USA to Europe how to???

[shider92028]

Hi,

I am new to this site but have searched for months on how to go to Europe, buy a van and start living full time in it. It is very hard to get any info about this subject.

In the USA it is relatively easy to get an address at a UPS store, get all your DMV info sent to you to buy a van, get it insured and be able to live on the road. I have done it before with no problem. In fact I still using my UPS address since I have moved into an apartment, just because I have my passport and all my legal documents addressed to that location. Even my Sentry pass worked at that address (TSA and Customs pass)

Right now my plan is to go to the UK to purchase a van, since I can speak the language and most likely could figure out the registration process. I know about MOT and all the rules to have a car inspected etc., but I don’t know if I can do it as a foreigner? Do I have to have a legit UK address or does a UPS style address work? Are there registration services for people moving to that country that can help me?

Really looking for somebody that has done something like this that can give a little advise. I am looking at staying a couple months traveling Europe and most likely putting the van in storage after so I can let other friends use it later on.

Thanks for time!
Bill

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Hi,

I am new to this site but have searched for months on how to go to Europe, buy a van and start living full time in it.  It is very hard to get any info about this subject.

In the USA it is relatively easy to get an address at a UPS store,  get all your DMV info sent to you to buy a van, get it insured and be able to live on the road.  I have done it before with no problem.  In fact I still using my UPS address since I have moved into an apartment, just because I have my passport and all my legal documents addressed to that location.  Even my Sentry pass worked at that address (TSA and Customs pass)

Right now my plan is to go to the UK to purchase a van, since I can speak the language and most likely could figure out the registration process.  I know about MOT and all the rules to have a car inspected etc., but I don’t know if I can do it as a foreigner?  Do I have to have a legit UK address or does a UPS style address work?  Are there registration services for people moving to that country that can help me?  

Really looking for somebody that has done something like this that can give a little advise.  I am looking at staying a couple months traveling Europe and most likely putting the van in storage after so I can let other friends use it later on.

Thanks for time!
Bill

I doubt that you're going to find anybody here who has any real world experience with this.

I can suggest a couple of alternative sites.

Horizon's Unlimited

Expedition Portal

People who hang on these boards have lots of experience shipping vehicles around the world, as well as acquiring vehicles overseas for travel.

Regards
John

 

[shider92028]

Thank you!

That's looks like a big help! I will definitely be checking that out!

Thanks again,
Bill

 

[steveh2112]

its a long time since i bought a car in the UK but buying and registering one is easy, all you need is an address, they don't care where you are from (but maybe you also need a UK license but that wasn't the case 30 years ago)

i think you will likely need a UK driving license to get insured but maybe a US license will work for some insurers.

the UK driving test is insanely hard to pass compared to say the CA driving test so you may want to research how to transfer your US license without a test if that's possible. i'd be interested to know myself as i may do that one day too.

when i read your title i though maybe you were planning to drive across the bearing straits in the winter or something, i think its been a long time since that was possible

 

[highdesertranger]

get an international driver license. I am not sure where you go to get them in the US. this makes buying a vehicle and insurance easy. highdesertranger

 

[skyl4rk]

You might want to go to the continent to get a van. The UK vans have the steering wheel on the wrong side.

What I would do is go to a campground in some small town area in Germany and start making friends with people. Tell them what you want to do and ask for help. Maybe start out with a rental car and a tent and talk about how you would like to get a "wohnmobile". If you can make a few connections with people you will get help in getting around the bureaucracy of getting it registered. Most people speak some english, more or less. They have some very nice small RV's there, Hymer is the biggest company building RVs. And you will want a small RV, the roads are not big and parking is often difficult.

Germany will have a good selection of used RV's (wohnmobiles) and the Germans are big travelers and snowbirds.

My cousin has a class B type camper and they head down to the south of France every winter to escape the rain of Germany. It is definitely possible to vandwell in Europe, although I personally don't like the hectic traffic and lack of parking in cities. Spain, Portugal and France are probably the best places to visit as a vandweller.

I tried to find some good websites on RVing in Germany, but most German websites are poorly written and full of popup ads. Here are a few that are a start, at least.

http://www.hymer.com/de/gebrauchte.html
http://www.stellplaetze-kostenlos.de/nordrheinwestfalen.html

 

[mconlonx]

Ooo, if you do get over there and are looking at vans, check out the older, pre-Sprinter-style Mercedes TN vans. Love the style.

 

[LeeRevell]

Ooo, if you do get over there and are looking at vans, check out the older, pre-Sprinter-style Mercedes TN vans. Love the style.

Interesting vans.  Sized similar to a 15 passenger Extended Van here, but boxier with straighter walls.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_TN

 

[Fisher473]

Not sure about the UK but this is how it works in Czech republic.

Get a real address, P.O boxes or UPS address don't exist here so you need a proper lease, could be a flat share nobody cares or checks if you live there, go the foreign police with your visa and request a to be a czech resident, they will give you an ID that is very similar to a passport. With that you can go buy anything you want, its a painful process but pretty simple, just need to spend quiet a bit of cash on stamps, papers, and contracts.

After that you buy a car, with the owner you go get STK approval, its to make sure the car you want to register wasn't modified in any way, next step is to pick up what we call the green card, its vehicle insurance and takes about 5 minutes. After that you go to the registration office spend $20 and you are all set.

You can drive a vehicle on an American license for up to one year, after that you need to get a Czech one which means, auto school for 3 months (learn manual transmission no automatics here) pass a test consisting of 850 questions (30 on the test and most people don't pass the first time) that drive the police around the city for 30 minutes without making a single error.

Not as hard as you think, you can even import a van from the US for about a year till you need to have al the paper work done on it. Don't do it, they consume gas like crazy and repairs are hard as hell here especially with automatics and spare parts are as rare as ugly women here.

Best of luck...

I also wanted to mention that with a license you can only drive a van intended for 7 people or less with weight under 3.5 tons, anything over 3.5t requires different driving license which is harder to get.

 

[shider92028]

Great info from all! I have a IDL from AAA and it was very easy to get and cost (I can't Remember for sure) $10-$15 dollars US. I have been reading from the Unlimited Horizons website and might be starting my journey from Ireland. I will keep you all up to date as I figure this out.

Thanks,
Bill

 

[climbing coastie]

I don't see anyone mentioning it, and not sure you are aware but as a US citizen you are only allowed to be in the EU for any 90 days in a 180 day period.

You'll have to research what countries are part of the EU and split your time between them and those that aren't. Obviously if you don't plan on spending more than 89 days over there this is a moot point.

 

[ZoNiE]

Stay for 90 days, then leave for a weekend to a non EU country, then come back...

I agree with the ugly women comment about CZ. Hard to find them there. Amazing!

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Stay for 90 days, then leave for a weekend to a non EU country, then come back...

Uh, if you're only allowed 90 days in any 180 day period, then that ain't gonna work . . .

Regards
John

 

[highdesertranger]

you caught that to john. highdesertranger

 

[offroad]

I don't see anyone mentioning it, and not sure you are aware but as a US citizen you are only allowed to be in the EU for any 90 days in a 180 day period.

You'll have to research what countries are part of the EU and split your time between them and those that aren't. Obviously if you don't plan on spending more than 89 days over there this is a moot point.

There is a youtube about a guy doing this. He rented a van to live in. Worked out for him.

 

[ccbreder]

I bet there are visas that allow US money to be spent for more than 90 days in a row.