Please Help With Moving Companies

[lopian]

We are moving this summer to Italy from California. It will be much appreciated if we can get some advice and comments on moving companies, how to save some money, does it make sense to move a small car, etc. I am sure there are a lot of people with hard earn experience out there.

Thank you in advance for your help,

Ilian

[Bevdeforges]

I'd be very wary of moving a car from the US to Italy. Makes, models and standards of roadworthiness are different from country to country. It can be difficult to find parts when you need them, especially for a US make. And what is considered a "small" car in the US may wind up being bigger than needed in a small car country like Italy.
Cheers,
Bev

[lopian]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

I'd be very wary of moving a car from the US to Italy. Makes, models and standards of roadworthiness are different from country to country. It can be difficult to find parts when you need them, especially for a US make. And what is considered a "small" car in the US may wind up being bigger than needed in a small car country like Italy.
Cheers,
Bev

Thanks for the reply. We have a Mini. Do you think they are different for USA and Europe?
We just love the car and will be happy to have it with us.

[Bevdeforges]

I'd almost bet that the Mini's are different in Europe than in the US. For the US, they were a "faux-retro" thing. The original Mini was a popular car over here in Europe - but the "retro minis" were something a of passing fad. You don't see them around any more.

I'd do a bit of checking around on the Internet to see how available Mini parts and service are in Italy before you decide anything. And maybe you can inquire through the manufacturer in Europe to see if there are any major part differences or to see how available service is for them.

A boss of mine spent huge bucks to bring over his sports car from the US. It was a Japanese make, but a model that wasn't sold in Europe. He had a small accident, but the insurance company wanted to "total" the car because of the expense and difficulty of getting the parts they needed to fix it.
Cheers,
Bev

[Nancy Beacham]

Just a quick note to say I just got back for Italy and did see minis there - we used to have one and both adore them. (We laughed at how "big" the mini looked parked next to our rental car, the Smart.) We saw the usual model of mini as well as the new stretch mini - ugly. Anyway, I don't know if they are any different mechanically or not, you might want to check on that as well as pricing for shipping it, duty you'd have to pay, etc.

As far as buying a new car there, I have been told that it's easier/cheaper to drive a car in from Germany for example than to buy it in Italy - for some reason it's a very complex transaction and you can't do it until after you have several pieces of paperwork (your financial id code, permession to stay, etc.)

Some more things to research. Good luck.