Re: Time out in Barbados
 

Erm....:unsure: i dont really know what to say with regards to the last few posts. thou i should be honest and say my initial reaction to Neal's post was that he was trying to get a sale especially as he did seem to press on a bit. albeit Neal, i did find your third post quite informative and useful so thanks for that as you did in fact directly answer a question i posed.

Maybe there is history between Ikon and Neal i dont know, but I :D am still hoping that someone has experienced shipping a car to barbados and could possibly give me an example of the costs involved (rough guide of course)..:fingerscrossed:

Re: Time out in Barbados
 

Hi Patty, Don't worry about Neal. I've no idea who he is, he just pops up here every few weeks and rather irritatingly advertises the house he has to let. I've reported him to the moderators who I trust will delete both him and his inappropriate posts.

Re. shipping a car - I can't remember the actual cost of shipping (maybe £1-2k?) as I considered that fairly negligible compared to the enormous duty - for my brand new cars from the UK, we basically paid almost the same again in duty to the Barbados government, literally tens of thousands of pounds extra for cars we'd recently bought in the UK.

There's no cheap way around car ownership here - but looking back, I would say unless you have a car you've had for a few years that it's easier to just buy one on the island.

Re: Time out in Barbados
 

Ikon, I've read your complaint and quite seriously I do not see Neal advertising Nation Barbados but rather just giving a recommendation. That is what the forum is for.

He is free to use the board daily or infrequently. That is his choice, not ours and not yours.

Rete

Re: Time out in Barbados
 

Thank you Rete,And p4tty for being fair :thumbup:

Re: Time out in Barbados
 

The cost of importing a car is HUGE!

They will value the car based on prices here (which are massvie) and then apply duty at possibly 100% or more...

Really not worth doing, you have to bite the bullet and get one here - check out http://caribzoomzoom.com/ - it'll give you an idea of prices

HTH

S

Re: Time out in Barbados
 

Cars at carib zoom zoom is a waste of time to expensive,Nation Classified and buy direct from the owners for example i have bought a 2002 ford focus in 2006 fully loaded very good condition direct from the owner he wanted $33,000 BDS,i got it for $30,000 BDS ($15,000USD) ,I have been to Zoom, Zoom and Car Max for the same car they wanted $43,000 to $45,000BDS,Insane and dont look for any real discount from these companies you can always bargain with the owners.Nation Classified the way to go.:thumbup:

Re: Time out in Barbados
 

Agree with Neal - Nation classified is the best way to buy a car....but as i said before, you should buy the paper early and get on the phone asap!

Re: Time out in Barbados
 

Wednesdays and Sundays are the days with the most classifieds :)

Re: Time out in Barbados
 

Thanks Expat, Foxy, Neal & shines.. 100% taxes? im so totally off the exporting car... will lease a decent car until i can buy a decent car, ill be sure to keep a very close eye on the Nation Classified - no doubt it'll take a while to get my head round having to pay thousands more for a car then i would do in the Uk - (i always believed we are ripped off in the UK in terms of cost of cars compared to most countries - but ohhh NO not in the case of Barbados). $30,000bbs for a used ford focus? is that good???:ohmy:

I think it wise to quickly come to terms with the fact that living in Barbados will be fairly expensive period!!! so get over it P and just enjoy!!!:thumbup:


How the hell do Bajans manage???:frown:

Re: Time out in Barbados
 

Patty, you're right - you kinda just have to "get over it" when it comes to car prices and duty here. I've found you'll pay about double what you'd pay at home, even for used cars. Our car is certainly not top of the line, though you'd never know by what we paid for it. Cars are one thing where you do just have to accept the higher prices here.

Lots of other things in Barbados are expensive, but they don't have to be. Someone told me, when I was moving here, that if you tried to carbon-copy your life at home here, then yes you'd pay more. But if you adapt (local produce, go to markets etc) then you don't necessarily have to pay that much more for everything. You just have to be a shrewd shopper sometimes.

Good luck with your car shopping.
Foxy

Re: Time out in Barbados
 

Foxy is right - of course, it also depends on whereabouts you are from in the UK. If you are from London/South East like me, you will find the cost of day to day living in Barbados pretty much the same if not less. You have to try to adjust your supermarket shopping habits somewhat though - some things we wouldn't think twice about throwing in the supermarket trolley at home are far more expensive here.

Don't forget also you will be spending far less on utility bills than in the UK, petrol is cheaper too......but unfortunately wine is way more expensive :(

Re: Time out in Barbados
 

Hi guys (incl girls too :-)

I am from London, which i believe is the most expensive city in the UK so you would think that im kinda used to paying over the odds for everything and therefore Barbados shouldnt shock the system too much. however you cant help but hope that away from the UK, the British pound can go soooo (unrealistically) far and so it is a shock when in fact things cost the same or more..

Anyway - im so over that now.. whether double or triple (well not quite.. haha) the cost of living in the UK, Barbados here we come...

SO:
Accommodation = in hand;)
Car = will lease then potentially buy:unsure:
School = Most probably St Gabriel - we are a bit partial to the name 'Gabriel' -means a lot to my little one - so we think it must be a sign.. u gotta love my selection criteria...lol but on a serious note ive hard nothing but praise for that school.. need to start the application ball rolling to hopefully be get in there.:fingerscrossed:
Work = No work permit, no IT jobs anyway...?:thumbdown:
Things to do - have had heaps of suggestion by PM:thumbsup:
Friends = Throw a few dollars around, and ill be fine...loll:rofl:

So thanks to everyone for your input.

What else have I missed???

Re: Time out in Barbados
 

Excessive drinking :beer::drinkwine:

Re: Time out in Barbados
 

Not that much of a big drinker really... certainly cant take the rum punch:blink: