Can I drive my car from the United States and sell it in Panama?

Question

I want to drive down and fly back. I've heard this can be done, but was hopeful that someone has experience doing this and can give me a rundown of the procedure. Do I need to find a custom's broker in Panama? Any idea of duty fees? Any other helpful information is appreciated. The car is over 10 years old and worth less that $2000. Thanks!

Answer 1

Duties on used items can be tricky.  You will have to nationalize the car at the border.  You might not be able to do this yourself since you have no tax id in Panama, so you'll need to contact an importer that you trust.  Of course, the duty is probably like 10% or $200, the importe would probably want to charge you a couple of hundred bucks for all the paperwork, it would cost a couple of hundred bucks to register there, so you're probably down to a net $1,000 if you can sell it quickly, otherwise storage, insurance etc will start to cost you.  

It really sounds like a hassle.

Answer 2

if you count all the gas you're going to have to buy plus your plane ticket, you're probably losing more money than gaining, so i would just sell the car here and take my money and splurge and have a fantistico time in panama...good luck bro

Answer 3

Take the Bus If you do drive I suggest a jeep, nissan or Toyota. Something that will be easier to sell

Answer 4

With the taxes etc to do it legally you will probably exceed or come close to the value of the vehicle. You might do best to have a mechanic declare it a loss and abandon it to his care (for parts).

Throughout Central america they make it difficult for an individual to import a car for sale. It is possible but dont expect a profit or even much of anything back.

If you have a friend there who is willing to buy it from you in advance you might do a bit better, but with time constraints and a departure date I would suspect the paperwork would eat up at least a couple days of your trip.

Your passport will be stamped with your vehicle information when you enter the country, so without proper paperwork you will not be able to leave without the vehicle.

Parts for Fords (and other US makes) are rare, expensive and more difficult to obtain in Panama, so some makes common in the US would be nearly worthless in Panama if they are old vehicles. Due to scarcity of parts it would be difficult to find a Panamanian willing to pay the duty on such an older vehicle. Toyotas and some other Japanese makes are common, and would be worth more for older vehicles as the parts are more widely avalible.  

I drove down to panama in 2004 (and back).

(PS here is someone who tried to do exactly what you propose)

http://www.travelblog.org/Central-Americ...