Taking My Car Home With Me

[steev-o]

Maybe not interesting to everybody here at all.. but since this is off topic i just wanted to tell everybody.

I have been in the usa for over 2 years now. About a year ago i graduated from EKU and bought myself a car... my present 2002 Elantra GLS. After working here for almost a year im finally going back home to The Netherlands, where i am from.

So next month, on thje 12th , im flying back across the atlantic forgood. And after a lot of thinking, calculating and more thinking my parentes gave me permission to take my car with me... and im freakin stoked about it !!!!! Everybody keeps asking me why in the world are you going to take an elantra all the way back home.

damn dude! its my elantra!

Sure, its not a porsche or lambo. But its my first car, i love the way it looks and im planning to drive it for a looong time. So between now and the 12th ill be puttin on some nice rims and new tires (a lot cheaper here) and im going to drive it all the way from Richmond, KY to New Jersey, where it will be loaded and shipped to Rotterdam. It will take 3 weeks to get there, and after all the customs and what not ill have my elantra on the road in holland. YEAH!!

Ill still be on the forum here, and ill def be puttin om some crazy european mods lol.

Anyways, if anybody has any ideas for it, wants to comment on this or has any questions just pm me or leave a message here !!

donations towards the ship-steve's-elantra-overseas-fund are always welcome!!

ill be representing ElantraXD in Europe! yeah !!!:)

[OPZ]

Damn son. That's gotta cost a pretty penny in shipping.

[soullesselantra]

werd up!! good luck back home!! if i would have known you were in Richmond i would have tried to set somethin up for a small meet in the area, im not too far away...

[steev-o]

Damn son. That's gotta cost a pretty penny in shipping.

actually, its not that bad. for 900 bucks its loaded, shipped and delivered... so it aint that bad

[NY2002ElantraGT]

It will probably surprise the hell out of customs. they're gonna open the container expecting an american car like a mustang or something.... haha, silly Elantra.

one question, how are you gonna fit a Euro plate on the trunk of an american elantra?

[bdiggy]

Best of luck on the trip for both of you man.

[steev-o]

It will probably surprise the hell out of customs. they're gonna open the container expecting an american car like a mustang or something.... haha, silly Elantra.

one question, how are you gonna fit a Euro plate on the trunk of an american elantra?


to my knowledge, a normal dutch plate is going to fit fine. If not (cuz havent measeured it) i will have to get an american size plate that is just yellow and has the dutch plate numbers on it. So no prob at all either way.

[SuperGLS]

I would be worried about your new wheels getting stolen in the process. I don't know why I have that feeling, but I figured it was worth typing.

You'd definitely be cool having a NA market Elantra over there though. Good stuff.

[steev-o]

Best of luck on the trip for both of you man.

thanks alot.. im nervous as hell! hope all turns out good. Ill def be posting some pics

[Deviant]

It will probably surprise the hell out of customs. they're gonna open the container expecting an american car like a mustang or something.... haha, silly Elantra.

one question, how are you gonna fit a Euro plate on the trunk of an american elantra?

I believe they offer plates in the same shape as a US plate in Europe if need be.

[steev-o]

I would be worried about your new wheels getting stolen in the process. I don't know why I have that feeling, but I figured it was worth typing.

You'd definitely be cool having a NA market Elantra over there though. Good stuff.


yeah im a little worries about that too. But im prob gonna put them in the car, and not put them on yet, since having rims on your car is considered a "accesoiry" so i'd have to pay more tax and all that crap. But the amp is in the car, the sub too, and a ****load of close that i cant take with me on the plane. So yeah, im nervous, but i haoe its gonna be ok

EDIT: and yes, im gonna be the pimp hahah since all my friends drive little compact cars with 1.6/1.8 engines. Even my moms volvo 2.5 Turbo Diesel has less hp than i do heheh

[04 elantra cvvt]

Good luck on the trip. Introduce your Dutch friends to EXD as well!

[Silentwolf]

Ya and isnt the largest Tib only a 2.0 over there?

[Pete03GLS]

congrats :D

[steev-o]

Ya and isnt the largest Tib only a 2.0 over there?

yep i think thats right. We dont even call it a tiburon. Its a Hyundai Coupe...

I have been looking online for stuff to get for my car before shipping it.

Ebay has a huge selection of stuff i like, but what are some things that you guys think i should really just buy before i leave?

im gettin this week:

CAI
New rims and wheels (17 inch exel tz-10 with 214-45-17 tires)

[PanciLaan]

Hey welcome back to Holland then.

If you import your Elantra, you will get a remark on your licence papers, that's it's an american car, so you're allowed to buy the smaller american size plates on your car.
(I want them as well, but I'm not allowed)

But cool, we can compare differences then between an American XD and mine hehe.

good luck with the shipping and stuff, hope it all will go well

[steev-o]

Hey welcome back to Holland then.

