[Sumflow]

I am coming into this thread about a year late. I have shipped sports cars to Hawaii after driving across county, sometimes both ways. Great fun. I could do it again. What I mean by coast to coast, is I drove my front wheels down a boat ramp so that the Atlantic splashed around my tires. Then did the same thing in the Pacific before taking it to the docks and shipping it across the sea.

Most of the sports cars shipped here by regular people are military. It is very rare to see a sports car with out of state plates that are not military. This is probably because the military ships for free. Due to the high cost of shipping it makes more sense to ship them here than to ship them away. All cars in Hawaii have been shipped at least one way and this is incorporated into the value. If you ship the car back you have twice the shipping cost capitalized in the cars value in a market against other cars that do not. Leave it here.

On a cost basis I would figure the round trip shipping expense against that of a renta car. The longer that you stay the more advantageous it is to bring your own car. This is unless you have a Boxster and it is a sunny day. In that case bring it if you are only staying a weekend, because that is what these cars are all about. And oh yeah it is always a sunny day somewheres in Hawaii.

If you plan to stay, get Hawaii plates as soon as you can. A Porsche with Hawaii plates gets enough notice from enforcement. But if they know that they cannot pull up your information on there computer screens, with your foreign plates, they will pull you over and write it in there personal books. Bring your V1, put on Hawaii plates and just blend in easier instead of getting temporary permits. When you first arrive they have special deals for visiting the other islands with your wheels, so at least ask about it. You will still be able to use the Hawaii plates when you get back to the mainland.