Car question, TIA

beachlv

New member
Sep 28, 2004
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Hi all,
This is my first time post to the board. Please forgive any newbie mistakes I might make in properly posting my question. We read DR1 every day and we have found the board to be full of helpful information.

My husband and I, and our 10 year old son, are planning a move back to the Caribbean towards the middle of next year... this time we hope for good:)

At this moment in our research, the DR is top among our list of islands upon which we wish to live. Although we have many questions, don't worry, I won't try to ask all my questions today, hahaha.

Today's question is regarding automobiles. I have learned from reading the posts that it would be cheaper to bring in our own auto from the States rather than buying one on island (using the rule that would permit us, as permanent residents, to bring it in duty free in the time allowed).

Our challenge is that our current car is very old and very tired (been to too many islands, really!) and needs to be replaced. Just today, I found a great price on a 2002 Lexus RX300 (2WD) but I am afraid that vehicle might not be a good car to take to the DR. We have lived on a few islands where such a car would not be suitable.

Would this be a good car for use in Sosua, Caberete, Samana?...(mechanics available for Lexus? roads okay for 2WD or should we get a 4WD instead?)

I wish I could be more specific as to where we will live, but we won't be able to answer that until we spend 6months to a year on island.

Thank you all very much for any help that you can share.... and one car or another, we will be seeing you soon:)
 

solituna

New member
Jan 26, 2004
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4 X 4

In general, if one can afford one, it is easier to move around in a 4 X 4 or a car with a high ground clearance. Even though one can at times avoid holes in the road, a bit harder at night, it is very useful during the very heavy rain falls that cross over the island. Flooding is quite common and with the high ground clearance it makes it easier to move around.

My 2 cents worth.
 

Robert

Stay Frosty!
Jan 2, 1999
20,574
341
83
dr1.com
I would not buy a Lexus here, especially the on-going costs.
Santo Domingo has a Lexus dealer, but I'm not sure of the service aspect.

You are much better off looking at a Toyota, Mitsubishi or Nissan.
We have lots of them here, you can gets parts and service at reasonable rates.

2WD is fine. No need for a 4WD unless you live in some hard to reach spot.

Yes, you can buy a car cheaper in the USA, but that doesn't mean it will work out cheaper by the time you finally get your hands on it here.
Frieght, duty, pay-offs/bribes etc.

Why is the DR top of your list?
How much time have you spent here?
 

gringosabroso

New member
Oct 16, 2004
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S U V - 4 wheel - diesel - standard transmission???

My 2 cents worth. I wouln't fear a Lexus too much. It's simply a Toytota with a lot of expensive bangs & whistles. I think that parts are available @ nearly all Toyota dealers.
Standard transmission!! My favorite; but, . . . nearly impossible to find in this country. Dominicans can't / won't learn how to drive them! Superior fuel economy? Perhaps, but not important to the majority of Dominicans?
Be careful @ the 1 duty free car, with your 1st Residencia. There are all sorts of fine print & footnotes; I fear that it does not work in practice.
Import a car?? I bought & imported a '92 Totyat Camry in '96; cost in Mass. $15,500. Freight? $1,500. - Boston to Santo Domingo.
Duty - $8,000.!! cash or certified DR check!! You read that correctly. I would've been umch better off looking for a 4 year old Camry in Santiago, Santo Domingo, or "Listin".
Learn from my mistakes! Experience is the best teacher [Virgil], . . . but the tuition cah be expensive!! Buena Fortuna. You'll enjoy this place, NO ELECTRICITY & all.
 

beachlv

New member
Sep 28, 2004
51
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0
thanks guys

We thank you for your replies.
The deal on the Lexus fell through, but I'm glad I posted the question anyway. I think later this week I will post a query in the legal area regarding the "fine print" on the importation of a vehicle so I can get the whodunnit on how to *really* get a car into the DR using the perm resident rule. Sure seems like there are more than a few catches to the system, hahahah.

In answer to Robert's question, we have listed the DR at the top of our list because of the beaches. Pure and simple, we love the beach. We have lived on many different Carribean islands and from the pictures, the DR looks perfect. We are a family of simple needs and steady income so it should work out. My husband is a writer and wants to return to the beach life of a Carribean island. What can I say.. he gets to slave over a laptop, and I get to walk and snorkle with my son to our hearts content... gotta love that kinda life.

Heck, if the DR doesn't work out, we can always relocate, but from the ppl on this board and the pictures we have seen, we really do believe the DR is worth at least one year of our best effort.

We are all trying to learn Spanish now:) Just got the spanish cd's in this weekend. It will be 6 more months before we get there, so we have enough time to learn how to say in Spanish... "Can I get another cold one", and "Where do I get rid of last one". hahaha.

hope to meet many of you soon, and thank you for your replies.
enjoy!
 

sweetdbt

Bronze
Sep 17, 2004
1,574
70
0
a little head start

beachlv,

In case you didn't already know:

"Otra fria por favor" and "Donde esta el bano?"

