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Old 12-29-2009, 10:17 AM
 
42 posts, read 131,195 times
Reputation: 34

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I will be relocating to Oahu Hawaii within the next few months. My husband was offered a position at the Marine Corps base in Kaneohe. Originally we were going to ship over my car but then I read that your car will fall apart easily on the island due to the roads, salt, rodents etc. Is this true? We dont plan on living in Hawaii for more than a 1 1/2 and will transfer back to the mainland as soon as he is able to. My car is paid off but since we will not be staying there forever and I would to keep my car in the best shape as possible I am torn on whether or not I should bring it. Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated! I don't want to listen to one person who posted these comments it would be nice to get other opinions as well.
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Old 12-29-2009, 10:38 AM
 
Location: Waianae, Hi
285 posts, read 1,083,765 times
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Your car is not going to fall apart in Hawaii. Just take a look at some of the high dollar cars on our roads, if this were true people would not go out and pay 30-40-50 thousand dollars and up for them. True we have some road problems, pot holes, bad repairs etc. Since you dont plan to live here past 1-2 years, my thought for you would be, for you to weight the cost of shipping your car over here then shipping it back. You could probably pick up a cheap used car on this end that would serve your needs well while here, and end up saving money in the long run. Buy it, use it, then sell it before you leave.
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Old 12-29-2009, 11:16 AM
 
Location: Was in Western New York but now in Hilo Hawaii
1,234 posts, read 4,593,372 times
Reputation: 454
Sense you only staying for a year and a half is there a way you can store the car unregistered in a family members garage? the money you save by doing this not driving ,shipping, registering you could buy a cheap car then sel it when your done and break even.

Just a thought
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Old 12-29-2009, 11:32 AM
 
Location: Hawaii
1,707 posts, read 7,038,154 times
Reputation: 1076
Roads and conditions are no different here than in most places on the mainland.

Does the government job make any allowances for shipping your personal goods or the car.

I think it will boil down to personal preference and money.
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Old 12-29-2009, 11:38 AM
 
Location: Moku Nui, Hawaii
11,053 posts, read 24,062,484 times
Reputation: 10911
Well, there will be salt winds and rust is a problem eventually. If it is a car you want to keep for years and years and you want it to stay pristine, keeping it somewhere else might be good. The Bus system is pretty good, you may not even need a car at all. Will you have at least one car in the family?
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Old 12-29-2009, 12:31 PM
 
42 posts, read 131,195 times
Reputation: 34
Our roads here on the east coast are terrible so I can deal with potholes it will be no different from here. We also like to explore so it would be nice to have a car. I also heard you have to pay taxes when you bring your car to Hawaii is this true and is it alot? I could leave my car at my parents house. The government job doesnt pay for moving costs since this is the first time that he will be a government employee. I heard from my father who is in the government and he said he believes that once you are in and then transfer somewhere else then they will pay for shipping costs. To ship from San Diego or LA its about $1100 so it might just be easier to have my own car rather than buy something, have the possibility of fixing it alot, paying to register etc. My car is paid off and it 10 years old and is a Honda and they go forever. I guess I am not to worried about the salt issue that much because 5 months out the year we have snow and they are always salting and sanding the roads here and your car can have the same rust issues. Thanks for all your information, its nice to hear from locals or people who move there on what they think. We have never even been to Hawaii so I am concerned about moving to a place I have never been too, plus moving in this economy and worrying about getting a job, finding decent rentals etc.
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Old 12-29-2009, 12:37 PM
 
Location: Hawaii-Puna District
3,752 posts, read 11,522,920 times
Reputation: 2488
Oahu driving is different from the other islands, at least slightly better roads...

As long as your car is at least 1 (or is it 2?) years old, you won't have any extra taxes to pay. You will need to register it, get a safety inspection and have insurance. Your mainland insurance policy may not be any good here. You will need to verify as most of the companies are licensed separately here due to the quirky laws.
Registration is partly based upon the weight of the vehicle. A typical car will be about $80 per year.
Safety inspections are about $15.
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Old 12-29-2009, 03:55 PM
 
42 posts, read 131,195 times
Reputation: 34
My car is a 2000 so I guess I will have to pay extra taxes then correct? Do you know where I would find out how much extra I would have to pay. I will just transfer over the insurance to Hawaii hopefully it wont be more than in CT. When I lived in CA registration is the same with the weight and I think it was roughly around $180 so its not too bad and the taxes dont sound that bad. Its actually a lot more for taxes each year in CT so $80 per year sounds better than here. Sounds very similar to the motor vehicle laws in California.
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Old 12-29-2009, 04:11 PM
 
Location: Was in Western New York but now in Hilo Hawaii
1,234 posts, read 4,593,372 times
Reputation: 454
You only pay taxes for a car if you have purchased it in the past 12 months
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Old 12-29-2009, 11:20 PM
 
432 posts, read 1,204,025 times
Reputation: 335
Quote:
Originally Posted by jenie24 View Post
...I read that your car will fall apart easily on the island due to the roads, salt, rodents etc. Is this true? ....
No.

There are more ancient clunkers still running here per capita than anywhere I've seen.

Despite what some newly arrived folks might maintain, long-timers know better.

Bring it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by mdand3boys View Post
...You will need to register it, get a safety inspection and have insurance.
Actually no, it's: get Hawai`i insurance, get a safety inspection, and register it. In THAT order.
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