Buy vehicle in Europe and keep it there

The laws of each country are subtly different, so there is no general rule. You would have to decide which country you wished to buy it in, and double check the rules there.

• Registering the vehicle in you name. This would be difficult if not impossible without an address, citizenship is irrelevant. Could be impossible if you are not a legal resident (see Schengen below).
• Insurance, you would need to insure the vehicle, both the legally required insurance (third party), plus theft insurance. The theft insurance may be more expensive if you leave it for months at a time.
• If you bring a Canadian vehicle over you have two problems: (1) the cost of shipping it, (2) after 6 months you will need to legally import the vehicle, this results in import duty plus cost to convert it to EU standard (lights etc.). But, you may be able to avoid this by moving the car from country to country so it is never in one country for more than 6 months. This will all require a lot more planning, time and cost; and in some cases your presence to collect the car. This all takes time.
• Parking, you will need to find a parking site (off road), which will cost.
• Servicing. You will need to take the vehicle for a regular service. This must be planned and will eat into your travelling time. What if the vehicle does not start after being left for a few months?
• Safety check (MOT, TÜV etc.). This varies greatly from country to country, but in most cases ever 1-2 years a safety certificate is required for the vehicle. Someone has to take the vehicle in to be inspected.
• Schengen. You are only allowed 90 out of 180 days in the Schengen counties, i.e. ~180 days per year.
• Costs? No idea.

A friend use to spend one or two month at a time in England. He had an arrangement where be bought a used vehicle from a local car dealer with some sort of guaranteed buy back price. I'm guessing that it was the equivalent to what we here in the States would call a lease. The local car dealer must have taken care of all the details like licenses and insurance.

A interesting question you may also want to address is the number of days or months that your Canadian driver's license is valid before you need to acquire a driver's from the locality that your vehicle is registered.

I can only answer your questions with regards to Germany and Belgium (the two countries where I know the rules):

1) As a non-EU citizen, yes. As a non-resident, no. You can only get temporary plates for shipping.

2) No. You can only get temporary plates. Once these expire, you need permanent registration, which as noted above, you can't get without having a residential address.

Quite a few years ago my husband and I financed the purchase of a car for his sister in England on condition that we could have it on our annual trips to the UK and Europe. That was our way of buying a car and having It waiting for us.

Thanks for your feedback.
As for driver's license, as far as I remember, you can drive with foreign license for up to 90 days, and if you have an international DL (not difficult to get) then it can be extended to 180 days or so.
Interestingly, moving from country to country within EU (or Schengen area) is hard to check... Borders within the area are non-existent and if you don't drive it for half-year, no one knows where (in which country) it was.
However, for canadian-registered car you need to pass the safety checks as well (every other year when the vehicle is relatively new). Otherwise the registration expires.

I guess, one way is to share with someone who is resident there, who'll look after it, will park it and will do all the inspection.
Or try to arrange something with leasing / rental companies to get better prices on condition that you'll take for several weeks a year.

We met this couple who traveled in Europe in a motor home a few years ago. Here is their blog.

It isn't quite as simple as it looks on the surface.

A few observations -

The vehicle, no matter how it gets to where it is, will have to comply with appropriate national and EU/EEA law (if the country is in the EU/EEA).

It will need to be registered, insured, road taxed, inspected, and maintained to the standards of the country in which it is registered. VAT and conversion and duty will all be due (no conversion if it is to the proper standard). Maintenance of a vehicle allowed to be undriven for long periods will be problematic because loaded tyres not used perish and will become unsafe, engine oil will deteriorate, and batteries lose their charge, etc. Do you really want to deal with all that as soon as you arrive, each time you arrive?

Are you aware of how much more expensive servicing, taxing, and fueling vehicles are here in Europe, particularly for large vehicles?

It will be interesting to see how you can insure and register the vehicle without a permanent address in that locality. Vehicle insurances in Europe generally are on the vehicle, not on the driver.

It is in no way true that there are no borders. They most definitely do exist, and even if you cannot see the people observing you the cameras are there. These days the software on the cameras allows them to be unattended while the cameras read the number plates of all vehicles passing them. If something catches the computer's attention it flags up an alert on nearby police or border agents cars.

As far as I am aware there is no bona fide international license. Those on the internet are scams. International Drivers Permits are required, but they are required in conjunction with your home license, not instead of it, and change none of its validity or conditions - they only proved a translation in a fixed format that the authorities can deal with.

You may be able to make this work - if it would be practical or financial sound you will have to investigate - but you should realise that the practical hurdles will be high and expensive.

I don't think you could get one that would always be ready to roll without repairs for 25K. See here for examples:
http://www.expocamping-loisirs.com/

However, if you brought one over, a dealer who speaks English could certainly help you with the legal details, storage, and give you an idea of the price. Why don't you check with people from whom you've rented in the past.

It would be a nightmare to do something like that and in the long run, it would not save anything. We have lived in different European countries and spend many months a year in Europe. We mostly use trains and public transport with cabs and rentals used when needed.

I have an alternative for you. It is called glamping. Yes, you are in tents but elegant big tents with luxury beds! If you don't want a luxury tent, there are small cottages, treehouses and more. I looked at one in France that is $59 a night.There is even air conditioning and heat and these camps combine the best of being outdoors with comfort. https://glampinghub.com/rentalsearch/europe-glamping-sites/

Another good choice is to stay at campgrounds that already have campers and cabins you can stay in. See www.campingeurope.com to locate some. For example, in Croatia, see this site- www.camping.hr/mobile-homes-apartments They have campers (call them mobile homes) and cabins.

I had a friend that imported their U.S. spec. Lexus into Brussels--where they lived for 3 years. Their Lexus was purchased for so much less in the U.S. than they could have purchased it in Europe because of VAT and other taxes. Throughout the time there, they kept their Tennessee license plate without incident. My sister drove that car all over the continent, and got Elvis comments from everyone they came in contact with. When they got transferred back to the U.S., the car was sold in Europe for a very high price.

You might could import a camper van from Canada into Europe, but is that really a good idea? European camper vans are going to be diesel, and the diesel fuel is cheaper in Europe. Who can afford to drive very far in a gasoline powered U.S. spec. van getting 10-12 mpg? And the road taxes on European gasoline is more than ridiculous. It's just not cost effective as driving a small fuel efficient car and driving all over--even if you stay in cabins and rental tents at campgrounds.

www.roadtripeurope.com has a lot of experience with this issue as well as a book for sale and contact links online. Someone here who used to keep a van in France thinks that any address where somebody you know will receive mail can work for insurance and registration purposes there.