sak335

We're going to be temporarily relocating to Scandinavia shortly and while my wife will get a company car, I won't, so I'm leaning towards putting the GL on a boat and driving it over there. I don't need advice on importation, but I would like to hear your cold weather experiences with this vehicle and things that I can do to prepare for the long winters. Given the weather where we're headed I can't think of a better vehicle given how incredible the GL does in snow/ice.

I already have winter tires on dedicated wheels.

I've been doing some research on block heaters and it looks like they were standard issue for most GL's in Canada, and the parts are readily available. I still need to look to see if the plug is present on my US GL. If it's not, ,I'll look into in-line hose heaters as the next best option.

My other thought was that I'm still on my original battery. I have a 2012 so that means it's now roughly 7 years old. I know AGM batteries tend to last longer than conventional, but is there any wisdom in replacing it proactively?

Any other thoughts? I'm not worried about the price of diesel over there; it's still cheaper than buying or leasing a car upon arrival and we don't know how long we'll be there anyway so leasing would be tricky.

Appreciate your experiences.

ygmn

Different voltage maybe where you are going where Canada Block heater may not work...

sak335

Yes, correct. There is an EU version that runs on 220V, with the correct plug.

DennisG01

I only quickly googled the temperature in Scandanavia, but it doesn't seem to be that far off from ours, here in PA. With that in mind, I really don't think there's anything you need to worry about. I'm sure they treat their diesel so you don't have to worry about gelling. You could always add an additive, if you wanted to.

Block heaters... another way to go about this is to use a glue-on engine pan heater. In addition to heating the engine/coolant, it also heats the oil which is a really good thing.

I guess you've looked at this, but have you calculated all the costs with shipping/customs... times 2? My first thought would be to buy something over there and then just sell it before you leave. Buy it right, and you'll probably get most of your money back - depending on how long you're there, of course.

Max Blast

Where in Scandinavia?

Depending on where, rust is the worry. I’d have anything you bring there rust”proofed” with an oil based treatment, best done over there actually.

alx

they dont salt the roads there pretty much so rust is not a huge issue.

but you will need good snow (studded) tires depending on where you are going

a block heater might or might not be something you need. i have had "regular" om642 motors operate/ start well into the negative digits (F) temps, so a block heater is nice to have, but not a requirement

sak335

Thanks for the input guys. Wasn't allowed to disclose location yesterday but announcements made today (can't be too safe, I guess.)

Anyway, we're going to Helsinki, Finland which is equivalent latitude to Anchorage, Alaska. It gets quite cold there.

I don't have studded snows, but do have Blizzaks which I think should be OK for the city but I guess depends on how far out we might decide to go in the winter time.

As for cost of shipping vs. buying, you have to keep in mind that VAT is 24% so if I buy a 10,000 Euro car, I have the pleasure of paying the Finnish government 2,400 Euros in taxes, whereas I can ship a car over there (port fees and all) for 2,000 each way. Seems like a no-brainer and I'm not stuck driving some crap can. Cars are VERY expensive there and I'm allergic to paying unnecessary taxes. Since the GL is 'removal goods' for an ex-pat there are no taxes to be paid, just car registration and insurance.

It did dawn on me a story a buddy told once (he had a Jetta TDI): he drove from his home in Charlotte, NC to Cleveland but didn't have to fill up his tank and when he got into the car the next day, the southern diesel had completely jelled. My plan was to fill the tank to full before dropping it at the port, so I need to remember to dump some additional anti-gel in there after filling up just to be sure.

Bimmer777

If you are allergic to paying unnecessary taxes, Finland is the wrong country to move to

DennisG01

I thought it would have been more expensive to ship the car... and I didn't realize the taxes were so high!

Certainly can't hurt to put some anti-gel in there.

If it's a good battery in there, it should be fine for a while, still. But at the same time, you've had it long enough that it would fall well within the acceptable "preventative maintenance" timeframe. Unless batteries are reasonably priced (and accounting for taxe) over there. For example, contact a local MB dealer there and compare the cost to an MB dealer here... even though there could be better places to buy it, this would sort of be an apples to apples thing.

I thought I've read about special tire "chains" that work with AWD cars?

Max Blast

Negative, Ghost Rider..,

Norway, Sweden and some parts of Finland use road salt or other corrosive means.

pjw1967

I would first check with the ocean carrier before filling the tank to the brim. It has been my experience that the carriers want the least amount of fuel in the tank before loading to the vessel. Here is the fuel notice from Wallenius Wilhelsen "4.9 Fuel
Please deliver your vehicle with no more than one-quarter (¼) tank to comply with applicable safety regulation. You need enough fuel to deliver, load/discharge your car, and reach a gas station at destination."

