Cost of importing a Jeep

$7500 for tax on a Jeep seems about right.  Expect to spend at least $1500 for the shipping.  Miscellaneous expenses will probably bring the total cost to bring your vehicle to the island to $10,000.

Sticker shock is common, especially if the vehicle is new.  Hacienda will assess an extraordinarily high base value for the vehicle on which it assesses the tax.  This forum has multiple posts from folks complaining about the high tax.

It seems to me that there are only two instances in which it may be reasonable to transport a car to Puerto Rico.  The first is if the vehicle is a collectible.  Hacienda may assess a lower value, simply because the car is old.

The second instance, and the one that applies in my case, is if the car is an electric vehicle (EV).  Puerto Rico has waived import duties on EVs, so all you pay is a very modest handling fee (less than $50 as I recall).  My plan had been to drive my vehicles into the ground and then sell them for scrap before making the move.  Unfortunately my wife's car died too soon, so I replaced it with a Tesla Model 3.  Now she's got a reliable car, and in a few years when we make the move, we'll have a reliable car waiting for us on the dock.

Thanks for the info! I don’t know if it helped me but it was informative 😉
My husband is thinking it might be better for me to pay off the negative equity and sell my car. Unfortunately, after looking at the classifieds, I don’t think I’ll find a Jeep in the same price range in PR.  Not how I imagined starting off our adventure.

Sorry about that.  In this case I can either tell you what you'd like to hear, or what is true, at least as I understand it. 

Your husband will be pleased to hear that my advice to you is the same as his.  Not only is that in all likelihood the best course of action financially, it is doubtful that you could ship the car anyway.  To ship it, you must either hold the title or have written permission from the lender.  Considering your negative position on the loan, I'd be surprised if they let you ship the Jeep where repossession would be cost-prohibitive.

My suspicion is that the purpose of the high import tax on vehicles is to protect the local auto dealers.  Seems to do the job quite well.  No, you won't find the same Jeep at the same price, but the same Jeep will cost less than what you paid plus the shipping and import tax.  So let's say you've got a 2019 Wrangler, which cost $30,000.  Add to that the $10,000 in shipping/taxes/miscellaneous, so to get it on the island you've paid $40,000.  The same Wrangler costs $37,500 in PR.  That's a good deal.  Frustrating, no?

The cost of shipping most goods to PR makes it a bad idea as far as the finances go.  It is similarly much cheaper to buy household goods once you are on the island.  I would ship only those items that are precious to you.

My wife likes to think of this as our opportunity to "de-clutter" and live more simply.  Eh, I smile, and try to keep the wife happy.

Best of luck!