Shipping a car to Europe?

Dan Stephenson wrote:

Well, typically the visas are good for, what, three months? And I
figured I wouldn't stay in any one country as long as that. I figured
that since I would be moving on all the time I would get a series of
short-term touristic visa. Wouldn't that work?

Unfortunately not.
The Schengen area uses a single visa, good for only 3 months.
The UK isn't part of Schengen, so you could spend 3 months on the
Continent, then 3 months in the UK, another 3 months on the Continent....
As I understand Schengen, you can stay for 3 months out of 6 - you don't
reset the counter by spending a day outside, then returning.
Still, you could be lucky, and not get caught - I wouldn't risk it,
myself.

Gregory Morrow wrote:
Hooverphonic wrote:

leave your gas guzzler at home, you can buy my Skoda off me Euro 1000.
Its reliable, parts are cheap, no one will steal it !
will save you lots of money.


Is it a "communist era" Skoda or one of the newer "VW Skodas"...???

[Now if you had a Tatra 603 I might take you up on your offer!]

--
Best
Greg

felicia 1.3

On Sun, 16 Jul 2006 00:18:00 GMT, Dan Stephenson
wrote:

On 2006-07-15 17:54:33 -0500, "Keith W"
said:

I said:
Well, typically the visas are good for, what, three months? And I
figured I wouldn't stay in any one country as long as that. I figured
that since I would be moving on all the time I would get a series of
short-term touristic visa. Wouldn't that work?

No

You get one visa for the whole Schengen area which covers
most of mainland Europe

Keith

Ahhh. Hmm. I guess that would mean every three months I'd need to
visit the UK? to break continuity?

Yes, and you would need to stay there for 3 months. You need to exit
the schengen area for 3 months to be able to get another touristic
visa. Naturally this would make holding down a job impossible!

Having said that, I have an American friend here who has been here for
over a year, and has had no problems coming and going back to the
states, so it can be done.
--
---
DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
---
--

On Sun, 16 Jul 2006 00:18:00 GMT, Dan Stephenson
wrote:

Ahhh. Hmm. I guess that would mean every three months I'd need to
visit the UK? to break continuity?

Also: is it three months per touristic visa in Schengen?

It's 3 months per 6 months or so, so you'd actually need to spend more
than 3 months in non schengen during the period. Of course because
USians etc. are rarely stamped, I understand there's no problem
blagging it that, they never stamped me etc.

Jim.

Jim Ley wrote:

On Sun, 16 Jul 2006 00:18:00 GMT, Dan Stephenson
wrote:

Ahhh. Hmm. I guess that would mean every three months I'd need to
visit the UK? to break continuity?

Also: is it three months per touristic visa in Schengen?

It's 3 months per 6 months or so, so you'd actually need to spend more
than 3 months in non schengen during the period. Of course because
USians etc. are rarely stamped,

Huh? I don't know what you base that on. Last year alone, my partner's
US passport was stamped-

stamped entering Krakow on a flight from Manchester
stamped leaving Katowice airport
stamped entering Budapest airport
stamped by Hungarian immigration on train to Vienna
stamped by Austrian immigration upon crossing border
stamped upon entering Slovakia by train
stamped upon entering Schiphol from Manchester
stamped upon entering Dublin from Manchester (yes!)

Previous years, stamps entering France, Spain etc.

--
David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net
usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk
http://homepage.mac.com/davidhornecomposer http://soundjunction.org

Yes, vandalism is everywhere and very common. This is a real
blight on Europe. Theft is also a problem.

And how is this different than the USA? In the Denver area over
the course of probably ten years, I had my vehicle vandalized at
least three times and broken-into at least two times. Today we have
to worry about some dumb**** kid driving his Honda (with the loud
muffler) into the side of parked cars. Just the other day I saw some
asshole driving through our neighborhood like it was the Le Mans,
power-sliding all over the road (this is a 25 MPH road). And he did
the circuit twice, using our quasi-roundabout with the postal kiosks
as the terminus.


Pete

Dan Stephenson wrote:


o Lastly, anywhere in Europe, including the Anatolian hinterlands, do I
need to worry for the 'safety' of my Boxster in some beyond-normal way?
Not only from theft, but vandalism.

I wouldn't take it to Paris. Dent free cars are rare in that city. Parking
spaces are two inches longer than the cars, so back and bump is a popular
way to make extra room to get in and out. Lane lines on the road are a
mere formality.

