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Importing a used car from the US to the Dominican Republic

Dominican customs seizes cars that arrive with a US salvage title, so the cars that do get through tend to look clean on paper. A flooded or crashed US car can still reach a lot in Santo Domingo once it has been retitled as rebuilt or its brand has been left behind in another state. The US history is where that past is still written down.

Updated October 2026

Two rules that decide whether the car can land

The Dirección General de Aduanas (DGA) applies an age limit and a condition rule. Both are checked at the port, after you have paid for the car and the freight.

  • At most five years of manufacture. Ley 04-07, which amended article 2 of Ley 147-00, bars light vehicles in headings 87.02 and 87.03 and subheadings 8704.21 and 8704.31 with more than five years. The DGA counts a “vehicle year” that ends on 30 June. Its 2019 notice said that from 1 July 2019 only 2014 and newer used cars could enter. Counted the same way, a car landing in the second half of 2026 needs to be a 2021 model or newer, but confirm the cut-off for your arrival date with a customs broker.
  • No salvage. Decreto 671-02 bars vehicles that aren’t fit to circulate in their country of origin because of crashes, fires, floods or salvage. In November 2017 the DGA told shipping lines and its own customs offices that cars whose titles say “salvage” and are unloaded at Dominican ports will be confiscated.
  • No right-hand drive. Ley 63-17 (article 175) bans importing and driving right-hand-drive vehicles, apart from postal service exceptions.

Rebuilt is not the same as salvage

Decreto 420-23, the regulation for the national vehicle register run by the DGII, accepts that some imported cars carry a salvage past. If a car is identified as salvage when imported, its matrícula must show the salvage mark, and one category covers cars that passed the rebuilt inspection in their country of origin and are allowed back on the road there.

In practice that splits US cars in two. A lot sold on a salvage certificate is the kind the DGA confiscates. A car whose state issued a rebuilt title may be registrable, with the salvage mark on its Dominican papers. Ask your broker how the port is treating rebuilt titles before you bid, and read the title type on the auction listing yourself.

Caucedo and Haina

The DGA runs customs administrations at Puerto Multimodal Caucedo, east of Santo Domingo, and at Haina Oriental and Haina Occidental on the Río Haina. DP World, which operates Caucedo, lists ro-ro facilities there, and many cars also arrive in containers. Your broker picks the port based on the shipping line.

On the US side, CBP wants the original title, or a certified copy, and the car at the port of export at least 72 hours before departure. A lot bought without the title in hand stays in the US until the title arrives.

DGII: primera placa, matrícula and marbete

The DGII keeps the national vehicle register. If you aren’t a licensed dealer, a 2019 DGII and DGA notice says the port won’t release the car until you show the receipt for the first-plate tax (primera placa), the matrícula and the metal plate. The DGII sells these at offices in the ports.

  • First-plate tax: Decreto 420-23 refers to a 17% ad valorem tax on the CIF value (cost, insurance and freight), on top of the import duties.
  • Circulation tax and marbete: the registration also checks payment of the Impuesto de Circulación de Vehículos and, where it applies, the CO2 emissions tax. The marbete is renewed every year.
  • Inspections: an emissions inspection certificate from the Ministerio de Medio Ambiente and a technical inspection certificate from INTRANT.

Checklist before you bid

  1. Decode the VIN with the VIN decoder and check the model year against the five-year limit on your arrival date.
  2. Read the title type on the lot page: salvage certificate, rebuilt, or clean.
  3. Run a CARFAX or AutoCheck report for brands from earlier states, total-loss and flood events, and the mileage trail.
  4. Check the auction photos for a waterline, silt under the carpets and corrosion in the wiring. See how to spot flood damage.
  5. Confirm it’s left-hand drive and get the title endorsed to you before the car sails.
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Letters and numbers, no I, O or Q. It’s on the dashboard by the windshield, on the driver’s door frame, and on the title.

What our reports cover

CARFAX and AutoCheck read US and Canadian records: title brands from every state, insurance total losses, auction sales and mileage readings. The auction report shows the Copart or IAAI lot as sold, with photos, recorded damage, and title and odometer at the sale. We don’t ship cars or handle the DGA or DGII.

Questions

Can I import a salvage-title car into the Dominican Republic?

Not on a salvage title. Decreto 671-02 bars cars unfit to circulate in their country of origin, and the DGA has said salvage-titled cars unloaded at Dominican ports will be confiscated. A car repaired and retitled as rebuilt in the US is a different case: Decreto 420-23 provides for registering it with a salvage mark. Confirm with a broker before you buy.

How old can a used car be?

No more than five years of manufacture for cars and light trucks, under Ley 04-07. The DGA’s vehicle year ends on 30 June, so the oldest model year allowed moves up every 1 July.

Where do I get plates?

From the DGII. Private importers pay the first-plate tax and collect the matrícula and plate, which DGII offices in the ports provide, before customs releases the car.

Does the Dominican matrícula show the car’s US history?

It records a salvage mark when one is identified at import, and the odometer reading on arrival. It doesn’t carry the car’s US accident, flood or mileage records. A history report does.

Related

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