How to ship a car to Hawaii?
Relocation is a really hard thing for anyone, especially if you are changing location from one country to another. If you already have established yourself in the present location you are right now, then you will probably have a hard time adjusting to the current conditions of the location you are transferring to. Not only that, but you have to worry about your personal belongings as well. Shipping your clothes and other appliances might be easy enough, but when it comes to shipping automobiles, it might be easier to find a car to buy in the area you are relocating. While selling a car might be the best course of action in these situations, bear in mind the cost of buying a new car might not be that big of a difference as compared to hiring a vehicle transport service. For example, if you are moving to the wonderful island of Hawaii, it is important to learn how to ship a car to Hawaii, all the legal documents and costs incurred for the process, and the advantages of having your car shipped instead of buying a brand new car.
Cost – the major contributing factor
If cost is not an issue, then you wouldn’t even be considering shipping your automobile in the first place, you’d just buy a new one. Unfortunately, a car is a major investment that is extremely expensive to just throw away and dispose at a moment’s notice unless you have the finances to spare. It might be a surprise to a lot of people that the cost to ship a vehicle versus the actual cost of buying a brand new vehicle leans slightly in favor of shipping. Not only that, but shipping your car also frees you from all of the other worries of owning a brand new or second-hand car, such as maintenance, insurance (if you already have car insurance), comfort and nostalgia for those who have grown quite attached to their cars. There are a lot of automotive transport companies that also offer shipping of personal belongings to the country of your relocation, so why not just hit two birds with one stone and have your automobile shipped along with your other stuff?
How To Ship A Car To Hawaii?
Several ways you can ship your car to Hawaii
There are several different ways that you can avail if you are interested in motor vehicle transport to Hawaii: door to door; door to port; port to port and port to door shipping. Knowledge on how to ship a car to Hawaii is very important so the following services needs to be carefully studied, especially considering the fact that your car might be your most important possession:
- Door to door shipping services. Is an all-in type of service that only requires you to pay for the service and provide the necessary documents required for vehicle transport to Hawaii. Basically, automotive transport companies will pick-up your vehicle (together with your personal belongings if you choose this service as well) directly from your home or from your designated origin point and they will take care of shipping, overseas transport and delivery of the goods to your destination point. You must clearly specify the location of the destination as well as make sure that you arrive at the destination at the time you declare or arrange for the automotive transport companies to schedule a call from you alerting them of your arrival to the destination.
- Door to port shipping services. This is a motor vehicle transport service that allows companies to pick-up your vehicle at the origin point but requires you to pick-up the transported vehicle at the port of destination. There is usually a limited amount of time that you can let the vehicle stay in the docking area, otherwise storage charges may incur. Usually, the amount of time allowed before pick-up is 3 or more days, depending on the company offering the service.
- Port to door shipping services. This is the switched version of the door to port service, in which you deliver the vehicle to a designated docking port and have them deliver it to your destination point. This is especially perfect if you have not been able to make an appointment to have your vehicle pick-up or if you are going to the airport as soon as your vehicle is dropped off at the dock.
- Port to port shipping services. This service is probably the most economical and practical of all the services. The cost to ship a vehicle is very high especially if you let the automotive transport companies do all of the legwork for you, so you might as well do some of the labor to drive the cost down. What you do is drop off the vehicle at a designated port and pick it up at a designated docking port after a few days of arrival. This might be a good idea especially if you want to save more money and want to know how to ship a car to Hawaii.
Documents needed for automobile shipping and general requirements
Documentation is very important especially if you are heavily considering shipping automobiles. If you are from the United States Mainland and you are planning to ship your vehicle to Hawaii, the documents you need to prepare are the following:
- Make, Model and Year of the vehicle to be shipped.
- License plate number of the vehicle.
- Color of the vehicle.
- The total number of doors.
- VIN (Vehicle Identification Number).
- Valid registration and Insurance.
Different automotive transport companies might also require you to prepare your vehicle as follows:
• The vehicle to be shipped must be completely empty (no boxes, clothes, luggage or other equipment inside the vehicle)
• The vehicle must have at least ¼ tank of gas (for circulation purposes)
Delivery time to the island of Hawaii
Vehicle shipping normally takes 20 to 45 business days from departure to arrival on your doorstep. Automotive transport companies will notify you when your vehicle has arrived to the port, and you normally have 3 day to pick-up your vehicle (depending on the service that you availed) before additional storage charges are incurred. It is not unusual that your vehicle arrives at the destination port earlier than 20 business days, depending on the time of the year.
Now you know how to ship a car to Hawaii you can fill our Get a Quote form to get binding quote.