Bringing your car to Costa Rica

When moving or relocating to Costa Rica, one of the important things you ask yourself id whether it is a good idea to ship your vehicle over or not. This is a repetitive question among many people.

Advantages of shipping your car to Costa Rica:

Bringing your car means you will know exactly the condition it is in

If you have a car model that meets all the requirements and if you do your homework, and the right help to move it in you may save both your time and money.

You will save the bother and expenses of having to purchase one which if you are searching for a used vehicle and this means a risk of not knowing fir sure what is under the hood and new vehicles are expensive in comparison to what you pay in America particularly North.

How much to ship a vehicle to Costa Rica?

• Cost of shipping a car to Costa Rica range from $800 -#1000 for vehicles like SUV’s and Sedan. If you have a tourist visa, then you can drive for three months without paying taxes.
• To quality for shipping, the car should ha e a clean title of ownership with no liens.
• Keep in mind that the cost will mainly depend on how small or big you vehicle is. Fir example- It costs more to ship a large Sedan or SUV than it does a compact car.
• Another important factor about pricing is how your car is driven to the port. For example- You have to pay more if the shipping company pick it up from you and get it to the port. But if you bring it to the port on your own, then you will have to pay less. You need to ensure that your car is in good shape prior to it goes on the boat.

You car will be checked thoroughly by the Costa Rica relocation service company or by the shipping agency before you take possession. In addition to this, they will also look at brakes, safety features, lights, and others. The shipping agency will also help you deal with customs paperwork as well as the officials at the port will help if you do not speak Spanish. But this is where the real expenses comes in. Also the taxes and import duties can be very high as the fees are based on the market value of your car in the Costa Rica instead of blue book value in the United States or how much you paid for the car.

Keep in mind that once your vehicle has arrived in the Costa Rica, you custom broker will coordinate with customs in order that your car is unloaded at an approved bonded warehouse. Additionally the broker will need the BL ( bill of lading) from the shipping agency and the original title to the vehicle. With this documentation that can initiate the car nationalization process. It begins by them obtaining the tax classification for the vehicle that is based on the information given by the VIN number and this in turn will be the basis for the import taxes that need to paid on the vehicle.