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After having traveled to Costa Rica six times on retirement research, my wife and I plan to relocate in four years. I would suggest a Toyota (or other japanese vehicle.) I recently bought a new Toyota 4Runner, and plan on having it shipped to Costa Rica, in four years. I picked the Toyota 4Runner because, I have seen so many all over Costa Rica, the four wheel drive, the ground clearance and all the Toyota repair shops I have seen all over Costa Rica. My 4Runner is excellent in the harsh winter snows here in Pennsylvania, and will also be excellent during the Costa Rican rainy season.
In our travels to CR we have rented a Daihatsu Terios, a Geo Tracker, a Kia Sportage, a Toyota Hi-Lux and a Toyota Prado. All the other vehicles besides the Toyotas had insufficient clearance and power. We will always stick with a Toyota 4X4 with 200,000+ engines.
Do yourself a favor and buy a Toyota down here in CR. Its cheaper than bringing one down and paying the taxes. The engine will be more economical because it will be a smaller motor than the ones sold in the states and if you can try to buy a vehicle equipped with a diesel engine as the fuel is cheaper and it gets better MPG and lasts longer than a gas motor. The Toyotas and other makes sold here at new car dealerships are made with engines that are generally not sold in the states because of emissions requirements. The irony concerning clean emissions in both automobiles and commercial trucks sold in the US is that they burn more fuel to meet these standards thus actually making them less economical. You will also find that certain parts for US model cars are not available here even though the dealer is selling the same model car. There are many differences in the parts provided to US models vs non US models.
Could you recommend a way for me to determine whether parts may be difficult for me to obtain for a U.S. built Toyota 4Runner. We are considering having it shipped to CR. Thanks in advance.
Sadly, you ask an impossible question. Some parts are completely interchangeable regardless of the origin of the Toyota. Those will be available here. Others are unique to those built in the U.S., in Japan or maybe elsewhere. And there are aftermarket parts that would be perfectly acceptable. It will depend on what parts you need at the time.
Any substantial mechanical repair shop will have a means of getting parts from the U.S. but no one said “cheap”.
By the way, whether you buy a car here or have yours shipped in, the tax that’s charged is the tax you will pay. The importer (whether the new car dealer or anyone else) will pass along the taxes and other costs of importation just the same as if you pay them directly.
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