Van hire / rental - for driving to the UK

Why do I always seem to be posting questions on here??

Has anyone ever hired a van here to drive back to the UK?

I need to go and get some furniture for me and a friend and bring it back. I have aorund 5 days to do the trip which should be ok, but more the issue is finding a good hire company that will let me take a van out of the country, put a lot of miles on it and bring it back.

Anyone got any suggestions/advice??

Ta

Pootle

P.S. If we do this, we might have some space if anyone wants any supplies brought back from the UK... (from the London area)

Well, I already posted a question about the car-sharing companies available in Munich, but unfortunately received no replies. You could join one of them, and they could be even cheaper than a normal rental company. and as far as I know they do allow you to bring your rental abroad.

http://www.stattauto.link-m.de/index_1.htm
http://www.stadtteilauto.de/

I never through I'd say this but europcar seems cheaper.

Problem with the car sharing people is they charge per KM, and there doesn't appear to be any included in the daily/weekly rate...

I had a quote of 1600 pounds!!! for a guy to drive the stuff out from the UK in his long wheel base transit, I reckon I can do it for 600 quid return...

Hey ho. thanks for the information.

Pootle

But the per km charge covers petrol within Germany (I believe they give you a card you can use at filling stations). Outside of Germany, the per km charge is significantly lower and there are discounts for high mileage.

There is a price calculator on the Statt Auto website, and for my estimate of 2000km it came up with a price of €330. That is with self paid for petrol.

Oh yeah the calculator is at:
http://www.stattauto.link-m.de/rechner.htm

From what I very dimly recall from my time working for the AA, if you travel across to the UK, they normally make you switch cars at Calais/Folkestone to avoid the whole left/right-handside problems. That may not be so much fun if you are transporting furniture. Then again, it was a long time ago and things have probably changed since.

Have seen cars from these guys around town. Seem extremely cheap, if you book a little in advance. On the website I got a quote of €210 for a van for a week at the start of March.

http://www.navicar.de/

Didn't someone we know do this, fairly recently?

An alternative is to find someone who is travelling empty in the direction you want and bung him a few quid. We were going to do this when we came to Germany as we knew someone in the UK who did the trip empty on a regular basis with a big container lorry, but in the end all relocation Xs were paid so there was no need.

Hi There,

I know that this is an old posting but I too am looking to collect some goods from London, Uk and bring back to Munich. Does anyone have any plans to do this prior to June 2005? Would you be interested in piggy-backing and sharing the cost? Please let me know. Pm if you wish. Or perhaps you could suggest someone elses services. All help would be much appreciated as we'd like to transport baby equippment from London to Munich before baby arrives in July.

Many thanks

Anna

I would also like to bring six or eight dining chairs from London. So would also be interested in joining this list

Glad you guys are bringing sensible stuff back. Our garage was used for short-term storage for someone who convinced others to pick up a bunch of his stuff that was in storage in the UK. It had been in storage for 10 years, but suddenly he wanted it. You would think that if you managed 10 years without that rusty crowbar, umbrella and box of typing paper, you could probably manage a bit longer.

Hi,

I've been searching all day and sending off for quotes from shipping/moving companies also. I'd be very interested in teaming up for shipping/piggy-backing. I'll pm/post any further details I get. It shouldn't be a problem at all as we will certainly require at least a small van to move our items.

As for sensible items, when I purchased my Silvercross pram which I am about to ship here from London my husband had a serious sense of humour failure. Mind you, I think it's most necessary with our new addition just a few months away.

Anna

The chairs I want are new. They would have to be ordered I think so I would need a bit of lead time. I have only dreamt about owning them - since the transport cost would make them too expensive.

Well, depending upon who we/I find to make the pick up/delivery it could be as little as £175 - £200. We are happy with delivery up until mid June.

Anna

Try Schenker, I used their "Beiladung" system where they fill up the back of a truck with your odds and ends. I cleared a 48m apartment and shipped it back to the uk for €800, not bad at all. The only thing is, officially they don't transport furniture that way (the trucks could be full with industrial goods). So you have to pack the gear very, very well and hide any furniture in big boxes and wrappings of bubble wrap. Worked fine for me, the accepted the bed and mattress despite being really obvious, no problems.

Otherwise Allied Pickfords were recommended to me recently by someone moving from here back to Munich.

Hi Anna

I am moving from Oxford to Munich in mid May (2005) and would be happy to share costs. I am searching for a small van to move my things. I saw someone (Nick) was doing the inverse trip to Swindon (Munich-Swindon), so it might be a good thing to see if he's interested in sharing costs too. -I sent Agnes an email to investigate-.

You can contact me at my email: sucre3@yahoo.com for further discussion.

Rosa Maria

Hi there,

I'm currently living in Munich and need to transport my house and home back to the UK over the UK bank holiday weekend at the end of May. I would be very interested in piggy backing costs. My boyf would be happy to pick up any items on route over.

We have researched van hire from the Uk and have a deal for 361 pounds, then ferry costs comes on top on that at 54 pounds.

Please PM me if anyone is interested in van sharing. Thanks, Lucy

Hi there

I have moved to London,but need to get my furniture over from Munich
to London.

I want to fly over to munich, Hire a LKW and drive it to London. But do
not want to drive it back.

Does anyone know about a company where one can rent and leave it at
destination. Or does anyone have another suggestions?

Please let me know.

Thank you.

P

Topics merged by admin

Continuing the theme of this thread. I will need to move my household from Munich back to the UK during September. I don't have much stuff just 2 small sofas, speakers, amp and clothing.

If anyone is heading that direction and would like to share costs please let me know. Alternatively anyone relocating from the UK with a van that I could possibly drive back would interest me.

Ultimately I am trying to get my stuff to Essex but anywhere around the M25 would be good.

Simon