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athlete

Hi all. My wife and I are about to join the world of full-time motorhome life having just bought our first new vehicle, we will be giving up our jobs, selling up and moving on next April. There will no doubt be lots of questions but one that is concerning us is shipping our vehicle (a McLouis 363 2.8FTD low profile) to North America. We have contacted several shipping companies but it seems very expensive (cheapest so far is $5000 return). Does anybody have any recommendations?

Also, I have been told that a vehicle can only stay in North America for 6 months. Is this true and if so, can it be extended?

Finally, will a new vehicle (we have bought LHD Euro spec as most of our time will be spent in Europe) have any difficulties meeting American AAA standards and inspections.

Any help from somebody who knows or with experience of these matters would be most welcome.

Smile

chuggalugs

Hi and welcome Smile

Only second hand experience sorry but my old boss shipped his antique Porche over from South Africa in the 80s. He found out that the insurance was more than the actual shipping cost (In a container). He asked when they had last lost a container or had one damaged. They said in over 40 years shipping they had never lost one. He didnt insure it and it got here safely.

Not saying you should do this but something to look into.

A

Jeffus

Hi athlete, welcome to the elite peoples' site. hello1

Enjoy yourself but be careful it gets adictive. Can't help you with your query but I'm sure the others can. Great to have you aboard. Jeffus. Cool

Raine

well hi and welcome, you do realize that you will now have 4280 stowaways in your vehicle, but if you charge em a £1 a time, it might pay for shipping, hope you enjoy the site, weird , wonderful, ok (?) peeps here abound angel1

Anonymous

Hi, I did some research on this a while ago and decided against it in the end. Some of the gems I discovered and will need checking again I'm sure are :-

US customs very picky about type approval/emissions etc.
Vehicle will not fit into a container (height) and so will have to go on a roll on roll off (RORO) ship.
I could only find departures from Liverpool or Tilbury in Essex mostly to Jacksonville, Florida but some up state towards New York.

IMPORTANT. The vehicle can only be transported in the same condition as new. No personal items and that means no gas bottles as well. No add on accessories such as generator unless original at time of delivery.

$5000 is a pretty good price. The boat would sale a week or so eithier side of dates given and can arrive weeks late. I was also advised to allow at least a week for it to clear customs.

It would be tempting to go over, buy a 'van, tour and then sell it. You need a permanent address in the states to do this.

I know this all sounds depressing, it can be done it's just not many do. I can remember reading about a couple who had a great trip, I think it was via Canada, when it comes to me I will post details. I will definately keep an eye on this thread as we would love to take our van over for about 4 or 5 months.

Good Luck. Smile

Anonymous

There was some discussion in the Introductions forum by BarryandSue in March [url]http://www.motorhomefacts.com/postlite629-.html[/url] I posted a few links there that I found.

BarryandSue

Sorry I'm a bit late on this post.

Welcome to the site, Athlete. I used to be an athlete once - I'm an artiste now (of the red wine variety!). drunken

Regarding your query, I can do no better than recommend David Berry's book (on CD) "A Cute Little RV". Find it here:

http://www.keyhambooks.freeserve.co.uk/kb005.htm

It is informative and encouraging. He did what both you and I want to do, and lived to tell the tale and pass on shedloads of information. A very good buy, if this is what you're interested in.

I hope you keep us all informed of any new information you may acquire.

Good luck!

Barry

TonyBuckley

[quote:bdeb35ef26="Chuggaluggs"]They said in over 40 years shipping they had never lost one. He didnt insure it and it got here safely.
A[/quote:bdeb35ef26]

Not sure I'd believe that - I brought a car over from Oz and I understand loosing a container is quite common. Certainly see enough hazzards to shipping notices to suggest that this happens a fair bit.

And there is something about stacking containers on ships rather than in ships cos of some funny tax rule. That is, the shipping companies would have to pay a lot more for moving containers in ships.

Perhaps it depends on the route as to the risk.

When my car arrived, it had a couple of dents and a smashed windscreen - insurance sorted it out though.

Tony