They have a strange concept of right of way. When a taxi was in the right
lane and I knew we had to go left I questioned the driver. Not a problem,
he explained, the vehicle approaching from the right has the right of way,
so in order to make a left turn at a busy intersection, he, and many
others, move over to the far right lane and then they have the right of way
and everyone has to let them through. It worked for him , but it might
also explain the traffic congestion and a lot of the dented cars.

Pete wrote:
Yes, vandalism is everywhere and very common. This is a real
blight on Europe. Theft is also a problem.

And how is this different than the USA? In the Denver area over
the course of probably ten years, I had my vehicle vandalized at
least three times and broken-into at least two times. Today we have
to worry about some dumb**** kid driving his Honda (with the loud
muffler) into the side of parked cars. Just the other day I saw some
asshole driving through our neighborhood like it was the Le Mans,
power-sliding all over the road (this is a 25 MPH road). And he did
the circuit twice, using our quasi-roundabout with the postal kiosks
as the terminus.


Pete

I guess that it is a matter of degree. In Haarlem NL, a fraction of the
size of Denver, within two years I had the antenna and the rear view
mirror stolen in separate incidents. Vandals tried to pry off the
Porsche emblem and steal my license plate. I caught some drunken Danish
tourists trying to roll it into the Spaarne River one afternoon.
John

Dan Stephenson wrote:
Hi I'm an American setting up some long-term plans to take the year
2008 off to tour Europe by car. I plan is to ship over my Porsche
Boxster and drive it everywhere. So I have some questions, which some
preliminary research on my own hasn't answered. Therefore I consult
The Wise in this group:

o Who do I hire to ship my car to Europe?

o Would they pick it up, or should I drive it myself to the Atlantic
coast somewhere (I live in Texas)?

o I hear Bremerhaven in northern Germany is a common shipping point.
Anywhere else?

o Will my car require any kind of modification to be
legal/certified/whatever in Europe?

o I of course have Texas license plates in front and back. Will I need
to get some kind of European plates? Over there, or get them here
first? And, both front and back of the car?

o Is there a method to ship my car in the mode of car-ferries, i.e.,
can I drive my car into the hold on an Atlantic coast port, and then go
to a cabin for the 5-odd day trip tp Europe? (thus, I can be with my
baby the whole way.)

o Is there some kind of fine/fees/taxes for bringing a car to Europe?

o How many and which laws/rules/regulations are for a particular
country, or, are all they rules harmonized across the whole EU?

Thanks for any help any of you can lend. While I'm on the subject of
driving in Europe, please also take a shot with these questions:

o Which cities in Europe should I avoid due to 'crazy drivers'? I know
Naples is one, and probably Rome and Palermo. But I haven't visited
every city in Europe (yet!). How about Madrid or Lisbon or Prague?
Paris seems "OK" because all the streets appear broad and open.

o I also know to avoid driving in Istanbul if I can help it. Neither
man nor woman, young nor old, infirm or infant has the right-of-way as
compare to automobiles in that city. But my query in this regard isn't
Istanbul so much as it is Turkey. I want to drive in Turkey, but, it
isn't in the EU so whatever 'easiness' I had in the EU might not apply
there... so, whatever rules or whatever might I encounter there? Does
my car need a visa too? I suppose there are ferries across to Asia?

o Lastly, anywhere in Europe, including the Anatolian hinterlands, do I
need to worry for the 'safety' of my Boxster in some beyond-normal way?
Not only from theft, but vandalism.


THANKS

--
Dan Stephenson
Photos, movies, panos from the Europe, USA, plus N.Z.:

http://homepage.mac.com/stepheda

A Porsche Boxter with Texas tags! What a great target for my Glock 9mm!
See ya' soon!

On Sun, 16 Jul 2006 12:19:18 -0400, Dave Smith
wrote:

Dan Stephenson wrote:


o Lastly, anywhere in Europe, including the Anatolian hinterlands, do I
need to worry for the 'safety' of my Boxster in some beyond-normal way?
Not only from theft, but vandalism.

I wouldn't take it to Paris. Dent free cars are rare in that city. Parking
spaces are two inches longer than the cars, so back and bump is a popular
way to make extra room to get in and out. Lane lines on the road are a
mere formality.

I recently watched a fairly crappy French film called "Cache". In it,
a family in Paris is being secretly videotaped by a stalker. The
videotape of their street is a lesson in Parisian parking: bumper to
bumper! I felt sorry for the poor *******s who find their cars utterly
wedged between two other cars. It was an informative bit of film in an
otherwise lousy movie.

- TR