Power Wagon In Europe?

[Paddler Ed]

The other elephant in the room is parts and servicing. I'm not sure if the PW is sold in Italy (I doubt it), so you may not find anyone with the diagnostic tools to fix it, or even to get service parts if it doesnt use common filters (oil filters are increasingly model specific) parts. Probably no access to the software updates either as they wouldn't be on their systems.

Don't forget as well that your warranty is with FCA America, so you'd be out of pocket for anything that might be a warranty claim, unless you ship it back to the USA for that.

 

[Doc Fluty]

oh, i didn't think about that paddler! I will look into the warranty issues.

Martinjmpr, no i have never been to Europe. Probably the best experience I can relate it to is living in Santa Monica, CA for a few years with a crew cab truck. I'm just watching dozens of videos and reading tips online.

sg1, yes, i have recently watched a few videos on large 4 door defenders with large sleepers hanging off the back.. that's kind of giving me optimism that the PW can work. I'm sure the size and MPG have to be about the same.

Thanks for everyone on this... I thought this 2017 Rebel was going to be my last truck for a long time, but we had another baby and now there is 6 of us and we don't fit in the 5 seat Rebel... but that would work in the 6 seat PW. So i have to buy another new car and I just want this next one to last me around 10 years... the idea of buying something again only to sell it soon is not ideal.

i do like the new 2020 Land Rover Defender 110... but I try to stay away from the 1st year of new vehicles... especially land rovers lol ...I had an LR3 that MANY problems

This is one of the videos I loved watching. the terrain doesn't seem bad at all and something a basic 4x4 could handle. but the remoteness makes me want something new and reliable.


&


Thanks... i'm taking all this in. cant wait to start some adventures and share them all with you guys!

 

[calicamper]

6? Your a white van guy in Italy. If you like trucks so much shoulda pulled the cords at 2.?

 

[crazysccrmd]

Would’ve been a lot easier and cheaper to just pull out...maybe a couple times ago even. Do the Chinese still pay good money for little American children?

Having lived there before I can say I would never want to own or drive a truck that size in Europe. It usefulness is extremely limited and you’ll be making payments on a very capable offroad truck that isn’t going to see offroad more than a time or two in the next three years. If you want a six seat truck it would make a lot more financial sense to buy a year or two used low mileage ‘regular’ 2500 and buy the Power Wagon once you get back to the states and can actually enjoy it.

 

[calicamper]

I

Question: Have you ever been to Europe? Not being smartass, it's a serious question. Because those streets are VERY narrow.

CAN you drive them?

Sure, I drove a 5 ton truck through them many times. I even drove this through the streets:

View attachment 542472

But it wasn't fun, I can tell you that (and those vehicles belonged to the Army, not to me.)

And this was in Germany where everyone is very uptight about following the rules. Italy with a more "laissez-faire" attitude might be even worse with people zipping around you just to get past.

I'd seriously consider something small and economical for your Euro Trip and then save your money and buy the PW when you get back to the land of the Big PX. Easier to drive, easier to park, easier to fuel and as other have said, all those "off road" accoutrements of the PW are going to be useless in 95% of the parts of Europe you'll be going to anyway. Europe doesn't have much in the way of "public land" like we do in North America, most of the forests are either natural parks (IOW, park your vehicle and walk or bicycle) or they are privately owned. So you would be putting thousands of miles (at HORRIBLE gas mileage) and 3 years of depreciation on a vehicle that you would not even be able to use most of the features of.

My recommendation is a euro-spec mini van. You likely won't need 4wd in Italy. Mini van is easy to park and has room for your family. If you absolutely, positively NEED a 4wd for some short excursion you may be able to rent one and then you don't have the cost, poor fuel economy, maintenance and depreciation costs to bear.

I crossed the Pyeernees in a fiat Panda, in February during a snow storm. It was like a driving to Big Bear in a Spring snow shower. Drove all over Spain two weeks. The Panda was perfect I could go anywhere and park anywhere. Another couple in our group had a VW Golf yeah way better car but even they had parking challenges. Italy trip is this spring avoiding cars all together simply jumping the trains 2week trip.

Croatia was fun but basically only one road. Besides I chartered a Sail boat and the Wife and I wandered the Islands by our selves for two weeks.

I get why full sized rigs are great here in the US. We did 12 days 2900 mile National Park trip in June. Thats why my 1st gen Sequoia was just replaced with a 2019 Expedition. Nothing beats a full sized rig for the big open country of the US and Canada!!

Hell even the truckers in Italy, France, Spain drive short cab over trucks. LoL

Focus on your trip sell the current truck. Buy a beater van wagon thing over there and travel by train as much as you can!!! See as much as you can!!! Your kids will be better for it.

 

[Explorerinil]

My step brother was stationed in Germany for the Air Force, he just bough vehicles there and sold them when he came back. He said driving there was “very different” and drove a used BMW m3. Based on conversations I have had with him and his wife, who he met there and is German, I wouldn’t recommend brining a large American vehicle there.

On another note, there is a guy on the AEV forum that built a recruit and drives it in Germany, look him up I’m sure he can give you more information. Good luck.

 

[sg1]

My step brother was stationed in Germany for the Air Force, he just bough vehicles there and sold them when he came back. He said driving there was “very different” and drove a used BMW m3. Based on conversations I have had with him and his wife, who he met there and is German, I wouldn’t recommend brining a large American vehicle there.