If you import your Elantra, you will get a remark on your licence papers, that's it's an american car, so you're allowed to buy the smaller american size plates on your car.
(I want them as well, but I'm not allowed)

But cool, we can compare differences then between an American XD and mine hehe.

good luck with the shipping and stuff, hope it all will go well



you're from holland too! thats freakin awesome!!

well, ill switch to dutch then:

gaaf man! zeker een keer ergens meeten ofzo. Het duurt +/- 3 weken om te verschepen, en dan nog inklaren, keuren en alles enzo. Mijn is een automaat gls, de 2 liter versie. Jij?

Tot in Nederland!!

is er nog iets dat je graag wilt dat ik hier kan kopen voor goedkoop?

[PanciLaan]

Hehe.
I'll stay in english for the other peeps here.

Don't know what there's for sale out there in the states which will be something for me.
PM or msn otherwise.
(rims are cheap, I know, last time I was in Phoenix I informed about them, damn what a difference hehe)

Meet is always possible, I'm a member(and also meeting organizer) for the dutch Hyundai club: Hyundai Street Tuning.
I'm currently the only one with an elantra in my club hehe, so you're welcome to represent hehe.
I've got a manual XD2 2.0L

[steev-o]

Hehe.
I'll stay in english for the other peeps here.

Don't know what there's for sale out there in the states which will be something for me.
PM or msn otherwise.
(rims are cheap, I know, last time I was in Phoenix I informed about them, damn what a difference hehe)

Meet is always possible, I'm a member(and also meeting organizer) for the dutch Hyundai club: Hyundai Street Tuning.
I'm currently the only one with an elantra in my club hehe, so you're welcome to represent hehe.
I've got a manual XD2 2.0L

yeah im gettin mine this week prob. 17 inch :-) yay !


hyundai street tuninG! thats awesome ! i would love to join! mine is chiati red sedan. Rims, sub, amp, cold air intake are the mods i have so far when i come to holland. What do i have to do to join? And what do most clubmembers drive? excell? coupe?

[steev-o]

Well, everything worked out ok. I drove almost 700 miles from Richmond, KY to Bayonne NJ. I just got back home in kentucky after 4 hours of flying.

The drive was pretty good. I hit the bad weather pretty soon, but got trough it without too much problems. Car held up awesome, but as you guys know... nothing can go without a flaw.

After 670 miles of driving, i was 10 minutes away from my destination the gods of bad-elantra-luck struck down on me.... I was doing about 60 - 65 miles an hour in Jersey where, like most people know, the road are pretty bad. So you can kinda guess what happened. A big ****ing hole in the road popped up on the right side of my lane, and there was no way for me to avoid it.

I hit it dead on with my front right tire and the whole friggin car shook.

At first i tought i blew my tire, but it kept on going. I did notice some shaking right away in the steeringwheel, which was a bad sign. I stopped at the nearest rest area and discovered that the outside lip has a dent in it. About 2 inches of the outside lef are somewhat flatter then the rest of the rim. The tire seemed to have survived the bang and as far as i can tell there was no air leaking right away.

Only 5 minutes after i dropped of my car, so i had no chance to keep my eye on it to see if it was leaking just slighty. I told the guys at the dock to keep an eye on it, and fill it when necessary. Im pissed as hell on myself for not dodging the gap in the road... but there is nothing i could have done.

It happened, its done and over with. The guy looked at it with me and said it was not cracked, but just a little dented. I hope i can get it fixed back home. i know there are shops that straighten out rims, so hopefully they can help me out.

Im gonna call tomorrow and ask if the tire is still full. If not i might up buying a spare rim and taking it with me or something. Anybody any experience with a similar accident? any advice?

All by all everything went fine. The car is in the warehouse (pics up later) and its still in one piece. Im buying a new tie-rod and a new wheelbearing to put on at home, since the garage told me they were both bad. Tierod is little loose (causes shaking at high speeds) and the bearing is just done.

[steev-o]

I finally have my car ready to get it trough testing and get it on the road here. Its been a looong and painful road, but its well worth it! I love my elantra and there arent too many of them here. And Motegi rims are as rare here as dryland hahah

Here are some pics for yall:

In the warehouse

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/73/dscf1474dg0.jpg

European Headlights
http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/817/dsc00048qy0.jpg

Headlight install @ home
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/913/dsc00051te5.jpg

Nice :)

http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/4701/dsc00050ns1.jpg

[Pete03GLS]

congrats dude! WOOT!

[KeWLKaT]

the european headlights look exactly the same.

and you have a lot of tools for a headlight swap, lol.

[steev-o]

the european headlights look exactly the same.

and you have a lot of tools for a headlight swap, lol.


hehe, yes. they are the same. But, the requirements for headlights here are very different.

To give you a quick overview of what i did today, hence the tools:


- blinker and side blinker cannot be on permanent
- side blinker needs to be turnsignal
- extra lights for city driving next to normal light
- adjusted height of headlights


so basically i made two new headlights. Did a lot of custom work. Dont have a lot of pics now, but will add more later. Took me all day to get them done. But it looks awesome now.

[KeWLKaT]

ahhh you shouldve said that first :)

[Silentwolf]

Hmmm, hence the little city lights in the XD2.

But the side marker can't stay on, but still has to be there for turn signal, interesting.

[CornbreadXD]

strict guidelines ftl

[Doohickie]

Congratulations! Enjoy your ride back home!