WE BOUGHT A VAN!! IN EUROPE
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- Опубликовано: 20 авг 2024
- We love Van Life, so when we decided to travel around Europe, it just made sense to buy a van here to Road Trip Europe! But how do you buy a van in Europe when you're not an EU resident? Its not easy, but it is possible. In this series, we take you through the trials and tribulations, and drama and nightmares, of buying a van in Germany.
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WHO ARE WE?
We are Nigel and Sue (NaS) Adventures, a couple of outdoor adventurers. After living in a van travelling around Australia for 3.5 years on our big lap, we’ve moved to Europe to buy a new van and explore the highlights and hidden gems of this continent. Join us for all the history and culture of Europe along with the day to day realities of living in a van.
Keep up to date with our adventures on instagram at / nas_adventures
Or Facebook / nigelandsueadventures
Hi. I came across your adventures just recently and went back to your 1st video 3 years ago. I have watched most of your vids and they are great. Your Europe trip have bought back memories of my wife and my trip to Europe in 1984. No MBL, no internet ...only strip maps and post cards for comms with family in Melbourne Australia. We had bought a VW Combi Campervan that was from an Aussie co based in London and I drove 20,000 Kms in 14 countries in 2.5 months. I still have the 7 hrs of VHS video of that trip. Keep up your great travels...
that sounds like an amazing adventure! We hope you'll enjoy "revisiting" some of those places through our eyes, and you can tell us how much they've changed (or haven't).
Cant stop watching you guys. Your videos are so cool and well put together. Thankyou for what you do. 🙏
Thanks Craig, glad to have you along for the ride.
When I was in Italy I liked how the drivers just flashed their lights when we were driving too slow (we were doing around 150kms lol) they don’t honk their horns which was nice
They honk in Germany!!! And the UK.
So looking forward to the new adventures guys.Van looks Awesome.
Thanks! We are really happy with it, although we have a bunch of upgrades to do
😂 love how casually you dropped the f bomb 🤣
Thanks Sue & Nige - that was such an interesting and insightful video. Well done on your van purchase in Germany and looking forward to your next video of your Europe adventures ;)
Hi Sue and Nigel, CONGRATULATIONS on your new Van 🥂🍾. Thank You for sharing your adventures in the German Towns you visited to find a Van for your next Adventures.
Love that Sunday is “Quiet Day” finally a very mindfully Country taking care of its people first above corporate profit🎉👏🏻👏🏻🎉
How wonderful seeing the community out and about enjoying time quality together.
Your plans sound fabulous wishing you great experiences and safe travels.👏🏻🙏🏻🙋🏻♀️🇦🇺
Hi Sue, congratulations on your purchase, well done! 😊 Please be safe as you explore what Europe has to offer. I'm looking forward to hearing about each adventure, bye, for now. Aussie Aussie Aussie LOL X
Cheers Alex!! The adventures have been amazing so far
Awesome guys. Looking forward to following your adventures
Thank you! Glad to have you along for the ride.
Congratulations on the new wagon guys! When the temps get a bit too cold for ya in mainland europe, head on over to the Canary Islands (Spain) off the coast of the Africa. I´ve lived here for 20 years and its a real popular winter camper destination :)
Congratulations 🎊 👏 🚐💨💨
Another freedom machine!
Yes I remember when I drove a combi van all over Europe in the 80s till we got the hang of it driving up the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic! Luckily it doesn't take long to get the hang of it!
Oh that would have been quite the adventure!! I bet it’s changed a lot since then
Congratulations on the van purchase looks great xx enjoy europe
Thanks so much! 😊
Congratulations on your new van can’t wait to see what you get up too.xx
Thanks so much! Lots of fun adventures to come
Exciting to see the new van. Looks like fun once you get over the administrivia!
Administrivia!!! I love that word and might just pinch it!
YES, here we go again!
Exciting times Doc!
Yeah!!! Great news, another great video Nigel and Sue. The van looks great, it will be good to. see the touches of you that you add to it. Stay safe and happy travels. Coen and Jay
Thanks friends! Loving the adventures so far
Some suggestions for locations:
Germany: The Lahn river, with around Limburg an der Lahn an old iron mine, castles, canoe rental, animal parks. Dresden, Leipzig, "Saxon Switzerland".
Netherlands: Skip Amsterdam and go straight to Friesland (Leeuwarden, Sneek, Drachten), National park "Hoge Veluwe", the cities of Nijmegen, Den Bosch, Maastricht. The whole southern part of Limburg is mountain bike country.
Belgium: Brugge, Gent, Namur, Dinant. Again, the Ardennes great for mountain biking. Luxemburg: Vianden castle, more Ardennes.
France: Skip the big city and visit the small villages in the Central Massif, in Bretagne, at the foothills of the Alps, Ardèche, Pyrenees, right through Andorra to Spain with so many beautiful medieval cities, some Moorish like Cordoba and Granada, Santiago de Compostela, Salamanca, Toledo. The Extremadura is a rugged region that resembles some parts of WA.
Portugal: Lisbon is beautiful but so are Oporto, Coimbra, Evora, Loulé and many seaside villages.
Italy: Valle d'Aosta with the Gran Paradiso, Mont Blanc and Monte Rosa mountains, Pavia, Padova, Ravenna, All cities between Florence and Naples basically, Palermo, the "heel of the boot" where you might still see "emptier" beaches, the whole of Sardinia, I can go on and on and on and I only covered a few countries!
OMG! I’m keeping this comment - what amazing suggestions, thank you so much!
Looking forward to your travels!
Us too! It’s an exciting time
Welcome to the Northern hemisphere!! Have a great time and of course we'll be following you, who knows what super places you will find that we can add to our travel plans😅. Take care, and have fun.👋
Well done getting your van.
Exciting times ahead. Looking forward to seeing your journey..
We are too! Looking forward to re-exploring old places and visiting new ones
Congratulations, looks like a lovely van.
Have fun exploring Europe, it’s going to be great watching your adventures. ❤
Thanks for being along for the adventures!!
Congratulations on the new Van and your upcoming adventures. I love the idea of visiting locations that are off the tourist trail.
Yes that’s our favourite!
Congratulations on finding the new van. Looking forward to your adventures for our own future inspirations. Happy trails!
Thanks!! Hope we can inspire you.
Beautiful camper, good luck and have fun. Another amazing video.
Cheers Geoffo!! Look forward to catching up.
Great insightful video for anyone in a similar situation. The vehicle search is not always smooth, but you enjoyed the experience along the way!
Made SOOOO much easier with all your help 🙏
Wow I love the journey you take us on and your warm happy personalities. So looking forward to seeing some adventures in Europe!❤❤
Thanks so much! We love having you along for the ride
thanks for great videos!! love watching your adventures, love Nigel's secret tabasco bottle!! greetings from NSW, take care, be safe!!
Thanks for watching! He carries that damn Tabasco everywhere!!
Surprise, surprise. I never guessed Europe but there you are. Looking forward to your seeing your next adventures.
Here we are!! It’s going to be awesome!!
Only recently came across your channel, watched a few videos so far & enjoying it..I like how you keep it real.
Thanks so much!! Hope you enjoy the ride.
Awesome great purchase can't wait to follow you guys we are hopefully doing the big lap in our Sprinter next year ,can't wait to follow Europe 🌍
Oh cool!! The big lap of Australia?
Glad to see you in my home country. Six months ago I found your youtube channel after planing my trip to Australia which starts in October this year.
Oh that’s so cool! Hope you enjoy travelling around the big red country!
So excited to watch your new adventure!
Thanks!! Loving it so far.
Off to another great adventure. Thanks for sharing.
