Vehicle Importation to Panama

Hello All,

I just arrived in Panama after driving my truck down to Panama from Canada. It’s an ‘07 Dodge Ram 1500 5.7L 4x4 in decent condition but with 360,000 km on it.

I had a friend look into importation of the truck so I can keep it in Panama. They told me it will cost around $4,000 (USD) to import it. I don’t think that’s accurate based on the duties and taxes I paid on equipment that I brought into the country when I was working here in 2019.

The book value of the truck is probably less than $2,000, even if you could get someone to buy it, which is why I was not scared of losing it along the way should someone decide to take everything. I got zero bites when I posted it on Craigslist for $1,500 before I gave it an overhaul for this trip prep. So, I really doubt that the Panamanian government is going to charge me $4,000 to import it.

Anyone have advice on who to contact to help with the process? I am doing well with my Spanish but I have trouble with rapid, spoken Spanish when speaking with people in person, so I would like to find a bilingual helper who I can hire.

Thanks in advance!

All the best,

Daniel