At first the EU garantees a free movements of goods for EU citizens. As you are a foreigner or non EU citizen you have to have find out what rules are valid for you because you will act like a classical export/importer when you buy in one country and sell in another.

You cannot skip the VAT if you buy and sell in the EU. To skip VAT you have to export to a non EU country!

If you buy as a private person a new vehicle in EU country A and you sell it with as a used vehicle to a private person in EU counry B, the buyer hasn`t to pay any VAT.

VAT has only to be paid if it is a new vehicle. Every kind of vehicle under 6000km on the clock and with a date of registration younger than 6 months will be seen as a new vehicle!

But if you sell the new vespa bought in Germany in Italy after 6 months of use with more than 6000km and older than 6 months to a dealer or a private person than only local (italian) taxes and fees must be paid. Also you have to inform the customs in Germany and in Italy if the value of the vehicle is higher than 1000€!

My advice:
- accept only cash if you sell because it is a private deal!
- never send out any digital copies or photos of vehicle documents to anyone
- a copy of the buyers passport or ID must be part of a written sale and purchase agreement
- sale and purchase agreement must contain all data of the buyer including contact data and date/time of handover
- sale and purchase agreement must exclude all warranties for defects. You sell as "sold as seen and proofed by the buyer under excluding all warranties"

__________________

Thanks for your replies!

I wrote a dealer last night at your suggestion. The quote I got back was 2640EUR for only 2600km. Plus, they are closed for the rest of August.

It also seems I misread that EU VAT page in my late night sleepiness, missing the crucial AND in "6 months AND 6000km" for a vehicle to be considered used.

I'll keep looking. It's seeming like renting might be the most reasonable option (even though the cost is insane), but even finding one with unlimited miles is surprisingly challenging.

This is the month where whole Italy is going on vacation. Many tourists of France and Germany will also be there. Means Italy will be from Liguira and Emilia-Romagna on to south overcrowed!

Available campgrounds, hotels, restaurants and beaches will be full of people and due to corona rules these cannot offer same capacities as usual.

Keep that in mind while your are planning!

__________________

I don't find it very surprising that it is hard to find one with unlimited mileage--let's face it, most people rent Vespas to bop around town for a day, week, or month rather than go on long-distance journeys. Perhaps you could find a place that would at least agree to use your average mileage over the rental period than strictly per month (ie, so that if you basically stayed in one place for a month, your "mileage" for the next month could be almost double.

Also, have you considered a small motorcycle? If you plan to ride long distances this might be better.

It's a good point. I guess I'd figured that since a rental could cost a couple thousand Euro, I could sell the one I rode at enough of a discount that someone would want it. It seems Italy is a particularly difficult country to buy a vehicle in (even for locals).

Considering that all of my riding experience is with hand brakes and a CVT, it makes sense to find a similar vehicle overseas. Getting accustomed to shifting and using a foot brake might be a lot when also learning new traffic customs.

At the risk of being struck by lightning , how did you come up with conclusion that in Italy it is particularly difficult to buy a vehicle even for locals?

My view (correct me if I am wrong please) is that you are floating with your ideas and do not want to put them on a paper and provide calculations that will bring you to the solution or conclusion that you don't have a solution.

BR
Dooby

My quick perusal suggests that you're asking the same questions we all do when comparing shipping a bike vs. renting vs. buying and re-selling locally. The only difference is that you have a thing for Vespas, but in other respects your answers are probably covered in the many, many threads addressing these issues--see the search box at the top right of this window.

I'll admit I'm a bit puzzled by your reluctance to learn to ride a standard issue bike--manual transmission and foot brake included. It's not difficult, and it opens up many possibilities for future holidays (as well as life itself). I'm also puzzled that you seem put out by a price of €500/month; this strikes me as ridiculously cheap. It would take a lot of excess mileage charges to add up to anything substantial. Even €60/day isn't too bad if it comes reasonably close to getting you what you want. That's what rental bikes cost...except when they're more expensive (or you're in SE Asia).

