53 Comments

    1. That is a process where a government employee inspects your car at the port and prepare papers for you to then take to pay.Even if your car arrives and you are notified that it is at the port, if the “tasacion” has not been completed you will not be allowed to take the car.

    2. Rene Javielo says:

      @laure, tasacion is spanish for valuation

  1. Great information!! I’m waiting for my car to arrive!! It’s an old car, paid off, very reliable. You gave me peace of mind!! Gracias!!!

  2. Hi Jen,
    We are moving to Puerto Rico… in THREE days! And our truck is probably there right now. We used a transport company that we requested use Crowley because we are going to use your notes to walk step by step through the process of picking up our vehicle. It cost $300 more for the request to use Crowley, but we felt your guided tour through the process was worth it! … like having someone there with us. We have it printed out and ready to use. Thank you!!

    Can you please provide a link to your “Registering” post? I can’t find it. My next hurdle is what I need to do to register the truck.

    Thanks again! Vicki (& Owen)

    1. Hi Vicki! Oh my, I certainly wouldn’t advise anyone to pay more to use Crowley if they could avoid it haha the process wasn’t exactly seamless. I haven’t done the registration or license post yet but it’s on my list. Welcome to Puerto Rico!

  3. Jeff Spolar says:

    Thanks, going next summer. Will print this out. My Spanish is so-so, will this be a problem?

    1. Hi again Jen… We moved on November 3rd and have been busy busy. I just now saw your reply to my post about registration instructions. I’ll look for them here in case you’ve had time to do them. Thanks again for this amazing blog!

  4. Edert Ortiz says:

    Great article, how can I find out how much in taxes I will need to pay for the vehicle before I even ship my car to PR? Can I find out that information if I’m still in Florida? Thank you very much.

    1. AL Navarro says:

      @Jen on a Jet Plane, hi Jen is this where you also call to see if all the paperwork is done in order to pick up the vehicle?

  5. thanks… very helpful

  6. christina Dillenbeck says:

    Thank you Jen, I’m taking my car to port in a few days and am using Puerto Rico car transport. This post has been very helpful. I will print out the post to take with me when picking up in San Juan. You have brought me some peace of mind. Thanks Again!

  7. Wanda J Diaz says:

    good morning my name is Wanda Diaz i just read your post,very informatory,but i have a big question,i have an older golf cart i want to send to puerto rico.its older and was given to me by a friend it doesnt have any paper work,being thats and older model and was passed down to him,what do i do to get it there. thank you .

    1. Should be a similar shipping process as long as you have all the paperwork! Otherwise would need to speak to the company about what they’d need to prove ownership and if they can treat it as freight versus a vehicle.

  8. Laura Torres says:

    Hello Jen!

    in the end, do you recomend Puerto Rico transport???

    1. Hi Laura, at the time I was really annoyed and wouldn’t have recommended them about after living here for a while I don’t know if there’s a competitor doing it any better…

  9. I just responded to another forum asking about car shipping and referenced this site. The instruction here is spot on, so I though it may help others who make it to the comments to add the same info.

    We used the same company Puerto Rico Car Transport that Jen used. The process was fairly painless for what it is. Our car took about 6 weeks to arrive. We opted to pay the extra fees on site at one of the trailers in the parking lot. We used the one to the left of the white one she shows in the blog. The most confusing part was the last step #12 on buying the temporary insurance. This is office is in the same building, but on the back side. If you’re facing the front door go around the left side and it’s the first door right as you come around the corner. The office looks the same. Look for the piping on the wall in Jen’s picture and you should find it easily.

    My Spanish is pretty basic and it was hard to explain what I needed. I believe it’s technically called “Comprobante de ACCA” or ACCA voucher. The guard wouldn’t let me in at first and I had to get someone from the first desk in the front to call back there and explain what I needed.

    I was the first in line when the office opened and was able to drive the car out in about an hour. Driving out was pretty interesting. There are really no signs and I’m actually not certain I drove out the right exit. I was expecting someone to check my paperwork and take my orange safety vest. Once I found my car not a single person interacted with me on the way out. I had to go back to the little office to turn the orange vest in.

  10. For “The point is you have 3 days to register your vehicle in Puerto Rico” and #12, were you able to drive the car without a license plate?

  11. Good information. My concern is to transport my car from PR to Florida. Is it the same procedures.? Please let me know.

    1. Priya Shanker says:

      @Jen on a Jet Plane, Hi- what a great post! Thank you for the detailed and clear info. This was certainly our experience when we shipped our cars to PR and I wish we had seen this at the time.
      Now we are trying to ship our cars OUT of PR but we are not there as we have had to be back in the States for a medical emergency. Do you or anyone you know happen to have a reliable company or a concierge service who can help us do this? I will appreciate any leads! Thanks

  12. IIRC, you can also get 3 day insurance at a Banco Popular

  13. Thank you for information it’s going to be very helpful in helping me make a decision regarding my future transportation especially since the rental are getting costly, appreciate you for taking the time to educate us .

