Vehicle Exporters - Europe

"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike)
04/20/2016 at 08:14 • Filed to: None

Hi all,

This will be a ways off yet as my job / living and financial situations don’t work for it right now, but...

I fully intend on importing a FIAT 126 from Poland to Canada sometime in the next few years (as some of you know). The issue is that I am obviously not there to look it over, and I hate the thought of buying sight unseen. Are there any exporters that Oppo recommends that could find me a 126p in Poland in good shape (and make sure it’s in good shape...) that wasn’t too expensive and also help me get work done to it before it was shipped out?

Labour rates for bodywork are much cheaper in Poland than here in Canada, and the workers are very skilled there...I would want to get any rust properly repaired before it was shipped over, plus have it drowned in Rust Check as well.

I’ve talked extensively with Borsuq and he would certainly help if he could, but decent-shape 126s are somewhat rare in his area, and he is limited by being hours away from the nearest port....in other words, it’s understandably a lot of work to put on his plate, and I don’t want to do that.

So, I ask my fellow EurOPPOnauts...anybody know of any reputable people / Oppos / export companies that aren’t super expensive and that could help me out with something like what I intend to do...? :)

DISCUSSION (22)

Flavien Vidal > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
04/20/2016 at 08:19

If you want to do it yourself, I can help out with the freight and everything you’ll need to ship it out... You’d just need to fly yourself over to Europe, get the car, drive it to England and ship it out... I have good contacts broker-wise that could be useful for you. Also no need to get to Poland to find a Fiat 126... You can find on in France or the UK which is much easier for you to ship it out to Canada after (no need to drive from Poland to “the sea” with it.)

Flavien Vidal > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
04/20/2016 at 08:24

https://www.leboncoin.fr/voitures/89828…

Fly out to Paris, get this, rust free, drive to Southampton in the UK and fly back home from Canada. Much better than getting a rough car in Poland, find a shady skilled bodywork place,figure out how to ship it then IF it gets repaired, all that sight unseen and so on.

Flying your ass to Europe to get a proper car from the beginning is WAY easier and in the end much cheaper

More Fiat 126 from France...

https://www.leboncoin.fr/voitures/offre…

PartyPooper2012 > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
04/20/2016 at 08:25

If you pay for my ticket to Poland, I’ll gladly go there and look over the car for you. If you wire me the money, I’ll gladly pay for the car for you. Can’t help much with shipping, but maybe Flavien Vidal can

duurtlang > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
04/20/2016 at 08:46

I live in the Netherlands and don’t speak Polish, so Poland is out of the question. However, I have shipped a car to the US before (BMW E30 Touring) and I have an international car shipping port about an hour from me (Emden, Germany). I also own 6 cars that are importable in Canada (3 of which Peugeots (‘88 205 GTI, ‘87 205 CTI, ‘97 306 convertible) I’m willing to sell, the other 3 not for sale), but that’s besides the point I guess as none of them are Fiats.

Having said all that, I’m booking a two way airline ticket to Boston as we speak. €600. Peanuts. Flavien’s suggestion makes the most sense to me.

Find some interesting cars on the site Flavien suggested, or http://www.mobile.de/ (offers English as an option) or https://www.autoscout24.de/?lang=en

If you find something somewhat close to me we could work something out.

vondon302 > Flavien Vidal
04/20/2016 at 08:56

Well hell now I want to do it.

Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
04/20/2016 at 09:22

While the labor rates are certainly lower in Poland, especially considering exchange rate, the quality/skill is going to vary (as it will in Canada/US). I saw some absolutely horrendous body and paint work in Poland (but, there was a very nice shop near where I lived, so not everything is terrible), and Maluch’s are prime candidates for a quickie (as opposed to quality) repair job. I’d also lean towards Flavien’s suggestion of a FR or UK Maluch, as the roads there are a bit more forgiving (I’m looking at you, gigantic potholes in Bieszczady).

Having shopped for cars in Poland before, caveat emptor.

Hilarious Maluch video for your time:

Dru > duurtlang
04/20/2016 at 09:29

How the mess are you going from the Netherlands to Boston and back for 600 Euro?

duurtlang > Dru
04/20/2016 at 09:38

I’ll be flying from Dusseldorf Germany, but yes it’s possible. Direct flight, both times. There are lots of sites from which you can find cheap tickets. I use skyscanner.com.

