How Americans own Cars in Europe: Van Life, RV Life, Slow Travel
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- Опубликовано: 22 июл 2024
- How does an American own a car in Europe? How can you live the van life in a camper van or RV life in Europe & slow travel? Check out this video for tips on navigating car, van, and RV ownership as an American in Europe! Don't miss out on the freedom and convenience of having your own wheels while living abroad! We travel by car without residency as we Slow Travel Europe with our dogs, we have previously shared how we do this through Bulgaria, today we share a new option through Germany offered by Car Turf.
Contact Warren & Julie at: warrenjulietravel@gmail.com
Get 50% off the CarTurf sign-up fee with coupon code WARRENANDJULIE
CarTurf rates (2024)
Sign-up fee: €249
Reach out to CarTurf at mycarturf.com/contact via email, phone, WhatsApp, Telegram or webchat.
Germany:
+49 (0)1577-3556683
USA: +1 888-270-8873
Email: drive@mycarturf.com
Schedule a video/audio call with CarTurf at share.mycarturf.com/bio
To See Warren & Julie's website visit www.WarrenJulieTravel.com
International Medical Plans for Expats, Nomads, Students, Missionaries, Groups and Employers.
Warren will make a commission if you use this link for International Medical Plans with IMGlobal:
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Website: www.warrenjulietravel.com/
If you wish to contact us email: warrenjulietravel@gmail.com
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Join our Facebook Group at: / warrenandjulie
Do you want to live abroad as an Expat? Are you looking for affordable and viable options? We are exploring the world to see what it's like to live in a country, and also discover if Residency is an option. Subscribe and travel with us.
We began our retirement in March of 2020 with the intent to travel the world, spending 1-3 months in a country or location. We want to see what it's like to live there and not simply visit, and we want to share these experiences and the costs with whoever wishes to follow along.
If you wish to contact us email: warrenjulietravel@gmail.com
Join our Facebook Group at: / warrenandjulie
Instagram: warren_julie_travel
The average US Retiree on Social Security receives $1,800 a month, and a couple on Social Security averages over $2,800 a month. A US Expat living on Social Security can expect a great standard of living in many countries such as Turkey, Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Hungary, Poland, Spain, Italy, Philippines, Thailand, Ecuador, and many others when compared to the living costs in the US. If you dreamed of traveling as a nomad in retirement this video is for you.
#roadtrip #nomadlife #slowtravel #nomad #pettravel #rvlife #retiredtravel #europebycar #vanlife #rveurope #expattravel #slowtravel #rvliving #campervan
Very nice. Was just looking at cars on-line in EU, and thinking about your Bulgarian option, then this comes along.
Thank you.
Hope it’s helpful for you 😁
This is great information! I've saved it to my bookmarks for our (hopefully) upcoming early retirement and travel abroad. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for watching:)
Excellent option! Thanks for letting us know!
Glad you like the information. 😁
Super informative VLOG thanks guys and thank you so much for sharing! The prospect of jumping through all the hoops when it comes to purchasing a new set of wheels in a foreign country is pretty daunting. This alternative kind've had me way more relaxed about the whole idea and it definitely looks worthy of following up on. Thanks again and safe travels with the woofers
I’m so glad you liked it, comments like these keep us motivated to continue! Thanks
Please join our FB group if you have not already.
This is a good option. What I don't understand is why is this a monthly subscription, when the car is owned by the owner? Shouldn't it be a one time payment? I own a car here in the US and it is not like I receive regular mails regarding the car. Insurance is a separate topic, but other than that, a monthly fee for processing mail doesn't make sense. The tax due can be mentioned at sign up, and the owner should be able to pay the tax annually. Thanks.
There are a few programs, you can see more at mycarturf.com for the details. Remember you’ll own the car but Car Turf would be the Car Holder if you’re not an EU resident.
That's a good question. CarTurf is up front and transparent about ALL its prices and the costs of insurance, vehicle tax and all other costs involved in buying and owning a car in Europe. Instead of inflating prices and making commission or trying to earn on every turn, we have set clear and simple value-based pricing. We pass all related costs to you as we get them, no markups. CarTurf continues to look for better insurance deals, coverage and negotiate the best deals for its customers.
We haven't come across many similar services that publish the prices on their site so you know exactly what you'll pay. And when you reach out to others, the up front costs are much higher elsewhere. Plus, some services will expect you to purchase a vehicle from them and not elsewhere. CarTurf allows you to purchase ANY vehicle YOU want. You are already putting up the funds to buy a car so we try to make owning a car and using it in Europe more accessible to more people.
CarTurf provides multiple services in its subscription, not just an address in the EU. You can see those at mycarturf.com/services.
