trip to costa rica

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missipboy

missipboy

Joined
Oct 11, 2004
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tunica, ms
we're in the beginning stages of planning a trip to costa rica in jan. of 09 (08 if we can get it together in time). maybe 4 of us and want to fly down there and plan on buying two or more cruisers and driving them back. looking, of course for fj45's. anyone have any links or research type reading we need to look at?? need info on where to look, where to stay, how to import, how long it would take, stuff like that. we have a couple of contacts there-one is a lawyer, so we think we may be able to figure out the importing, but everything is still a mystery to us. any thoughts, ideas, advice would be appreciated.
 
Hmmm, I can't comment on the importing, but I am going to Costa Rica in 3 days. I assume you will be looking for the 45s in San Jose?
 
would you be interested in driving down in my 80 series and then all of us driving back in? The mickey rubicon tour of the Americas? I will look to get some sponsors. Starting with mom and dada.
 
possibly? our plans right now are to fly down and use most of our time driving back. all of us have younglings at home, so we've got to make the best out of whatever time we're gonna have. driving there and back may take too long. but i won't rule it out til' i talk to the rest of my crew.
 
i was there a couple of years ago. i'd recommend getting a hold of two people on the board:

offroadcostarica
sandcruiser
they both live down ther on the west coast, in playa tamrrindo which is also and excellent place to visit. i'd stay on the west coast, the caribbean side ain't all that. san jose was'nt much to look at either but if you're looking to buy rigs, it might be a good place to start.
 
i hope you speak spanish. the drive home can be very tretchurous otherwise....
 
If you do this, figure a day a country for crossing time. The borders can be a real pain and the drivers (especially second class bus drivers) have a death wish!

Be aware too that Central American mechanics generally are good at bandaids but don't expect anything they do to be of real high quality. Look over whatever you find VERY CAREFULLY and make sure that your life insurance is paid up if you plan to drive all the way to the states!

This is a link to my FJ45LV in Guatemala https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=76830
Here's a link to the issues that directly may affect life safety that were on my FJ45LV when I drove it back.https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=58524
 
You may have a problem bringing CR vehicles into this country. Federal emmisions standards and DOT safety requirements come to mind. I'd chck out what they will allow before buying and driving all the way back.

Sounds like a great trip. There are 40's and 45's in the junkyards down there that are better than many rigs I have seen for sale up here. Keep us posted and let us know what you find.

Good luck and safe travels.
 
I also live up here in the north of Costa Rica near Sandcruiser and there are some critical, time consuming issues to deal with when leaving the country in a Costa Rican registered vehicle. When you buy a car here the transaction has to take place with a lawyer (abogado) and a legal document is drawn up. The document has to be then filed with the National Registry (Rehistro National) for the official change of ownership which can take several weeks at best. After you receive the title with your name on it, you must get permission from the Rehistro National to leave the country in the vehicle. Another issue is that when a vehicle is in an accident or is issued a traffic citation, the violation is recorded into the rehistro national by license plate number, not drivers license. What this means is that if you want to buy a vehicle that has unresolved tickets or accidents, the title cannot be transferred into your name until the issues are resolved. Not to be a buzz kill, but its the facts. The current exchange is 520 colones= $1.00 so dont freak out when you see the prices.
http://supereconomicos.com/crautosindex.htm
 
Last edited:
good info. thanks to everyone. sounds more and more like there's too much risk involved. i'm not ruling it out-but i sure don't want anything sketchy to happen and have to spend extra weeks down there. hope my wife doesn't read this thread :D
 
I wasnt trying to talk you out of it, just giving you the lowdown on the process. I guess my point boils down to it taking probably 2 trips down here. One to locate, purchase and handle the legalities. The second to drive it out once the paperwork is complete. If you decide to look for cars here, I would only look in the San Jose area as most vehicles outside of the city either get thrashed on the bad roads or (being a 45) worked a farm its whole life. I see them every day with stake beds full of everything from pineapples to concrete block.
BTW I saw a fully restored white 45 on the way to San Jose last week. All it said on the window was DIESEL. Pura Vida
 
There a few but nowhere near as many as the 45 pickup and 40 series. They either are restored or a carcass in the junkyard rotting away. Lots of diesel 70's and 80's are around too, but not cheap as Costa Rica is not yet part of CAFTA so car prices are about 40% higher. Example: 07 base model (vinyl, bench seat, regular cab, diesel) Hilux is about 18,000,000 colones or $35000. I would go to Panama, buy a loaded Hilux turbo diesel and put it on a ship to the states.....just my opinion and I dont know if its possible.
 
Conex said:
There a few but nowhere near as many as the 45 pickup and 40 series. They either are restored or a carcass in the junkyard rotting away.
Click to expand...

When/if I come through this summer do you mind pointing out where the '45LV's are in the wreckers (jonkers)? I've got a Guatemalan FJ45LV that is the autoshop project here at the school I work at and I could use a few parts. I haven't seen any 45LV's at the wreckers here.
 
I have seen a total of 6 lv's since I moved here, 1 restored to stock in San Jose, 1 lifted and restored in San Jose, 1 is a tour company vehicle in Playa Flamingo another one driving near my house and I havent seen it again and the other 2 were nothing but a pile of rust in a junkyard in San Jose. When I saw them I looked to see if there was anything useable left and was gonna post it here on mud, but there was nothing remaining that wasnt either rusted to death or bent. Check this site and maybe the phone numbers can help you track something down. If they have what you need, I can see what it would take to get it to you.
http://www.guiaautomotrizcr.com/rubros/rubros-r.php
 
Capt. Jim said:
You may have a problem bringing CR vehicles into this country. Federal emmisions standards and DOT safety requirements come to mind. I'd chck out what they will allow before buying and driving all the way back.
Click to expand...

Should not be a problem as long as the vehicle is 25 years or older. Then the vehicle is exempt from NHTSA and EPA requirements.

I looked at a Troopy down there and contacted a broker to arrange the lawyer fees and shipping costs. I had a quote, but the seller received a better offer from a local.

One option could be to fly down to Costa Rica, do your shopping and bartering, drive the vehicles yourself to Puerto Limon and arrange to have them transported to Houston.

Then fly back.

Once the vehicles arrive in country, you can process them out of the Port of Entry and drive them home.

The broker I went with wanted $150 for their fee, $200 for bonded warehouse costs, $200 for Export permit, and $100 to load the vehicle.

This particular company shipped to L.A., so the ocean carrier costs was $1700, a little high because of the distance and Panama Canal costs. I found that more ocean carriers are avialable if you want a Houston port and the costs are much lower.

Just a thought. Like I said, I had about a month worth of research in shipping a troopy to the U.S. before the sell took a better offer.

Michael
 
Conex said:
There a few but nowhere near as many as the 45 pickup and 40 series. They either are restored or a carcass in the junkyard rotting away. Lots of diesel 70's and 80's are around too, but not cheap as Costa Rica is not yet part of CAFTA so car prices are about 40% higher. Example: 07 base model (vinyl, bench seat, regular cab, diesel) Hilux is about 18,000,000 colones or $35000. I would go to Panama, buy a loaded Hilux turbo diesel and put it on a ship to the states.....just my opinion and I dont know if its possible.
Click to expand...

Do you know of a autotrader type website in panama to check out options like that?
 
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