Questions about moving to Italy

loki_racer

loki_racer

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
My wife finds out in the first part of December if she has a job in Pisa, Italy (ya, the place with the leaning tower). It's not a military move, but it is a contractor position for DoD, so I guess they handle the vehicle shipping from what I can gather.

Anyone ever shipped a vehicle internationally? Anyone ever wheeling in Europe? If we are going to be there for three years, would it be worth taking the XJ.

DoD will ship one vehicle (wife insists our MINI Clubman S goes to Italy), but can we pay for a second to be shipped along with the first?

On another note, does anyone know any professional car storage facilities near Charlotte. I located one in Concord, but would like to be able to compare prices, location, etc. I have to put the Charger in to storage somewhere.

I know there might be better sections to post this in, but seeing as I'm looking for storage in Charlotte, NC and shipping out of a port near here (Wilmington, NC would be ideal) I figured this area was as good a place as any to post this.
 
deginitely take the jeep!

then you can share wheelin pics from afar.

plus it'll be cheaper to ship 2 vehicles than to pay storage on 2 vehicles.

you should be able to find a small storage unit big enough for 1 car for about 100 a month, i'm just basing this off mine, so it might be less or more.

i've got a huge storage unit thats got my camaro, buggy on trailer, and all of our other belongings in salem for 214 a month.
 
Vehicle storage needs to be professional car storage so they will start the car at least once a month and move the car to rotate the tires.

The one professional storage place I found in Concord, NC costs $100/mo. The rough estimates I've gotten for shipping a vehicle have been around $4000 + taxes.

If these numbers are right, it's cheaper to store the vehicles. I'm not arguing, but sharing the numbers I've gathered and I hope they are wrong. I was hoping some military members would see this thread and let me in on DoD moving rules for shipping an extra car.
 
I've been to Pisa. It's a beautiful place. Of course, when I went, they weren't on the Euro so everything was cheap.
 
dang.

that's a lot of money.

but it may be worth it to have your jeep there.


i'd do some research and see what you can do for militaryish shipping, or buddy up to some army dood.

someone has to have an in.
 
I lived in Germany for 4 years, and just got back stateside about 1.5 years ago. $4000 dollars is WAYYY too much to ship a vehicle. When I was going to bring my then stateside cherokee over to Germany, I was looking at $1800.00. Do some more looking.

I have shipped several vehicles overseas and back, its easy once you get past the payment. They do all the work. The Mini Clubman is a good car size wise to have over there. Italians are by far the worst drivers in the city areas. Down right scary. If you live in the city, get a scooter. You'll see what I mean when you get there.

We were over there with the Government, but not as military. We were employed by the DoD, not contracted, but a federal civilian employee. So, Im not sure what the differences are between you guys going as contractors, if any.

Wheeling.... not anywhere close to the same as over here. They do have offroad parks, but you cant just go wheeling on open land. They do it 'differently' over there to say the least. Your best bet when you get there is to learn as much Italian as possible, and then get in with an Italian offroad club/group. Thats what I did in Germany, and it worked great. The language barrier really makes it difficult to find places to do any offroading, or camping, or damn near anything.

Pisa is close enough to France (couple hours) and they have a better selection of places for wheeling. Pisa is also fairly close to the eastern coast, so you vehicle will likely come into the Genova ports, or somewhere close. That should help save some money.

What does your wife do?

~ Stump
 
That's some great news on the shipping. I haven't called for quotes, just been looking online, so I wasn't sure how realistic the numbers were.

I'm not sure if she will be a contractor or something else. I do know we will be moved by the government and have access to facilities on the base. She works for the Girl Scouts.

Thanks for the info. We should find out this week if she got the job.
 