The BIGGEST advantage to using CarTurf is that it saves you the time and hassle from coming all the way to Europe before your trip or consuming a large portion of your trip to look for a car and solve all the issues of registering it. CarTurf offers to work with you and handle the process from wherever you are in the world and have a car ready when you arrive. There's no need to come to Europe and stand in line, deal with paperwork and bureaucracy! This takes a lot more work than one might think.
Ongoing customer support is something that most will need access to whether it's to clarify driving regulations in Europe, make an insurance claim (heaven forbid), replace documents, change insurance coverage, pay a speeding ticket, order something car-related, and the list goes on. For all those reasons, we felt a subscription model better serves the vast majority rather than charging a larger upfront fee or working on a commission-based model.
@@carturf - Thank you for the details. Any company offering this service who proves to be reputable is likely to be the beneficiary of a lot of business. The other options for Non-EU citizens to use vehicles in Europe are limited, or complicated to manage. If transparency, reliability, economy, and "happy" are part of what you offer and customers receive, I think you have a winner here.
@@carturf - After looking more deeply at your website, I believe you MUST offer more information about insurance. It is not clear what the terms of coverage are at all, when insuring through you by using your most expensive plan. Please do respond here, update the website with more info.
Thanks again.
@@karriewickWe appreciate your feedback. It echoes what we've already heard from others across various segments be it those who work remotely, retirees, van lifers, expats, etc. You're right about the current offerings on the market. No good options so we created what is missing : )
Thanks for the info!
Our pleasure! Thanks for watching. 😃
@@WarrenJulieTravel🚩Sadly after 10 days of back n forth with Marcus of CarTurf, I've been ghosted. Initially he said he could help with my situation, but at every turn, there's another problem. He's not really sure of the EU regulations and failed to reply about insurance and registration costs.
@@tangocharlie77 email me, curious to know what the situation is. Warrenjulietravel@gmail.com
@WarrenJulieTravel Thanks for exploring CarTurf! We realize it won't be everyone's ideal solution, but it allows more options to people who may not have found a good option for them previously.
We have done the French lease option three times which we have found amazing, but this option seems fantastic and very cost effective and low hassle. Will be reaching out to you for our next trip. One other question. Do you offer car storage. Eg we may not e in Europe all year so we will need somewhere secure and safe to store our car. Is this something that car turf could assist with?
@@astrokimba We will be offering this in the future as it becomes more in demand. At the moment, we have had a few inquire about this using option. They also mentioned that they use the vehicle every year but not all year. There is an option to then get seasonal license plates which is great because it allows for prorated insurance and vehicle tax instead of paying the whole amount all year around even when not using it.
Another option we will explore, if a large number of customers wish to hold vehicles in Europe while away, is managing the rentals if they wish to earn income through rentals. We will adapt to our customers' needs as we grow.
Thanks for being creative and exploring this option for people, Carturf.
Hi, Is it safe to go to church in Turkey?
Church sites online say you must apply days early to go thru the security screening. They dont say when they meet.
Yes it is, here is a video we did there on it. Shocking! Antalya Turkey for Christmas
ruclips.net/video/K-c2RIBGCrM/видео.html
@@stevan2399 wrong video, that was just about Christmas: here is our church visit. Church in Antalya Turkey: A Look at Nomad Expat Life in Turkey
ruclips.net/video/sVpi-yoEWYU/видео.html
It will cost you a car to check it out (at least). Looking forward to hearing a few customers first.
He has several testimonials on his website, we, of course do not have any personal experience with any successes or failures with this German option. We look forward to hearing from our viewers regarding their experiences.
Me three!@@WarrenJulieTravel
Any of the solutions on the market will cost you : )
All kidding aside, we are very positive about the size of the niche and amount of people looking for a transparent, reliable option like this. Will be sharing more from customers using CarTurf!
Very interesting solution. One downside I see is the roadworthiness inspection that Germany requires every two years (or after the first 3 years in case of a new car). This would require physically driving the car back to Germany, which is something to be aware of.
We currently drive to Bulgaria each year to renew our registration. Every two years is much easier.
If you get a roadworthiness inspection done in the EU done that meets EU standards, this will be accepted. We're working on mapping out inspection stations across Europe that we can refer our customers when they're outside Germany.
Guys, thanks for this video. Great new option. I have one question, drivers licenses. My wife and I live in Colombia for the past nine years. While we both are US citizens, our US drivers licenses expired. We now have Colombian drivers licenses. Can you buy a vehicle in Germany with a foreign drivers license? Regarding your Health Insurance, would someone like us living in Colombia, be able to purchase it? I am 70 years old and my wife is 56. Thanks?
