Ooooooops!!!!

 

arbitrios for importing the s2k will be around $5k. a friend of mine bought 2 s2ks (one for him and 1 for his brother) and each were close to 5k. one s2k is 2000 and the other 2002.

it will be cheaper to bring yours though xD

 

Ah, I was just there for the weekend to kind of scope out the area and get an idea of where I want to live. I really like Old San Juan, but I heard traffic is a pain in the ass and would take forever to drive to/from work at the airport.

I'm thinking I'll sell it here and buy a throw around car until I familiarize myself with the island. I'm thinking I'll get a Mitsubishi Mirage or Montero... Not at all vehicles I'd want to take to the track! =(

 

Do any of you think Dorado would be a good area to live, or would traffic be terrible to/from there too? I saw a really nice house for rent for $1k/mo.

 

Traffic is going to be really bad if you work normal 7 am to 6 pm hours. If you're not in those peak traffic hours is a nice place to live. I would say peak traffic is like 6:30 to 9 am and 4 to 6:30 pm (for Dorado) but don't quote me on that. The biggest problem will be that you are going with the flow of traffic of people entering and leaving San Juan for work.

 

Enpe, I live in Isla Verde

 

Enpe, I live in Isla Verde plus my wife is a realtor and short term rents apartments in the Isla Verde and Condado area. I can tell you that Isla Verde is a high end tourist area and generally expensive. However, Isla Verde is split in two areas by PR-26 (Baldorioty de Castro expressway). The area on the beach side North of Baldorioty is more expensive than south of Baldority. Sale prices may be up to $100k less on the South side for comparable properties, as they say in the real estate trade, it's all about location, location, location.
That said, I recommend you look into a a 6 bldgs apartment complex called Laguna Gardens. It's South of Baldorioty and on the outskirts of Isla Verde, less expensive than comparable apts on the North side, it's literally a 2 minutes drive to the airport, fenced in parking with security guards, and you'll find from 1Bd 1Bath to 4Bd 3Baths apartments. Best bet, ck out www.clasificadosonline.com for rent prices and while at it, ck for prices on s2k's. Usually there are up to 10 s2k's for sale at any one time. My advice, don't sell your s2k, you'll be sorry the instant you let it go.
On the excise taxes try our Treasury Department's website at www.hacienda.gobierno.pr. Arbitrios on automobiles are based on the BlackBook value of the car plus 30% and then the excise tax rate table applies. This table is progressive so the higher the tax basis the higher the rate.
While travelling in Texas, I bought my MY '07 eBay in 2010 and had it shipped to PR. Here's a non-exhaustive list of incurred expenses:
Ground transportation from st. Pete, FL to Jacksonville sea port $250. Marine transportation on SeaStar Lines $950. Excise taxes (arbitrios) $6,500!!! DTOP registration and gov't no-fault insurance $500.
Best of luck on your search and please feel free to contact us when you finally set foot in Puerto Rico.

 

@okalf
Thanks for the advice. I've decided not to import the S2000 and I've heard Laguna Gardens isn't a bad place to rent while I get an idea of where I want to live, but I also heard just across the street are some pretty rough areas. I'll be looking for a car when I get there too. If you happen to know anyone with a vehicle for sale for under $4k in good mechanical condition with AC, that would be awesome.

I'm assuming clasificadosonline.com is the place to go for rentals/cars. It sucks that most of the posts don't have pictures or it's only one!

 

Yeah, the website lets you upload just one pic when you submit the ad. About the bad areas near Laguna Gardens, its not a ghetto or something like that.

 

I wanted to see how La Perla was. I met someone in Old San Juan and we walked down there. It's not intimidating at all... My friends are out of their minds. That or Viejo San Juan cleaned up well in the past few years.

In any case, I'll be there August 22nd and I'm still searching for an apartment. I'm aiming for Condado now, hoping to find something for under $1000/mo with a balcony. Y aprendo que necesitar aprender espanol. I felt like a fool trying to speak Spanish there.

The S2000 is getting paint and all of the little problems fixed. I'm really reluctant to sell it. =(