Is it worth it to bring my car???

[Balad1]

Originally Posted by jimemi

My son just moved to Oahu. He needs transportation other that the bus. He wants to buy a car but not sure if a scooter would be more ecomonical. He says that his job is at night and is worried about having to wait for the bus system to start 2 hrs after he gets off work. Can a scooter be driven on the freeway?

No, unless a register motorcycle. The laws for freeways here are the same as on the mainland.

[Fays]

so i read all of the above replies which are mostly in 2009....im actually in the same position now in 2012..... and you found it better to ship the car or just buy another one in honolulu?
my car is a 2008 and i will be coming from NY, so the cost of getting it to hawaii is around 2200$ each way.....maybe ill ship it to hawaii and sell it there?

another question....i was told to live in wakiki which is near work.....but any other safe cheaper recommended areas?

your thoughts are greatly appreciated!

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by Fays

so i read all of the above replies which are mostly in 2009....im actually in the same position now in 2012..... and you found it better to ship the car or just buy another one in honolulu?
my car is a 2008 and i will be coming from NY, so the cost of getting it to hawaii is around 2200$ each way.....maybe ill ship it to hawaii and sell it there?

another question....i was told to live in wakiki which is near work.....but any other safe cheaper recommended areas?

your thoughts are greatly appreciated!

In addition, the back posts here are worth spending time with. If you do a search you'll find both of these questions have been discussed extensively in the past.

One thing to consider carefully is what the current value is on your car where you are, and what it would be in Honolulu, and whether an added expense of $2,200 makes sense. Even moreso for shipping it back, since the $4,400 would just be lost in terms of your car's value. The second question I'd ask is whether the car you have now is the same kind of car you'd want there on the island, considering things like the kind of driving you'll be doing, the very high cost of gas, etc.

There are no right or wrong answers, but thinking carefully about your choices is important.

[Kualoa]

Jimemi,

When you say scooter I'm assuming you mean what is commonly known here as a moped. They are relatively inexpensive ( used for under $1000) and typically go no faster than 35 mph. They are very popular here. Although not allowed on freeways here they can be used on all surface street and highways including Pali Highway. Depending on where your son lives and works he may want to use alternate surface streets on a moped to commute on such as Nimitz and Farrington Highway (examples). Traffic would be light during late night or early morning hours. It would sure beat waiting for two hours for a bus but again it depends on the commute distance and location (need more specifics).