Advice on TC for 12 month trip to Europe

Kayteg1 wrote:

outwestbound wrote:


Good advice that I'm really looking at. Even the $355,000 EarthCruiser expedition vehicle is only 653cm (21.42')long and a mere 206cm (6.77') wide! I'd be 244cm (8') wide! Small villages and rural countyside are the reasons I'm going, so I'm looking at the campervans semi-integrated Fiat Ducato motor homes (e.g., Eura Mobil TA 570 HS)that are length/width/height 5.98 m / 2.33 m / 3.19 m. Based on your experience, even these little TA 570 style "class c" vehicles are too big, leaving the campervan. I'm 55 and a bit spoiled for a van, size wise, but I'm not ruling a van out. I'll probably end up buying over there with the buy/ sale back scheme.

Since you are planning to spend a year there, I strongly believe you have family there, meaning you can have the address?
Fiats don't have good opinion even in Europe, while once again - Sprinter motorhomes do have unbelievable prices in US.
My idea of buying Sprinter in Europe and bringing it to US later was just an idea and I never check the pricing, but Sprinter vans in Europe are regularly reported to make 2,000,000 km without overhaul, so even buying older one is not coming with high risk.
Than unlike US - in Europe seem every village blacksmith has Star Diagnosis computer that can troubleshoot Mercedes engines.

No, but I have friends whose address could be used. While people do this, I havent' satisfied myself that the legal liability (e.g., accident in which I'm at fault) can be sufficiently insured, much less the liability construed upon my friends there.

Yes, getting mechanical work on a US made vehicle over there is difficult. If I took a US vehicle over there, it would be late model. If I buy over there, I'd buy something 10 years old or so. Because a late model vehicle exposes me to a greater loss upon resale, it's looking like the buy/sell back option over there is making the most sense.

I'll probably buy a 10 year old vehicle for 20.000 euros, and sell it back for 12.000 euros in a year on a buy back contract. This is the most economically rational approach I'm finding. The only economically rational way to have a nearly new vehicle, it seems, is to hire (rent) and flush 18.000 euros for the year. Because the buy/sale back spreads are thin enough, it doesn't make sense to ship a vehicle over.

What determines my outcome, is that I have no use for this Europe tour vehicle once the trip is over. If one wanted to keep their vehicle afterwards, shipping from the US would probably be better.