Comments on: The Family Van

By: Natalie

Natalie — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 09:45:37 +0000

Oh, and I learned how to drive stick on my mission on the French island territory of La Reunion! Sometimes I was afraid I would drive right off of the curvy little mountain switchbacks and roll down into the sea!

By: Natalie

Natalie — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 09:43:20 +0000

What are carseat, child booster seat laws in France/Europe? Do your little ones have to lug around carseats on all your fun travels? I think it’s so important to travel all as a family. My husband’s family, with 7 kids, frequently take 2-3 (sometimes 4!) cars to get one place ‘together’ and it always feels so disconnected to me.

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 05:12:53 +0000

I had to learn on a stick shift. I hated it at the time, but have been thankful I know how many times!
Ooh, I’d buy that baby if they sold them here! Our minivan only holds seven and it’s getting pretty squishy with all of us in it- a seat for everyone, and our dog goes in the trunk if we have to take him with us to visit family in UT- thank goodness for luggage racks- even if we have to put everything in garbage bags in case of weather.

By: Susan Marks

Susan Marks — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 02:43:32 +0000

When we took our family of 6 to Belgium, we rented a VW Sharan. It was the biggest thing on the road in most of the towns we were in, and barely fit in the garage of the 14th century apartment we rented. And it was, amazingly, an automatic! We can both drive a stick, but it was so much easier to try to translate road signs and addresses without having to worry about the clutch!

By: corrie

corrie — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 07:00:56 +0000

I wondered what you were driving over there! we drive the 7 seater called a multivan here in australia and love it:) very roomy and my kids call it the bus:)

By: Megan

Megan — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 09:04:34 +0000

Hmmm. I haven’t checked into it lately but I’ve been told that if you’ve owned the car for a year (proving it’s your personal vehicle) importing the car to the US can be done without hefty taxation. There’s just the possible adjustments to the car that may be needed to adjust it to meet US standards.

Here in Germany where I live now, BMW has a “European drive/buy plan” where foriegn buyers will buy a car on vacation, drive it and then ship it home. You might ask at a VW dealership if something like that exists, they may then know how to advise you about keeping your van.

By: UK lass in US

UK lass in US — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 21:41:26 +0000

Yep, most cars in the UK are manual – I only ever came across one automatic over there. Coming to America and owning an automatic was a worry for me: it took me a few weeks to finally trust that the car ‘knew’ what it was doing and would manage a hill start etc. by itself…

If you do decide to ship the car, make sure that you itemise everything in the car, as I know lots of people that have had anything that wasn’t on the inventory stolen (speakers, manuals, seat covers etc.). nb. I don’t think that there are any issues bringing a European car over to the US. A friend had to have their car modified for driving in Germany, but had no issues bringing it back to California.

By: Cath

Cath — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 08:29:47 +0000

Lola I disagree! Most cars in the UK are manual. In fact I don’t know anybody who drives an automatic and I have no idea how to drive one!

By: Anne

Anne — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 11:11:33 +0000

Like the majority of European cars, German cars are stick shift. It was quite a change after being so used to automatic. BUT: sooo much more fun! The little guy does make a big difference for me. Don’t ever want to go back!

By: Franca Bollo

Franca Bollo — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 03:19:55 +0000

Um … yes.

By: Franca Bollo

Franca Bollo — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 03:19:03 +0000

I learned how to drive in a Fiat with a manual transmission on the rice levees surrounding my parents’ home. At the time, I think we were the only owners of a foreign-made car and the only Democrats in our county. I still prefer a stick … especially on the hills here in San Francisco!

By: Tiffany

Tiffany — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 03:08:58 +0000

I love stick shift- I call them “zoom zoom” cars.

We just made the move from a minivan to a 12 passenger van. And I would have died 12 or so years ago had I known it was in my future but I L-O-V-E it! We only have 5 children but the logistics of car seats etc. had made the minivan a bit too crowded and we found that suburbans did not accomodate our needs like the 12 passenger. Now I can be a part of carpools too and still have space! Oh-let’s not forgot the lack of fighting that has developed since the children all have a good amount of space between them!

My neighbor calls the van “Mahana” (“Mahana, you ugly!” from Jonny Lingo) and has threatened to put “10 cow wife” on the back of the van- and I would drive it proudly with those words! Maybe I’ll even put “Mahana” on the hood…..

By: Jill

Jill — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 12:21:31 +0000

When we lived in South Africa, I had a bright green Renault Scenic, which was like a mini-minivan, and it was stick shift. Can you imagine driving a stick shift mini-van in the States?! I loved that car.

By: kristen

kristen — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 01:23:26 +0000

We have a 2003 VW Eurovan MV Weekender – the last year they were sold in the US. We L-O-V-E it. We wanted one for a long time, and when we finally got one we realized it is way better than we even thought it would be.

By: Lola

Lola — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 20:33:21 +0000

Here (the UK) most cars are automatic nowadays, although manual/’stick shift’ are cheaper so people do still buy them (I’d say it’s about a 75/25 split, although more over-60s drive manuals). Almost all cars are readily available in both configurations. The main advantage to manuals is that they’re much easier to start if your driveway slopes upwards and it’s been snowing, which has been happening every year for a while now!

Most people still learn on a manual as if you learn on an automatic your licence doesn’t cover both.

Lola

PS: Love the van! I’d be tempted to paint it if I were you – handprints? Flowers?

By: Lola

Lola — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 20:25:25 +0000

I few years ago there was this item on the UK news – a French channel showed a video of British drivers voluntarily stopping to let pedestrians cross the road. The channel got tons of surprised/incredulous mail from their viewers :D

Also, if you try and drive into Paris at the beginning of Aug (most French people take several weeks off at the same time during that month and go and stay in the countryside), you’ll witness almost the entire city just acting as though the roundabouts aren’t there. Driving right over them!

By: rochelle greayer

rochelle greayer — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 16:17:31 +0000

you know you can bring it home….when we lived abroad many friends did this as it made sense over selling and re-buying once home. Also they had models that they loved that were not available here. If I remember correctly it was a couple thousand dollars to ship. (of course this was as much as 10 years ago – so prices could have changed) — talk to a dealer as I think that they might have some cheaper ways to help you out. I seem to remember audi has some specific program geared just for ex-pats to help them get foreign purchased cars back to the US.

By: Barbara

Barbara — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 10:54:59 +0000

Way, way back in the sixties when my husband and a couple of friends travelled Europe, Renault had a program where you could drive a new Renault off the showroom floor in Paris. You signed a promissory note (and I think put some money down) used it and brought it back when finished. All this was arranged beforehand, how I just can’t remember. I do remember it had a few dings on the side of the car but insurance covered that. Wish I could remember more details. Your trip sounds fantastic, I especially love how the children are now speaking a second language. What a wonderful way to start a life for them.

By: Kris

Kris — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 07:52:04 +0000

Most cars in England are stick shift too. When I took my driving test I had to test on a stick shift. If you test in an automatic, then you are only allowed to drive automatic cars, which isn’t a good idea since they are harder to find.

By: Betsy

Betsy — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 04:04:55 +0000

Volkswagen still makes a lot of vans they just are not imported to the U.S.