It’s been awesome so far
Nigel and Sue - well done - we too are Aussies and bought a LHD Hymer 544 from the owners in Wales and did 66,000 km through 28 countries in Europe over 2 years. We paid for our Hymer before we left Aus and are aware of some of the challenges of buying, registering and insuring a motorhome in Europe as non European residents. We estimated it would have cost around $100k to rent a motorhome for 2 years so we bought one and sold it for about $1k less than we paid. We bought our second motorhome, a Mobilvetta, about 2 months before Covid struck and put it into storage. We cancelled and rebooked our flights 3 times. We finally sold the Mobilvetta after owning it for 18 months without ever stepping inside it. We are now looking for our third motorhome and plan on returning to Germany in March. Interested in seeing your Video regarding your experience with CarTurf. Regards Rob and Krys
Thanks Rob and Krys, we will be producing a full video on the process with Car Turf soon.
Hi N💜S 😃
I love your travel presentation and all the good input you tell about. This presentation piqued my great interest in Vanlife even more 🤠
I'm really looking forward to seeing/hearing how you get on with the practicalities of buying your new Van and whether you used an intermediary for the paper work.
And yes, congratulations on buying your new home 🥳
Best Regards Lars from Northern Denmark 😃
Cheers Lars, yes we did use a company in Germany to help with the registration and insurance, as we are not residents in the EU. Thanks for watching and hope you enjoy the adventures!
Another great, informative video thank you Nigel and Sue.
Love following your travels ❤️
G'day from Geelong 👋
Thanks so much, that’s a beautiful part of Vic!
@@nigelandsueadventures Certainly is, not far at all from everything.
But I do recommend the warmer months!! 🥶
Loved the video guys we were last in Europe in 2019 so it's good to see places again,btw highly recommend Abruzzo in central/southern Italy as not "touristy" people,food and scenery amazing.😊
Hi just found your site and loving it. Also very interested in buying van in Germany as I’ve been contemplating doing the same. Thanks for taking us along, can’t wait for next vlog 👍
Cheers! We will do a full instructional video on the purchase process once we’ve completed it! Marcus has been great to deal with.
Converted sprinters are very expensive. The base vehicle alone is now heading to €80k. For a new convserion you’re looking at 150k and up. So once someone has invested insomething at that level they're not going to sell it on
Exciting new adventures 😊
So exciting!!
Whoo I'm so excited for you both love from Bunbury western Australia x x
Thanks so much! We are really enjoying the adventure
Yay, on the road again! 👏💃🕺🤸
So exciting!!
Life is an adventure! 🚐🙌🏼🩵🏞️
It’s a bloody awesome one too!
Congrats guys!!
Thanks so much! A few upgrades to do before it’s really up to our standard!
In regards to sim card, there is an app (e sim). You buy your sim online in the country you are in. I am sure you might be aware of it. Have a fun time getting your new home. Can't wait for your adventure. My daughter and her husband live in a van now for 5 years. 😊
Yeah we have both bought eSIMs, they are not without their limits though. I have unlimited data, but can’t hotspot for more than 1gb a day. Makes uploading RUclips videos interesting
Interesting video , a lot of work especially with the language difference , some great scenery .
It’s so worth it though!
Amazing to find something so quick. I've been looking for a caravan /hybrid for more than a year and am no closer. I thought I had found the perfect van a week ago, travelled 350km to look at it, and swiftly got overruled by the boss...🤬🤬
Oh bugger!! Yeah we did plenty of online shopping before we hit the ground, so we had a fairly good idea of what we wanted, and fortunately our ideas aligned
Well, it's all very exciting. I'm very much looking forward to the trip going forward. The van looks very comfortagle. Not as pretty as your custom one, but still nice. 🤗
Yeah, its definitely not the old van! We are already missing some of the creature comforts we had there. But the smaller size will be good for the tiny euro roads and parking here!
How you describe what you are doing is very much sounding like cycle touring something I have done, cycling Pacific Ocean to Atlantic Ocean in Canada in 2001. All about the journey and avoiding the main roads and going country instead meeting amazing people and seeing the out of the way places that many don't get to.
Yes we live the small villages. That will really be our focus over the next few years. Sure, we will visit the big touristy cities, but we are most looking forward to living like locals
Have fun with your new motorhome.
Greetings from Karlstadt
Your Best Car& Camper Team 🚐🍃
Cheers guys!! We are loving it!!