KatzManDu > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
04/20/2016 at 10:08

These cars are really cheap outside Poland, too. These are a few in Belgium...
http://www.kapaza.be/fr/auto/auto-1…
http://ww3.autoscout24.fr/classified/279…

http://ww3.autoscout24.fr/classified/287…

BZiel > Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever
04/20/2016 at 10:31

Nine times out of ten I can tell if a vehicle has PL plates before even being able to see them.

twochevrons > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
04/20/2016 at 11:06

I don't have any experience shipping from Europe, but I'm right in the middle of having a rare Triumph 2000 Mk1 Estate shipped to the US from New Zealand. I'm using Schumacher Cargo Logistics; they were the only company that actually took my inquiry seriously, and so far, they've been excellent. They offer pick up and delivery services, too.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Flavien Vidal
04/20/2016 at 15:08

This is true, but the cost of purchasing one is significantly higher outside of Poland. They are regarded as “some old car” in Poland a lot of the time, especially the later EL/ELX models, which I would be happy with. Elsewhere, they are moreso regarded as “classics” so the prices tend to be much higher. You can find one in Poland in decent shape for like $2000-$2500 Canadian, whereas they would be more like $5000-6000 Canadian outside of Poland in good shape, at least from my cursory look :(

That’s the main reason I wanted to purchase one from there. Also, in general, the choice/supply of them is better in Poland as well.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > KatzManDu
04/20/2016 at 15:14

Not bad, but I want one in stock, decent shape, and all of those look heavily modified and not in great shape, so I don’t know if their low price reflects that or not...

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Flavien Vidal
04/20/2016 at 15:26

Well, my budget was originally $4000 CAD, because I could easily get one in good shape in Poland and pretty much cover the shipping with that to Canada.

Flying over costs a lot, plus the higher purchase prices in other countries, so I would probably have to raise my budget if that were the case. I wouldn’t be looking for a “rough” car....the “rust repair” comment was only if the car I selected needed it. My problem is, I currently work 3 jobs, so finding the time to fly over would be very difficult as well.

Finding one in the UK would be nice, but a lot of the ones in the UK seem to be the BIS model, which I don’t want (air-cooled ftw!), and I would want a LHD car, as RHD cars in Canada are much more expensive to insure (and also much harder to find an insurance company WILLING to insure!)

That being said, now that I’ve had a little more of a look around, prices don’t seem THAT much higher in the UK, or elsewhere....this one looks to be in very good shape, is LHD, mostly original, and not terribly expensive:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/fiat-126-a…

That gray isn’t a factory color though...

Either of these cars would be nice as well, but they are both still like $1000 CAD more than my entire budget, including shipping was going to be....guess I should start saving up a little more money :(

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fiat-126-A…

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > PartyPooper2012
04/20/2016 at 15:35

Haha, I am willing to pay somebody to help a bit if necessary....this is all still hypothetical, because it will be awhile before it happens, but who knows! :)

Flavien Vidal > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
04/20/2016 at 20:32

Prices outside of Poland maybe a bit more expensive, but finding someone to get your car in the middle of nowhere there, getting that person to drive all the way to either Bremerhaven or Gdynia which happens to also be the most expensive Ro-Ro port in Europe with Rotterdam, getting him to get back home and so on, all that for a car you won’t have seen yourself beforehand is, I think, a terrible idea.

Let me get you a total summary of getting the car yourself.

Let’s say you buy THIS specific Fiat 126 in France:

https://www.leboncoin.fr/voitures/94973… : +1500€

Let’s say you’re in Toronto?? and fly out to Paris: + 450€

Then you arrive and need to go check the car which is north of Paris: + 100€

You need to sleep 5 nights in France but one will be in the Ferry: +200€

Then you have the car. You need to temporarily insure it: +60€ (have contacts for that too)

You need to drive it to Caen (+50€) to take the night ferry with your car: 200€ round trip (go in as a driver, come back as a passenger without car)

You arrive in England, drop the car to ship it to what will most likely be New York, as there are no RORO (roll on roll off) port in Eastern Canada. Cost of shipping it by Roro to NYC: 800€ (If you chose to ship it by container to Montreal instead, that will cost you about 1400€ total for one container)

Then you get back to France, take the bus to Caen, then the train to Paris CDG Airport (+130€)

Add food expenses (+100€ eating well) and you have a rough total of how much shipping a 1000€ Fiat 126 to Canada would cost.

