Moving to a new neighborhood, town, or state offers a lot of logistical challenges. But when you’re planning to join the millions of other Americans living abroad, everything becomes a bit more complicated.
One of the big challenges of moving abroad is deciding what to do with your car. While you might like to take it with you, figuring out how to ship a car internationally can be a daunting task. Fortunately, it’s not your only choice, but you need to understand what it takes to transport a car overseas to help you make a choice.
Let’s take a look at the three options you have for your vehicle.
Sell It
If your move is permanent or you’ll be gone for more than a year, selling your current car and buying one when you arrive in your new home might be a good option. Depending on the transportation system where you move, it’s possible you might even be able to do without a car while you live there.
Buying a local vehicle means you’ll have a car brand a local mechanic is familiar with and can easily get parts for. You’ll know the car is street legal for the location, and it might even be less expensive to insure.
Even if it costs more to buy a new car, selling rather than taking it with you means you don’t have to pay transport costs or tariffs to bring the car into a new country. You also won’t have to make adjustments to the car to meet local requirements.
Store It
If your car is unique or has some special sentimental value, you might be loath to part with it. If you’ll be gone less than a year, storing it might work for you.
You can pay to put it in a private facility or leave it with friends or family. You can even leave it parked in your own garage if you’re keeping your US house.
If you choose to store the car, you might still have to arrange to transport the car over a long distance to an appropriate storage unit or to where your family lives.
Benefits of storing include being able to use your car right up until you leave and having it available as soon as you come back. You’ll probably need to keep insurance on it and have it driven occasionally to keep it in reasonable condition.
Ship It
If you feel you really need your car, you can work with an international auto shipping company. Shop around to find the cheapest car shipping from any company that knows how to transport a car overseas.
You might find the cost and hassle factor to be far less than that of selling, buying, or storing, especially if you have a loan on your car. Having a vehicle you’re familiar with in a strange place can also help with the transition to a new home.
Moving Abroad Soon?
Americans move to lots of different countries for many reasons, so there’s no single right answer to what to do with your car when you’re moving abroad. But know your choices so you can make an informed decision about whether to sell, store, or ship your car. Once you know more about how to ship a car overseas, that might not seem like such a daunting choice.
If you found this article helpful, be sure to check out others on the site related to travel, business, and automobiles.