Bringing a car to Germany for a few months only

My shipping company confirms 15 days actually 14, but they threw in an extra day just for glitches, thats toronto to bremerhafen but truck has to leave on aug 1

If i would have done a little more research i have now found a contractor that could have pulled it off in 10 days but his quote was $350 more

But i appreciate your input

Cableguy1 thanks for that my insurance broker made me sign a waiver that they would not cover my truck if i travel to italy

Here is an OFF topic question just got off the phone with my mom.Although she has lived in canada for 52 years now she has never become a canadian citizen I guess she has never had compelling need to. My Dad became a canadian citizen because he was a police officer at home and entered police service here in canada i was born shortly after their arrival here in canada does that entitle me to dual citizen ship or does germany not recognize this

My mom went home to germany last year and dad went with her and i am positive they were gone for almost 5 months nobody mentioned anything about the length of their stay

My guess would be yes. Germany has loosened up considerably on dual citizenship.

I assume she's kept her passport current.

N.b. that in doing so you'd likely whack a hornetsnest of unwanted transatlantic tax issues. Trust me on that one.

Yes Expat her passport is current she pretty much travels back every 9 to 15or 16 months.They are leaving for germany roughly 2 weeks after we leave we have a big family getogether 2nd weekend in sept

explain your last comment in detail please

should i bother to investigate this dual citizenship thing for myself any further, really haven't given this much thought ever

Sigh. I'm completely out of my element when it comes to Canada, but US citizens (like only those of North Korea, Eritrea and two other "axis of taxes" countries) taxes all citizens on worldwide income regardless of domicile and/or dual citizenship.

The Germans are desperate for income ... and often exhibit similar behavior when it comes to estate taxation (i.e. does not recognize US trusts for German citizens despite dual US citizenship). Lots of people have blown well-laid estate plans as a result. Presents big issues for my dual-citizen kids once they reach age of majority (they'll probably have to follow the money rather then their hearts citizenshipo-wise).

Do you have a few hundred hours to hear all the details

Only if your father gave up his German citizenship AFTER you were born ... up until 1973 German citizenship could only be inherited from German fathers (and unmarried German mothers)

Miwild that is correct i was born 3 months after my parents arrived in Canada, and my dad did not get his Canadian citizenship until i was 3 1/2 years old, so if you are right then i should by default have dual citizenship just need to get my documents updated, but again the question does Germany recognize dual citizenship

Dual citizenship is very restricted in Germany, but your case might be one of the accepted ones.

Maybe you don't care what other people think, but when people see you driving this monster over here they are going to think "Selfish bastard driving such a truck and ruining our environment and wasting our resources". Seriously, that is the attitude here. Do your fellow countrymen a favour and make sure you don't have any Canadian stickers or such like on your car.

Hutcho let me guess, you are probably one of those people who think that all forms of motor sports are environmentally irresponsible, and a waste of resources as well . If those are your beliefs, you are fully entitled to them, and i would be the last person on the face of this earth, to try and take that away from you.

But I am about to let you in on a little secret.For the last 32 years I have served my country,my community,the public and our legal system as a police officer .I have 3 commendations of merit,1 citation of valor and numerous letters attesting to the fact that I went above and beyond the call of duty,subbmitted by the community I served
I have dealt with literally thousands of scumbags ,perps that would literally turn your stomach for the heinous crimes they had commited. I have been called every name in the book ,and a few hundred you have never heard of and a lot more you can't even imagine. I come from a long line peace officers.My wife is a retired police officer as well

So telling me, that a few people might think that I am a greedy bastard for driving my F150 ford through germany/europe .Well quite frankly, doesn't really fizz on me

But I can tell you this ,you are absolutely right! "I don't give a flying fuck what they think"

So keep your eyes peeled, in the next few months, for a silver late model F150 ford lighting with a rousch performance sticker on the left lower corner of the tailgate, and a large canadian flag sticker on the right lower corner of the tailgate as it hurdles through München and when you see it raise your middle finger and stare and scowl cause it'll be me

You have a nice day sir and drive carefully now

I have no problems with motorsports, I actually enjoy them. However, I do think that it is a HUGE waste of resources to ship a vehicle all the way to Europe just for a few months, ESPECIALLY if that vehicle is completely unsuitable for European towns and cities AND you could rent something more practical in Germany for the same financial cost. You might not care what Europeans think but the majority, myself included, will just put you down as a selfish, arrogant American.

