How can I find out the fee the government will charge to bring a vehicle into the country? I already know the shipping costs. Thanks.
Hello all, I have the same question as @sschrestensen. I’ve bookmarked this post so that I can follow the response. Thank you in advance for the thoughtful response.
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This is a tough one.
Have you thought about buying your car here? A lot of expats buy their car here.
There is honestly a lot of paper work to do and the port where the cars are sent is in Puerto Cortes, you will have to drive the car from there to La Ceiba( around 4h) to then bring it in a boat to the island. Any car fee is calculated based on the car specifications.
There are a lot of reliable small companies that ship cars from the US to here and they take care of everything even sending the car to the island. (most important: papers)
Hope this works!
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Hello @sschrestensen,
The short answer is “it depends”…the rate is usually based on a % of the declared value of the car. You’ll have to establish its value via a bill of sale or else they will attempt to tell you what the market value of the vehicle may be.
To ship a car to Honduras from the U.S. via a maritime shipping container, the costs start at $1,500 and may be as high as $3,000. For larger vehicles that may not fit into an ocean container, the rate may be slightly more expensive.
You can use the rate sheet below as a soft guide.
*Prices and times are estimated. They can vary depending on the season and the type of vehicle.
*Save the ground transport cost by delivering the vehicle to the nearest port.
*Allow an additional 10 days to process the documents.
*Prices are for 1 car in a dedicated 20ft container. This is the safest and most reliable way to transport a vehicle internationally. Other items may be included in the container to help save you money when moving.
*Using the RoRo (roll on, roll off) method is less expensive and shipments can be completed in fewer days. Contact us now for a free RoRo quote.
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Thank you. Any idea what the percentage of the declared value is? Is there a restriction on the year vehicle?
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Hello @sschrestensen,
The guidelines can vary from customs broker to customer broker, but in general here is what you can expect:
- Your vehicle must be no more than 10 years old.
- There may be a higher price to pay for vehicles with more cylinders.
- If your vehicle is considered a luxury vehicle, they may charge more for it.
- You must have a bill of sale for the vehicle, or something confirming its value. They won’t accept the idea that the vehicle may have been a “gift” to you. They have a “table” they go by. If you declare an amount below the value they have on their table, they will go with the table value, or whichever is the highest record of value.
The interest is a tricky thing (and a bit of an issue) because most of the time they use a 10% to 15% interest rate over the declared value of the vehicle plus the shipping fee.
The best thing to do is for you to stop visiting the customs broker ahead of time or call them. You may also consider a local carrier who does this for a living.
Do us a favor, once you know for sure, post the most recent info here! - so that others like you can get a better response than what we may be giving you now.
Best of luck.
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Wow some really great info here I wish I had when I did it! Sounds like all the bases are pretty much covered, but if anyone needs a company recommendation-at least from the US-I’d give a shout to A-1 Auto Transport, Inc. They had a handle on some of the additional fees besides shipping and were able to give me a fairly accurate cost for the whole thing. This thread would have definitely helped though. It’s not always easy finding up to date stuff when shipping to places off the beaten path.
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We’ve heard that it may be possible to import classic vehicles over 25 years old? My son is kind of attached to his 1963 GMC pickup truck. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
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Hi
Unfortunately, the oldest car you can ship is 10 years, the exception to this is if the car is purchased on the central American region
Manuel
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