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Topic starter
Hi everyone,
My fiance and I are beginning the process of looking for a car to replace my wonderful, yet soon to be too small, Suzuki.
Of course, we will scour the island (St. John) in the hopes that the car we need is already here (anyone on STT or STJ selling a four door, four wheel drive Nissan, Toyota or Honda?). But, I wanted to do a little research in case we can't find what we are looking for.
Has anyone used stateside car dealers, preferably in Jacksonville or close to any other ports, that you'd feel comfortable recommending buying a used car through and trusting them to ship it down here?
We do not need the car immediately, which is why we are starting to look early in hopes we'll find something on island, but I would like to be prepared and research other options.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Posted : February 27, 2007 4:32 pm
I would have no problem. These days you can buy on ebay or from autotrader.com with no worries. There is carfax as wel as another, that I don't recall at this time, that will check the car out for you. Delivery to the port is something that most of those dealerships do in Florida all of the time.
RL
Posted : February 27, 2007 5:52 pm
i know someone who bought their specialty car on Ebay and they had a very positive experience.
Now service on-island is another issue entirely...
Posted : February 27, 2007 6:46 pm
I had very good maintenance service at the STT Toyota dealer. I was surprised that I didn't find it terribly expensive either. They also drove me home. 🙂 Hope you luck into finding a good car from someone leaving island!
Posted : February 27, 2007 8:59 pm
We searched through autotrader.com for a couple months in the Miami and West Palm Beach areas and found a great car in West Palm. The dealership also happened to be on the other side of the road from the Tropical Shipping port area, so I just paid them an extra $50 to take the car cross the road, handle the paperwork/customs all that stuff for me. It was so easy and so painless. I assume other used dealerships near ports may offer the same services, like Ric said. They do it all the time, and know exactly what's going on.
If you are set on the Nissan/Toyota/Honda brand car, you may want to consider the extra customs tax required for import. I don't know how much that is since we bought a ford, so it wasn't an issue.
Posted : February 27, 2007 11:21 pm
Topic starter
Thanks everyone for the tips/advice. I was a little iffy about going through ebay or Auto Trader, b/c someone I know found the car he wanted in Auto Trader, sent off the money and never heard from the guy again. I will just have to do my research and be careful about who I deal with. It's good to hear that dealers near the port are knowledgeable when it comes to shipping cars.
Thanks again!
Posted : February 28, 2007 12:46 pm
