Your opinon: Ship a car down from California or buy one in Costa Rica?

If your are having to live on a very low budget, and only have $6K to spend on a vehicle I would suggest, you stick to buses and use an occasional taxi.
We have purchased 2 vehicles here and had one shipped down which wasn't difficult....especially if you are not mechanically mind and can fix it yourself.

Whatever you do, just don't buy a used car in Costa Rica. As a Costarican, I would never suggest you buy a second hand car here.

A new Suzuki Alto is only $13,000 in San Jose.  The Alto 800 is a nice car for a bit more.

Thanks for the replies!
I HAVE to have a 4wd to get back and forth where our property is, and I cannot afford over $6k... so there is NO WAY?

kohlerias wrote:

If your are having to live on a very low budget, and only have $6K to spend on a vehicle I would suggest, you stick to buses and use an occasional taxi.
We have purchased 2 vehicles here and had one shipped down which wasn't difficult....especially if you are not mechanically mind and can fix it yourself.

So you bought used cars there and had no issues?
Would you care to share via forum or PM who you bought from and who you used for shipping - from where? - and how much that cost you in fees on top of the price of the vehicle? (ie fees for shipping, importing etc)

Can't do bus or taxi, have to have a 4wd vehicle!
This is just for a year or two, later we can probably afford a better vehicle as we expect more income later.
I can do basic repairs, especially if it's an easy type vehicle to work on. If not I have Tico friends who might be able to help me find a cheaper mechanic..

The two vehicles purchased here were from individuals.
We had a Chevy pickup shipped here through a broker in Limon...can't remember his name, and encountered a few problems. Cost approx $14K including shipping from Miami. and had many problems accessing parts, with a time delay.
Our present truck is a Nissan Frontier that was originally imported from Japan and I have been looking for a speedometer for months. It seems I will have to ship the part from the USA at a cost of $950.

Import info

Auto valor database

Thanks for all the responses and I hope to get more opinions on this controversial subject? (Who'd a thunk it?)

My research so far leads me to believe that buying there is better than importing, and that you need to make sure you buy something that is common because parts can be a major hassle/expense if you get an "uncommon" (for Costa Rica) one.

I have raised my budget to $8k,  hope i can get something decent for that.

NO one has any recommendation on a used car seller?

My question is, if a new car can cost $13k, how much does that same car go for after a year or two of use?
i know here in the US as soon as you drive it off the lot it goes down a couple grand in value and after a year or two it goes down to $9k or so on a $13k car/truck. I may be off on that, but that seems about right.
So it's not the same in Costa Rica?

Additional info:
After continuing to research this even more I have come to the conclusion that if you have a dependable car you really like that will work in Costa Rica (i,e. if you need a 4wd and the one you have is a 4wd) or if you are taking a container anyway and can add the car into the container, or if you want to buy a late model car and ship it down - especially if it is a 4wd that you need - then use a container or ship the car down.

But if you are looking for a used car and are on a limited budget, buy it down there. But know that buying a car in Costa Rica is a "mine field" filled with potential dangers and problems (like odometers turned back, like cars being beaten to death on bumpy roads, etc). So you have to be careful. If you can find a car owned by an upstanding citizen you can trust and you can take it to get it checked out by a mechanic you trust before you buy it, then that's half the battle. If they don't live on a bumpy road and don't use it on bumpy roads a lot, all the better...