Buying a camper van in China

[Stokiestu]

Hi
Has anyone had the experience of buying a camper van in China and driving it back to Europe? Is this even possible?

[steven]

--> https://caravanistan.com/transport/driv ... t-of-china

[Stokiestu]

Hi Steven. Thanks for the advice. We are a couple from NZ with 12 months off work and one idea is to do an over-lander from Asia back to Europe, or the other way round if we fly to the UK first. This site is a great find full of great realistic resources. Much appreciated.

[steven]

Sounds like a great plan. China is a headache for all overlanders, and it's a difficult country to avoid.

[Lovetheworld]

I think it is much more practical and possibly even cheaper in the end, to buy a car in NZ, ship that car from NZ to Vladivostok, Russia. Yes, that will be costly, but from there on you are free to go, and you don't need a Carnet du Passage for Russia, Mongolia, Central Asia. Going through Iran, Pakistan and India would require a Carnet du Passage.

You can also ship your car to Japan (but that requires Carnet via that method), enjoy Japan, and take the ferry to Vladivostok, Russia. Will increase cost significantly, due to extra ferry and costs in Japan itself.

You will find many suitable Toyota and Mitsubishi (camper)vans in NZ that will be very suitable for a route of Japan, Russia, Mongolia and Central Asia. If something breaks you will find some spares on the way. Optionally with 4wd.

For Japan it is not really clear if you can really buy and register a car there. It may be possible, but check if you can leave the country as a tourist. Because when exporting you lose license plates and such, so not usable for driving through Asia.
Which is a shame, as there are so many awesome vans for sale in Japan which are very cheap after 12 years or so. 2000 dollar can buy you a luxury 4wd Hiace or Mitsubishi van.

The other way around is probably a lot easier when you can just buy a car and register it in your name.

You can look at our site http://www.lovetheworld.nl to get an idea of a possible route when coming from Europe. But maybe you want to dive in Southern Asia more.

[Stokiestu]

Thanks for the info. looks like you had a great trip. I think we will go fly to Europe and make the journey back as we can easily buy and register a van in the UK.