Driving in Costa Rica is not difficult. One just needs to be more careful driving here as there are pot holes that you should avoid. In some cases the man hole covers are missing so you need to extremely careful not to put a tire in the hole or you may be buying a new tire. You also need to be careful of motorcyclist as they drive like they are bicycles, they don't follow any rules of the road. Motorcycles tend to pass on the right and the left and not in another lane, they pass you in your lane they just squeeze between the double yellow line and your car or the sidewalk and your car. Therefore you need to be very careful they are not passing you when turning left or right.
Should you ship your car to Costa Rica? Yes, it is a good idea to ship your car to Costa Rica. Cars are very expensive in Costa Rica, it is less expensive to ship your car and pay the import taxes on it. When you ship a car to Costa Rica and you are a tourist in Costa Rica your car can be here for 90 days from your entry date without paying taxes. The person I recommend you contact to ship your car is Jessi Mora jeseleti@yahoo.com she arranged to ship my car to Costa Rica. The process was very easy, you just drop of your car at Port Everglades or The Port of Miami and she takes care of everything. When you arrive in Costa Rica contact the shipping company and they will let you know when your car arrives. She also overnights your title to Costa Rica you pay a fee when you pick up your title. You then pay the shipping company and you can go get your car. You should not let your car stay more than a day or 2 at the port in Costa Rica. You also need to allow full day to getting your car out of the port. This is a process you must go through with the aduana (customs). You will also need to go to INS to purchase auto insurance 3 years ago this insurance cost about $20.00.
When importing a car keep in mind that larger cars that you may not consider a luxury car is a luxury car in Costa Rica. For example a Mercury Sable is considered a luxury car. The most common cars here are Hyundai, Toyota, and Nissan. These cars are easier to get replacement parts. If a car is not common here parts are expensive and may not be available here. You can still get parts you just need to have the shipped here. The mechanics here are good at rebuilding parts and making them work. The mechanics will also install parts that you purchased somewhere else and just charge for installation and this is usually very reasonable. The cost of gasoline in Costa Rica is expensive and the price is fixed by the government so all gas stations have the same price. At this writing regular gasoline is about $1.40 per liter.
