Bringing your car from the US?

philtam

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What exactly are the regulations on bringing your car down? I heard it has to be 5 years or newer. How do they determine the cost when you bring it in and what kind of paperwork do you need? Can I have a loan against my vehicle in the US and bring it down with me?
 

PJT

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Jan 8, 2002
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philtam said:
What exactly are the regulations on bringing your car down? I heard it has to be 5 years or newer. How do they determine the cost when you bring it in and what kind of paperwork do you need? Can I have a loan against my vehicle in the US and bring it down with me?

The car has to have been registered in the U.S. in your name for at least one year. It must be model year 2001 or newer. The vehicle title has to be in your name only. Banks and loan institutions do not allow secured vehicles out of the country as they would have a hard time trying to repossess. That's why they hold the title until the loan is paid off. The title has to be surrendered to U.S. Customs at time of shipment and they will not allow the car to depart the country without a clean valid title. The U.S. export paperwork must indicate you as the owner and the shipping company as your agent.

You need to consult a shipping broker - ocean freight forwarder for present regulations and required documentation.


Regards,
PJT
 
Jan 9, 2004
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Yes, but

PJT said:
The car has to have been registered in the U.S. in your name for at least one year. It must be model year 2001 or newer. The vehicle title has to be in your name only. Banks and loan institutions do not allow secured vehicles out of the country as they would have a hard time trying to repossess. That's why they hold the title until the loan is paid off. The title has to be surrendered to U.S. Customs at time of shipment and they will not allow the car to depart the country without a clean valid title. The U.S. export paperwork must indicate you as the owner and the shipping company as your agent.

You need to consult a shipping broker - ocean freight forwarder for present regulations and required documentation.


Regards,
PJT



philtam:

PJT's information is correct if you are bringing the vehicle in to the country after having obtained your residency.

However, if you just want to send a vehicle, and have not obtained your residency, the vehicle does not have to be registered in your name for at least one year and the car can be shipped by you to yourself, or anyone else for that matter, as long as you have a valid bill of sale and clear title (no liens) in your name.

Taxes are expensive and determined by the make, model, year, and country of origin.

My experience is that if you have a 2001, 2002 model year vehicle that is in pristine shape, or at least well cared for, and serviced thoroughly before any anticipated shipping, AND if you can prepare yourself mentally for the usual customs hassles AND if you have someone who can deal with the usual customs hassles, then and only then is it worth it to ship. This assumes you will be in the country a minimum of one year and that if you were to leave, the vehicle would be sold there.


Respectfully,
playacaribe2
 

stiggybaby

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Jan 20, 2006
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Robert said:

From this link, does

"DR Law 168 is the importation law for vehicles, and under this law you are allowed to bring one personal vehicle that you have owned for more than one year in your respective country, at a heavily reduced import tax. Anyone, (Dominicans and foreigners) can use it as long as they are making the DR their home. This is why they require the title record and registration plate history. Another thing about Law 168 is that you cannot sell your vehicle for three years after you?ve brought it to the DR. Also, you have to wait another five years to invoke this law again on another vehicle you wish to bring."

this mean that once I get my provisional residency card in 2 weeks, that I can call on law 168 one time to bring in any vehicle I want (92 chevy with an eight cylinder motor)?

this paragraph does not specificy if law 168 allows for exceptions to the other laws or what. It reads like it allows for a one time exception to bring in any vehicle for a person relocating from their country to live in the DR.
 

stiggybaby

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NO I did not miss that. It was NOT included in the law 168 paragraph

*A_N_D* considering that junk you copy and paste is not accurate, my question was a very fair question

(according to the dominican consulate in washington dc that I spoke to today, a dominican citizen (not a resident) CAN bring in a car older than 5 years old... so that is an exception to the "under any circumstance" you copy and paste huh???)
 

PJT

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stiggybaby said:
NO I did not miss that. It was NOT included in the law 168 paragraph

*A_N_D* considering that junk you copy and paste is not accurate, my question was a very fair question

(according to the dominican consulate in washington dc that I spoke to today, a dominican citizen (not a resident) CAN bring in a car older than 5 years old... so that is an exception to the "under any circumstance" you copy and paste huh???)

Why the venom, one would expect a better response to a serious matter.

Do not entirely believe what the consulate says, they are staffed by political appointees that have no real background in the import laws of the D.R. What they do is to provide import document legalization, a process that may be done away with soon. This legalization of documents is one source of income for the consulates. Therefore they say yes (OK to import an older car) to everything to earn their revenue. But when the car arrives into the country, you have to deal with Customs and Customs is a branch of government divorced from the consulates. Customs may allow the car in "at a horrendous price"; or order the owner and or shipping company to return the car to origin port; or confiscate the car for government use or sale.

Regards,
PJT
 

british bulldog

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Another Dominican grey area for ex pats;a way to get more money from us all again.It seems the best way forward is to buy a car here,albeit at a vastly inflated price,but with less hastle.Mabee someone out there can tell us all a way around all the red tape,someone with experience,and not hearsay gossopp.
 

Chris

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british bulldog said:
Mabee someone out there can tell us all a way around all the red tape,someone with experience,and not hearsay gossopp.
Just a comment british bulldog. Generally the people responding on this thread have years of experience, and don't really deal in hearsay gossip. PJT, Lambada, Robert and FireGuy have all paid their dues here and either have worked through the process themselves, or had to bail out someone trying to work through the process.

Many people do their homework exceptionally well, and import a car according to the rules and regulations, and even manage to get it out of customs without paying too much. Issue is money I think. Once you've done all the paperwork, made the shipping arrangements, spent up to a week here in Aduana trying to get your car out with lots of copies of all paperwork, all duly notarized, paid of who needs to be paid off, paid off those who don't need to be paid off but stand in line anyway, by that time, most of us feel that it is just easier to buy here.

