You are thinking about moving to Hawaii, but you want to ship your car; how do you do that? I just recently shipped a car, and the process was a bit confusing and a little bit more difficult than I expected. My car is built out which also made it a bit more difficult as when you’re shipping your car to Hawaii, you’re not allowed to have any personal items in the vehicle. First, you need to decide a date when you want to ship the car. Based on where you live you have a few options; you can drive to the nearest port and ship it directly with Matson. This is the cheapest option if you live near a port. In my case I was quite far from a port being in Colorado, and it was cheaper to have a third party handle the logistics. I used Montway (for $2,500) as they were the only company comfortable shipping out a built-out car. How Montway works is they pick up the car at your house and when you book will give you a 6-day range on when they can pick it up. They can even pick up while you are not home. All you need upon pick up is a driver's license and the keys. Make sure the car has less than a quarter tanks, is clean (good to get a car wash prior to shipping), and has no personal items. Once they pick it up, they handle everything from there.
Now your car is in Hawaii, now what? I never realized that we had to register our car in Hawaii till we got there and the process is very confusing and very convoluted. There was never a clear path for how to register the vehicle so here is my attempt to simplify it for you. You have two options, first is to get an out of state permit, and second is to get Hawaii license plates. The out of state permit is good for 1 year and then after one year you need to get Hawaii plates anyway. The permit is cheaper so if you plan on staying less than one year that is the way to go. For out of state permit you need current registration (as the out of state permit expires after one year or when your current registration expires) in the state you shipped the car from (make sure the registration is in your name or someone who can go to the DMV or else it won't work) For Hawaii plates you will need a title in your name (or someone who can go to the DMV for you) For both you need the following documentation: - Hawaii car insurance (call your insurance and make sure you change the state to Hawaii) (make sure the registration is in your name or someone who can go to the DMV or else it won't work) - Safety Inspection failed for registration (will elaborate on this in a bit) - Hawaii form (you can fill out at the DMV or print in advance, different forms for out of state permit and Hawaii plates) - Cash (credit cards have a fee applied, but do work) - and Bill of Lading Safety Inspections: This was the most confusing part of the process. Before you go to the DMV call any nearby automotive (Jiffy Lube, Goodyear, etc.) and ask to make an appointment for a safety inspection. You will need to bring your Hawaii insurance as well as your most current registration to the safety inspection. They will then fail you for not having current Hawaii registration but pass you for everything else. Once you receive your failed safety inspection you can bring that along with the other documents to the DMV within 30 days. Go to the DMV get your permit or plates and then (typically with no appointment necessary) you have to go back the automotive store and get another safety inspection. If you go to the same store, they will do it for free. You have 30 days until the failed safety inspection is no longer valid, so once you get the first inspection try and go to the DMV quickly. Once you pass, they will put a sticker on your car, and you are done! Key notes: - Make sure the car, insurance, and registration are in your name or else it becomes a headache (mine was in my parent's name and it was much more difficult since they were not in Hawaii) - Keep your bill of lading and documents from the shipping company - Make sure your insurance says Hawaii on it - Get your second safety inspection within the 30 days so you do not have to pay twice (it was only like $20 for both if you go within 30 days) - If staying less than a year, get the out of state permit for like $5 as it will be significantly cheaper. They do their registration fee by weight I couldn't do the out of state permit because the registration was in my parents name so my SUV was over $500 for the new plates. - You have 30 days upon the car arriving to do all of this or you will be charged a late fee (it is like $16 but still annoying) If you have any questions feel free to contact me [email protected], hope this helps!
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