EU Mog, US Owner, Registration game...

[bdurbrow]

It looks promising that I will purchase a U1300 in Germany or Switzerland in the near future. I want to ship it to Iceland for a month of touring before sending to the US or South America. How can I minimize the bureaucratic hassle with registration and insurance? (I realize that since Switzerland is not in the EU there could be different issues to work out.) Do I need to talk the Alaska DMV into giving me plates to put on the mog after buying it? I've heard there are "transport allowances" but that is something like 2 weeks in the EU. Anyone have experience with this?

Also....insurance. Who insures your Mog. I need to talk to an agent that knows what is going on. I've tried a few companies and I get nowhere. I can only imagine trying to get a US company to insure me sight unseen while I roam around Europe.

Thanks!

 

[chadlanc]

When I had my 1300, I didn't import it into the states but I had to have it registered from colorado to california. Getting it registered was surprisingly easy, they checked the vin # in the passenger door against the vin on the frame just beside the engine on the passenger side. If you don't have both of those you might run into issues. Now I'm sure Alaska DMV will be far easier to deal with than California but who knows. Importing is a whole different animal. I'd call scott at expedition imports or couch offroad for help. I would definitely make sure you can get it into Alaska before purchasing or else you may be SOL.

As for insurance, don't call and say I have a unimog, because technically thats not the model name and an imposing foreign name like that and they just throw up their hands and say no. Say you have a so and so year Mercedes Benz 435(or whatever model you have). I think I had progressive.

 

[bdurbrow]

Thanks for the input Chad. It likely won't go to AK any time soon. After Europe, I would ship it to California for a trip through Mexico/CA/S. America, but it would be AK registered. In my experience AK registration shouldn't be any problem. Right now I'm worried about how to deal with the time between purchase and importation.