How much would it be to ship a car to the island

@fredicastro    theres a fb group also called pr expats (residents) where many people report their actual experience with shipping vehicles here. that might help. for instance, we found out there are some services that let you fill your vehicles with your belongings, which can save alot of hassle with shipping. on the other hand, there are lots of factors concerning how quickly you can get your vehicle processed at the incoming port and that info could be helpful too.  best of luck. -tori

@fredicastro we shipped our car. You will pay a percentage based on year and model of your car. Ours was a 2013 Volvo and we paid 4,000 in taxes and 1500 to ship it. You have to get the car to Jacksonville FL to ship it to San Juan. It takes 2-5 days to get it here. Cars here are very over priced so if you have a dependable car you like, I would ship it. Go online and search shipping a car and you will see the company that can help you.

@ScottyQ I thought so too but after going to visit several dealers (new & used) I found that it's definitely worth doing the leg work to ship your vehicle. The costs on used vehicles are ridiculously high in 🇵🇷 and the cost of buying a new car is almost prohibited not to mention the interest rates. Yeah, I say ship your vehicle. Better to pay $3,500 dollars and do the leg work rather than pay tens of thousands of dollars on a new car or 12-15 thousand dollars on a used car that might turn out to be a lemon 🍋 and then putting in more money to fix it. Nope! It simply makes more sense to ship 🚢 your car especially if you hate the thought of leaving your own car behind. I love 💕 my car 🚗.

@wpotvin Thanks for the step by step details. This is very helpful, it's a lot of leg 🦵 work but definitely worth doing it 👍

The cars are more expensive in PR  because dealers have to pay the 25% import tax and shipping to the island, so they add that to the price.  That flows down to the used car market as well.  Shipping a couple of year old used car makes sense because it has depreciated and pays a lower tax.

There are a few steps to import

Find a car transport company, google will help there are several

They will most likely use Crowley out of Jacksonville FL.

You will need to get the car there.

There is an import excise tax. It is collected by the Hacienda, Puerto Rico's IRS.

Search -    "SURI Hacienda pr gov/_/#1," or search "Suri Select Vehicle Lookup"

This tax can be significant

Then you will have to go to the port to pick up the car.

Thanks for the posts on the topic of importing cars from US to PR. I am going to be moving to PR in a few weeks and also debating if I should buy a used car from the US and ship it to Puerto Rico OR just buy a used car in PR bit worried about the import tax which could be significant right ?

Again, if you go to the Suri site suri.hacienda…. (The site won’t let me post the link), scroll down three rows in the center you will see a link for vehicles. You can put in your vin and it will tell you the tax.

’you will still incur shipping costs. As to cost of cars here, look at Classificados PR. They have cars for sale and you can always speak to a dealer.

another thought, some cars may not have adequate support here. So look for a dealer near where you intend to move.

@senthilbala Doing it yourself usually will save you a good deal of money.  The prices of cars, new or used, in PR reflect the import tax and shipping cost that all cars arriving on the island pay.  So they are more expensive here.  Buying a car on the mainland where you can check it out thoroughly is a good strategy.  Used cars in PR will have lived in the salt air, bad roads, and often not excellent maintenance for some time. 

Thanks to everyone who replied to my message. I have landed in Puerto Rico on Friday and now staying at a hotel in Ponce. Will start looking at used cars in PR and also in Florida. Need to get a used car in the next week or two. Thanks again

@fredicastro

I shipped my new Tesla in 2020 from Florida to San Juan.  The company was OTH Logistics.

It cost $2300 but they did all the paperwork for me and even got me a plate. I met a contact person and he gave me everything and I just picked up the car and drove home. Best news: you do NOT pay any taxes for an electric car.