Which Vehicle to Bring?

They both would make good island cars and if you need two cars then I would keep them both and ship them both. The miles won't mean anything here it is all about the condition and a 100,000 state side four runner willl be in better shape than a 30,000 mile island one.
Jay

I agree with Capt. Jay. Toyotas are great cars for here & you know what you've got vs buying here & paying a lot more for a new one than you would in the States.

I can only offer what the locals have mentioned to me .That is you will pay a higher price tag to bring it on the island,since it is not American made.I can only speak as I had asked the same question last month,& I too am trying to get to/relocate St Thomas.I was quoted $1800.00 by Managed Frt. approx.That was provided I planned on driving my 2003 Chevy S-10 to Miami.The relocation video/book,has some helpful hints.Good Luck!!

Some Toyotas are built in the US, but I have no idea about the models you have.

I am a firm believer in the "sell it in the States and buy one here" train of thought...plenty of vehicles here already, and you will save yourself an awful lot of time and hassles in getting it shipped, inspected, registered, pay the road tax, insure it, etc. Much easier to just take the cash from the sale in the States and buy something here...and here, on STT, cars aren't really the 'status' symbols they are in the US....nobody cares what you drive here..."A" to "B" is the important thing here, so you'll probably sell a truck for $20K up there, and pick up something very reliable here, not as 'pretty', but certainly usable, for $5-$10K...that puts some nice cash in your pocket for other things!

I have a full size Dodge pickup here and have no problems with it being too large. It is great for hauling trash down to the dump and going for a day at the beach. We throw in all our snorkeling and diving gear, our sons toys, umbrellas, chairs, grill and coolers. I love my truck. The down side is the island has beaten up my truck. I keep repairing it and will drive it until it dies. I don't know if your truck has 4 wheel drive or not but with all the exploring that we do it has come in handy.

Some Toyotas are built in the US, but I have no idea about the models you have.

The 4Runner is made in Japan (you can tell the difference in the better quality) and the Tundra is from San Antonio, TX.

Marty, where do you live on the island?

Cptn Jay just sold his Toyota island car and regretted buying that car!!!!

So you don't think the Tundra will be too big to turn around in some of these home's driveways when I am out showing property? I know when I was there looking I couldn't believe some of these places and what you had for room to turn around? Then when I was driving my little rental car, it was way too small for me, didnt like sitting that low. We have dogs, so might be a good idea then to keep it? Or sell it here and get a new or used Tacoma? Our Tundra is a 4x4 and so is the 4Runner. Both have never seen the shop (knock on wood) with 30k and 70k respectively.

We also have a 04 Honda CRV (Japan) with almost 100k miles, but by the time will have 180k mi, that one would not be worth shipping.

So about $1800 to ship from Miami, probably the loss I would take if sold here and had to sell to a dealer or wanted to sell quick?

About the status thing, won't the buyers there expect you to be driving something decent? I guess as long as it is clean and looks nice who cares, we could have BMW's and expensive cars if we wanted, but we paid cash for all our cars and don't care what people think of us, we are who we are, and Toyota and Honda are just fine by us!

I guess it depends on how quickly you adapt to driving here. I'm still amazed at where big water trucks manage to get to.

As for the cost. Let's just assume for a minute that it will cost $3000 per vehicle for shipping, taxes, registration, inspection, bribes I mean fees to facilitators, which I think is a bit high but not a lot. You already own the cars, you know what the cars are and you are comfortable with them. That's a good deal by island standards. As for the bribes/facilitators above. You can hire a person to handle the DMV and customs and it will likely be money well spent. As for the Truck, if and when we ad a second vehicle it will be a truck. I have owned trucks for a long time and I can say the Tundra will worth it weight in gold here. Getting to the dump, getting home from MSI and Home Depot, etc etc.
Yes we sold our cars in the states and bought an "island car" for cash when we got here. For those of you that don't follow the blog it was the biggest mistake in the whole relocation. The car was a constant source of grief. Endless repairs that added up to more per month than the payment on our new car. Even with me doing most of the repairs and ording parts from friends in the states. Neither of our stateside vehicles were realy suitable for the islands. I had a Ford F350 Crew Cab dually that I used for my construction company and Deb had a Pontiac GrandPrix GTP with a 275 HP engine and 17 Inch wheels. Tires and rims would have cost a fortune for the Pontiac and these roads would have destroyed them weekly. So we sold them both. If I had it to do over again I would have traded Deb's car in on an SVU stateside and shipped it. I have a lot of friends and family in the car business stateside and the savings would have more than off set the shipping and fees. Cheap cars are never cheap and you can quote me on that one.
Jay

I live in Frenchman's Bay, just above Limetree Beach...

Everyone's experience is different, of course, but, if a qualified mechanic checks the vehicle over prior to purchase, he should be able to determine whether or not it is a good 'buy'...Jay is right about cheap cars not being cheap, though...but, for this instance, where he (Skighee) has a truck worth $20K, he could put $10K in his pocket and get a really decent truck here for $10K....Size-wise, the Tundra is just fine down here...and, selling real estate, most people are going to meet you at the house or at your office and follow you, so they won't even be IN your vehicle...and, again, 'status' is not an issue...down here, if someone has a really 'nice' car, we don't think of them as 'successful'...we usually think of them as drug dealers...

That is a nice area Marty!

Ok from the posts, I think that I have made up my mind....Since both vehicles are PAID FOR, I think we will just stick to shipping them, I think the Tundra will come in handy, and we know that all the maintenace has been done, I guess I will just be white knuckling the Tundra at some properties, but that is why there is insurance right? Hell, I drove a chater bus with 54 passengers up the Pacific Coast Hwy without any fear when I had a pt job driving a bus, what could be worse?

Jay, funny you mention the pick up, I remember reading when you sold it how happy you were, sounds like you miss having it there....and also when we get a boat, would come in handy to trailer the boat home when a storm comes? (PS Jay, you are one of the main reasons for us wanting to move there....)

So, thanks to everyone for their candid opinions once again. You guys really do help!