  14. German Casas says:

    Thank you for your information, I will be getting my car in the next 2 weeks hopefully! I will go through the same process so your information is very valuable!

  15. Luis Medina says:

    Thanks awesome info.

  16. Hi, My question is if you had to choose between transporting your car directly through Crowley or Puerto Rico Auto Transport which one would you choose? I’m debating after reading some of the reviews. Also did you keep your car insured with your company here in the US until you arrived in Puerto Rico, would you recommend paying to have the extra insurance offered by the transport company? Such a stressful process.

    1. I did keep my insurance. I haven’t shipped with Crowley so unsure if their customer service would be distinct and/or different since the transport company used Crowley. The good news is once you get it on the island it’s over! Just a one-time process. Hope this helps!

  17. Was their any sort of shuttle from this place to the airport or hotels? We are considering shipping our only vehicle to the states and back.

    1. There’s Uber/Lyft, and there are rental car companies not too far away if you want to pick up a car for the day. Otherwise no shuttles run by the shipping companies.

  18. Jocelyn Cordero says:

    Hello Jen,
    Awesome information. My problem is I have a 2020 vehicle and writing what your indicated of the tax charges and the roads of PR I’m thinking of not taking it. However my question is if I am financing it what do I do? Do I return it? I know they still will charge me the amount of the finance or is it worth taking over there paying all that? If you can advice me. Thank you.

    1. You can contact the bank and see if they’ll give you special permission to ship it over even though it’s still being financed. You could consider selling it where you are as well.

  19. Jessica Freire says:

    Hi Jen! Did you ever get around to writing your post about car registration?!?!?

    Thanks 🙂

  20. Do you have a PayPal,Venmo, or crypto account I can send money to? This was super useful and easier than dealing with “expediters”. Just got my car yesterday. Thanks!

  21. Hi Jen, Thanks so much for your detailed post. My daughters are planning a temporary move to Puerto Rico and transporting two older cars. This has been a major stressor for them, but this will definitely help!
    In your post you mentioned a registration post to come. Is this ready yet? I would love for them to have a step by step process for this as well.
    I have read that you also get liability insurance when you pay your registration fees and wanted to know if this is true. Would you recommend getting additional coverage through a Puerto Rican company? Also, if the cars will be covered in Puerto Rico by our current insurance, is it necessary to get any insurance in Puerto Rico?
    Is it necessary for them to obtain a Puerto Rican driver’s license or can they drive with a valid state license?
    Thank you!

    1. Hi Nikki, that is correct regarding insurance. If you have a nice car it would be wise to get additional insurance. If they’re planning to live in Puerto Rico they should get a driver’s license within 30 days. It also helps establish residency for tax purposes. Best of luck to them on the move!

  22. Hello,
    I’m planning to ship my car to PR but my car registration in the states expire this month. Did you need to have your car currently registered to ship your car and pick it up in PR?

  23. Jonah helmer says:

    Hi Jen, did you have to make a sole proprietor EIN number to finish your booking with Puerto Rico Car Transport?

  24. Wish I had come across this article before I shipped my newer car to PR. I ended up paying close to $3000 just in taxes alone to get my car out of the “hostage situation”. Now, after just 2 years of that nonsense, I’m moving back to the States. Shipping a car out of PR is cheaper, but the process is even harder.
    Thanks for the sharing your experience.

    1. Hi everyone Jen I am NJ need to ship a R4 to pr its hard to find a save transportation comp can you help me thank you

    2. Priya Shanker says:

      @Betty, Hi- I am trying to do this too. Do you have anyone you are using to help you with this in PR?
      We have had to be back in the States for a medical emergency and need one of our cars back. I’d be grateful for any tips or leads of anyone who can help us do this for us.
      @Jen- if you can provide any insight or leads, I will be so very grateful! Many thanks!

  25. What will be the taxes for a Honda 2012 CR-Z in great condition?

  26. Pedro Silvestry says:

    Just to add a little bit to this article. A friend of mine just sent his car to the island. As far as insurance and registration goes, if you send the car with current insurance and registration from the states you can drive for three months before needing to register it in PR.

    1. Eric Jimenez says:

      @Pedro Silvestry, Hi Pedro. I will be moving back to Puerto Rico from Orlando and had a question regarding this. What happens if my license plate is taken like she mentioned in the original post? If my car has the Florida license plate I am good to go for 3 months? But what if the license plate is taken during transport?

  27. Vito Elegante says:

    Do you know if a car with check engine will be allow? Or what the procedure would be?

  28. I would not use Puerto Rico car transport if you have a choice. They ran my vehicle out of diesel and fried the electrical system jumping it incorrectly. I had to replace the TIPM and ECM to get it running. Then they said after they waited 3 years to respond that it was because my vehicle was old and they had no way to check the parts. The odds of something like that randomly happening during the 24 days that they had the vehicle is unlikely. And if they hadn’t put over 200 miles on it. I would have been more inclined to believe it was not their fault.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *