Ship my car or buy one in the DR?

@planner

there are lots of other options....they just happen to be crap, more often than not

@cruffman:  Yes, that's very true and someone experienced such as yourself (by what others say) probably avoids the many problems SD presents. 

SD has many more crooks trying to sell you a car and you really have no idea what you are getting.  They have the resources readily available to turn back the mileage, clean the interior from top to bottom, recover worn seats, give a quick paint job and make the car look like new to name a few of the nefarious changes made to vehiclesbefore putting them up for sale.  After that, then you have the issues of changing ownership and getting your plates.  Very high corruption in SD has been my experience.  I consider myself somewhat knowledgable in this area as I am an unlicenced mechanic (having attended 7 years of auto mechanic training in Canada, I have been repairing cars for the past 50+ years from body work to engine rebuilds and antique car restoration, and I will stay away from SD and take a Uber before I buy from there.  That's just my opinion.  I understand Santiago is a better place to look as is Moca.  We have a very good dealer in Punta Cana that I have been very happy with (Espaillat Motors) but I will say that buying a car in this country is difficult at best.  Try Facebook pages and buy from another expat.  We tend not to use or abuse vehicles the way locals do.  My car is a 2016, looks like new and has only 49K original KM.  I bought is from Espaillat 3 + years ago and it has been perfect.  There are some out there...

Just prepare yourself

residency or something to soften the import tax

After looking in all the options I just had a car being shipped from the USA.  And pretty happy with it

@DominicanadaMike

I also understand vehicles are more expensive in the DR.

I plan to move to las Terrenas in April from California. I’ve looked into purchasing a used Jeep in Florida and having it shipped to the DR.    Average cost for shipping is $1500.

specially if you use the residency option. thst should make the customs taxes lower.

not sure what thst is w/out

Rgwsf  keep us posted on the process and costs please.  We would be very interested in hearing about it

Dwight - how are you calculating the additional costs?  It's not straightforward at all.

I got quotes shipping my current vehicle  from California to DR; $2500.  Puchasing and shipping from Floria $1500.  Go to [link moderated]/  and get instant quotes online

That's ONLY shipping!  What about the rest of the costs???

If you asking about customs/duties or other In-country cost, i have no knowledge of that.  Perhaps someone else can chime in?

That's what we have all been referring to.  First of all you will pay 18% sales tax on the vehicle value as determined here. Then you pay duty and you need a customs agent to get the vehicle out!  If you have a recent residency (within 6 months) you receive some exoneration!

Then you pay a fee for new plates, then insurance etc.

All this adds up to a very expensive vehicle.  Sometimes a reasonable shipping fee is the least of your worries.

@planner

Good to know. 

thank you!

we are thinking of going by customs on lincoln ave and ask ?s in this regard..will keep you posted as sahony would be under considered repatriote status

@dwightjackson53 Also, any vehicle imported, at least with residency exoneration, must be owned for one year prior to importation

@Gekkor that's just to get it to the DR then there's an 18% tax on the value of the car and weight and you better believe there not using the Blu book value then there's custom fees believe me its cheaper to buy a car in DR

    we are thinking of going by customs on lincoln ave and ask ?s in this regard..will keep you posted as sahony would be under considered repatriote status
   

    -@Oscarsahony Sanchez

That is a totally different program and does not apply to expats!  Just so we are all on the same page.

@JRP55

My concern is that vehicles are much more expensive to buy in the DR; for example, I have a 2018 BMW X6 with all the extras and low miles the current blue book value in the states selling to a private owner is $40-$43k.  In the DR it sells between $65-75K.  With the 18% tax, duties, shipping cost if I sell the car in the DR, it's almost a wash or a slight profit.

@DominicanadaMike

have a friend that was selling his 15 year old truck… ( 180k miles ) the dasHboard  was all cracked up so he went to the junkyard got a new dashboard with all the dials on it.. new dash had 42k miles on it ,  switch out the dash and sold the truck  as  a 42k mile truck … so even if you crawl underneath to see if they turn it back you still cant be sure what was down to it

Dwight a 2018 no longer qualifies - it's over 5 years old!

It does qualify if you are over 65 years old, on a pension or social security (which I am). I forgot the number of years extended past the standard 5 years.  I'll find out.

@dwightjackson53 Your best bet is to sell it in the states and buy something decent but not flashy down here you don't want to make yourself a target in this country and God forbid you have an accident and someone gets hurt or worse they will try to take you to the cleaners and hold you hostage in this country until they get all they can from you especially if you don't have residency and your driving illegally in this country I can tell you some horror stories and every insurance company in DR will sell you a policy but will drop you like a hot potato when they discover your illegal in this country and not pay any claims

@rgwsf

Hi. So please tell me about your experience and what you had to do.

Thanks, Wendy

Rgwsf have you received the vehicle? On its way?

Please share your experience to date! 

