Armadillo Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 I am just trying to make preliminary enquiries into whether it is possible to ship our own campervan ( in our case a self-converted EL Transit) to the USA and even travel with it on the ship? Can anyone say whether it would be a cheaper option to take our own van, even if we do have to travel separately from it, or would flying and hiring work out better? Likely to be away for a few months. We don't have any date in mind, and certainly not this year, but I rather imagine it will take a lot of planning. Has anyone any experience/ knowledge of this please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 there is a lot of stuff on this already..please use the search function. for a few months hardly worth the bother, probably cheaper to buy there and sell when coming back. you cannot travel with the van you have to fly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 I have seen quite a few european vans in US, but no UK one's. For a comparison on prices to rent check out Cruise America. As eddie says there have been previous threads on this some time ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
takeaflight Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 Hi have a read of this http://home.mindspring.com/~salmonjt/shipping%20papillon.htm I know its shipping from the US to here, but may help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 colin - 2010-07-02 7:33 PM I have seen quite a few european vans in US, but no UK one's. For a comparison on prices to rent check out Cruise America. As eddie says there have been previous threads on this some time ago. I tell a lie, just remembered, I saw a UK reg van at Desert View campsite, I was going to ask them about shipping, but never got to see the owner :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curly Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 Hi I have hired twice in the USA and have for 3 years got costs to ship our camper to Canada. Now if you do your homework the cost of hireing to shipping breaks even at approx,8/9 weeks so if your tour is for that period there is no gain except the very little fuel advantage of a European camper but this is not worth the hassle of shipping. If someone is thinking of 6 months plus then it is realy cost effective to ship my problem is the better half not being away from the grandchildren for an extended period like 9 months 2-3 months as we have done she can live with. We used El Monte superb feed back and lots of advice from them 4-5 other companies gave a cost and that was it E.M were very helpful. I never found any freight company that you could travel with but I have heard 3rd, 4th etc. hand that it can be done from Amsterdam/Roterdam but think of the agro from the UK to there, if it was possible that is. :-> :-> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo3090 Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 I got a quote from a guy called Roy Hayball at www.autoshippers.co.uk to take my Cheyenne 660 from the UK to the USA last month and from Southampton to New York will cost £2884 all in, one way. It takes 9 days and you don't travel with the van. It's a RORO service not container and they sail every 7 days. I have priced up renting a RV of a similar size to the Cheyenne and if you are going to go for at least six to 12 months, or more then it is less than the cost of a rental for that time. And that includes the return crossing and airfares to NY. There is the option of buying over there, of course, but it seems a lot of mither and you can't be sure of selling it when you've finished. Your will also have to consider the tyres if you have a European van as they don't sell Euro sizes in the US, so you have to take a few spares, then leave them with FED EX, (or similar), then send for then as required. You will also have to arrange travel, health and vehicle insurance from an American company as a UK one won't do it for that length of time because of the cost of US health care. I'm told you can give the US Caravan Club as an address for your stay but I haven't confirmed that yet. To stay for more than 6 months on a tourist visa you have to go into Canada or Mexico for 24 hours then come back and your six months starts again, assuming you haven't broken the law in the time of your trip in or out of the US. So Canada might be the best option as it's easier to get home if you do! And it's safer at the moment on their borders. I started doing this as a theoretical exercise but what an adventure it would be, surely the trip of a life time when you win the lottery instead of the usual "world cruise" which seems compulsary when you do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nowtelse2do Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 How will the electrics work, they are on a different voltage aren't they (!)Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowan Lee Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 There was an excellent article in MMM in February 2007 by Steve Gooda, who had shipped his van over. We thought about it but ours is a Fiat so it wasn't a good idea. In the end we bought one over there. If you are interested I can tell you more about how we did it. The process was easy, but we bought the wrong van! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
takeaflight Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 Rowan Lee - 2010-07-07 8:15 AM There was an excellent article in MMM in February 2007 by Steve Gooda, who had shipped his van over. We thought about it but ours is a Fiat so it wasn't a good idea. In the end we bought one over there. If you are interested I can tell you more about how we did it. The process was easy, but we bought the wrong van! I for one would love to hear your story, as it is something that I am contemplating. Roy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 Rowan Lee - 2010-07-07 8:15 AM There was an excellent article in MMM in February 2007 by Steve Gooda, who had shipped his van over. We thought about it but ours is a Fiat so it wasn't a good idea. In the end we bought one over there. If you are interested I can tell you more about how we did it. The process was easy, but we bought the wrong van! I would also like to hear your story if you do not mind. Very interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowan Lee Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 Hi Takeaflight and Caroline, Rather than hijack this thread, I have started a new one. Sorry it's a bit longwinded but I tried to cover the things we had trouble with particularly and the things you might want to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philjp Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 see this Thread http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=20135&posts=12 see also http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=20208&posts=19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGD Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 nowtelse2do - 2010-07-05 8:05 PMHow will the electrics work, they are on a different voltage aren't they (!)DaveThe mains electrics won't. (Work that is; except very very slowly).USA is 110 volts, not the 220 volts of the UK and mainland Europe.(From memory the hertz is still 50, but the voltage is half of what we use) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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