I chatted to a Dom York a few days ago who brought in a 2 year old Expedition. After the documentation, shipping, duties, fees etc, he paid an additional 27% on top of his original budget, just on bits and pieces and handouts. So, at the end of the day, it usually works out to be a wash between buying here, and importing. That is if you can wait for a good deal to come up.

It is all in the perception. If you bring in a late model car, the low paid employees in Aduana believe that you can afford to pay extra. And if you don't, they have all the right to confiscate your goods for non-payment of something.

It is not only vehicles. I cannot tell you the times that someone somewhere in customs decided that whatever we were bringing in, was a 'luxury' item, and assessed it at 100% of the invoice value for duties and taxes, or that something is now all of a sudden 'specialized' equipment and the duties and tax rate is up. They have a million reasons for doing what they do, and these are not always written down in the books. Like someone once said .. "It is their book, and no way are they going to show you what is inside it."
 
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FireGuy

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stiggybaby said:
NO I did not miss that. It was NOT included in the law 168 paragraph

*A_N_D* considering that junk you copy and paste is not accurate, my question was a very fair question

(according to the dominican consulate in washington dc that I spoke to today, a dominican citizen (not a resident) CAN bring in a car older than 5 years old... so that is an exception to the "under any circumstance" you copy and paste huh???)
Sorry for trying to be helpful - good luck with Aduana.

I'm sure they will care a lot about what some low level functionary at the DC consulate told you.

Cheers.

Gregg
 

narias

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Apr 12, 2004
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I recently moved back to the DR after 14 years of living in the US. I considered bringing my car but decided against it after encountering numerous horror stories. I decided it was not worth the hassle and that I would buy something here (at an inflated price as it has been pointed out).

Something to keep in mind when deciding whether to bring or buy here is the condition of the vehicle. Here folks bring cars from US auctions and brag about the 'pristine' condition they are in given that they are US cars. Having bought and sold cars at auctions in the US I know that the deals are not as good. Also I know some people here selling cars and see how the year of the vehicle is altered in the paperwork in customs to let it in. There are numerous cars being sold that are in fact older than it's claimed on the title. Sometimes it's a 99 Montero being sold as a 01, but I've seen early 90's Land Cruiser II's being sold as 01 and 02 (these are old Japanese versions being converted here from RHD to LHD).

Anyway, just be careful when you are buying here. Yes, the hassle may make it worth it to sell and buy here, but you can never anticipate the quality of the vehicle. It's much harder here than in the states.
 

Don Juan

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Just curious.

A brand new '06 Toyota Corolla LE is advertised to sell for roughly $15000US here in Maryland. that includes all taxes, tags,& freight. My question: How much more would a similar vehicle sell for in DR including taxes, etc? Thank you.
 

Lambada

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Chris said:
Just a comment british bulldog. Generally the people responding on this thread have years of experience, and don't really deal in hearsay gossip. PJT, Lambada, Robert and FireGuy have all paid their dues here and either have worked through the process themselves, or had to bail out someone trying to work through the process.

Should we post a disclaimer somewhere? People are welcome to ignore the advice which they asked for and in return we ignore the pleas for bail out when it all falls by the wayside...............:laugh:
 

british bulldog

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as pjt posted why the venom,attitude or what!!!!!!!!!and who is ignoring advice.i just ask was there a way around the red tape yes o r no.someone who had experience ,and not just what they have heared or seen posted on this site.
 

stiggybaby

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Jan 20, 2006
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Exactly!

My coworker friend brought a 94 in last year, and a dozen of my other dominican coworker friends are all under the impression that they can bring in a vehicle over 5 yrs old. So, why do they ALL feel this way? And is the other lying? Is the consular office in DC also lying?

I would believe a "detached, blah-blah consular office" before I would believe ANYBODY posting on this site as at least it is from an official source versus some anybody just talking withOUT including their source or a factual/official reference.

Why can't anybody post a quality responce? Such as, yes or no, and for further questions or details, call this department at this telephone number. Now that would be a real reply.

Lastly, I continue to feel so much negativity on this site while reading posts. Please ditch the negativity. Perhaps a possibility would be to explore getiting my citizenship after living there for 6 months (source drlawyer.com), and this would allow me to bring in an older vehicle. Or, perhaps I am allowed to bring in auto parts or non-running vehicles and I could take out the motor, crate it up separetly, take the box off and ship it in 3 pieces as parts for a 92 silverado.

But enough of this, I'll just accept your "what part of under no circumstances did you miss" reply as LAW and stop wasting people's time posting on this site. Don't bother replying to this post. I'm gone. -Later
 

AnnaC

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Jan 2, 2002
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The part that newbies don't seem to understand is that when you get to customs it's the wild wild west there, they will make up whatever rules suits them that day going on your looks and the looks of your car.

Try and find the guy that said this and that when your car is being held hostage. Is that simply enough for you?
 

narias

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Apr 12, 2004
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Hey Stiggy. The consulates may not have up to date information or they may be outright lying. What people here are trying to tell you is that regardless of why they give the information they do you are the one that will be faced with the problem should there be one. "The consulate told me so" will not be a valid excuse once the vehicle is here. That said, things do happen here by magic sometimes so it's not out of the question that a 94 or 92 could be brought in. As I mentioned before, there are people altering vehicle years when they get the Dominican title. I suppose anything can be done for the right price and through the appropriate people. It's just a question of how much risk and uncertainty you can tolerate and how much money are you willing to spend on that particular good.

Don Juan, I've seen (very lightly) used 06 Corollas go for around 21,000. Those are the XLI models that we get around these parts. They are roughly equivalent to the American LE version.