Yes you can use a foreign driver’s license. Email me about medical and I’ll send you the information warrenjulietravel@gmail.com
That's a good question. You can actually buy a vehicle in Germany without ANY driving license. While you don't need a driving license to BUY a vehicle in Germany, you do need one to drive it, of course. In your case, as long as your Colombian driver's licenses are valid, then you can drive in Germany or anywhere in Europe. There's no need to worry about getting your US driver's license renewed before heading to Europe.
Do they have an option for safe vehicle storage? That would make for a complete solution for non-europeans
I’m sure he could help facilitate this process as well.
This is something we intend to provide in the future as we grow and demand for it grows. At the moment, we can arrange vehicles storage for you, but only at limited locations around Europe. Just let us know your preferences and needs so we can set that up.
Hi - as a matter of interest how do you guys manage car insurance cross border especially as say a non EU resident
The insurance covers the car, and thus us as the drivers.
not sure why there is a monthly fee? I don't get that part.. Is that for insurance?
If you go to the website it breaks it out. The address of course is a major necessity and benefit. Insurance is included depending on the option selected. Here is a paste from their website:
Experience an stress-free car registration process and the most cost-effective way to drive your own car in Europe with CarTurf. Here’s what you get:
Personal representative throughout the car registration process in EU (Germany)
Car registration in EU (Germany)
Official (physical) address in EU (Germany)
Digital scans of incoming mail
Automatic translation of mail
Dedicated, ongoing customer support
Optional additional services tailored to your individual situation
All of this comes with the added benefit of the most affordable rates in the market. Sign up with CarTurf today to enjoy these services and start driving your car worry-free in Europe..
Even with our Bulgarian option we need an address and our attorney ensures we have our mail tended to and lets us know what we need to be aware of. He helped us take care of a ticket in another country when it was received by mail. He even helped get us our replacement insurance cards while we were traveling. In the Germany case you own the car but the company is the place holder and provides letters if needed for border crossings. Unfortunately these simple things are hard if you don’t have an address and a person to tend to your communication.
@@WarrenJulieTravel - I do NOT believe insurance is included with any of their options. With the most expensive option, the additional cost, in part, covers access to their insurance sign-up service, but you as a user pay additionally for all insurance costs
I viewed the site. If this fellow is in Germany, why does the site have a Russian language option. Though there are different plan levels, it does seem expensive at €99/month for an all-in which would include one-time services.
In the video he mentions he travelled to Russia with a German vehicle in the past. He speaks Russian, his wife is from Russia, currently there are a lot of nomadic Russians due to avoiding the war, behind English one of the more common language options offered on sites and menus throughout Europe. I think some costs are prorated, I’d expect you could downgrade your plan for year two.
Our team at CarTurf speaks English, German and Russian. We plan to expand to more languages soon! Our pricing is value-based and provides ongoing services. We are constantly working on getting better deals for our customers and adding more resources to make your whole trip smoother. In addition to that, many who wish to embark on a trip across Europe by car find a monthly fee better than a larger one-time charge. We feel subscription-based pricing gives more people across multiple budgets access to their own car in Europe.
I’m a little behind the ball game here and obviously need to do some research but is the issue non residents can’t buy a car in another country?
For instance we have British passports but are permanent residents of Australia and have Australian drivers licence. We were thinking we could buy a car in the United Kingdom and travel through Europe - is this possible do you think?
The problem is not so much in buying the car, it’s having a registered plated vehicle and insurance. Not an easy thing to do for non Europeans in Europe. It’s a huge hurdle for Americans, Canadians, Australians, South Americans etc. who don’t want to be stuck with high cost car rentals for long term travel.
Non-residents CAN certainly buy a car in another country. That's typically the easy part : )
The main solution that CarTurf answers is how to then register the car you purchased in the EU for use in the EU. One issue with buying a vehicle outside the EU such as in the UK to travel in the EU is that you'll need to get insurance that covers your trip "abroad" rather than buying a car in the EU, having it registered in the EU and having full comprehensive insurance coverage in the EU.
If you already have an address and vehicle in the UK it's registered at and is already insured, it may make more sense to use those to travel the EU. That is certainly a possibility.
@@carturf thank you I appreciate you providing those details
If you are a US citizen, are you driving on a US driver's license or an international driver's license?
You only need your state drivers license in most countries. If you are renting a car, a few countries will check if you have an international drivers permit. They can be obtained in the United States for a small fee from AAA. There is no test for them, and they are only good for 12 months. They are a bit of a scam, and I really don’t understand why there is an expiration date to them.
@@WarrenJulieTravel Thank you! Do you know if the international license, once renewed each year, will continue to be accepted even if you gain residency in an EU country?
@@WarrenJulieTravel - True, since the International permit is simply a record of your license and a bunch of multi-lingual text that simply says, essentially, "This person has a license," which you can show them anyway.