Here's a final breakdown of what it cost me in US dollars to get my jeep here, legal, and on the road.

Subscription to Carfax	$25
Packet8 Phone Calls to Miami	FREE
Flight to Miami	$91
Rental Car	$78
Hotel Room for the night	$90
1995 Jeep Wrangler Rio Grande	$4395
Towtruck to take it to Port Everglades	$80
Shipping from Port Everglades to Grand Cayman	$975
Reduced Rate Import Duty (17.5%)	$995
Environmental Disposal Fee on Imported Cars	$312
Dock, Cargo & Trucking Fees	$57
New headlights that are aimed the opposite direction	$95
Roadworthiness Inspection	$32
Insurance (incl 50% No Claims Discount)	$662
New License Plates fee	$62
Vehicle Registration (6 mos)	$100
Finally getting my own transportation again:	Priceless

The total came out to about $8000 US dollars. In Cayman Dollars, it's 6720. Now I know intimately why Jeeps in particular are so expensive down here. There was a '92 in the paper for $6000 CI last week, and it was rusty, had no top and was ugly. Chopper sold his '89 Wrangler with no top, and no power steering pump and a whole bunch of other issues for $1200 CI. At the “going rate” mine's gotta be at least $8000 CI down here. If I sold it for that today, I'd stand to make a 25% profit.

That $8000 US total does NOT include 3 days of standing in lines and queueing up for customs, port authority, insurance, inspection and plates. Plus then I'd have to go and find another Jeep as clean and in as good condition as this one and then start the whole process all over again. Thank you, but no thank you.

I'm still optimistic about going to Vancouver for xmas, so I'll be sure to prowl the wreckers on Scott Road for a new tailgate, bumperettes, drivers side door closer and maybe a back seat. At least those prices are in Canadian dollars. I'll bring the parts back as luggage and have them installed and painted here with the claim from the shipping company whenever that check arrives.

Last thing I need to get now, aside from a Maple Leaf bumper sticker (there are 2 other Jeep Rio Grandes on the island and ya gotta be able to tell when it's ME parked outside Lone Star and come belly up to the bar :)) and a center console from Tuffy Products. Nat has two of them, one in his jeep and one in his Land Rover. They're pretty cool, they're 16 guage steel, and bolt directly to the floor giving you secure storage space, a little flip-down lid that secures/holds a standard DIN stereo and even has cup holders! They're also a bit pricey, so I'll probably wait til February to get one of those bad boys.

Stay tuned for pictures, I'll give it a wash this weekend to get the three weeks of sitting at the port and on a ship dust and dirt off of it.