Hi Sue, Nigel, if you are traveling to Spain I have a couple of beautiful houses there in the beach one of which is available as I am in Australia
Oh lovely!! We will probably be in Spain next year
Congrats on your new van! I started following you about 6 months ago and have LOVED all your videos. I love that you are older and bring something different to travel than the younger ones. I'm wondering.....is it really not that difficult to drive on the other side of the road? We plan to visit Australia in later 2025 and hope it really doesn't take that long to get used to. We live in the US. Looking forward to following you on your travels. Stay safe & have fun!
It’s not too hard, I (Sue) find the hardest part when I come to an intersection and I’m turning, always helps if there’s another car to follow. There’s lots of signs in Australia reminding you to drive on the left!
The reason you don't see many Sprinter converted campers probably is weight. In Europe, we are allowed to drive vans of up to 3500 kg with a standard car licence (Category B, whereas above that you need a class C or truck licence. A 313/316 Sprinter probably does not leave much headroom to kit out before you go over the GVM of 3500 so the basis has to be smaller. The 516's you see around are all well over 3500 kg and are driven on a truck licence. Four wheel drive would only add extra weight and there is next to no off roading in Europe. We don't have the empty space here, it is either villages, farm land or natural parks where no traffic is allowed offroad.
Now with the advent of electric vans at least in the Netherlands they are pondering to increase the 3500 kg limit because it would be nigh on impossible to have an electric van bigger than the id-buzz remain under 3500 kg. It remains to be seen.
Happy travels!
Yes that makes a lot of sense!
Well done!
We have relatives in Turkey who rave about that country, particularly Cappadocia, so recommend you put that on your list.
I was there in ‘94, can’t wait to go back to Turkey!!
Looking forward to seeing the "how to" video. That is something we had looked into doing, nomading around Europe, but not having a European address we found roadblocks at every stage as far as google searches took us. Will be interesting to see how it is done as we are pretty much in the same boat - I'm kiwi, husband Australian.
Now the process is all finalised, we learnt a LOT. Will be producing a video that explains it all very soon.
FYI we have just come back from Europe and Germany, we were up in Norway as well for a bit and OMG the amt of vans parked and travelling, bucket list for me would be to do a van trip in Norway. Also we used Airalo it’s a esim for our phones there as most peeps use WhatsApp numbers worked out well for us but then we didn’t need to call people so not always suitable. 🎉
Congratulations! I m also looking at possle they’re amazing! Sprinter they are very fashionable right now in Europe and super expensive. Rarely people sell them at all and if they do they are overpriced. Looking forward to meet you around guys ! Italy or Montenegro 🎉
We are looking forward to that too!! We will be down that way late September on Nigel’s next break.
Watching now, but are van prices dramatically cheaper than Australia? There's talk of a RV price crash at the moment in Europe/UK, like there has been in US, post C, so you're probably buying at the best time.
To be honest we haven’t priced a van like this in Australia. I think the prices are probably comparable, and we haven’t seen any evidence of a crash !
I’ve seen a video previously with Marcus from Car Turf so it’s great to see his service mentioned again and possibly an update and more details on how it works in relation to us Aussies.
In addition to that how do you plan on managing your Schengen time with the whole 90/180 rule. I imagine that’s going to be easier for Nigel as he’s working but what about you Sue ?
Marcus has been great to deal with. You’ll meet him in next weeks video.
We are monitoring out Schengen time and will be making sure we don’t overstay. We have a few plans!
I just wonder what the average monthly cost of living in a motorhome like that is. WHTA A WONDERFUL LIFESTYLE!
We did a “budget break-down” video when we were living in our van travelling Australia. We will do one for Europe when we have a few more months under our belt. There’s lots of variables, but the number one seems to be how fast you are travelling. The cost of diesel/ petrol/ gas will be a big portion of costs if you travel quickly.
Congratulations, can’t wait to follow along on your adventures.
I’ll be interested to hear about your banking challenges! We just had some issues transferring between our own accounts because apparently the amount involved was flagged as a possibly fraudulent transaction! I can only imagine how difficult it might have been while overseas.
That will all be in next week’s video!! It was a saga for sure!