That's all very well and good, I just told you the opinion of the majority of people over here. The fact is, what you are doing is a huge waste of energy resources. People are very much more advanced here in terms of thinking about the environment and the resources we have and they look down on the type of car you drive. When you start taking up two spots in the car park because one isn't big enough, they will be even more pissed.

You might not care what people think, but I'm just letting you know, what you're doing won't go down well with the average person here. With your big Canadian flag on the back, many people are going to think "Arrogant Canadian". I really couldn't care less though, because I'm not Canadian.

Bob, I wouldn't worry about it. You've done your calculations, you're willing to spend the money, and frankly it is nobody else's business. For 5 years I was driving around daily in an SVX which is wider than "regular" cars. Had a little trouble with underground car parks and public parking garages so I simply avoided most of them and stuck with outside parking lots. Other than that, I never had trouble driving a wide car around Switzerland, Italy, Austria or Germany. If you're used to it, then it really isn't all that difficult to manoever around.

From my experience, people are more likely to stop and ask you questions about performance rather than give you any disparaging comments. Even had folks ask if they could take pictures of my car. Folks were curious and friendly, and never once did I hear any negative comments.

Enjoy your trip!

hutcho if you are not canadian, and you could care less ,what are you whining about ? My shortbox 2wd f150 ford lighting doesn't take up more space on the road than a 500series merc sedan or a 7 series bimmer . Or should people stop driving those too, get your shit straight before you start harping i think its time you got down off your soapbox . As far as arrogant canadian i guess you'll just have to let worry about that

Agree completely with Alex and Hutcho... leave your gas guzzling, Americano truck in Canada... ay. I'm American and wouldn't even dream of wasting all that you are and will just to drive YOUR car here. Save yourself and us. Please... ay.

Sounds so western. I'm so glad I'm slowly turning European via German.

Daimler and BMW shareholders experienced heavy losses recently ...

I'm not whining - I'm telling you that your idea is stupid, excessive and wasteful, just like everyone else is.

yo alex read before you speak i am CANADIAN not america i am that arrogant canadian ...hutcho maybe in your opinion which by now must have become blatantly obvious i don't care to much about

wer'e done here

Errrrrm, people are meant to let you off the fact that they think you are arrogantly wasting resourcres and shortsightedly ignoring experienced friendly advice becasue you used to be a copper?

monks town what part of we're done here didn't you understand ?

the Mounty is getting a little heated. I guess he is not used to being the one told what to do! We are not trying to be against you, we are just trying to talk some European sense into you. Bringing your truck here is not intelligent regardless of your great accomplishments as a Mounty. Maybe someone needs to get a German policeman to talk some sense into you.

One other thing... If your looking to drive your fast truck here in Germany, the Autobahn is not as fast as it used to be. Way to many families, semi's and Peugeot's on the road these days. I'm one of the Peugoet's.. damn thing wont go over 170!

sound's like a cop to me.

One question worth asking of your shipper--
will they pay for a rental vehicle if your truck is late?

I know several people who shipped cars that were delayed weeks and one whose car was delayed close to two months for shipments to Bremerhaven.

Yep, I have to agree with that, we quite often get people stop and ask if we would be willing to sell, and I really doubt the majority of people are particularly bothered about the size of the vehicle considering the number of SUV's around.

That's your best response? I have read the entire thread, I know you are Canadian but Germans don't tend to differentiate between Canadian and American or even English/Scottish/Irish/Welsh and trust me, people over here won't care. They'll take one look at that car and label you American because who else could be so self-centered and uncaring?

Man i have to hurry up and wash that "Stupid American" stamp off my head quickly.

I'm sorry to the many nice, generous and caring Americans I have met but that does tend to be the general view in Europe.

I really do not like to go into these kind of arguments, but, I was born in Colombia, therefore I am an American.

Hey Bob just to get back on topic make sure you get the right marine insurance for the vehicle. There are 2 and one does not pay replacement value but off the top of my head I can't remember which is what!

Cos some copper says "we're done" people aren't allowed to express their opinion any more?

I wasn't going to get involved in the discussion in itself; but whatever the opinions expressed, I was just concerned at the attempts to shut it down.

2088bob, I just sent you a PM but I don't know if it "took." Nothing's showing up in the message tracker. Let me know if you get it.

Tji you have mail