Importing a USA car into Netherlands for an extended European vacation

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

No, you can only import/register a car in the Netherlands if the person importing it is registered with the Gemeente and has a BSN number.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Thanks for your reply.
Are there any Countries in Europe that I can import a car to for an exrtended vacation?

Hi again.

How long is the vacation for?

You can drive awhile with your US-plates, but that's time limited. I'm just wondering why you want to take your car to the EU, it's highly expensive and your car must be tested in all the EU countries.
There are extra costs for these tests.

My advise would be forget it, I also think it isn't possible.

It can be any length of time. My initial thoughts are 6 months plus or minus a few weeks.

I love my Lincoln MKZ Hybrid. I have driven all over USA and Canada in it. I get 45 to 55 US miles per gallon. (US gallon is 3,8 litres) pottering about. The resale value with just under 80k miles on the clock is quite low.
It will save car rental in Europe.

nymboexpat wrote:

It can be any length of time. My initial thoughts are 6 months plus or minus a few weeks.

You can't do that; the longest you can stay is 90 days and if you want longer than that, then you need to apply for the appropriate visa.  These (90 days) visas are known as Schengen Visas and allow you to travel pretty much freely across most of the EU (there are some exceptions, for example, if you want to visit the UK while on your trip, you will need a separate visa); I suggest you read about them; this link will take you to the relevant website with the details.  You should also note that you can't do 90 days in one country then hop to another to restart the clock, it's 90 days total in a 180 day period.

With regards to the logistics of it, you're looking at between $1k>2k depending on how you ship it - that's one way, so double it.  You can drive it in Europe on it's US plates for the 90 days, but then you and the car have to leave.  If you decide to sell it at the end, you have to pay the import taxes on the value of the car (that's the value the Belastingdienst in the Netherlands value it as not what you think it's worth) and it will take time to organise.  You also have to consider the cost of Insuring it to drive it in Europe.  I just checked online,  you can rent a car for 3 months in Europe for less than the cost of shipping and save all the hassle.  I also notice your car is a hybrid, there is not a whole lot of charging stations in Europe yet; certainly nothing like the US, so any perceived fuel economies are pretty unlikely.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Cynic, don't forget the car must also change to EU standards if any changes are needed it could be costly.

SimCityAT wrote:

Cynic, don't forget the car must also change to EU standards if any changes are needed it could be costly.

Was trying to stay away from that because different US states have different technical standards and requirements.  My daughter's neighbour imported an old muscle car from the States that someone had put a Cummins power diesel with every attempt at emission control removed from it; it smoked like an old steam train - I think he got about 100 metres from the docks before the police pulled him over and took it off the road.

nymboexpat wrote:

I love my Lincoln MKZ Hybrid. I have driven all over USA and Canada in it. I get 45 to 55 US miles per gallon. (US gallon is 3,8 litres) pottering about. The resale value with just under 80k miles on the clock is quite low.
It will save car rental in Europe.

You are forgetting the shipping costs 2000 euro, standard tests 500 euro and a additional 500 euro's to transport your car to Europe.

Thanks for the information.
I forgot to say I'm a UK citizen who has worked in USA for the last 10 years so I won't need a EU visa per se (unless Brexit happens on October 31st).
The reason I was reluctant to ship it to the UK was it seemed a waste of time to get the car converted to UK standard, and then immediately drive it through the chunnel into France.
From what I have gleaned so far it will be best for me to register the car in the UK.
I got a quote from mycarimport.co.uk for the full process but it seemed a bit expensive at 4,800 GBP so I am going to do it all myself. I have a quote from a shipping company at $975 into Felixstowe UK. At least the paperwork will be all in English which is a bonus.
P.S. It is a petrol / battery hybrid so no worries about charging the car, as required by an electric car.

Hi again.

OK - so that changes things, as an EU citizen you won't need a visa, however, if you are going to be in the Netherlands for more than 4 months, then you have to register with the Town Hall (Gemeentehuis) for your personal registration.  You have to make an appointment within 5 days of arrival and the only important thing is that the address where your staying must permit registration from that address; this is not normally a problem, we've heard of people registering from AirBnB and hotel addresses; conversely we've also heard of landlords who don't permit registering as they don't want the Dutch taxman to know - the important thing is to check/ask.  Once in the Netherlands, as and when you change your residence, you have to notify the Gemeente and if the new address is still in Holland, then register at the new address.  Once registered, you will get your BSN number and be able to open a bank account, register with a doctor/dentist, register your car, sort out local Dutch Medical Insurance (compulsory) and pay your local Gemeente taxes.  In case you missed it, this is the process that would allow you to register your car in the Netherlands, you must be registered there to do it.

If you're determined to bring the car, then that shipping cost does not include port charges to get the car out of the dock - when I did it it was circa £400 (including VAT), plus if you're going to register it in the UK, the UK only permits transit from the port to your new address and then a trip to the MOT centre.  Assuming it passes, it's then a taxi trip to your local DVLA centre to get your new number and a temporary V5 equivalent, so you can then tax and insure the car, get new plates fitted.  When I did this a few years ago, it was very frustrating, to say the least.  When you import the car into the UK, you will need a UK address to register it to.

I think I'd import the car into Holland (if that's where you're going to base yourself); 1st, it may be cheaper (the boats normally go to Rotterdam before Felixstowe); 2nd, if you register in the UK, unless your car is like mine and the dip beam can be changed by the car computer, it will likely cost you for at least new headlights. You haven't said how old your car is but if it's over 3 years old it will also have to go through the APK (Algemene Periodieke Keuring); basically the Dutch equivalent of the MOT test before you can register it (same would apply in the UK, or any other EU country); I don't think you'll have any problems with that, but it may well be worthwhile doing some research elsewhere.  Whatever, it's going to cost you to ship it to Europe and back again at the end of your stay.  3rd, if you go to any other country for more than 4 months, you will need to re-register again (and again et al).

One other thing that just crossed my mind is that you may also have to also change your driving licence.

Of course - Brexit may totally screw up all this up (except the registering with the Gemeente).  I still reckon a hire car will be at least as cheap and far less hassle.

Thank you very much for the information.
I will digest it all and make a decision on what is the best course of action for me.
Cheers,
Adrian.

One last point; you don't really need a car in Holland, they have excellent public transport and parking can be a pain in butt; a family friend of ours lives in Amsterdam and has to get a bus to get his car out of the parking garage!  Many tourists buy a 2nd hand bike and use those, combined with Public Transport to get around the Netherlands.