes.

Are you shipping just one car? Is your car American? We have one American and one foreign car that we will be shipping. How much did it cost?

I'm shipping one SUV (American). I'm not sure if foreign cars make a difference, but the total came to $1642. It depends on the year of the car, weight, etc. For reference sake, mine is a 2002 Chevy Blazer weighing 3600 pounds.

If you've read many posts about shipping cars, you may have read that it's cheaper to buy one when you get to the island instead of shipping 2.

I paid $2300 to ship, register and deliver a 1996 GMC Jimmy from Miami to STX. This was full service and included shipping, duties, customs clearance, road tax, registration and delivery to my home.

Jim

Jim, that seems expensive. Ours includes all that as well for only $1642. Who did you go through? How long did it take for your vehicle to arrive. Maybe that's why such a difference in price. We're being told 2-3 weeks (so I figure 4-5).

Thanks

I am a proponent of purchasing a vehicle that is already here, as the hassle and cost of shipping it here have already been handled by someone else. Plus, IMHO, there are way too many cars on this rock as it is! haha! That's why I drive a bike! Right past the traffic!

Yes it was a little more expensive than I expected.

Tropical gouged me for an extra $200 when my son dropped the car off.

I do think I got overcharged on a couple of other items also, but when you are two thousand miles away it is easy for people to take advantage of you.

In the end the service was perfect, the car arrived and all the details were taken care of.

I'm happy just a little poorer than I expected.

Jim

Jim,

Why did Tropical charge another $200? Did you go thru a 3rd party, like Managed Freight, or just straight through Tropical. I'm having nightmares over this. Also, how long did it take for your vehicle to arrive? I get different stories depending on who I talk to.

Thanks

I had the car dropped at the dock on Oct 7th. The best I can determine it arrived on the dock in STX 10/21. It was cleared and delivered to my home 10/25.

Cars ship space available. With all the hurricanes last fall the freight lines were backed up.

The extra $200 was for :

BL Processing FCl $50
Bunker Vehicle 50
Prep SED FCL 10
US Security Vehicle 40
CSTM Clearance 50

I was aware of the the $50 fee when I made shipping arrangements.

Don't ask me what the other fees were for. I had no option but to pay them if I wanted the car loaded on the boat.

I had Lee Fleming at Fleming Transport handle all the details when the vehicle arrived.

Their fees were $485. I advanced them no cash and they didn't get around to billing me for their services and all the taxes they paid until mid December.

The car arrived in good shape just some scuffs on the painted bumpers where I assume the tie down chains might have rubbed.

Shipping a car is a process. Lots of paperwork and everything needs to be notarized.

Buying a car locally is attractive, but the dealer as far as I can see aren't that hot.

When I wanted to take my Jimmy to the GM dealer on STX in December the earliest appoint ment that I could schedule was the end of January and apparently the GM dealer is the only one with a dianostic's computer on the island. None of the shade tree mechanics apparently can afford or be bothered to buy the equipment..

Jim

Very interesting. Thanks for the information. I'm going to ask Lee about these additional charges you paid Tropical and see if I'm going to get nailed with them too.

Michelle,

You never posted again. I hope you got your answer.

Jim, Bou'ya,

We also used Lee at managed freight. Everything worked smoothly with no extra charges for shipping. We did have to pay an extra $300 for marine insurance - which was estimated before we shipped. The only reason we had to have marine insurance was because our lienholder - Ford Credit - required it. If you own your vehicle outright than you will have less hassle and Lee will give you all the info on what paperwork you need to ship. The amount you pay him should the exact amount.

We had a new 2004 vehicle and paid $3500 to ship including the extra $300 for insurance. It does cost a lot to ship, but for a new vehicle we saved $6,000 compared to the price of new vehicles on STT. We are thinking of buying a used jeep on island as a second vehicle, but won't consider shipping another one. Roads are crowded enough and we can find a jeep cheap enough if we are patient. Good luck Bou'ya. I think all the hassles with shipping come in when you try to ship household goods. That I won't go into again.

Teresa

Teresa what did the $3500 include?

BTW, I found out what those charges are if anyone is interested. (They were included in our total quote from Lee, so I shouldn't have to pay any more when I get to Tropical.) Also, the charges differ from vehicle to vehicle depending, again, on weight, year, etc.

*BL Processing FCl - Tropical’s charge for creating the documentation necessary to complete the move.
*Bunker Vehicle - the fuel surcharge that the vessel charges for every shipment.
*Prep SED FCL - Shipper’s Export Declaration form that must be completed on each shipment valued over $2,000.00
*US Security Vehicle - security surcharge that all shippers charge. It is to cover security systems mandated to be in place by the government.
*CSTM Clearance - Tropical’s charge to present documents to US customs in Florida on your behalf. This is only necessary on vehicles.

Teresa, thanks for the well wishes. This week is gonna be nerve-wracking!

Hello All,

Does anyone have any information about car shipping from the North. I tried collecting information from the internet, and plan on making some calls, but any info/recommendations from you would be appreciated. Thanks.

Anne

As far as I know you will have to have your car driven or hauled to either Jacksonville or Miami for ocean shipping.

When I looked into having my car driven from Chicago to Miami the bids were around $700.

Just Google for auto transporter and you will get lots of hits.

Jim

Those are the prices I found also. Decided to drive it myself and just fly back to Wisconsin. Cost me less than half of what I would have paid to have someone else do the work.

We also drove to Miami (to ship our vehicle) and then flew to STT from Fort Lauderdale. Flights were cheaper than flying from Missouri anyway. Bou'ya described what is included in the cost of shipping. Ours was high because of it being a new vehicle and having a lien. Good luck all!

Teresa

I know someone on island that shipped from NJ... and strangely enough he said it wasnt much more than it would have been from Miami. I'm getting the info from him... because surprisingly, not a whole lot of info came up when I googled, etc.

Thanks!

Ann

Ann,

I remember a post about shipping from NJ. SuzanneB (back in July) said that Lee from Managed Freight had her drop off her vehicle at a port in New Jersey. So I guess they used Tropical...??? Let us know so we can add that to our fact collecting on shipping.

In searching some more, Ronnie had said, "Pennsauken, NJ. That's where Crowley has their NE outlet." So you might look them up.

Good luck with your move!

Teresa

The company out of Miami is probably EconoCaribe.