Car/Vehicle Shipping Cost from Sao Paulo to Oakland, California

Importing a car from Brazil to the U.S. involves significant costs, primarily shipping ( around $2,000-$2,500+ via sea RoRo/container), plus a 2.5% duty on modern cars, a 25% duty for trucks (Chicken Tax), plus customs fees, handling, and potential DOT bonds, with total expenses highly dependent on the vehicle's value, type (classic vs. modern), and specific origin/destination ports, requiring quotes from international shippers.

The cheapest way to ship a car internationally is generally Roll-on/Roll-off (RORO), where cars drive onto and off the ship, costing around $900-$2,500+ depending on destination, as it avoids packaging and crane costs. For more protection, Shared Container shipping (grouping cars) is the next cheapest, while booking through platforms like Shiply or using companies with price matching, like SGT Auto Transport or Sherpa, can also find competitive rates.

Driving costs include food, lodging, and fuel for one person. Like we said earlier, the cost to ship a car is almost always higher than the cost of driving that car the same distance. Even when you factor in additional costs like hotels, gas, and food, driving is still cheaper.