really, Frank? so how do you get them on a ship to the DR with a flood title?
I don't know the answer to that question. But, as i mentioned above, my cousin--who is not really my cousin--is a Dominican and has been importing cars here for as long as i can remember. He, and every other "Used car importer" on this island, are not buying cars at prices that cannot be offset in some way after the customs slap a 53% customs tax, plus first time registration, plus shipping, plus prepping the car--prepping the car back in the US before it is shipped involves removing the interior if neccessary, removing the seats for cleaning, cleaning the uphostery, and replacing the carpet and floor mats if neccessary from flood damage) and sometimes re-painting the car, fixing dents, etc. Once it gets here, odometers have to be rolled back (Use CarFax to verify before you purchase), and other minor repairs are done as well if neccessary.
Remember, in order to recoup his investment on what he has paid at a dealers auction, recoup the money paid in prepping the car and fixing what's been damaged, paying for the car to be transported/shipped down here, paying the Dominican customs taxes and first time registration, paying for drivers to go to the port and stand around all day and waiting before driving the cars back to different dominican dealerships across the island--(i'm sure you've seen long lines of cars following each other down the highway with the Aduana stickers on their windows after they've just been picked up at the port), and i'm forgetting many, many other small details and costs here--including his time used going back and forth to dealer auctions in the US, flying back and forth from the DR to the US. In order to see any kind of justified profit and time spent and manpower used--the car has to be bought either with very "High Mileage" or a "Salvage Title."
Otherwise, there would be no other way to both compete with all the other used cars on the market, as well as and used car dealerships that have flooded the market, as well as make any kind of semblance of profit after everything has been paid for and all the time, energy, and investments have been made in order to get a car down here.
This is the way things are forced to be done when you have a government imposing over 50% customs duty on imports, but it also protects the authentic dealerships here from being undersold and pushed out of business.
Frank
Last edited: