Shipping car from Mainland to Hawaii possible when living overseas? (Hilo: rental car, sales)

[Coconut-nut]

I understand from reading this forum that it is often cheaper to buy a car on the Mainland and then have it shipped to the Big Island than it is to buy a car on the Big Island. I have accepted job on the BI and we will be moving there in mid-October. Is it possible to buy a car on the mainland (internet) and have it shipped to Hawaii without actually being on the Mainland or even in-country? How difficult is it to time delivery to within a few days, weeks?

[hotzcatz]

Well, you'd have to buy it from someone on the mainland who would take it to the dock for you. As well as buying it sight unseen. I'm not sure if the shipping companies require you to be there in person to get the car shipped, I don't think so.

Then to find out when it would arrive, ask the shipper their schedule. There's only three folks who ship cars, Matzon, Horizon and I forget the name of the other guys at the moment. But, there's only three and they all have similar schedules. Plus there's rental cars here, so you can rent one for a week or two while waiting for the other one to show up.

[OpenD]

Pasha is the other company, and they're vehicle specialists who run on a published schedule, so once your car has been accepted for shipment on a particular sailing, you'll know the day and date it will arrive in Hilo... 7 days after it leaves San Diego. Then about 2 days before it is to arrive your Customer Service rep will contact you to set an appointment for you to pick it up at their Hilo terminal.

You have a three day grace period to pick it up before they start charging you daily rental.

Back to the original question... I'm sure it's possible to arrange, but it seems risky to me, with a lot of room for problems in a deal like that. Here's the most basic issue... what if something is wrong with the car when it arrives... whose responsibility will that be, and how will you get anything done about it?

[oregonwoodsmoke]

If you purchase a brand new car from a dealer and the dealer is located in one of the towns where the car shippers use the port, it should be possible to arrange to have the car delivered to the shippers.

Signatures on paperwork could be FAXed, money wired.

Cars ship out of Southern California and out of Washington state. So, you might want to look into sales tax and car registration fees, in case one or the other state is more reasonable. Shipping cost is the same from any of the docks, whichever you choose.

There aren't many places out of the USA where you fly direct to Hawaii and don't go through the continental USA on the way. So it should be possible to break your flight up and take a couple of days to select a car and negotiate your best price and see the car onto the ship by yourself.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

Cars ship out of Southern California and out of Washington state. So, you might want to look into sales tax and car registration fees, in case one or the other state is more reasonable. Shipping cost is the same from any of the docks, whichever you choose.

It doesn't work that way. It won't matter if you buy the car in Washington, Oregon, or California. You'll need to pay Hawaii registration and taxes if the car is going to be garaged in Hawaii.

For instance, a resident of Washington State cannot drive down to Oregon and buy a car and take advantage of no sales tax in that state. They still have to pay all the Washington fees.

[Coconut-nut]

Thanks for all of the replies so far. I have been researching this and speaking to dealers in the SF Bay Area over email. I have also found a company that will ship the car from Oakland/Richmond to Hilo for just under $1100.

The problem I have run into is this. I want a 2014 Toyota Prius II. According to the Consumer Reports Car buying service, I can buy the car for $21,100 in Richmond right now. That is $4,025 off the MSRP. Shipping the vehicle to Hilo makes the cost of the car $22,200. The CR site says that the going rate to buy the same car at BI Toyota is $24,859, $2600 more than buying the car and getting it shipped to Hilo.

At this point I am getting excited, but not so fast. . .I speak with the Sales Manager who tells me that The Toyota dealers of Hawaii have made some deal with Toyota of America that if a person on Hawaii buys the car they have to pay the California sales tax. Because California Sales tax is so high, that effectively wipes out any advantage of purchasing the car on the mainland.

I have heard that only certain auto companies do this. Does anyone know of any way around this issue? If not, which car companies don't engage in this practice in Hawaii? It seems kind of monopolistic from my point of view.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by Coconut-nut

At this point I am getting excited, but not so fast. . .I speak with the Sales Manager who tells me that The Toyota dealers of Hawaii have made some deal with Toyota of America that if a person on Hawaii buys the car they have to pay the California sales tax. Because California Sales tax is so high, that effectively wipes out any advantage of purchasing the car on the mainland.

The difference between the Big Island sales tax and Richmond, CA is 5%.

But, it doesn't matter.

Car dealers cant "make a deal on sales tax". Car dealers make money selling a car - make your deal in CA, they'll take it. If you have a rouge dealer for some odd reason, find another CA dealer. Someone will make a deal with you.

[mdand3boys]

Originally Posted by Coconut-nut

Thanks for all of the replies so far. I have been researching this and speaking to dealers in the SF Bay Area over email. I have also found a company that will ship the car from Oakland/Richmond to Hilo for just under $1100. .

If you are not using one of the 3 companies already mentioned - you would be using a broker - and I implore you to NOT do that. There are hundreds of horror stories about using a broker to ship your vehicle. Since the cost from each of the big 3 shippers is right at $1100, use them elusively. Trying to save $50 could cost you thousands in the end.

[tdr22]

Originally Posted by mdand3boys

If you are not using one of the 3 companies already mentioned - you would be using a broker - and I implore you to NOT do that. There are hundreds of horror stories about using a broker to ship your vehicle. Since the cost from each of the big 3 shippers is right at $1100, use them elusively. Trying to save $50 could cost you thousands in the end.

You could just use them exclusively but if you want to get all elusive about it guess you can !

jk mdand3boys, could not resist!

[mdand3boys]

That's the problem with spell check, it doesn't care if your sentence makes any sense, nor did my brand new glasses seem to help.
Thanks for the rep tho!