Ship a car to Maui or buy in Hawaii? (condo, home)

[artistx]

Originally Posted by jportal

BC & Artistx
I see a ton of Subaru's on the Maui. They can hardly keep them in stock. And, depends where you plan to live. Live in Kahului, no problem. Hana, Kahakuloa, When it is pounding rain and you have to go somewhere, on steep inclines/declines with rain, Polipoli................ a little all wheel drive is a great vehicle to have.

Thanks so much! I'm planning on Paia but also want to explore everything Maui offers. Plus subbies tend to hold their value. Very helpful!✌🏼️

[hamakuaman]

Aloha, I live on The Big Island and I have been trying to purchase a Subaru in Oregon where I used to live, so we can have a car to use when visiting family. It will stay on he mainland. Every dealer runs the other way with all sorts of excuses why they can't sell me a Subaru. I really don't get it, other than do they have some type of a agreement between Subaru of America and Servco Hawaii to not compete? That seems like that would be some type of anti-trust violation, ie:

”The Sherman Antitrust Act - This Act outlaws all contracts, combinations, and conspiracies that unreasonably restrain interstate and foreign trade. This includes agreements among competitors to fix prices, rig bids, and allocate customers, which are punishable as criminal felonies.”

On the flip side, Servco Hawaii adds a $1950.00 paradise tax to all Subarus, no low interest rates, and will never go below MSRP.

It really sucks. I can't believe I can't buy the car I want where I want.

Love to hear if anyone else has experienced this or knows why this is?

Mahalo,

David Meyer

[Futuremauian]

Originally Posted by hamakuaman

Aloha, I live on The Big Island and I have been trying to purchase a Subaru in Oregon where I used to live, so we can have a car to use when visiting family. It will stay on he mainland. Every dealer runs the other way with all sorts of excuses why they can't sell me a Subaru. I really don't get it, other than do they have some type of a agreement between Subaru of America and Servco Hawaii to not compete? That seems like that would be some type of anti-trust violation, ie:

”The Sherman Antitrust Act - This Act outlaws all contracts, combinations, and conspiracies that unreasonably restrain interstate and foreign trade. This includes agreements among competitors to fix prices, rig bids, and allocate customers, which are punishable as criminal felonies.”

On the flip side, Servco Hawaii adds a $1950.00 paradise tax to all Subarus, no low interest rates, and will never go below MSRP.

It really sucks. I can't believe I can't buy the car I want where I want.

Love to hear if anyone else has experienced this or knows why this is?

Mahalo,

David Meyer

You are trying to purchase a Subaru (by phone or Internet) in Oregon, to keep on the mainland and no one will sell you a car because you live in Hawaii? It seems like we are missing some information.

BTW: Servco Lexus is also part of the Japanese Dealer Network instead of the North American network so this isn't limited to just Subaru. It seems to be a racket created by Servco only and allows them to not honor national sales.

Once you arrive on the mainland I'm sure a dealer will sell you a car.

[hamakuaman]

Yes, I've tried internet and phone, they are all fired up to sell a car until I tell them I live in Hawaii. I have heard it is illegal, they are not allowed to, etc. Tried several Portland dealers, Salem, on and on.
Pretty cut and dry, just like to know why so I can figure out how to make it work. I should try a Toyota dealer since they are Servco and see if I get the same response. Thanks for the response.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Sorry, but it seems like you are wasting a bunch of time and not getting the results you want. Is there a reason that you can't wait to buy a car when you get there?

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by hamakuaman

Yes, I've tried internet and phone, they are all fired up to sell a car until I tell them I live in Hawaii. I have heard it is illegal, they are not allowed to, etc. Tried several Portland dealers, Salem, on and on.

Oregon dealerships in general are hesitant in general to sell cars to out of state people as they do not have sales tax. It is not illegal for an out of state resident to purchase a car in Oregon - however, the dealerships in Oregon got a lot calls from people thinking they won't have to pay sales tax - when sales tax on cars is actually calculated on where you register the car - not where you bought it.

[Rain Monkey]

Originally Posted by hamakuaman

Yes, I've tried internet and phone, they are all fired up to sell a car until I tell them I live in Hawaii. I have heard it is illegal, they are not allowed to, etc. Tried several Portland dealers, Salem, on and on.
Pretty cut and dry, just like to know why so I can figure out how to make it work. I should try a Toyota dealer since they are Servco and see if I get the same response. Thanks for the response.

I am absolutely not certain of the veracity of this, however I was informed that mainland dealers are contractually bound by their suppliers not to knowingly sell new cars going to Hawai'i. Again, I don't know the truth of it, but I did run into your issue, ten plus or so years ago when attempting to purchase a new Toyota truck in Seattle. The lot manager told me he couldn't sell it to me if I was immediately putting it on the boat
for transit to Hawai'i. I never got a satisfactory reason why, even after willing to pay full price by bank cashiers check.

I instead purchased a used low mileage, same year model truck from a private party. They didn't care what I did with it as long as they got paid. I put a 'new car smell' stink tree in the cab to give it that 'new car' aroma, and I did pay the depreciated price from new...after all, it was a used car.

Good Luck. Please let us know what you eventually discover.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by Rain Monkey

I am absolutely not certain of the veracity of this, however I was informed that mainland dealers are contractually bound by their suppliers not to knowingly sell new cars going to Hawai'i.

I've bought several cars from different dealers in the S. Cal area - typically where you find the cheapest new cars, never once had a problem.

[Rain Monkey]

Originally Posted by whtviper1

I've bought several cars from different dealers in the S. Cal area - typically where you find the cheapest new cars, never once had a problem.

Perhaps the OP should try a SoCal dealer. Delivery to Oregon ought not be too expensive, and if I correctly
recall, it is about a 15-16 hour drive from SoCal to the northern Oregon area. Haven't done that in
40+ years, but it was fun.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by Rain Monkey

Perhaps the OP should try a SoCal dealer. Delivery to Oregon ought not be too expensive, and if I correctly
recall, it is about a 15-16 hour drive from SoCal to the northern Oregon area. Haven't done that in
40+ years, but it was fun.

It can make a lot of sense to purchase a car on the mainland and ship it to Hawaii - you can get massive discounts not available in Hawaii that are greater than the shipping costs.

However, I can't think of any reason why a person wouldn't just buy the car when they are physically in Oregon if the car will stay in Oregon.