In any case, I'd suggest weighing the numbers, making a decision, and not looking back. Who cares if you get the best possible deal? You're talking about riding around Italy for a couple of months, and the clock is already ticking.

[Addendum: I just saw that you're planning to begin your "maximize time on the road" trip about a week from now. Hell, make a decision tomorrow at the latest and clear some space in your consciousness for all the other bits and pieces which need attention.]

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

One other thing I don't really get is that it appears that you'll be working during this time, it is not a vacation...so are you sure that 2000 km/month (what you've been quoted for vespas) is unreasonable? Your trip to Crater Lake was 12 days and less than 1300 kilometers, and presumably you weren't working during that trip? I don't know how fast you can travel on a vespa, but presumably you'll be avoiding the highways to it could take you a full day to go a few hundred kilometers. And having spent quite a bit of time in Italy myself, it is not a place where you want to be riding every day...go to a nice new town that you find, stay there for a few days to get your work done, then go another few hundred kilometers. If you plan to spend a week at a time in one place, then the calculus seems pretty easy, especially if you can average your kilometers over the entire rental, rather than per month (as seems likely).

I don't know for sure, but I would expect mileage overage fees to be pretty steep, because the vehicle providers probably intend for their scooters to be used to cruise the piazzas rather than the wear and tear associated with high-mileage usage. That said, 500 euro a month is an absolute bargain, so you're starting in a good place.

I know nobody likes it when a newcomer shows up and asks the obvious questions, so I wanted to demonstrate that I am being thoughtful and have done a bunch of research. (I think I even had that in my post at one point, but I must have lost it in editing.)

I was excited to discover a group of people with experience in this space, and wanted to be open with my thought processes, in case I have missed or misunderstood anything. I discovered this forum, searched around on it, and posted in the same day for that same bias-to-action - to not lose time overthinking. I know it's easy to lose days in research, especially when California's days are Europe's nights. I'm sorry if I posted prematurely.

I've also come to the same conclusion that you have: although it seems insane to spend thousands of dollars to rent something that could be bought new for not much more than that, the hassle of trying to figure this all out when I'm already overdue for a vacation is too much. It's only money after all.

To be clear, my issue with the 500€/month isn't the rate, it's the mileage cap.

If I had room to park a standard motorcycle at home, I'd probably have one too. My preference to travel on a 300cc scooter is largely familiarity - less to worry about, less likely to make a mistake that could become a crash, and less likelihood of getting caught by a speed camera. Plus, the underseat storage is nice. I'm sure I could ride a manual motorcycle, I'd just rather not this trip.

I suppose I deduced it from some combo of my friends' reactions, and innuendoes about Italian bureaucracy. Was just a flippant remark.

I wanted to document the things I have explored so far, to identify things I may have missed, and to help others have an easier time in the future. It's not all fleshed out yet, but providing what I've found seemed more useful than not, and also than waiting until I'd found all the answers. I trust the people on this forum know things I don't. (It's why I came here )

Thanks everyone for taking the time to respond!

When non US citizens go to US and buy a motorcycle using buddies address as the only possible solution available in some states not all of them they also have choice of one crappy third party liability provider that for sure in case of a shit show will bail out (already happened before).
So it could also be said that is is very hard to get a motorcycle in US if you are not a citizen.

Well yes, this is how world works, we can’t copy or expect experience/price of Vietnam to Switzerland or Australia to Croatia.

My view is that you are forcing some framework you had in mind and trying to put that framework into a box that literally doesnt exist and it lives in your expectations.

World is big, laws are different and one friendly advice is to get your international drivers permit to ride in Europe as in some states it is compulsory item. It is only 20 USD cost.

Have fun and as Mark stated learn to ride a bike with manual gear box and clutch as this is going to open universe of opportunities for you.

BR
Dooby