@wndysgoodlife  Hello .  Actually, the DR part was the easy one (other then the amount to pay for the customs duties, taxes, etc)

After the car was on the ship in Miami I got it delivered to me in Punta Cana in less than 2 weeks.  All the paperwork was done for me.  I would not say it was too cheap but at least not hassle.   I used a company who brings cars here from US (the owners are either Russian or Ukranians).  But it took for almost three mon the to get the title in US

But if you plan to ship your car and have title it should be quick.    Especially if you hire someone who does it for living.

I am planning to bring my own car I have in US later this year.  Just waiting for june to pass so my car is older and will cost less in customs duty.  in general, unless the car is brand new… I decided not to buy it here… it is a cat in the sack and could be a bad one.  the price wise…  bringing the car here was not that much different then if I were to purchase it here.  but once the car is here you can not check what happened to the car here, if odometer is right,  etc.

@planner  yes, it was delivered surprisly very quickly.  all the paper done for me.    everything.  and now I am planning to ship my own car from US

@ddmcghee  i just brought a car from

the US which I did not own in US.  Bought it from the dealership without seeing it.  had no issues at customs.  But I do not have residency here.

@planner i brought 2019 jeep wrangler. 68 plus thousand miles.  with the shipping from I think Missoury with a price tag 28,200 I paid on top 15,550 all included with regustration, license delivered to me in Punta Cana.   I think I could have negotiated some less (it was a company who speciAlizes on brining cars here.  Owners are Russians or Ukranian) but was in a hurry.  There was an issue with title in US (waited for slmost three months) but the comps y who was brining my car here gave me a free loaner while I was waiting

So it's a dealership who brought it in and you paid all the costs via them.  So almost the same cost as buying it here.  I understand what you did. 

With residency you don't pay all the same duty and fees. 

Thank you for sharing your experience

Yes, the dealer did it for me.  I know about the residency but have not applied for it yet. Planning to do it in the future

@dwightjackson

let me try to bring you up to speed with the cultural and economic realities of the DR..

1..not very many  people here can afford to lay out 70k for a car

2..guys with 70k are not spending it on some used BMW, when they can buy a Land Cruiser.  Don Pepe Gomez y Gomez is not buying somebody's 5 year old Eurocar...what would his peers think?

Ok so now we have 4 options on vehicles

1.  Buy locally

2. Use your residency exemption to import a vehicle and save some $$ maybe

3. Utilize a dealer who does this regularly and pay all fees and taxes, plus some negotiated fee with the dealer.

4. Go it alone and try to do all of this yourself, pay all fees and hire all specialist yourself.

I think that about sums it up!  Did I miss anything? Remember pros and cons to each option.

2018 KIA SORENTO LX in USA  avg price 17,500.

2018 SORENTO LX at dealer in DR...21,000

add 1500 USD shipping, 18% import duty, first plate charge and all the broker fees and under the table payments to the USA import and you tell me which is the cheaper option.

    2018 KIA SORENTO LX in USA  avg price 17,500.
2018 SORENTO LX at dealer in DR...21,000

add 1500 USD shipping, 18% import duty, first plate charge and all the broker fees and under the table payments to the USA import and you tell me which is the cheaper option.
   

    -@cruffman

And probably too old to ship in depending upon the actual date it was made, but yes get one here. 

Just don't believe the mileage on it.

@windeguy

one more thing with Hyundai and Kia....if you read the reliability reviews they all make mention of the engine disasters experienced by these cars..oil leaks, engine fires, compresion loss...

guess what?  those problems occur with the American spec GDI motor...if you buy a car imported by the local dealers you get an engine that is called a DOCH, which is bullet proof..

sometimes buying locally has its upside.

    @windeguy
...
guess what?  those problems occur with the American spec GDI motor...if you buy a car imported by the local dealers you get an engine that is called a DOCH, which is bullet proof..

sometimes buying locally has its upside.

    -@cruffman

And that's the kind of information only a golden few have!

Let's face it, we're bait fish if we try to swim in the DR car market without that info!

@crabelramble

i have found a little over 200 cars for expats. Only two of those cars have had catastrophic engine failures...both were 2016 Hyundai Santa Fes with the GDI motor...

    Hey there, new to the forum! I hear ya on the risk vs. reward when it comes to shipping your car or buying one in the DR. Shipping your car will cost around $2500-3000 USD, but you don't have to deal with the hassle of finding a good car at a fair price
   

    -@Gekkor

Get a door to door estimate including taxes and see if that is all it really costs.

Also, be sure you are getting a vehicle that has parts available locally. 

I had to become an expert at importing parts even though a bought a new car locally from

the authorized dealer. 

@windeguy

i agree with what you say, but if you bring in a US spec car and the front bumper gets damaged you would have to import a replacement from the USA.

    @windeguy
i agree with what you say, but if you bring in a US spec car and the front bumper gets damaged you would have to import a replacement from the USA.
   

    -@cruffman

Indeed. And why I mentioned that I became an expert at importing out parts.

And that was a car imported directly from Asia by the authorized dealer and they had few parts.

A US car, or one that does not even have a dealer here,  will mean you will certainly become familiar with EPS or one of a dozen other freight forwarders from Miami.