Leberkase in a roll with senf is heaven.
Have fun!
He does love it!
jawoll Fleischkaese is super!!
Ha!! You're actually driving on the correct side now, lol. It is interesting that you aren't seeing the Sprinters there. Did you ever consider shipping your old van over? Looking forward to seeing your adventures!
We did, but decided against it for a lot of reasons.
I really like how you can see the future! It's incredible how you can talk about the difficulties of getting your money out of Australia, a week in advance! Do you use a crystal ball; numerology; channeling; something else? 😊
Definitely a crystal ball for me!!
When I was looking at vans o/s seemed to have a much better variety but I assume they wouldn’t really suit our roads and weather conditions 🤷♀️
Much more choice here, but no, we can't really take this off-road. But the plan is to just keep it for the 3 years or however long we're in Europe. We wanted something smaller for the little villages and narrow roads.
That's a whopper of a Fiat..looks nice good luck with her..✅
great video would have loved to see a little more on all the costs? of the process so us who follow in the future can get a better understanding, and maybe some video of the route vie a map.i find it hard to follow when you just mention places.
We will be producing a full video on the purchase process coming up, (once it’s all done!!).
And thank you for the reminder to include a map, I will put one in next week as we have lots more back and forth with the purchase.
I'm so excited to watch your next few years of adventure! Is the van 4WD? Do you need a 4WD in Europe? I imagine there are still unsealed mountain / wilderness roads etc. to explore.
It’s not 4x4 and there really isn’t much off-roading here. It’s a lighter weight as the licence requirements are different in Europe too
We looked at getting a van in the UK, but both being on Australian passports, we couldn't find anyone who wanted to insure us! Will be following with interest to see how it all goes with CarTurf.
Can I ask ~ how much you paid for it?
Thanks - David
Yes that can be tricky, friends of ours bought a MOHO and then had to deal with the trouble of getting insurance. It’s been easier for us as CarTurf holds the insurance with us as allowed drivers.
@@spudboy1328 Yes the UK is a pain for insurance for Aussies however Down Under Insurance will probably provide you with cover - cheers Rob
When we lived in the UK, we bought a small diesel van. It was hard to rehiste because we needed a permanent address for the insurance etc and the van was a japanese import, so there was an issye with that. Looking back, it would've been better to get someone in the UK to buy it in their name. We sold it when we left for home (Australia) it was all stressful. I wouldnt do it again. Should we go back, perhaps we would buy a van in Europe like youve done.
Our last working holiday in Ireland, we hired a car abd rented a house. Just watch car insurance policies because many will only cover a 14 day period. Read the fine print always.
Fortunately we had CarTurf take care of all the insurance for us. Made life much easier!
Wow , Germany 😄 who’d of thought. I am so looking forward to this next chapter of your journey.
Is it very difficult with communication in Germany , or do most people speak English as a second language?
I did a couple of years of German at University way back in the 90s, and I'm surprised how much I've remembered. In the main tourist areas English is more widely spoken, but we've been out in smaller villages and I've actually found I'm speaking much more German than I did when I travelled here in the 90s.
We have the very same van, bought new 2014 , you will not reget it, we use the van as often as possible, we bought it in Germany,
Oh that's so good to hear!
Congratulations on your new van. A question if I may. With purchasing a van in Germany, what "home" address did you use for obtaining registration and insurance? I've looked into purchasing a vehicle in the UK, and they need a "home" address for doing this. All well and good if you have family/friends which will allow you to use their address. Does this obstacle exist when purchasing in Germany? Thank-you. Happy travels.
We will give a lot more info in the next few videos, basically we are working with a company in Germany who takes care of the rego and insurance for us
Congrats on the new van Nigel and Sue. How does "schengen" (I think that's how it's spelt) affect you? Going from the UK into Europe you are limited as to the amount of time you can spend (90 days is it?) before having to go out of the schengen zone. How does that work as a tourist in your position?
That’s correct, you can only spend 90 days out of 180 inside the Schengen zone. It’s quite complicated too! We will do a video on that in the coming months.
