European delivery / driving in Italy

[BavarianBeast]

Hey Beyond,

I was wondering if anyone here has done a European delivery for a new car purchase? As somebody that has only driven in North America and Australia, is it a bit of getting used to? Is it terrifying in your new car? I will be in Italy for the most part and heard mixed opinions.

Thanks for any insight.

Cheers

[killramos]

Be VERY careful in small towns, a lot of streets won’t accommodate wide North American cars esp if it’s a performance model with a wider track. People just park and double park everywhere so things can get narrow quick.

People don’t respect cars there the way we do here, bumping and rubbing your car to get in and out of parking spaces isn’t uncommon.

Parking lots and parking garages are hard to find and usually very small.

Personally. I would be terrified in Italy yes. Same with Greece or Spain. German and France is better. UK is fine.

As much fun as it sounds I feel like the above would ruin the experience for me. If you are going to do it I’d borderline plan out where you are going to park it day by day ( nice Hotels with valets etc ) so you take the guesswork out of it.

[bjstare]

I haven't been, but much of my family has, and their comments were exactly the same. In Italy and Greece, it's completely normal to bump your way around town. People don't think twice - it's the kind of driving you want to do in a rental car.

There is a 0% chance I would drive my new car in Italy; my assumption is the car that you're picking up being made in Italy (i.e., special and expensive)... just nope nope nope nope. If you want to go there to pick it up, maybe get it put on a truck to Germany or somewhere that people know how to drive? Idk.

[nismodrifter]

Nope.

[ExtraSlow]

Pick it up, and you should be out of the country in under 4 hours. Then you can relax and enjoy your trip after that. Here's a good route.

[killramos]

Motorways is a completely different conversation than in urban areas.

[msommers]

Italy is typically a shitshow of scooters coming off the sidewalk into traffic. Most people have their front and rear bumpers scratched because parallel parking is insanely tight. Fun ripping around on the highways but in cities and towns it feels like a bit of a free for all. I'm sure it's nothing like India though!

[ExtraSlow]

Rent a rarri in itali, then buy one here.

[ThePenIsMightier]

I haven't been, but I'm confident people respect Italian exotics there more than some Peugeot, Skoda fuck-buckets. I'm told that the Italian police will pull you over and give you shit for not driving a Ferrari/etc "properly" with its valves floating at 1.7G's... Sounds fishy, but would be neat.

Bigger picture is the lethal 1-2-punch-combo from ExtraKillySlow. ie) get on hwy + drive away.

If you want a vacation of coffee shops and visiting Bologna, that's a different story. But... I think with careful planning and an extremely leisurely schedule to allow you 15+ min to find adequate, safe parking - this is still feasible. If it's literally a Ferrari or similar, I've seen people (in North America) block parking spots for you or insist that you occupy two spots beside them in order to help. It's weird.

[killramos]

Pretty sure outside of Maranello people spit on Ferraris in addition to keying, bumping, and scraping them.

[SSO]

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Pretty sure outside of Maranello people spit on Ferraris in addition to keying, bumping, and scraping them.

Not been my experience. Driving a Ferrari in northern Italy has been a terrific experience. Lots of thumbs up form the police and people actually moving over and letting you through. Never had an issue with scraping or keying.

[JPB]

I wouldn't drive in Rome, most of the Italians I know park at a station and take the train in. Avoid south of Rome, it's a bit crazier and crime-ier down there. Up north, the autostradas are great and any bigger town to city would be fine as long as you stay out of the old center. Look for places to stay with on-site or underground parking. Makes things a bit less stressful. Go play in the Alps/Dolomites.

If you are crossing into Switzerland, there is a tax disc you will need. Check the insurance you are provided with european delivery package with regards to crossing borders. I was just up in France/Germany and lots of cities have low emission zones in the center of town where you need a sticker or to register your plate or you will get a fine (if the plate is out of country). Check green-zones.eu

There are a few road signs that are a bit different from N. America but they are easy to figure out. France still has the ridiculous "car on the right has priority" in uncontrolled intersections, but that is mostly in rural areas. Look for the yellow diamond sign which means right priority doesn't apply. Italy has speed cameras on the autostradas but they are marked. Gas was about 1.75 euro a liter so bring $$$.

[heavyD]

Italy is the worst country in the world to drive with a nice car. Rome is comparable a lot of large european cities but once you get into the smaller towns it turns into a total shit show. Drivers don't care about anything there and I mean anything. You will be driving on a country road and come upon a car driving in the middle of the road for no good reason and they will just stay there because they don't care and and they are in no rush to get to their destination. People are all over the road like drunk drivers as lanes are really just for show in rural areas. You will park somewhere thinking you left adequate of room for another car to fit in front or behind only to come back and see two cars squeezed in that spot and scuff marks on your bumper because they bumped into your car several times while squeezing in. Fortunately our vehicle was a rental but my OCD would prevent me from ever living there.

[Xtrema]

Stay away from small towns or old city centers, then what's the point touring that country. Been in Rome and driving doesn't look like a pleasurable experience. IMHO, ED is about autobahn before they put a speed limit on them.

[killramos]

I know for me it would be far from an enjoyable experience, and is the crux of why I have never done an ED.

[ThePenIsMightier]

Guys, there's pills for ED...

[heavyD]

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Stay away from small towns or old city centers, then what's the point touring that country. Been in Rome and driving doesn't look like a pleasurable experience. IMHO, ED is about autobahn before they put a speed limit on them.

It's fine with a rental. You just wouldn't want to drive your own car there.

[shakalaka]

I drove around Italy in 2019 and it was a pretty wicked experience. Mind you, I rented a stick shift Panda so I didn't care about it, but luckily didn't have to scrape it anywhere. I drove in Rome (fucking mental) and then along the coast through the Tuscan Hills, going through Pisa to Florence and ultimately dropping the car in Bologna (or something). I also did detours to check out the Ferrari and Lamborghini factories. This was a 3 day thing and I personally had a great time. The only stressful part was to trying to work out the toll bridges as the directions aren't very clear and the line up behind you gets really fast and people get pissed cause you can't figure out what the fuck is the machine saying. Not all of them have people sitting so that was the worst part of it all for us.

PS: Average speed on the highways is definitely around 130km/h-140km/h. People look at you weird going at 110-120. lol

[BavarianBeast]

Thanks for all the input gentlemen.

I am still waiting for the specifics from Lamborghini but it sounds like they will have the route planned with all the hotels/restaurants and etc. I will take a look at the route and decide if it’s something I’ll be comfortable with. It’s really a dream come true as I wanted to do this with a bmw or Porsche for over 10 years and really hoping it looks manageable.

[killramos]

Either way congrats are in order. I hope it all works out.