Anyone here ever ship a US car to the EU? (Roy?), Looking for someone else's experience to learn from Options

[KeithO]

I am 95% sure I will be taking a temporary transfer to Germany in 2008 for my job. I don't know how long I will be there or when I will be leaving but I am pretty sure this is going to happen. I've done a few Google searches on transporting US street-driven cars to Germany but haven't gotten a whole lot of concrete information, just broadbrush stuff.

Based on what I saw, it appears that this will cost around $3,000 minimum roundtrip but I am also very interested in any safety/emissions/etc. modifications that might be required. While it is unlikely that I will get to take the car, I'd like to be armed with enough information to make a quick, informed decision before ruling it out.

In case you are interested, I am looking at taking my 1997 WS6 that has been modified for track use (purchased from fellow frraxer "BobbyLee" earlier this year). It would be fun to try some lapping days over there with some "American Iron" in addition to just getting to and from work.

Any information would be interesting at this point. Thanks.

[roy]

Keith is this a private industry or DOD or DOD Contractor or state department job? The answer to this will dictate the amount of pain or ease for importing to Germany

[KeithO]

Private industry and I will need to do this on my own and independent of my company.

[roy]

Short term no problem, just use your stateside plates . But if its longer than 3 months I believe you have to register it in Germany and that is expensive the first time (30% value of the car )for import tax and sales tax. You will have to pass a rigid inspection also. You should get a International drivers from the states also if you plan to drive here.

[KeithO]

Hmmmm, so you are saying that I could have it there for up to 3 months as a "guest car"? That's interesting - I hadn't even thought of something like that. Are you aware of any written resources that describe the procedure for this? In my google searches, I saw one recommendation where a guy took the QE2 across the Atlantic Ocean and brought his car as "luggage" and it transport was included in the price of the ticket. He had a steerage-class cabin that was less than $3k.

3 months would be better than nothing and sounds like I could avoid the whole car registration thing. Even so, 30% book value for a 1997 f-body wouldn't be that much anyway.

I used to religously carry an International Driver's license and never once needed it so I stopped keeping it up to date. I DO have a valid UK driver's license, however. Either way, I have to believe that my company will ask me to do this again (though I didn't have one on my last two trips to Germany - and I had rental cars both times).

When you say rigid inspection, is there anything specific that makes it rigid? Are there obvious things that the German authorities would be sticklers on that might go unchecked in the US?

[roy]

Rigid inspection in that if its a aftermarket part it needs TUEV certification and approval to be installed on the car. Either way if it is certified and approved you will have to pay to have entered on the drivers registration (Fahrzeugbrief)
Here is a page from Canada on importing to Germany http://www.mapsupport.com/thedatabase/impex/imprtgvehger.htm
That was the only one one I found. It does say something different for length of stay for the vehicle.
When you come over , get ready to get (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/nutkick.gif) with the petrol prices.

[KeithO]

Looks pretty straight-forward and I like the 6 months stay as a "guest" car. Once my real dates are known, I will be contacting the German Embassy here in the US to talk over the contents of the information at that link to ensure that nothing has changed since 1998. This is looking like a possibility.

It appears that my company is going to play the "you can stay for 3 months without a visa" game and it was interesting to see that you car could stay for up to 6 months even if you weren't necessarily there for a continuous 6 months.

What, I'm looking at the equivalent of $6-$7 a gallon? That's OK - love the sound of that petrol running through my motor. I'll pay to continue hearing that sound.

[atakacs]

I took my '98 Z28 to Germany in '98 but the Army took care of almost everything and all I had to do was get the annual inspection, take a driving class, pass a test, blah blah... really pretty simple. The hardest part was saying goodbye to my car for a month and a half while it crossed the ocean.

[KeithO]

I have roughed in a plan...

My current thinking is that I would drive to New York and board the QE2/QM2 for an eastbound passage. Looks like it will cost around $1,600-$2,000 for a steerage-class cabin. From there, I'll get the car from Southhampton to Portsmouth. Looks like a 15-mile drive (ought to be interesting). From there, I will get on the P&O ferry to LaHavre, France. From there, I'll point the car east and head towards Germany. Looks easy enough. An alternative could be an "autocar" train from the UK to Germany but I haven't researched that yet.

It appears that I would need to take a week's vacation for the trans-atlantic crossing and allot 2-3 days to get from Southampton to Erlangen.

Now I need to wait for my company to firm up some dates. From there, I can try to make this work within the transatlantic crossings (according to Cunard they only have the QE2 and QM2 for this) and see what happens. From there, I would need to talk to the Germany Embassy.

Assuming the dates agree with Cunard's schedule, this could actually work and I could probably convince my company to pick up the tab for the transatlantic crossing (at a minimum) in lieu of a plane ticket.

I always enjoy this sort of thing. I have always been the McGyver of international travel. Hahahaha.

[Sidney]

Keith,

For $3,000 I'd say, fly coach, keep your vacation days, and rent a Porsche every weekend!

Sidney

[atakacs]

I have roughed in a plan...

My current thinking is that I would drive to New York and board the QE2/QM2 for an eastbound passage. Looks like it will cost around $1,600-$2,000 for a steerage-class cabin. From there, I'll get the car from Southhampton to Portsmouth. Looks like a 15-mile drive (ought to be interesting). From there, I will get on the P&O ferry to LaHavre, France. From there, I'll point the car east and head towards Germany. Looks easy enough. An alternative could be an "autocar" train from the UK to Germany but I haven't researched that yet.

It appears that I would need to take a week's vacation for the trans-atlantic crossing and allot 2-3 days to get from Southampton to Erlangen.

I took my car to a port somewhere in SC if I remember correctly, and it took it straight to Bremerhaven, Germany, then they put it on a truck and drove it to my base. I know that was through the military but since they always subcontract things out, I'm sure you could privately arrange for the same type of transportation if that interests you.

Personally, I hate France and would pay extra to avoid that armpit of a country.

[KeithO]

This won't happen... It appears that things won't be clear until last-minute. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/banghead.gif)

It was nice to dream. Maybe I can take the company car to Hockenheim instead.

[roadracerwhite]

Sounds like a cool idea.

I have heard of two possible issues.

One being the side mirrors are not pedestrian friendly and I believe that is a requirement, but since the car is going to be over there a short while it may not be neccessary.

The other being insurance, A guy in the Porshe club here was transfered to Belgium, so he had his 928 sent over. Then he went to get insurance and it was outragous because of the v8. But that was Belgium.

I say go for it, it would be so cool to drive one on the AutoBahn!

But don't get too discouraged there are a few F bodies over there here is one. See the mirrors on it.
(IMG:http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f400/roadracerwhite/germany%20trip1/P5060091.jpg)

(IMG:http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f400/roadracerwhite/germany%20trip1/P5060090.jpg)



I know I go to Germany and take pictures of American cars.

[BenZ28]

One being the side mirrors are not pedestrian friendly and I believe that is a requirement, but since the car is going to be over there a short while it may not be neccessary.

I've never heard of the requirement to change mirrors to euro-spec when registering a US car over here (though it's true that the euro-spec F-Body has different side mirrors), so I wouldn't worry about that.