So you need to move to Hawaii! When it comes time to decide what to do about a vehicle during your time in Hawaii, you would be remiss if you didn’t consider shipping your vehicle across the Pacific.
That might seem like a very complex process that isn’t worth the trouble, but if you intend to be in Hawaii for more than a couple of months, the expense of shipping your car will certainly be less than the cost of renting, leasing or buying a car from a company or dealership in Hawaii.
The companies that handle Hawaii car shipping have extensive experience shipping cars. They know the ins and outs of customs, have safety standards and insurance in place, and make auto shipping easy for the customer.
If you are still on the fence about the best way to have a car while you are in Hawaii, enjoy this handy guide to the costs of shipping cars to Hawaii–and the costs of car rental, leasing, and purchase in Hawaii. Likely, you will soon find yourself looking for Hawaii car shipping services.
Hawaii Car Shipping Services: Logistics and Costs
If you have never heard of car shipping, the idea may sound very intimidating. How do you even start the process? Where do you drop off your car? How long will it take for it to arrive, and what happens when it reaches its destination?
Fortunately, there are experienced Hawaii shipping companies that can handle all the details and communicate with you clearly about your role in the process. If you want to ship a car to Hawaii, utilizing a Hawaii car shipping service will be the key to a seamless experience.
Hawaii Auto Transport Methods: Logistics of Car Transport
There are a limited number of ways to safely ship a car to Hawaii. In essence, they boil down to container shipping, where cars are secured inside shipping containers, and roll-on-roll-off, where cars are driven onto a vessel, secured, and shipped without putting them in a container.
Roll-on-roll-off is often the cheapest method, as you don’t even need to empty fluids from the car, and the cars can be packed tightly on board the ship. But shipping a car in a Matson container is the safest option, with an excellent track record of successful transit across the ocean.
Competitive Pricing of Car Shipment to the Big Island
The cost of shipping a car to Hawaii varies both by shipping method and by how the car is to be handled at the port.
Port-to-port service deals strictly with the loading, shipping, and unloading. Door-to-door service, on the other hand, means that the company can pick up your car from your driveway, take it to the port, load it on the ship, then unload it in Hawaii and drive the car to its new home in your new driveway.
To find the cheapest method of vehicle shipment, you would have to go with roll-on-roll-off port-to-port service, which might come as low a price as $1200. However, when you consider the extra expense of potentially ferrying the car to a different island, and the risks involved with roll-on-roll-off, you may find that it makes more sense to pay a bit extra to get your vehicle safely to the islands and your door.
Door-to-door service and container shipping might cost as much as $3000 or more, but the peace of mind from knowing that your vehicle will be carefully transported in the safest manner available, it may seem like the only wise option.
Why Choose Auto Shipping: Cost to Get a Car In Hawaii
You may be tempted to just sell your car while you are on the mainland, and plan on renting, leasing, or purchasing a car when you arrive in Hawaii. This might seem like a much simpler solution, but once you take a closer look at the process of getting a car in the islands, you may realise that you are better served by taking the effort to ship a car with a reputable Hawaii shipping company.
Hawaii Auto Dealerships Also Pay to Ship a Car
You have to remember that any cars that are available for sale in Hawaii were also shipped from the mainland ports. This means that in some way, the dealer will make sure that you pay for that process.
The cost might be built into the price of the vehicle, or it might be included as an additional fee on top of the MSRP, but when the dealership orders that car, they do not intend to eat the cost of shipping; they fully intend for the buyer to pay it.
Your car shipping journey will seem more worthwhile when you think about the fact that whether you ship your car or you buy or lease, you will pay for car shipping either way.
Selection: Limited
If you like your car, you may want to take a good, long look at what vehicles are actually in stock on the lot at Hawaii dealerships. Often, the selection is very limited to a few makes and models.
So if you have found a car that works for you, it may be worthwhile to just use car shipping to bring it with you–rather than trusting to the very small chance that a similar car will be available on a lot near your destination.
Used Cars: Questionable Safety
If you are worried about money, you might want to take a chance and risk purchasing a used car in Hawaii. Unfortunately, many of these cars have problems that are endemic in the islands, from rust that is caused by the salty ocean air, to brakes that are worn out from driving up and down the mountains of Hawaii’s volcanic coast.
Even if your current car is a bit older, you are unlikely to get a car of equal quality for a good price in Hawaii. The cost and trouble to seek out car shipping is probably less trouble in the long term than the cost of buying a previous rental and then keeping it up to vehicle safety standards despite years of abuse.
Ship a Car to Hawaii and Enjoy Knowing That You Will Have Reliable Transport in Your New Home
As you make decisions surrounding your move, remember that all great opportunities come with costs and complications–and sometimes the easy way out isn’t easy and certainly doesn’t necessarily save money.
There are many amazing companies that handle all aspects of Hawaii shipping, bringing all your home goods to your new home, and they can also help you ship a car.
Find a company that handles Hawaii auto transport, and you will be surprised and relieved at how easy they will make this process for you. In just a couple of weeks, your car will be waiting in your driveway, and you can hop in and start exploring your new corner of paradise.