On another note, there is a guy on the AEV forum that built a recruit and drives it in Germany, look him up I’m sure he can give you more information. Good luck.

I guess you will be stationed in Southern Italy. Driving there is different. The most important rule is that you never look in your mirrors and you don't expect others to do it. You focus on traffic ahead of you and you should be prepared for anything there. The good news is that the driver behind you is not surprised either if you suddenly decide to break or turn or change lanes. A bit like Manhattan at rush hour. And yes roads are narrow. But you will learn and manage. After a while it is actually fun.

 

[Doc Fluty]

Thanks for the tips sg1... we will be stationed in Naples.

 

[Johnboyy]

I dont want to be a ********, but I don't think you get this.

Attached is a picture of the carpark at the gate of the naples naval base.

The biggest car in the yard is a nissan rogue sport. look at it relative to the parking space.

the power wagon is 11 inches wider than that and five and a half feet shorter.

By italian standards those are some pretty generous parking spaces.

google maps/streetview are amazing, do some virtual exploring of the area you will be living in. An american truck would be a nightmare to live with as a daily. There is no such thing as a modern city in italy, some of the suburbs will be modern and have wider streets, but the places you will really want to see have streets that are a thousand or two years old.

Many mountain roads in italy have weight limits too which will exclude you, and make sure you dont fit a roofrack as 2.1m is a limit on a lot of barriers, some would even be 2m.


Again I'm not saying this to be mean, and if you were going to germany/denmark direction I wouldnt be as bothered, but for italy an american truck will be a terrible choice of vehicle.

 

[Paddler Ed]

I've just had a look at the dimension of the PW compared to a Ford Transit van... it's between the length of the LWB and XLWB. I've driven an older XLWB van over the years in both the North and South of France, and that was a challenge.
1) Parking: Most parking spaces are about 5m long maximum
2) Turning circle... well, an oil tanker may be better...
3) Width: You're in places that are perhaps 1500 years old, and the roads are sized accordingly.
4) Weight: from what I can find you're looking at weighing at least 2500kg, and perhaps over 3500kg. That will be restrictive, and may put you up a class on any toll roads as well.

Sorry we're not all saying "this is a great idea, go for it" but in reality it could end up being a world of pain for you if you get it wrong!

 

[sg1]

I have just looked up the specs of the PW. It's GVWR is more than 8000 lbs. That means it is over 3500kg. With that GVWR it is legally a Heavy Vehicle in Europe or in other words a commercial truck. This classification depends entirely on GVWR and not on use or actual weight. With a Heavy Vehicle you are subject to a lot of restrictions. Quite a few smaller roads or city centers are off limits, low speed limits for commercial trucks (usually 80 km/h or 55 miles on multilane highways, less on 2 lane roads), higher tolls, special road tax transponder in many European countries mandatory (a different one for each country of course) to name just the major inconveniences. Driving would not be fun even if you are willing to live with the problems created by the size of this truck.

 

[Johnboyy]

Oh yeah, the tax situation would want to be investigated. As US milliatary do you have some exemption from vehicle taxes? because the italians have famously high car tax (up to €2500 per annum)

 

[Highlander]

My sister has lived in northern Italy for years. Just left for the Nederland. She hikes in alps and believe me there are small towns and villages, very beautiful, you won’t be able to drive anything but Fiat and Renault.
The scale is very different on the other side of the ocean.
They have trouble to understand the vastness of USA/Canada and on the other hand we have trouble to understand the density of Europe.
You will see some ford f150s and rams here and there, especially in Holland or Germany, but there too big for their towns. and lord, those mountain towns are tiny with tiny roads.

Pickups are getting increasingly popular, under USA influence, and you will see Toyota and Volkswagen overland trucks. My sister and brother in law have a Volvo wagon and sometimes even that one feels big.

Next year I am going over there to buy a pup and can’t wait to drive those small awd cars around the alps

 

[Arjan]

Can you bring it ? Sure - no problem. The US Army does it all the time.

Can you use it there ? Everywhere the bigger vans go. Restrictions apply and you'll be not getting everywhere you may wanna go.

Can you do the Alps etc. ? You'll struggle.

At best.

Not because of your driving but because of the pistes and tracks.

Anything size Land Rover 130 and bigger has a lot of hard work in most places due to the hair pins, width of the tracks, etc. I have taken big trucks almost everywhere but it is not for everybody, will cause damage to both vehicle and the environment and take more time than you think.

If you need 4WD and 6 seats, think about buying / leasing something like the Nissan Pathfinder, Toyota etc.

Yes, you'll loose money but have probably a better time.

 

[Nonimouse]

Can you bring it ? Sure - no problem. The US Army does it all the time.

Can you use it there ? Everywhere the bigger vans go. Restrictions apply and you'll be not getting everywhere you may wanna go.

Can you do the Alps etc. ? You'll struggle.

At best.

Not because of your driving but because of the pistes and tracks.

Anything size Land Rover 130 and bigger has a lot of hard work in most places due to the hair pins, width of the tracks, etc. I have taken big trucks almost everywhere but it is not for everybody, will cause damage to both vehicle and the environment and take more time than you think.

If you need 4WD and 6 seats, think about buying / leasing something like the Nissan Pathfinder, Toyota etc.

Yes, you'll loose money but have probably a better time.

Listen to this man. When you know a quarter of what he knows or have a tenth of his experience then you will be experienced....