I'm learning myself, (and I don't know how to put in the accents or the upside down question mark before the sentence on my computer) so Spanish speakers, please be kind if that wasn't perfect. :nervous:
 

Chester4

*** Sin Bin ***
Feb 12, 2004
281
0
0
Living in the DR

beachlv said:
Hi all,
This is my first time post to the board. Please forgive any newbie mistakes I might make in properly posting my question. We read DR1 every day and we have found the board to be full of helpful information.

My husband and I, and our 10 year old son, are planning a move back to the Caribbean towards the middle of next year... this time we hope for good:)

At this moment in our research, the DR is top among our list of islands upon which we wish to live. Although we have many questions, don't worry, I won't try to ask all my questions today, hahaha.

Today's question is regarding automobiles. I have learned from reading the posts that it would be cheaper to bring in our own auto from the States rather than buying one on island (using the rule that would permit us, as permanent residents, to bring it in duty free in the time allowed).

Our challenge is that our current car is very old and very tired (been to too many islands, really!) and needs to be replaced. Just today, I found a great price on a 2002 Lexus RX300 (2WD) but I am afraid that vehicle might not be a good car to take to the DR. We have lived on a few islands where such a car would not be suitable.

Would this be a good car for use in Sosua, Caberete, Samana?...(mechanics available for Lexus? roads okay for 2WD or should we get a 4WD instead?)

I wish I could be more specific as to where we will live, but we won't be able to answer that until we spend 6months to a year on island.

Thank you all very much for any help that you can share.... and one car or another, we will be seeing you soon:)

Hello ... I have lived in Sosua for nearly 3 years with my two children ... if you need any help with schools etc.. I would be happy to help.

I have two friends here in Sosua - one with a Lexus car and one with a jeep... the friend with the jeep had to do major repairs recently .... the car had to be sent to Santiago ... they had the car waiting for parts for around 6 weeks and the repairs cost a lot of money.

I have a Honda CRV .... if you PM me I would be happy to find out some prices here for you and maybe you can decide what you should do then.

Good Luck ! Chester4
 

beachlv

New member
Sep 28, 2004
51
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0
Thanks!!

Chester4 said:
Hello ... I have lived in Sosua for nearly 3 years with my two children ... if you need any help with schools etc.. I would be happy to help.

I have two friends here in Sosua - one with a Lexus car and one with a jeep... the friend with the jeep had to do major repairs recently .... the car had to be sent to Santiago ... they had the car waiting for parts for around 6 weeks and the repairs cost a lot of money.

I have a Honda CRV .... if you PM me I would be happy to find out some prices here for you and maybe you can decide what you should do then.

Good Luck ! Chester4

Very kind of you C.
I have sent you a pm. We are looking forward with great interest to learn anything you have to share.

And, thanks again to everyone else for their input too. I'll be posting more questions on life in the DR a bit later. You have all been most kind and your posts are deeply appreciated. !Que Suerte y Mucho Gracias!

(i hope I said that right... don't know how to type in the puncuation marks correctly :cry: )
 

wight-boy

New member
Nov 6, 2003
65
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0
punctuation on a computer

If it is any help for people, you can use the "alt" key for punctuation. for example alt and n brings ~ then you press n again without alt to give ?. sometimes the shift key is required for example alt shift and / gives ? . hope this isn't too confusing ;)
 

beachlv

New member
Sep 28, 2004
51
0
0
JDJones said:
That trick doesn't work on my laptop. In fact, I can't do any of the "press alt then ### " to get any kind of character. I have two laptops, and this trick doesn't work on either one.
same problem here. when i try [alt-shift-/], my keyboard just mocks me with a loud beep, lol.
 

La Profe_1

Moderator: Daily Headline News, Travel & Tourism
Oct 15, 2003
2,293
869
113
Depends on your OS

For Windows XP, go to control panel, choose settings and languages, choose add...and add the International English keyboard. After you you do that, if you hit the single apostrophe followed by a vowel, it will become an accent. Alt + n gives ?. Alt + ? or ! gives the inverted ones.

For Windows ME, go to control panel, choose Keyboard, choose language and add International English. Afterwards, it will work as above.

This is the alternative for laptops which lack the extended keyboard.
 

wight-boy

New member
Nov 6, 2003
65
0
0
My idiot mistake.

My apologies for the misleading information, i was on my mac this morning doing about 6 things at once, for windows you should do the above then it will work. My apologies for being a plum and virtually hijacking your thread. I hope you get it working.


for a full layout look here:
http://www.starr.net/is/type/intlchart.html