Shipping car to Hungary from USA

    What is the best method to ship car to Hungary from USA? There is a car container shipping company but they only drop off in Austria or Germany, has anyone used anything like it before?
Thank you,
Angela
   

    -@angelarobbins

If they drop off in Austria, that would be OK, you can just drive here. 

Previous North American colleagues shipped their cars to Hamburg and just went to collect them and drove the car back.

My North American hobby car came into Rotterdam and I picked it up there.

@fluffy2560

thank you ❤️

We shipped 4 cars in the 1980s from S. Ca. to Germany and they were picked up and driven into Hungary.

At the time the cost for shipping was $100. USD per foot.

Now , I have no idea of the pricing but should be easy enough with a few phone calls.

Took about 2 months to arrive in Germany from Ca.

We decided to bring one of the cars back to Ca. from Hungary a few years later.

We still had US plates on the car.

My husband drove it from Hungary to a port in Germany.

It was a nightmare with the agent at the docks.

He demanded he pay over $100. on the spot because the car had to be insured in Germany while it had been on the roads.

The agent was so slow and made him fill out so many papers that my husband got mad and just drove the car  back to Hungary.

His plan was to send the car off and take a train back to Hungary.

The agent was so hard to deal with that the last train was leaving for the day and my husband had to be back in Hungary by morning to catch a flight back to the US.

He just ran out of time and couldn't handle the way the agent was acting. He did pay for the day insurance in Germany though, they got that much out of us.

Kept the car in Hungary for years in a garage.

We knew 2 couples who shipped nice new cars from Ca. to HU.

Both couples had their cars stolen in front of where they lived shortly after they cars passed HU inspections. They had paid for new headlights etc. that were needed to be replaced for HU standards. No doubt in both cases the thief was an inside job by the people who did the repairs.

It seems to be easier to bring a car in to Germany then to take one out.

@Marilyn Tassy

Thank you ❤️

In Europe they place the cars in a container but when we shipped our cars to Hawaii they stored them outside tied down. Got very messy with the sea salt splashing  and damp air.

My mistake, my husband tired to ship back to the US from Germany BUT the 4 times we shipped to Hungary the cars were delivered  in Hungary.

One time in Budafok and the other in Eger .Not sure about the rest.

We used this shipper but do not know if they are still in business or not.

Direct Express .

Their old phone number is> 310/ 324 2100.

Another shipper that we have never used is.

Interex Export Inc.

1 800 646 8373

I asked my husband why on earth did he drive all the way to the port in Germany to try and ship a car back to the states .Why not just ship it from HU directly.

He said at least back then , no one was really shipping cars out of HU , only into Hungary. If he waited for a full container back to the states it would take forever.

He said they at least what he saw is they take the air out of the tires and that way they can load 4 cars into one container, they put them on a rack on top of each other.

When we shipped out 2 cars from Ca. to HI we were not happy with Matson shipping. They really are about the only ones doing major shipping from the mainland to HI so your stuck using them.

Some shippers are better then others.

Years ago we sent our first few things from Ca. to HU and used a new at the time contractor.

Had to pick up our boxes at their office outside of Erd.

The thing was they just sent people in the back and let them grab their boxes.

One of our boxes was taken away by mistake by someone. Thankfully they realized it and brought out box back. Not everyone is that honest though.

If you are a HU citizen returning to HU to settle down, you can bring in cars, household goods and machinery without having to pay customs fees. It is a one time thing however.

Not sure if you are a HU citizen or not but it is worth looking into if you qualify.

They still are pretty much jerks at customs but no fees for a citizen. It might be worth checking reviews on shippers.