We'll be traveling for 12 months in Europe and want to ship our MiniCooper (probably to France). Has anyone done this? Can you suggest reputable companies, especially those who can smooth paperwork on the receiving end?
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9369 posts
Will you have some sort of extended stay visa? There was a fairly recent thread about doing just that, but the people involved are still traveling, at last report. The thread was called "driving your own car in Europe'. You might try scrolling down a few pages to look for it. There was a lot of good information in the answers they received.
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm?fuseaction=readtopic&topicID=70104&page=1 This is the prior discussion to which Nancy refers.
Posted by
Newcastle, WA, USA
643 posts
My friends parents shipped their VW Vanagon to Europe when they traveled and camped for 3 months there. From Seattle they had it trucked to the shipper in San Diego and it went in a container from there. I seem to remember it cost around $1350 round trip, this was about 10 years ago.
Posted by
Germany, Germany
813 posts
We used transcar last summer. I recommend them.
Posted by
Eastern Iowa, USA
7926 posts
You pretty much need to use an agent well versed in shipping cars that knows the ins and outs of vehicle requirements needed for entry. Then once there, you also need to know what additional equipment may be required by different countries, or at least the country that your visa will be from. Germany for instance has a list of safety equipment that is required, and of course some countries (Austria, Switzerland) require a permit for the vehicle when in the country. Lots of research needed, a good agent could smooth the way.