Max Blast

yep. Tank near empty or they make you drive around all day until it is.

alx

i disagree. at least they dont use anywhere close to what we use stateside. most of the time outside of the cities in scandinavia you will be driving on packed snow/ ice for several days after a snow fall.

sak335

Good information, thanks.

pjw1967

You might want to read up on the other restrictions, like no personal effects in the car. Unfortunately, you can't pack the interior to the brim either.....
https://www.2wglobal.com/online-tool...ivate-vehicle/

Max Blast

To some degree correct; northern Finland, Sweden and Norway rarely salt because it is too cold for salt to have any effect - and packed snow has a decent coefficient of friction when it is dry.

in southern and coastal (less cold) areas salt or other corrosives is used to melt the slush before it packs or a water layer forms. Road salt use is actually on the rise due to the outright banning or heavy taxation of studded tires in population centers.

sak335

That I was already aware of. Which is a bummer because it would have been nice to at least ship the summer tires over with the vehicle.

sak335

I live in PA, so road salt would be happening anyway and I'm not concerned about it. They salt the roads here so heavily that the roads are pure white by the end of winter. I did find one small rust spot under one of the running boards last time I was under there and I'll repair it properly before I ship the car over.

One other thing I was thinking about: what about the whole "Dieselgate" thing with Mercedes over in the EU? Anybody know if there will be issues related to that with the vehicle?

Max Blast

ok so you’re already in the rust belt and are taking proper precautions.

you might want to check with your local municipality/city on usage restrictions on diesels. That happened and is a reality in Scandinavia, at least Oslo - I.e no diesels in town on certain days.

I assume you’ve read up on the Finnish dmv technical requirements for plating any ex-pat import car - lights may differ from eu versions for one, perhaps costing you more than the car could be worth.

pjw1967

If you use a freight forwarder with some pull, they might be able to sweet talk the carrier into letting that happen, calling them "spares". Ask the carrier which forwarder gives them the most business, as you want to pick one that has lots of experience with them. Don't ask me how I know. I'd also get a new battery. I don't know what it is about being sealed up inside a ship for days on end, but it seems to suck the life out of batteries. Oh the carrier will jump start it to get it on and off the ship, and again when you pick it up if need be. But it could go dead again the first time you shut it off after leaving the pier.

GLguy

1. Find out if this car was sold can be serviced there.
2. Find out if you need to do any conversion to meet European safety and emission specs before you can register. Find a shop that can do the conversion and certify the car if needed.
3.Cost of shipping, tax, insurance

sak335

OK, so reviving this thread to give everybody an update. I'm in Finland now and scoping out places for the kids to go to school, housing, etc. All that is now done. Went into my wife's office and spoke with some local car guys. They told me to go talk to the inspectors themselves and gave me the address of the one they use. Went in there and asked the lady at the front desk if I could speak with the guys in the shop and she waved me right in. There was a Russian guy speaking with the inspector, and from what I could gather, he was basically asking the same question as I had, except for a Russian car. Now, Finns dislike Russians, and the inspector was basically telling the guy he couldn't tell him if the car would pass or fail until he saw the actual car. The Russian guy walked out looking disappointed.

So then I walk up and ask the guy the same question and he gives me a look like, "didn't you hear what I just told that guy?" but I had taken photos and video of the car (lights, etc.) and showed him to him on the phone. The guy then eases up considerably and we start to talk; he's a nice guy. So he says, no problem, the car will pass inspection with no issues (I explained it just passed the safety inspection in the US) and that no changes are necessary. He said to make sure that I have a warning triangle in the tool kit, that's the only thing that usually gets people importing modern cars from the US. I already had that on my list, so excellent.

No issues with diesel here in Finland. Most of the cars I see are diesel and my wife's company car is a BMW diesel. For those that are interested, the price of diesel is hovering around 1.40 Euros/Liter or roughly USD$6.00 per gallon which is about 10 percent cheaper than gasoline. Speed limits are almost absurdly low here so I'll likely get mid 20's per gallon, so not too bad. I'll be driving about 25 miles per day to take the kids back and forth to school.

So next up is finding the shipping company, and seeing if I can coax them into letting put the spare wheels in with the car to free up space in the container. The house we're renting is very nice, but almost half the size of our house in PA. Also a block heater. Everybody has a block heater; they even use them on gas cars. The locals I spoke with expained that it's as much for being able to get into a warm car as it is for ensuring it starts. We have a garage, but it's not heated.