Just an FYI. Gas is stupid expensive. Also, if your jeep has an auto, in Italy that classifies as a 'luxury' option and your insurance will be high, so look into that. Also Garage space is small, and expensive when you can find it. Shipping will be reasonable, so that's a good thing. If you're taking it for only 'fun' and wheeling, then it's a decent idea but it's going ot be pricey over the long run. You could probably get a small dihiatsu (misspelled) or something that's fun and over there, with a small deisel. I'm not saying no, but it's going to cost in the long run. Pisa is about 5 or 6 hours probably from the French border too.
Good luck!!! I'm sure that it would be fun to wheel in Italy, I know I had a blast with my friends there.

Oh. I was stationed in Sicily for 3 years so my info could be dated, but I do know what it's like to live there.
 
you might want to look at "selling" it to a buddy stateside for safe keeping that will drive it and keep it up for the 3 years with the expectation to sell it back to you when you get home.
and buying something over there to wheel. it will also give you a better appreciation for your jeep :D
 
You will be able to buy fuel on the Base if you are going over on orders (which it sounds like you are). The fuel cost on Base is the same as the national average in the US, which changes every week. If you have to buy fuel on the economy, it will severely hurt your wallet. This goes for any country in Europe. I once paid the equivalent of $9.50 per gallon in Sweden.

Insurance is not much more than it is in the US. In fact, it was very comparable for my wife and I (non military, similiar to your status). Of course, if you are considered a high risk driver, it will be expensive any where you are.

They have Cherokees in Europe, and the APO address you get will easily allow you to get most normal sized parts. I built my entire Jeep (long arms, tires, leaf springs etc..)while living over there, and managed to get it all shipped with a little creativity.

We did leave our stock Jeep here in the US when we went overseas, just so we had a car waiting for us when we visited back stateside. We just sold it to my wifes parents for a dollar, and they told us how much the insurance was on it. Was quite cheap. They also used it occasionally, and kept it running just fine for us.

If you have the opportunity to do this, YOU SHOULD NOT HESITATE. Its a once in a lifetime experience, and with an open mind and sense of adventure, it will be an awesome journey. I miss Europe everyday in some ways, and my Wife and I have tentatively planned to move back there in about 10 years with our kids. Once they get old enough to remember/experience it.

~ James
 
I'm not too worried about the gas off base either. I can't remember the term for it, but we will be given "tickets" for purchasing fuel off base at American prices, the difference paid for by the US government. As I barely put 2000 miles a year on my vehicles on average, including wheeling, I'm not too worried about it.

Not too worried about insurance either. My wife and I have been with USAA since we were both 16, only one wreck between the two of us since we started driving and no speeding tickets. Married with a kid, tops off the list of almost every insurance discount USAA has to offer.

This week will be the longest week of our lives, waiting to hear if she got the job.
 
loki_racer said:
This week will be the longest week of our lives, waiting to hear if she got the job.
Click to expand...

Good luck! Hope she gets it!

My company is going to be sending me to Modena sometime after the beginning of the year for a week or possibly two...maybe we'll run into each other!
 
Good luck with it. I can tell you from my personal experience (I had a Tacoma in Italy because I sold it because insurance was 3800 annually) that insurance is HIGH there. Also about the gas. You can't get it on base, DoD doesn't sell on base in Italy from what I know (what do I know I was only stationed there and went to 3 bases in Italy). You are correct about the "tickets". You get an allotment monthly for how many you can purchase, I was given I think 300 liters a month for my Maserati. It depends on how big the motor is and they calculate how much you 'should need' and let you buy that many coupons that you can redeem for gas at I think 3 types of gas stations (IF they accept them and most don't when you're far from the base). I wish you the best of luck, I'm really not trying to tell you to leave or sell the jeep. It would be awesome. I just want you to be aware of the money that's going to be needed for what you want to do.
 
I remember a friend of ours bought a miata in FL and moved to France..
it was expensive to ship it, he had to replace the full red tail lights with the half red/half yellow ones for the turn signals.. and he had to replace the head lights too.

dont know if that helps ya any

Mark
 
GL! Personally I would think about selling the heep here and looking into buying one of the late model diesel xj over there.
 
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