Motoring | Thousands of Finns want to travel for free – This is how they do it

If you want for free from one city to another, one option may be to hire a car dealership. Used cars are often bought from the other side of Finland, and then someone has to bring the car there.

It may be most convenient for the seller or renter to find someone who does not require a salary for the task. Many become drivers just for gas money.

Often drivers and cars needing a transfer meet online. Finland’s largest moving truck group operates on Facebook and is still growing rapidly, even though it was founded in 2016.

Group founder Esa Korkiakoski says that the drivers are often young students in their twenties.

“New members can be added every day. There has been growth since the foundation.”

There are other similar groups, but Korkiakoski’s group Siirtoautoja in all of Finland is clearly the biggest. Now there are more than 54,000 members. Within a year, more than 19,000 new members have joined.

Group has operated with the same formula for a long time, but last week there was a big change.

The rules were changed so that only those looking for a driver can write publications.

A large part of the announcements on the column have come from drivers looking for a car, who say, for example, that they want to go from Turku to Oulu next week. According to Korkiakoski, the group gets stuck with them, so they were banned.

During the last year, a good couple of thousand publications have been made per month.

Now the number is decreasing, which is good for the car dealer, says a regular advertiser on the forum Tero Kestiwho has a car shop in Ylivieska.

Drivers he knows ask about the times directly, but often Kesti announces the cars on Facebook.

A typical announcement is concise: “Moving vehicle available. From Helsinki to Ylivieska.” Followed by company name and phone number.

With that method, the driver is usually found quickly.

“Sometimes in minutes,” says Kesti. According to him, the location of the car is of great importance. Cars move more easily from the capital region than, for example, from Turku.

Drivers according to Kest, they are usually students or business travelers. Some want to save money, and some just prefer to drive themselves rather than sit on a train or bus.

Before, you had to call credit drivers separately, but in recent years, Kesti has gradually moved to Facebook groups. It requires organization and agreement, but it is still often the cheapest and fastest option for him.

According to Kest, about half of the cars arrive on a truck or as a custom drive.

Car dealership chain Kamux advertises on Facebook, but the sales director Kari Pietarilan according to, the use of transfer drivers has been decreasing for years, because arranging individual transfers takes time and driving takes fuel.

At least there are movers between big cities and places of study, but for a big shop it is better to bundle the cars on the same truck or buy a transfer from another company.

Often, the parties make a written agreement on the terms of the transfer. If something happens, the deductible is often hundreds or even thousands of euros. If you need to refuel, the owner pays for the fuel against a receipt.