advice please on buying and bringing back classic from Italy
Discussion
Im looking at buying a classic car from Italy but need advice on the best way to pay for it,other than cash.secondly is there another way to bring it back,possibly on a train?.I know it would be nice to drive it but considering the risk high risk of mechanical failure,I would like to consider other options.any advice gratefully recieved.
My Maserati was bought from a dealer in Rome, I paid using a direct bank transfer and they arranged the shipping using a company based in Milan :-
.
The whole process was very straight forward. Shipping cost circa €1,000 which is quite good when you compare it against fuel costs to Italy and back, a ferry for a car and trailer, and any overnight accommodation on the trip.
Paul
.
The whole process was very straight forward. Shipping cost circa €1,000 which is quite good when you compare it against fuel costs to Italy and back, a ferry for a car and trailer, and any overnight accommodation on the trip.
Paul
The Surveyor said:
Shipping cost circa €1,000 which is quite good when you compare it against fuel costs to Italy and back, a ferry for a car and trailer, and any overnight accommodation on the trip.
Paul
That is a very good deal indeed. I think you'd be lucky to do it cheaper than that if you did it yourself, and then you avoid the hassle. Now if you want an adventure, that's another matter entirely. Paul
cptsideways said:
Drive it back, with some spanners, possibly the best bit of classic car ownership
Have to agree!Driving it back would make a great start to the ownership of a classic car as it begins the whole experience with an adventure that helps make owning the car more personal.
At the time it may seem like more hassle than it's worth, but it would provide the owner with a great story to tell about buying and owning the car.
(Which is surely a big part of the whole classic car ownership experience - The tales you can tell about the car, such as what you've done with the car, what it's needed whilst you've owned it, where you've been with it, etc., etc. How interesting is it to talk to someone about a car to be told: "No I didn't drive it home, I had it shipped to My house. I haven't had to do anything to it, I just get in and drive it now and again but I don't really go anywhere in it." )
I do agree with the last three posts (it would be a fantastic adventure)and I am very tempted indeed to drive it back.I can weild a spanner and speak the lingo ok but the doubts I have are I would be going solo and if something more major was to go wrong in the middle of "nowhere" Id be stuffed.Oh and Ive never used a sat nav and cant map read and drive at the same time.
rob07 said:
I do agree with the last three posts (it would be a fantastic adventure)and I am very tempted indeed to drive it back.I can weild a spanner and speak the lingo ok but the doubts I have are I would be going solo and if something more major was to go wrong in the middle of "nowhere" Id be stuffed.Oh and Ive never used a sat nav and cant map read and drive at the same time.
Details, details. 
Buy an ADAC breakdown policy and they'll tow you home if they can't fix it by the roadside.
http://www.adac.de/mitgliedschaft/adac_membership/...
If you've managed to post something on PH you can use a Satnav.
mikey77 said:
If you are buying in Italy make absolutely sure you have the legal title to the vehicle before you take it away.
No more so than buying in the UK.There might be extra hurdles if you want to register it in your name in Italy, but they're irrelevant if you're only going to be registering it in the UK.
We did exactly this a couple of years ago in a '66 Fiat 500.
It was an adventure but it rained most of the way and took 6 days (bearing in mind a 50mph cruising speed if there were no hills involved). Not sure I'd do it again in such a slow car but anything a bit poker, preferably with a radio, would be no problem.
We kept a blog if you're interested; it will give you an idea of the reality of doing it. Amazingly the little car went really well over the Alps and only had one mechanical issue which was fixed by a local 500 specialist just outside of Monaco for peanuts whilst we waited. His wife popped out to buy us cakes! You do get to meet lots of lovely people on a trip like this.
Some practical issues:
You'll need to insure the car on the chassis plate and you normally only get 14 days to get it back and MOT'd. Only Footman James offered this at the time and also threw in European Recovery so if worst came to it we'd be trailered back FOC.
BACS transfer was no problem. Just sat at the owners PC with my bank details and Fob and got a receipt from them.
There are various bits of Italian paperwork that you will need to register it here that the current owner will need back to de-register in Italy so they need to be comfy that you will send these back to them, together with the Italian plates.
