Question for soldiers stationed overseas

BMWCadet · 04-08-2010, 05:52 PM

I'm the proud owner of a 135 and M3 and will very shortly be confronted with a dilemma. Unless things have changed, the military only pays for one vehicle to go to and from Germany. The question I have is....is it worth it to pay out of pocket to have the second car shipped or better to sell here? I don't have the slightest clue how much it costs or the obstacles I will have to deal with.

I'd appreciate any advice I could get.

Thanks.

rwchrist · 04-08-2010, 09:39 PM

Military Sales BMW's usually come with shipping. My 06 E46 M3, that I bought 6 months old, had a shipping plan. It cost me like $1G, but that is cheaper than having someone else ship it. I never used it, but it had it. My new E92 M3 came with free shipping back to the states. Now there are only a few ports they utilize, but it worked for me. I believe it was in 07 when Military Sales began shipping cars back to the states for free. Otherwise, I believe it was going to cost me like $1,800 to ship from K-Town to my next duty location.

Hope that helps.

dbellin19 · 04-08-2010, 10:03 PM

I am assuming from your post your are currently in Germany and shipping to the U. S. If the Military car sales doesn't ship the vehicl for you it you can ship the vehicle yourself for about 1500.00 to the west coast (California) from Bramerhaven. It will cost and additional 300 - 500 to go to the East Coast. Also keep in mind that if the vehicle wasn't tagged for 180 days outside of the US, you may still be liable for the taxes when you return to the U.S. I have shipped vehicles twice to and from Germany on my own dime as the military would only ship one vehicle per person on active duty orders. Both of my transactions were prior to the Military car sales shipping the vehice as part of the purchase. I bought my E90 M3 in Korea and the Military Car sales would not pay to ship it back the US. The $1000 shipping fee was only to get the vehicle in Korea and without VAT. I shipped from South Korea (Busan) to LA fro 1200 plus 240 after the currency conversion at the Korean Port. If you are looking for a reliable shipping company, I can give you one or you can contact the VPC you are shipping your vehicle under orders. There are a few choices there and they can give you estimates.

gthberg · 04-08-2010, 10:34 PM

Guys, you're not reading his post. He already owns two cars, and is getting ready to move to Germany. But the military will only ship one car at government expense. I'm facing the same issue here in a couple months, though just cross-country rather than overseas....

The bottom line is that it comes down to personal preference for you. If your desire to keep both cars is worth more than the cost of shipping, go for it. But, if you're having doubts, I say sell the 1 and ship the M.

For comparison, a buddy of mine recently paid for private shipping of his truck from Hawaii to Kansas....it cost him about $1200. But he also wasn't shipping BMWs, so didn't really have to pay much for someone to really take care of it. Hope this helps.

Jasonnator · 04-09-2010, 02:13 AM

That is correct that the military only pays to ship one vehicle. Several of my friends have shipped additional cars overseas then back again. The standard out of pocket is around 1200-1500 depending on your access to major ports, I've heard as low as 1000. Keep in mind that those are run of the mill prices and you may or may not have your car handled carefully (think lowest bidder so probably not worried about your baby).

If you are considering selling, do it here in the states. You may be one of the lucky ones and be able to sell it over there but there are tons of horror stories my friends have told me about trying to sell cars overseas. You just don't have a lot of the legal stuff on your side like you do here. A lot of the time, it's not a problem. However, if anything goes wrong, you will have 10x the headache trying to take care of something like that in a foreign country. The rules are just not the same and some people look for newer military members to take advantage of them (horror stories).

Bottom line, you may sacrifice a few hundred bucks but the sale will likely go much, much smoother if you sell it here. Another risk you run is you will probably be dealing in Euro. Make sure you are up on the exchanges rates because the EUR/USD has been all over the place in the last 12 months. You could get taken to the cleaners in exchange rates alone if you're not careful. Just be careful if you decide to do it overseas.

BMWCadet · 04-09-2010, 08:44 AM

Thanks guys. Originally I was planning on getting stationed at Fort Carson, but the fiance wants to live in Germany which I have no problem with since it's a great place to live and hub to travel to other countries. It's a shame that i'd have to sell one of the vehicles, but at least the military ships one for free.

