Date: Thu, 25 Apr 2002 00:23:34 +0200
Reply-To: Robert Steven Fish <fish@SALZBURG.CO.AT>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Robert Steven Fish <fish@SALZBURG.CO.AT>
Subject: Re: Overseas travel questions, especially for Britain
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Hi,
I am presently living in Austria... 10 minutes from the German border.
It is entirely possible that you could buy a bus in Germany or Austria
relitively easily. The German eBay http://www.eBay.de has several T3s for
sale, and often some really sweet vehicles that you cannot get in the
states. Check out eBay just for the hell of it, and you will get an idea of
pricing... they are a bit more expensive than in the states. If you need a
good currency converter to deal with the prices in EUROS, you can find one
at:
http://www.xe.com/ucc/
The big question, however, would be... how would you register it, and get
plates, and insurance as a "non-European community citizen"?
I bought my 87 GL Vanagon in the USA, and drove it cross country a few
times, and then put it on a boat and shipped it to Germany. This was a
SWEET deal, as it only cost about 800 bucks to ship (in 1997), and was
completely
hassle free! I just brought the Bus to the shipping port in Baltimore, and
stood in line with the paperwork... kissed my Bus goodbye, and in 2 months
it was sitting in Bremerhaven, north of Hamburg, Germany. (if you do this
though, do not have ANYTHING OF VALUE inside of the vehicle.. someone stole
my jumper cables!!!)
I learned, from this experience, that as long as your car is still holding a
VALID registration in the USA... you are allowed to drive it in Europe. The
exact time period I do not know.. but I think it was several months (the
opposite is also true... I can ship a car from here back to the states, and
drive it for up to a year, with european plates, no smog testing, etc, and
then ship it back). You would have to talk to your insurance to see if you
would still be covered... they cover you in canada and mexico usually... so
why not a bit farther from home?
What you CANNOT do though, is sell the car, if you have brought it over.
The Europeans are really very picky about their vehicle stuff... and the
process of buying a used car, even for someone who lives here, is a royal
pain in the ass... plus the inspections can be very unforgiving, especially
if you do not have a friend who is a mechanic in a shop... they can very
often prey on desperate people, and poke around finding all kinds of really
STUPID things that they claim need to be repaired. My driver's side mirror
had about a centimeter of corrosion around the top and one edge... and they
did not pass it.
Emissions is also tough.
As far as CONCRETE info though... I regret that I cannot really help so
much, as I have never attempted to do what you are planning on doing. I was
all set to do it last year (but in the other direction), in the USA, but the
Vanagon that I was going to buy ended up needing too many repairs to make it
a reliable vacation vehicle... so I rented a car... for 6 weeks...
Aggghhhhhhhhh.
Having said all that... I am certain taht you will receive info from others,
and if you do pull this off... ad if you buy a 1991 Westfalia Camping Bus...
and want to sell it when you go home... PLEASE GIVE ME A CALL!!! I would
love to buy it from you! We even live close to the Salzburg airport, so you
could leave me your Van, and I will shuttle you over to the airport so you
can fly home.
Keep me posted, and good luck with your plans.
RSF
<º)))>{ <º)))>{ <º)))>{ <º)))>{ <º)))>{ <º)))>{
Robert S. Fish
Salzburg, Austria
1987 Wolfsburg Vanagon 2.1 GL Weekender
1987 Golf Cabriolet
1991 Golf
----- Original Message -----
From: "Katherine Lee" <katydid@TELUS.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Saturday, April 20, 2002 11:33 PM
Subject: Overseas travel questions, especially for Britain
> Hi all:
>
> This is my reintroduction to the list. I still have an 89 Westfalia, with
a
> propane furnace, 171,000 KM, which I was seeking advice about (bad
> oil-burning problem around 145,000 KM; "ran out of" oil on the I-5 just
> outside Seattle a couple of years back). I've finally had 3 pistons
> re-ringed, a lot of exhaust work done, and some minor cooling system
upkeep
> repairs. Before all the repairs, I was ready to dump the thing; now it
runs
> so well that I want to take it with me to Europe for a year or so when I
> travel this fall.
>
> Hence, the questions.
>
> 1. Without having researched the cost of shipping two ways, we are
wondering
> whether shipping the Westy with some of our possessions packed within
might
> be more cost effective than finding and buying and then selling a camper
van
> (Westfalia, Eurovan, whatever) in Europe. I understand theft and security
> might be an issue depending on the type of container used for shipping and
> where the van is stored (e.g. in an open compound) once it arrives. Do any
> of you have thoughts or experiences to share about this? Also, we're in
> Vancouver, so any shipping information about Canadian companies or ports
> (West or East Coast) would be appreciated.
>
> 2. We've also been told (by a Canadian Eurovan seller in Holland, who was
> biased, one has to admit) that second-hand camper vans like the Westfalia
> are very hard to come by in Europe. This doesn't really make sense to me,
> but I'll ask anyway ... does anyone know if this is the case and why?
>
> 3. We'll be based in the UK mainly for the duration of our stay, with
trips
> to the continent. I realize the British cars have right-hand drive but are
> there any other issues I should be aware of, such as standards & controls
> (emissions, etc.) that would disqualify the Canadian Westy from being
> licensed in Britain? If we were to go there for a year or more, would we
> have to get some special licensing, registration, insurance, etc.?
>
> 4. We have a 2-year-old with a Canadian-spec car seat (Cosco Alpha Omega)
> ... any issues with standards and such in Europe?
>
> 5. What about unleaded fuel? Is this readily available in all Western
> European countries?
>
> 6. I've had problems here at home getting propane fills, seems the new
> nozzles at LP filling facilities is shorter now, and as the Westy's
propane
> tank is so recessed (I think this has to do with the protective plate
> underneath the tank as well) access seems to be restricted, and some
service
> attendants have had to suggest we go elsewhere to find an LP station with
a
> longer nozzle. Does anyone have experience or suggestions about how to
avoid
> this in the future, and whether this might be a problem in Europe?
>
> Just to make a long post longer, I've looked a 1994 edition of "Europe by
> Van and Motorhome", which discourages people from shipping their vehicles
to
> Europe ... so I don't mind hearing pros & cons about the whole idea. I'll
> also ask our local CAA travel office about rules & regs while travelling
in
> Europe ...
>
> And just one last point ... sorry to dredge up this silly topic again, but
> my ancestry IS Chinese ... there's an ancient saying that the Chinese will
> eat anything that keeps its back to the sky ... including, snakes, seafood
> and fish as well creatures with legs ...
>
> Thanks in advance for any advice or sources of info you might have. I'm
not
> a techie but perhaps after our trip, I can share with the list some new
> experiences (though with this well-seasoned group, that might be difficult
> as well) ;-)
>
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