Shipping the car by RORO: 3590€ (5200 CAD because your money is worth nothing nowadays lol)

Shipping the car by container: 4090€ (5850 CAD)

Keep in mind that if we except the plane tickets, these are costs you will have to cover for the person who gets the car for you anyway. That’s if he is VERY nice and doesn’t want to get paid of course.

MUCH better than getting someone you don’t know to sort of do it yourself.

Getting a car without seeing it, getting it restored by a shop you’ve never seen, shipping it from Gdynia (shipping alone from there will be about 1100€ (1600CAD) to North America) by a transporter that will have to be the darn cheapest in the entire country, getting “some dude” to fill out the export papers ...etc etc etc. It’s a receipe for disaster really lol :)

Not to mention that all this for 4000 CAD ( 2800€!!) is almost certainly impossible (unless you get a massive POS of a car for 200€).

Again, I export cars to Japan as part of my living... DO NOT do that without getting your ass to Europe.

Flavien Vidal > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
04/20/2016 at 20:51

No Fiat 126, even the most perfect one you can find cost 5000 CAD to buy. I have sent you a list of french cars in my last post... on average they cost from 2500 to 3500 CAD for decent ones, some being cheaper than that but in rougher condition.

Flavien Vidal > Dru
04/20/2016 at 20:52

Toronto to Paris costs 450€ round trip... 600€ is actually a bit expensive.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Flavien Vidal
04/20/2016 at 22:00

Well, I wouldn’t get “some dude” - I’m not that daft :P. There are a lot of helpful people on the Rezerwa forums, and Borsuq has mentioned he would help where he could if need be. :)

As for the shipping, that cost boggles my mind and confuses me :(. You know more than I do, but I know somebody who imported a Honda Beat in good shape from Japan last year to British Columbia, for like $4000 CAD total, and the shipping was only $1500-2000 of that, and Japan is farther away? (I do know cars are cheaper in Japan, but as the CAD dollar fallen so far that the shipping costs have risen THAT much???)

No Ro/Ro ports in Eastern Canada...??? Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada is a Ro/Ro capable port AFIAK? ( http://portofhalifax.ca/infrastructure… )

I live about 50 minutes from Halifax in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, so picking up from there would be easy. Halifax also has an airport, so it’s slightly over an hour drive to the airport in Halifax from here.

Guess I’ll have to still be saving for awhile yet to get like $6K CAD :(

Flavien Vidal > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
04/20/2016 at 22:19

How far it is doesn’t matter that much. What matters is how much traffic there is on each line. Shipping a car from England to Japan costs about 900$ via Roro. Same trip the other way around is double or triple that cost. Shipping from Yokohama to Vancouver or LA is actually quite expensive too due to the huge of cars being imported from Japan there.

You would think that more traffic = cheaper prices, but it’s the opposite in this business... Lots of cars ship from Japan to England therefore prices are high due to the high demand but vessels often end up being half empty on their way back to Japan, so prices are cheap to push people to work the other way around too.

800€ is actually quite cheap to send it all the way to Halifax. Keep in mind I also haven’t included Halifax port fees and the 15% custom tax to import in Canada (tax which is applied on the cost of the car + shipping cost)...

Also great for Halifax, I didn’t know about it being Roro capable, I only searched from memory...

And you would need to go through some random dude you’ve never met... That does include members of some forum on the other side of the world.

And flights from Halifax to Paris are barely more expensive... Cheapest ones start at 490€ round trip... Direct flight from Halifax to Paris.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Flavien Vidal
04/20/2016 at 22:57

Interesting, although the traffic thing makes more sense, I imagine. Glad shipping to Halifax isn’t too bad from the UK/France....800 Euros is about $1100 CAD.

Guess I’ll have to start browsing in the UK and France....probably the UK as I speak English, so that would be easier. I don’t even have my Passport atm, so I would have to get that when the time comes too, haha!

There seem to be a lot of Polish 126 imports in the UK....maybe there is somebody there who brings them in...

Flavien Vidal > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
04/21/2016 at 08:16

Getting one in the UK would be the cheapest way for sure... You just have to fly to Heathrow, check out the car, drive it to Southampton and go back home... Then again, that means you would have to survive 5 or 6 days in the UK. Considering how those fuckers eat, it’s TOUGH!!! :)