I agree with you Jasonnator, I really don't want to deal with German laws, taxes, currency, etc so it's probably best to just sell it here in Georgia.

Dbellin19, in case I change my mind, what shipping company do you recommend? I purchased a 550 for my father-in-law right before leaving Germany and they shipped it to Brunswick, so i'm guessing that'll be where my VPC is.

MkLV_M3 · 04-10-2010, 04:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BMWCadet

Dbellin19, in case I change my mind, what shipping company do you recommend? I purchased a 550 for my father-in-law right before leaving Germany and they shipped it to Brunswick, so i'm guessing that'll be where my VPC is.

You have Brunswick or Charleston, it depends on if you use the military or use another company. The company BMW military sales used when I came back from Germany was E.H. Harms, I would check them out.

Genro757 · 04-10-2010, 04:25 AM

I used the BMW Military Sales to ship my M3 back to the states due to this current deployment (I didnt want the car sitting in the storage lot for a year on new tires) and EH Harms was very professional and speedy to ship and deliver the car to me in Baltimore. Im in somewhat the same boat as you because when I come back form deployment I will still be stationed in Germany and want to bring the car back to its homeland, let me know what companies you use, and I will probably call EH Harms and see what they have to ship the car back over for pickup in either Frankfurt or Bremerhaven.

Moxie · 04-10-2010, 04:50 AM

I'd recommend selling it there & picking up something over here. Like was mentioned, BMW will ship the vehicle back for you if you buy a new one here. No taxes, no gas guzzler, reduced prices.... Do your maintenance & get your tires there. Don't plan on going to Aafees for anything but buying oil. I brought my 4 runner &needing new tires thinking they'd sell something decent here. Ended up getting Coopers & getting my rims beat to s@#t. Shipping costs too much for mailorder.

I sold my Suburban @ CARMAX & got more than I expected. It was very easy.

If you want the links to check out new BMW's & Mercedes, PM me your e-mail. I haven't found a decent price for Audi's.

