Take vehicle with me or not
Posted by Available-Ad-4072@reddit | expats | View on Reddit | 26 comments
Has anyone ever moved their vehicle from Canada to Belgium?
Or more general from North America to Europe?
How did it go? Any recommendations?
If it's a household move do you have to do any homologation?
LordPurloin@reddit
Just sell it and buy another car. Driving an F150 in Europe, especially Belgium, will be a shitty experience for everyone
Available-Ad-4072@reddit (OP)
There are dodge rams and f150's around. Even the raptor versions.
LordPurloin@reddit
I’m not saying there aren’t. But it’s shitty for everyone involved. Our cities aren’t built for them, parking is a hassle, they’re expensive to run and honestly just look ridiculous. Do yourself a favour, sell it and buy a European car. Even if you want to get something like a Volvo XC90
wagdog1970@reddit
In as few words as possible, don’t do it. It is expensive and a pain. Shipping fees are actually the least expensive portion. You will have to pay import and VAT taxes plus every little fee known to man before it is finally licensed. This is Belgium after all. This will be about 35% of the value of the car. Then you will have to get special inspections and modifications to meet EU standards. Many of the North American cars here are brought in by people who are under the NATO umbrella and they have special rules that make it much easier. Source, I made this mistake.
Available-Ad-4072@reddit (OP)
I won't have to pay vat and import taxes because I can ship it as a household move as I owner the vehicle for over 6months and I lived in Canada over 12 months
redditaccount760@reddit
We had an F150 before moving to Europe. We made more money selling it there and then buying another one in France; rather than paying for the homologation, repairs/changes, and shipping. I would never recommend bringing a car from North America to Europe unless it’s a classic (because it doesn’t have to go through the homologation).
Available-Ad-4072@reddit (OP)
How were you able to accomplish that? Did it have a lot more mileage on it in France?
FinestTreesInDa7Seas@reddit
Importing your vehicle to another country is a massive amount of work. I would never consider doing this.
The transportation costs alone are fairly high. I've shipped vehicles from Japan to Canada numerous times, and from the UK to Canada once. Importing vehicles was a bit of a hobby of mine before I moved away from Canada.
The most cost effective way to ship a car overseas is on a Ro-Ro boat (roll on/roll off). It's like a big ferry that crosses oceans.
Expect to spend $2k to $3k for a typical passenger car. You mentioned in a comment that this is an F150, so I would expect to spend much more on a vehicle of that size.
You also have to consider transportation from wherever you are in Canada to whichever eastern port it needs to get to. I've spent as much as $2k getting cars from Vancouver to Winnipeg, if that reference helps you.
But this says nothing of the hurdles that you will have to go through in Belgium. I'm personally not familiar with their vehicle import laws, but most countries in the EU have strict rules about importing vehicles. You might need to go through an inspection. You might need to have custom lighting installed, and other modifications. This part can get very expensive, especially if you need to get an engineer involved.
There will also be lots of taxes/duty and fees involved along the way.
Another thing to research is whether or not you can actually insure/register/drive a vehicle of that size. In the EU there are weight restrictions on what non-commercial passenger vehicles are allowed to be on the road. I believe the limit is 3500kg. Even if your truck is under that EU threshold threshold, you might want to look into local insurance and licensing requirements.
My advice: nobody in Belgium wants to see a foreigner driving an oversized truck like an F150 around. You'll look like a massive douchebag, and you'll be a social pariah.
wagdog1970@reddit
There are pickup trucks here. Mostly for construction companies and the like. It’s not that big of a deal but the road taxes for big engines is prohibitive and of course parking spots are small.
johnwalkr@reddit
It varies a lot between countries in Europe, but I believe Belgium is pretty straight-forward. I think you’ll need a higher class of license, and register it as a heavy vehicle, but this will actually make road tax cheaper. Keep in mind the heavy aspect may increase the cost of anything else you need to do. I’m not an expert but I have done this to a nearby country once. I believe to decide you need to look up the cost of: shipping, headlight conversion (hopefully possible), adding rear fog light if it doesn’t have one, getting the equivalent of a European certificate of conformity, technical inspection, road tax, registration, and insurance. And check if the weight will make tolls much higher in any country you might drive to.
You need to use a good shipper that will take care of customs and personal import tax exemption, in principle they need to itemize everything, and you can’t ship any items inside the vehicle so you may need a second shipment of your stuff.
wagdog1970@reddit
Nothing is straight forward in Belgium.
Philip3197@reddit
You will have to modify the car to meat EU regulations, and then go through a formal inspection.
Available-Ad-4072@reddit (OP)
Are you sure I have to modify it? I reached out to the government department that looks after this and that lady said I would not have to do those changes if I stay the owner but when I want to sell my vehicle to a different owner.
Rolifant@reddit
Not sure why you're getting downvoted. There are quite a few North American cars near where I live. They can't all be modified.
wagdog1970@reddit
Many of those may be from people with NATO or diplomatic status. They have special procedures for importing vehicles.
wagdog1970@reddit
Welcome to Belgian bureaucracy. There are different rules for the different regions. Seriously. You need the special import inspection (homologation) done in either Flanders or Wallonia. The Brussels region may not accept this inspection without a lot of back and forth. There does not seem to be one standard national procedure and the bureaucrats from the different regions don’t always want to even talk to the others. DM me if you want additional details.
johnwalkr@reddit
Since it’s not a common thing, you can often get wrong answers, even from official sources. She might have looked up the rules for temporary import.
blumonste@reddit
My cousin has a huge Dodge Ram truck in the Netherlands. He converted the fuel to log from gas. More affordable that way.
Effective_Tackle_195@reddit
People owning a F150 are seen as massive douches. Do as you please.
CacklingWitch99@reddit
Unless your car is a classic or super valuable, I’d sell and rebuy. Moving back to Europe and selling my American car - it’s too big for the new location, uses too much fuel for European prices, and would have to modify lights etc to be compliant with EU rules. Plus shipping cost and time for it to arrive.
Available-Ad-4072@reddit (OP)
I'm moving back too. I still own a vehicle over in Europe so shipping time isn't a big issue tor me. I have an F150 in Canada with a 2.7L engine and I agree it's rather big for Europe but still..
Did you look into it yourself?
eskimo1@reddit
F150?? 🤣 Sell it.
CacklingWitch99@reddit
I have a 3.8l SUV and I’m moving somewhere filled with single track but dual pass roads and tiny parking spaces. I’m considering a Mini as a much more practical option. Given the cost of importing my furniture and other stuff, the car isn’t worth it.
Stashek@reddit
Living with F150 in Europe will be miserable, get a small city car once you're here, try something European. Also petrol and all associated costs of ownership are really not worth the hassle.
tenniseram@reddit
Will you actually need a car? I certainly don’t in the Netherlands. I use one less than once a month and then use car share services. I only use it to take my dog to her country home when I travel, and when I but a lot of plants for the garden. Otherwise it’s just not necessary.
shrapnelll@reddit
You can bring it and contact local resellers like Handiri Cars to have the conversion to EU standards and LPG mount to soften the costs of usage.
Beware of one thing, unless you register it as a utility vehicle ( and you can only do that if you have a company ) it will cost an atrocious amount in taxes.
Personally I would not bother and sell it and buy something more adapted here. There is a huge push for EV these days so that kind of car is really pushed away.