Car collections used to sit in one place, usually near the owner. Increasingly they do not — and the reasons collectors give are notably unromantic.
The short version: Splitting a collection is driven by three things: how the home jurisdiction taxes the vehicles, what climate-controlled storage costs there, and whether tightening emissions and access rules are quietly eroding the usability of the cars.
The three pressures
Tax treatment. Some jurisdictions treat collectible vehicles as personal property subject to annual assessment; others tax only on transaction. For a collection with meaningful value, an annual percentage is a substantial recurring cost that compounds against appreciation.
Storage economics. Proper climate-controlled storage in a major metropolitan area is expensive per vehicle per month, and that is before insurance loaded for concentration risk. Owners with a dozen cars are running a facility whether they think of it that way or not.
Usability erosion. This is the one that actually irritates collectors. Low-emission zones, urban access restrictions and tightening inspection regimes are progressively making older vehicles harder to drive in the places they are stored. A car you cannot drive is a very expensive sculpture.
Where Costa Rica fits — and where it does not
Let us be straight about this, because it is a case with real limits. Costa Rica is not a low-cost destination for importing vehicles. Import duties on cars are significant and scale with vehicle value and age, and the total landed cost of bringing in a valuable car can be a genuine shock to someone expecting a bargain. Anyone who tells you otherwise has not run the numbers.
What Costa Rica does offer is different: a stable jurisdiction with no annual wealth-style tax on personal property of this kind, a benign climate for storage in the drier regions, territorial taxation so unrelated foreign income is not drawn in, and no low-emission zone regime restricting where an older car can be driven. For an owner who wants a few cars where they actually live and drive them, that is coherent. For someone seeking a cheap offshore warehouse, it is not the answer.
How collectors actually structure this
The common pattern is a split rather than a wholesale move: the bulk of the collection stays in a specialist facility in a jurisdiction chosen for tax and logistics, while a small number of cars — the ones actually driven — live where the owner does. Splitting also reduces concentration risk, which insurers price.
The recurring mistake is moving vehicles before establishing the import treatment, on the assumption it can be sorted at the port. It cannot, and demurrage accrues daily while it is not being sorted.
The three-tier collection, and why collectors split them
Collections of any size tend to sort themselves into tiers with genuinely different requirements, and recognising which car belongs in which tier resolves most of the location question.
The drivers. Cars used regularly, worth enough to care about but not so much that use is irrational. These belong wherever the owner lives, because a driver that cannot be driven has been reclassified into a different tier by accident.
The keepers. Appreciating, rarely used, requiring proper climate-controlled storage and occasional exercise. These are the ones where jurisdiction genuinely matters, because they are pure carrying cost for years at a time.
The projects. Under restoration or awaiting it. These belong wherever the competent specialist for that marque is, full stop. Proximity to the workshop matters far more than tax treatment.
Most collectors who split geographically are moving tier two while keeping tier one close and leaving tier three with the specialists. Wholesale relocation of an entire collection is rare and usually regretted.
Running the landed-cost calculation properly
Because import duty is the dominant variable for Costa Rica, the calculation deserves care rather than a rule of thumb. Duties scale with vehicle value and age and are assessed against a valuation the authorities determine, which may not match what you paid or what you believe the car is worth.
The practical approach is to have a customs broker produce a written landed-cost estimate for the specific vehicle — VIN, year, declared value — before shipping anything. Include ocean freight, marine insurance, port handling, customs brokerage, duty and taxes, inland transport and registration. The gap between an informal estimate and the real figure is where the unpleasant surprises live.
And confirm current rules rather than relying on articles. A great deal of outdated information circulates about vehicle import concessions under various incentive laws, and terms have changed more than once.
Storage conditions and the humidity problem
Tropical storage is a genuine technical consideration rather than an afterthought. Humidity drives corrosion, degrades rubber and leather, and encourages mould in interiors and mildew on soft trim — and coastal air adds salt to the equation.
This is a substantial part of why serious storage in Costa Rica sits in the Central Valley rather than beachside. The elevation gives markedly drier and cooler conditions, and proper facilities run dehumidification, battery maintenance and periodic exercise regardless. A car stored badly in a tropical climate deteriorates faster than most owners anticipate, and the damage is expensive and often invisible until it is not.
Questions collectors ask
What does it cost to import a car into Costa Rica?
Duties are substantial and depend on vehicle value, age and classification, and they change. Get a specific landed-cost calculation from a customs broker for your actual vehicle before shipping. General figures are not reliable enough to plan on.
Do residents get an import concession?
Import concessions have existed under various incentive laws and their availability and terms change over time. This should be verified for current applicability rather than assumed from older articles — a lot of outdated information circulates on this specific point.
Is climate a problem for storage?
Humidity is a real consideration on both coasts. The Central Valley is markedly drier and more temperate, which is why most serious storage sits there rather than beachside.
Can I drive a foreign-registered car while visiting?
Temporary importation provisions exist for vehicles brought in by visitors, with defined time limits tied to the driver immigration status. Overstaying those limits creates a problem that is far easier to avoid than to resolve.
Is there a collector car scene in Costa Rica?
There is an active enthusiast community and regular events, though it is smaller than in the US or Europe and specialist marque expertise is correspondingly thinner. Parts sourcing for uncommon vehicles generally means importing.
Can I sell a car locally after importing it?
Yes, and the local market for interesting vehicles exists, though it is small. Note that duty paid on import is not recoverable, which affects the economics of importing a car with a view to selling it on.
What about registration and inspection?
Vehicles require registration and periodic technical inspection. Older vehicles can present difficulties meeting inspection requirements depending on condition and originality, which is worth verifying for your specific car before importing it.
Where to go from here
If any of this is landing close to home, the useful next step is not a brochure — it is a conversation about your actual numbers, your timeline and your family situation. Our team at Golden Visa Costa Rica walks through residency routes, property options and the practical sequencing with people in exactly this position every week. Book a private consultation and we will tell you honestly whether Costa Rica fits — or whether it does not.
This article is for general information only and is not legal, immigration, tax or investment advice. Rules change and individual circumstances differ; consult a qualified Costa Rican attorney and your own tax adviser before acting.