Although Costa Rica has a very sound public transport system, most people settling down in Costa Rica have their own cars. Costa Rica has a variety of tax exemption schemes yet import duties on cars are exorbitant. It is not essential to own a car in Costa Rica, but it is really fun to have cars to do light traveling or in order to run errands.

The law regarding the importing of cars into Costa Rica is very strict. If one wants to keep a car in Costa Rica for more than 90 days, he will have to register it. Registration includes paying of import taxes and other custom clearance duties.  Import taxes are very high in Costa Rica. The shipping of the automobile into Costa Rica is also expensive. It will cost more than $1000 to import a car into Costa Rica thereby making importing of automobiles into Costa Rica cost ineffective.

For example, if one decides to import a car into Costa Rica he will have to undergo a number of legal hassles. Primarily, import duties on the car will be decided based on the condition and the retail price of the car. If it’s a new car, the import duties will be more than that of an old car. Moreover the papers of the cars should also be up to date. Any discrepancies regarding the papers can bring the entire process to a grinding halt. After the bureaucratic and the customs department have cleared the papers the car is ready to be imported into Costa Rica. The freight charges will range from$500 to $1000 depending on the size of the car. Moreover there can be separate shipping charges also. However, the car will be shipped only until Puerto Limon from where it has to be driven to its destination.

But the process does not end here. On receiving the car, one has to inspect it. On inspection of the car, insurance as well as ‘Marchamo’ (local insurance) has to be paid. Moreover the names of the cars change in Costa Rica, that is, the model names differ from that in America. Hence importing car parts also become a difficult business into Costa Rica.

Import duties on normal cars as well as Sports Utility Vehicles and pickups models of the latest kind is fixed at 59%, whereas rates for older models of cars range from 71% and 85%, based on the age of the car being imported. These rates, however, is decided not only based on the purchase price but also based on the shipping costs.

In case of used cars the gas emission certificate has to be issued 30 days prior to shipping into Costa Rica. The gas emission certificate must be properly stamped by the Consulate of Costa Rica and sent to the Department of State. After this, a registered notary of the Department of State has to authenticate the certificate before it can be finally cleared and the car is allowed to be imported into Costa Rica. Also the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) must be typed in all the documents or else the entire process has to be repeated again.

Thus importing cars into Costa Rica is a time consuming and a difficult process. Moreover, it is not a very viable option since it is very expensive and once has to bear with a lengthy and prolonged legal process. Thus keeping the price and time in consideration, buying a car in Costa Rica is a better option than importing one into the country. Thus before deciding to import a car into Costa Rica check out the fabulous car showrooms of Costa Rica!!