Shipping your own car from North America to Europe

[SmittyNC]

Has anyone done this?

I recently had a conversation with a co-worker who, in the mid-1990s, sent his car to Poland for a few months while he visited family. The germ of an idea was planted. I very much enjoy tripping in my Miata and would like to take it with me on a tour of Europe's best roads.

What kind of costs would I be looking at for ro-ro shipping? Approximately how long would it take? To which European port should I ship?

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Michael

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

There are just too many things that will affect the price including who you ship with, where you ship from, where you ship to, whether you have your car containerized, etc, etc, to give you anything more than a ballpark figure. And it's a big ballpark! You're looking at something like $1,000-$2,000 each way to ship your Miata. And you may only be able to do it if you own it free and clear. Banks take a dim view of you shipping 'their' cars out of the country. Then there's the matter of getting tags, license and insurance that will let you drive in Europe. And if you plan to drive in the UK, you and all the controls will be on the wrong side of the car, making for less than optimally safe driving. All in all, unless you're looking at a permanent move or a VERY long European RoadTrip, you'd probably be better off renting.

AZBuck

[SmittyNC]

Hey AZBuck, thanks for the reply!

To answer a few questions:

1. I live in Toronto and would be willing to ship from anywhere on the East coast. The route that I've plotted starts around Lisbon (the Setubal port in Portugal).
2. The car is lien-free.
3. No UK component.
4. Trip length (as currently planned) is around 12,500 km.

I will look into renting, but I'd really rather do it in my own car.