Leaving Finland: need to ship car to Oregon

[westcoast]

Hey there... so after 16 months in Finland, our family is trying to move back to the U.S.
We moved here for work (one of only has the work... not me! )--right before corona. It has not worked out for us. We are broke here.

Like idiots, we shipped out 2012 Kia Sedona van to Finland, and then paid 5000 euro tax... total shock. We had also paid 1800 to ship it to Finland.

The thing is, it is in great condition. And we are under the impression that we cannot even sell the van here unless the vehicle had been here for three years. We think we would have to just donate the car and not get anything for it!

So we are in a position (we think, please tell me if you know something different--)--we believe the best idea is to pay to ship it back to the states. It only has about 130k kilometers. We don't think we can get this good of a vehicle for the same price of shipping back.

Do you know something of this type of situation? The vehicle meets U.S. regulations, so it is not like shipping a car back that we bought in the Europe... we bought it in California, which has strict environmental regulations. We have the original bill of sale.

We are looking for recommendations for auto shippers from Finland to Oregon or Seattle who are reasonably priced.
Also for any advice regarding this situation. Is it true we cannot sell the van here? Are there any issues returning a vehicle to the states that was originally purchased in the states?

Thanks!
westcoast

[betelgeuse]

The thing is, it is in great condition. And we are under the impression that we cannot even sell the van here unless the vehicle had been here for three years. We think we would have to just donate the car and not get anything for it!

How did you get this impression?

[riku2]

we shipped out 2012 Kia Sedona van to Finland, and then paid 5000 euro tax

was it even worth 5000e in the first place? some advance research would have been worthwhile. Importing a used BMW or Mercedes yes but importing an 8 year old Kia? and now it's 9 years old and 130k mileage you are planning to ship it back to the USA!
the english phrase "throwing good money after bad" comes to mind.

[krapulassa]

Who the hell asked you to leave your beautiful country (usa) , the land of opportunity, and come here to this ice rain and sleet town, lose all your fortune in the process and take blame for using Finnish taxpayer money for your own welfare because survival is impossible with zero jobs for foreigners. This has to be the worst decision of your life!! You don't deserve this treatment. You deserve sunshine and warmth.

Move to Florida and enjoy the sunshine, the very many jobs, and other blessings of God. Earn some beautiful US money where your hard work is appreciated and be happy there because it's worth it. Raise your kids near a beautiful sunshine beach and love every minute of it.

This is not a sarsactic post.

[westcoast]

I've effectively been spun-out by the best of the best and see no point in continuing my post. But thanks.

[NukkuMatti]

I've effectively been spun-out by the best of the best and see no point in continuing my post. But thanks.

I feel with you, getting dumped by the employer after a year is not nice, especially if you invested so much for it.

You should be able to sell the car hence you paid import taxes, but to be sure you can check on www.traficom.fi and log in to your e-services and check the status of your car.
https://www.traficom.fi/en/services/tra ... e-services
(which seems to be offline now, I cannot get to my car details right now, the website returns that the resources are not found)
EDIT: seems this information is blocked by a security add on in my browser or by the website because of the use of a VPN...

Normally:
It will show you a red banner on top of your car details if you are not allowed to sell it (like on mine).
You can also ask there on how to remove that restriction. (call them).

printscreen of example of such banner telling you the car cannot be sold:
(If you got one too, it will of course not say the same, mine says that because no tax has been paid it cannot be sold).

[Y77]

Who the hell asked you to leave your beautiful country (usa) , the land of opportunity, and come here to this ice rain and sleet town, lose all your fortune in the process and take blame for using Finnish taxpayer money for your own welfare because survival is impossible with zero jobs for foreigners. This has to be the worst decision of your life!! You don't deserve this treatment. You deserve sunshine and warmth.

Move to Florida and enjoy the sunshine, the very many jobs, and other blessings of God. Earn some beautiful US money where your hard work is appreciated and be happy there because it's worth it. Raise your kids near a beautiful sunshine beach and love every minute of it.

This is not a sarsactic post.

you have to put this into perspective...a couple of years ago who wouldn't have wanted to move from trampland to the land of The Supreme But Cold Happiness? Any reason/excuse will do....a few months ago someone on this forum posted that she moved from america to Happyland because swimmng at the pool here is cheaper, what's next?

[Ligence]

2012 Kia Sedona van to Finland, and then paid 5000 euro tax...

As it's under 10 years old, you might want to check this out:
Refunds of car tax due to export

[krapulassa]

you have to put this into perspective...a couple of years ago who wouldn't have wanted to move from trampland to the land of The Supreme But Cold Happiness? Any reason/excuse will do....a few months ago someone on this forum posted that she moved from america to Happyland because swimmng at the pool here is cheaper, what's next?

People need sunshine to be happy. Ask any good psychiatrist and they prescribe vitamin D for depressed people. Sunshine has vitamin D. It plays a very important role in people's lives. Finland is fake happy. You have got nothing to do, sit home all day, play with rain, sleet and ice and waiting for your next welfare check from kela. Oh wait, let's order a kela taxi ride for you because you can't afford it happy man. No way this is happiness. If you are happy here, you have obviously not seen anywhere else. This country is pure tax hell. Be happy somewhere else.

[deepsudeep]

People need sunshine to be happy. Ask any good psychiatrist and they prescribe vitamin D for depressed people. Sunshine has vitamin D. It plays a very important role in people's lives. Finland is fake happy. You have got nothing to do, sit home all day, play with rain, sleet and ice and waiting for your next welfare check from kela. Oh wait, let's order a kela taxi ride for you because you can't afford it happy man. No way this is happiness. If you are happy here, you have obviously not seen anywhere else. This country is pure tax hell. Be happy somewhere else.

The photons of the Sun do not supply Vitamin D. Fish oil is a must in Finland. Happiness is subjective. Tax is quite similar to US.

[krapulassa]

The photons of the Sun do not supply Vitamin D. Fish oil is a must in Finland. Happiness is subjective. Tax is quite similar to US.

When your skin is exposed to sunlight, it makes vitamin D from cholesterol. The sun's ultraviolet B (UVB) rays hit cholesterol in the skin cells, providing the energy for vitamin D synthesis to occur. Vitamin D has many roles in the body and is essential for optimal health.

[deepsudeep]

The photons of the Sun do not supply Vitamin D. Fish oil is a must in Finland. Happiness is subjective. Tax is quite similar to US.

When your skin is exposed to sunlight, it makes vitamin D from cholesterol. The sun's ultraviolet B (UVB) rays hit cholesterol in the skin cells, providing the energy for vitamin D synthesis to occur. Vitamin D has many roles in the body and is essential for optimal health.

I agree, thats not what you said before. Also the UVB percent is much low compared to countries within the tropics.