@@nigelandsueadventures That would be awesome, UK and Europe are on our radar for middle to late next year for 12 to 18 months
hello i am waching from canada nice vidyo
Thanks so much for watching!
Hey guys, why a left hand drive for Australia? Wouldn’t a Uk van be better? 🇦🇺WA
We aren’t bringing it to Australia, we will drive it around Europe for the next few years and then, well, not sure after that
Did you go diesel or petrol? A friend told me that Europe now has restrictions on where you could drive diesel vehicles but I wasn’t sure if this is a big issue? Do things like rego inspections and prices vary much between countries in the EU?
The van is diesel (as are most in Europe) and yes, there are restrictions on driving in some city centres. But the reality is you can’t park in the centres anyway. Our plan is to park up outside and take PT in.
Hello, what made you decide to buy a van in Germany as opposed to england, France or another place. is it cheaper?
Good question, theres more availability, prices are good, and we wanted a Left Hand Drive.
At 4:09 did Nigel say the “R” word? I’m hoping I heard wrong! if he did please consider not using that word.
Its a bit of a habit unfortunately,in a past episode using that word also came with audible effects and a wobbly walk,very cringeworthy
This is amazing!!! Just found your channel and am so glad l did. I just recently returned from my first Europe and England trip and absolutely loved it. I would love to campervan around England and Europe. I even thought how would l go about buying a van overseas, so this episode has been an amazing insight.
That's interesting about sprinters in Germany. I have a sprinter in Oz, so l was naturally looking out for them on my trip. I saw so many campervans everywhere l went and did see a few sprinters but come to think they were on the higher end. I spotted some amazing camping areas. One l remember was in Zanton Mali Dubrovnik, just near where l rented a bnb for a week. Even though l was in a beautiful bnb, l was quietly envious of the campervan parked in this amazing location.
I can't wait for your next video.
Thanks for joining the adventure!!
How about the 90 day rule?
Yes, we are definitely counting our days! There are several countries that are outside Schengen (most of the Balkans, the UK, Turkey) where we will be able to reset our 90 days. Its a rolling 90 days, counting back 180 from "today". We will be doing a video on this in a couple of months, explaining how we are working around it.
Hopefully ypur new van has the Euro5 engine ..otherwise youll be paying ULEZ in London..(which is starting to be chargable in main town europe.)
Yep we have Euro 5, but for diesel engines it’s anything under Euro6 that has to pay. Ouch!!
Can you explain how you are able to stay in the stay in other countries, in regards to passports/90 day limits/citizenship requirements 🤓
Yes with our passports we are limited to 90/180 in Schengen. Sue has a UK passport so I can stay there indefinitely, and I’ll probably spend a bit of time there while Nigel is working. As he works away 6 weeks at a time, that will make his 90/180 easier. We will do a full video on how we are navigating that in a couple of months.
Revolut vs Wise vs Western Union, which is better to transfer money, your thoughts please?
We’ve only used Revolut so far, and we did have a few hoops to jump through (which you’ll see in next weeks video). But on the whole it’s been a good experience.
@@nigelandsueadventures thank you, from what I can see, it seems Western Union is still the cheaper option, but you can't send anymore than $50,000AUD in one transaction.
Oh God, more of the same, except in another country.
was that a hole in the windscreen?
No, must have been an optical illusion!
Free Scotland no more excuses Westminster.
your australian right? how do go about getting the vehicle registered in your name, if you are not German? .... oops the next video. many thanks
haha no problems! All the info is still to come
Thats Australian banks for you, you have to explain to them why you want your own money!!! You both may never want to come home! Is it possible to have an European bank account whilst you are there?
I think you need to have at least an address. Thankfully it’s a lot easier now with things like Revolut and Wise.
@@nigelandsueadventureswe use WISE a lot (have a daughter in the US and had to send around $70k last year. Several smaller amounts over a few days was paid but got it there eventually - not ideal if buying a car tho.
Hope things go well for you but why on earth were you looking at some of the WORST manufacturers out there, Fiat and Citroen, horrific vehicles.
And yet almost every camper over here is a Fiat or Citroen…