Preparing your Vehicle for transfer (P.O.V.)

Naples

Bringing an American car, truck or motorcycle to Italy? (If bringing a motorcycle see below). Most people do, and with a little preplanning, your preparation, shipment, and the use of your car once here can be greatly simplified, almost (but not quite) as easy as keeping your car stateside.

First, an American vehicle, at least for this page, is any vehicle that meets American safety standards, and was licensed in the U.S. It may be a Nissan or Toyota, but it is an American Specification car, not the same as a European or other country's car.

When to Ship? The normal shipping time varies from 45 to 90 days from East coast ports and 55 to 90 days from Gulf and West coast ports, depending on time of year, and where the vehicle is shipped from. If you own two vehicles, consider shipping the vehicle you intend to use in Italy as early as possible. You must determine what to do with your second vehicle. Two options are sale or storage. Since you are permitted to ship only one vehicle at government expense, use the second vehicle until nearly time to transfer. Having a vehicle waiting when you get here is probably the most helpful thing you can do for yourself. With a little direction, you can get out of your TLA hotel or government quarters, go to dinner, base, and explore without having to depend completely on others. If you are anything like us, there is nothing worse than to have to depend totally on others, and on top of that you don't even know your sponsors very well. At this early point in your adapting to your new area. Be sure to hand carry the paperwork issued you by the Stateside shipping office when you shipped the car. The documentation is required to complete your registration in Italy, and release your car for your use. If your car gets here before your household goods do, you could run into a problem completing registration, insurance, claiming damage, etc. without all documentation.

What should you bring, or leave behind? I have included a basic list of items you should bring with you, below. Ship these items with your household goods, not in the car. As for vehicle size and fit, the roads in the local area are basically good, similar to interstate highways between major towns, or at least two lane roads (one lane in each direction) between the smaller villages and towns. Going down the coastal roads or into the mountains will challenge a larger vehicle at times, with narrow bridges or sharp turns, but most American cars, pick-ups, vans, and station wagons fit easily on the main roads. Some larger vehicles may have a little trouble within the towns on narrow side streets, or negotiating through heavy traffic. Your driveway, if you have one, may be the narrowest of places you drive. Driveways are built for a small to medium size Italian car, and garages can be a very tight fit. Many people drive Aerostars, Caravans, and Explorers, even full size pick-ups or conversion vans here, without much difficulty, although you must remember that gasoline is rationed and the bigger the vehicle, the quicker your gas ration seems to disappear every month. We brought a '93 Buick Century over with us and have little or no problem (except in our own driveway!)

All vehicles, regardless of size or age, must be in good condition and completely clean before shipment. All personal items must be removed. Other than the spare tire, jack, safety triangle, and first aide kit, there should be no spare parts or household goods in the car at shipment. The fuel tank should be at or less than a quarter of a tank.

A basic inspection is part of each registration process. Nearly all automobile parts can be mail ordered , but only the most basic items, such as some hoses or belts are stocked by the NEX Autoport on base. Local parts houses rarely have parts books on American vehicles, and until you've had practice, how would you ask for the part, anyway? Prior to shipping your vehicle, it should have had a full tune up, replacement of the hoses and belts if needed, very good tires and shocks, wipers, working signals, seat belts, and child restraint systems. I recommend keeping the phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and postal addresses of your favorite parts store for future use.

Tires. I highly recommend having new or nearly new tires on the car when shipped, and ship in your household goods two new tires. Tires are both expensive, and sometimes in short supply depending on size. One spare rim (used from a junk yard) might be wise too, pot holes the size of Volkswagens sometimes open up during the rainy season and swallow your rim and tire (we lost two rims in one day in the same pothole!).

Car Insurance. Contact your insurance agent early. Your insurance may cover the transoceanic shipment, or possibly not. While rare, cars have disappeared at sea while in shipment. Locally, insurance is available through GEICO and USAA. If you are currently covered by GEICO, contact a local agent and arrange for your coverage to shift to the International Division and get details about levels of required coverage, etc. Cost has decreased over the past two years with two primary companies in competition. We use USAA, and have been very pleased with them. GEICO has a system where you pay the initial installment on the policy while still stateside, but the policy doesn't go into effect until you pick the car up here. Some companies may not cover exotic or high output sports cars while overseas.

Triangle and First Aide Kit. Each vehicle must carry a safety triangle and first aid kit, while traveling on European roads. These items are required prior to your initial registration. It is normally less expensive to pick up these items and place them in the car prior to shipment than to rush around hunting for them upon arrival.

Alarm Systems. If you have a late model or high value car, an alarm system is highly recommended. Stolen autos which have compatible parts with European models (BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen, Nissan) are highly desirable on the Eastern European Black Market. Generally though, auto thieves have no use for a Chevy Blazer or Ford pick-up. Be aware though that alarms here do as much good as in the states, everybody tends to ignore them. Also, the most frequent time to have your car stolen or vandalized is during the middle of the night, from your own driveway, so be sure you would wake up to your alarm, and always lock the car, gates, and garage doors. Never leave anything of even minimal value visible in your car. This includes cigarettes, cell phone, toll cards or loose change.

A motorcycle may be shipped at government expense as part of your household goods shipment, it need not be shipped as a POV. It is highly recommended though, that it be separately crated, as motorcycles frequently take longer to clear Italian customs than your regular household goods. Rules for military motorcycle drivers are the same here as stateside and you must carry a motorcycle endorsement to your stateside driver's license. A Navy approved motorcycle safety course is also required prior to licensing within Italy. It has been recommended to me that if you are bringing a motorcycle, a Suzuki is not a good choice, as even basic parts are not available locally, and there does not appear to be any local shops that are familiar with working on them. At this point in time, this is the only make that anyone we know of has had excessive problems with lack of parts or service.

Buying a vehicle.  You are able to purchase American vehicles, as well as foreign models from various sources both on and off base.  Automobiles, other than Italian makes, when bought in Italy, are imported duty free and deliveries can be made here in Naples.  When buying an Italian car you are exempt from paying the IVA (Italian Excise Tax).  It is very easy to buy a new car on the economy, we purchased a new VW Caddy, with no problem.  Car lots here though are nothing like they are in the US, here you need to go track down a saleman...imagine!!!