Technically you aren't allowed to drive on foreign plates in the UK on a UK license.
You need to find an MOT Centre to do an MOT on the chassis plate - ours was no problem.
The DVLA were great and turned their side round in four days. That was with a real human in the now closed local office though...
What's the car?
Bob
It was an adventure but it rained most of the way and took 6 days (bearing in mind a 50mph cruising speed if there were no hills involved). Not sure I'd do it again in such a slow car but anything a bit poker, preferably with a radio, would be no problem.
We kept a blog if you're interested; it will give you an idea of the reality of doing it. Amazingly the little car went really well over the Alps and only had one mechanical issue which was fixed by a local 500 specialist just outside of Monaco for peanuts whilst we waited. His wife popped out to buy us cakes! You do get to meet lots of lovely people on a trip like this.
Some practical issues:
You'll need to insure the car on the chassis plate and you normally only get 14 days to get it back and MOT'd. Only Footman James offered this at the time and also threw in European Recovery so if worst came to it we'd be trailered back FOC.
BACS transfer was no problem. Just sat at the owners PC with my bank details and Fob and got a receipt from them.
There are various bits of Italian paperwork that you will need to register it here that the current owner will need back to de-register in Italy so they need to be comfy that you will send these back to them, together with the Italian plates.
Technically you aren't allowed to drive on foreign plates in the UK on a UK license.
You need to find an MOT Centre to do an MOT on the chassis plate - ours was no problem.
The DVLA were great and turned their side round in four days. That was with a real human in the now closed local office though...
What's the car?
Bob
rob07 said:
Ive never used a sat nav and cant map read and drive at the same time.
I have been driving all over Europe without Satnav.I just write down all the directions off the computer ,I don't have a printer either.
All being well I shall be driving abroad 4 times this year ,solo,with just paper directions.
1 done ,3 to go.
Get the car transported back by a reputable transport company in a fully enclosed transport/trailer. Enjoy the car once its home, safe. I have traveled on trains to collect cars to drive back, when they work, and get me home, there is no better feeling; when they breakdown there is nothing worse.
alpinemauve said:
Get the car transported back by a reputable transport company in a fully enclosed transport/trailer. Enjoy the car once its home, safe. I have traveled on trains to collect cars to drive back, when they work, and get me home, there is no better feeling; when they breakdown there is nothing worse.
I think the complete opposite 
Pack up an elegant holdall with some swank garments, expensive sunglasses, 200 cigarettes, a flask of decent scotch, more cash than you think sensible, a roll of suitable tools and some collapsible water containers.
Fly down, buy the car no matter what, fill the water containers with coolant, drink the scotch and have an adventure getting home.
You'll break down, you'll smile, you'll cry, you'll hit the limiter in top coming through the Mont Blanc tunnel, you'll have to bribe some police and if you're lucky you'll end up sharing your bed with an unsuitable lady before exiting through the window with your pantaloons in hand running from an angry husband.
You know it makes sense.
Any use?
http://www.autoslaaptrein.nl/
You can go from Livorno near Pisa to Den Bosch in Holland 200 miles from Calais.
A bit of driving and some chillout time. The best of both worlds.
Tony
http://www.autoslaaptrein.nl/
You can go from Livorno near Pisa to Den Bosch in Holland 200 miles from Calais.
A bit of driving and some chillout time. The best of both worlds.
Tony
benjj said:
I think the complete opposite
Pack up an elegant holdall with some swank garments, expensive sunglasses, 200 cigarettes, a flask of decent scotch, more cash than you think sensible, a roll of suitable tools and some collapsible water containers.
...fill the water containers with coolant, drink the scotch and have an adventure getting home.
Given that the OP's asking about a Fiat 500, running out of coolant is going to be far more serious than merely pausing for a scotch...Pack up an elegant holdall with some swank garments, expensive sunglasses, 200 cigarettes, a flask of decent scotch, more cash than you think sensible, a roll of suitable tools and some collapsible water containers.
...fill the water containers with coolant, drink the scotch and have an adventure getting home.
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