04-08-2010, 05:52 PM	#1
BMWCadet Lieutenant 6 Rep 402 Posts Drives: BMW E92 MR M3 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Fort Gordon, Georgia iTrader: (0)	Question for soldiers stationed overseas I'm the proud owner of a 135 and M3 and will very shortly be confronted with a dilemma. Unless things have changed, the military only pays for one vehicle to go to and from Germany. The question I have is....is it worth it to pay out of pocket to have the second car shipped or better to sell here? I don't have the slightest clue how much it costs or the obstacles I will have to deal with. I'd appreciate any advice I could get. Thanks.
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04-08-2010, 09:39 PM	#2
rwchrist CMPULSV 20 Rep 359 Posts Drives: 09 Alpine White Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Wichita Falls, Texas iTrader: (2) Garage List 2009 M3 [0.00]	Military Sales BMW's usually come with shipping. My 06 E46 M3, that I bought 6 months old, had a shipping plan. It cost me like $1G, but that is cheaper than having someone else ship it. I never used it, but it had it. My new E92 M3 came with free shipping back to the states. Now there are only a few ports they utilize, but it worked for me. I believe it was in 07 when Military Sales began shipping cars back to the states for free. Otherwise, I believe it was going to cost me like $1,800 to ship from K-Town to my next duty location. Hope that helps. __________________ 2009 Alpine White DCT E92 M3 - Tint, Hood M Stripes, Eibach Springs, Gloss Black Rims, Vorsteiner Lip, BMW Performance Trunk Spoiler Fabspeed x-pipe & Megan Race Exhaust 2006 Imola Red 6-speed E46 M3 - Retired
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04-08-2010, 10:03 PM	#3
dbellin19 Enlisted Member 5 Rep 47 Posts Drives: 2008 AW DCT Join Date: May 2008 Location: Augusta, Georgia iTrader: (0)	I am assuming from your post your are currently in Germany and shipping to the U. S. If the Military car sales doesn't ship the vehicl for you it you can ship the vehicle yourself for about 1500.00 to the west coast (California) from Bramerhaven. It will cost and additional 300 - 500 to go to the East Coast. Also keep in mind that if the vehicle wasn't tagged for 180 days outside of the US, you may still be liable for the taxes when you return to the U.S. I have shipped vehicles twice to and from Germany on my own dime as the military would only ship one vehicle per person on active duty orders. Both of my transactions were prior to the Military car sales shipping the vehice as part of the purchase. I bought my E90 M3 in Korea and the Military Car sales would not pay to ship it back the US. The $1000 shipping fee was only to get the vehicle in Korea and without VAT. I shipped from South Korea (Busan) to LA fro 1200 plus 240 after the currency conversion at the Korean Port. If you are looking for a reliable shipping company, I can give you one or you can contact the VPC you are shipping your vehicle under orders. There are a few choices there and they can give you estimates.
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04-08-2010, 10:34 PM	#4
gthberg Private First Class 22 Rep 105 Posts Drives: e90 M3 IB/FR Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: NC iTrader: (2) Garage List 1987 BMW M6 [9.75] 2009 e90 M3 [0.00]	Guys, you're not reading his post. He already owns two cars, and is getting ready to move to Germany. But the military will only ship one car at government expense. I'm facing the same issue here in a couple months, though just cross-country rather than overseas.... The bottom line is that it comes down to personal preference for you. If your desire to keep both cars is worth more than the cost of shipping, go for it. But, if you're having doubts, I say sell the 1 and ship the M. For comparison, a buddy of mine recently paid for private shipping of his truck from Hawaii to Kansas....it cost him about $1200. But he also wasn't shipping BMWs, so didn't really have to pay much for someone to really take care of it. Hope this helps. __________________
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04-09-2010, 02:13 AM	#5
Jasonnator New Member 2 Rep 28 Posts Drives: 2011 M3 Convertible Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Jacksonville, FL iTrader: (0)	That is correct that the military only pays to ship one vehicle. Several of my friends have shipped additional cars overseas then back again. The standard out of pocket is around 1200-1500 depending on your access to major ports, I've heard as low as 1000. Keep in mind that those are run of the mill prices and you may or may not have your car handled carefully (think lowest bidder so probably not worried about your baby). If you are considering selling, do it here in the states. You may be one of the lucky ones and be able to sell it over there but there are tons of horror stories my friends have told me about trying to sell cars overseas. You just don't have a lot of the legal stuff on your side like you do here. A lot of the time, it's not a problem. However, if anything goes wrong, you will have 10x the headache trying to take care of something like that in a foreign country. The rules are just not the same and some people look for newer military members to take advantage of them (horror stories). Bottom line, you may sacrifice a few hundred bucks but the sale will likely go much, much smoother if you sell it here. Another risk you run is you will probably be dealing in Euro. Make sure you are up on the exchanges rates because the EUR/USD has been all over the place in the last 12 months. You could get taken to the cleaners in exchange rates alone if you're not careful. Just be careful if you decide to do it overseas.
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04-09-2010, 08:44 AM	#6
BMWCadet Lieutenant 6 Rep 402 Posts Drives: BMW E92 MR M3 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Fort Gordon, Georgia iTrader: (0)	Thanks guys. Originally I was planning on getting stationed at Fort Carson, but the fiance wants to live in Germany which I have no problem with since it's a great place to live and hub to travel to other countries. It's a shame that i'd have to sell one of the vehicles, but at least the military ships one for free. I agree with you Jasonnator, I really don't want to deal with German laws, taxes, currency, etc so it's probably best to just sell it here in Georgia. Dbellin19, in case I change my mind, what shipping company do you recommend? I purchased a 550 for my father-in-law right before leaving Germany and they shipped it to Brunswick, so i'm guessing that'll be where my VPC is.
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04-10-2010, 04:25 AM	#8
Genro757 ///M-Flight VP 77 Rep 669 Posts Drives: '13 Frozen Red Edition E92 M3 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: NOVA/Virginia Beach, VA iTrader: (0) Garage List 2013 E92 M3 [0.00]	I used the BMW Military Sales to ship my M3 back to the states due to this current deployment (I didnt want the car sitting in the storage lot for a year on new tires) and EH Harms was very professional and speedy to ship and deliver the car to me in Baltimore. Im in somewhat the same boat as you because when I come back form deployment I will still be stationed in Germany and want to bring the car back to its homeland, let me know what companies you use, and I will probably call EH Harms and see what they have to ship the car back over for pickup in either Frankfurt or Bremerhaven. __________________ 2013 "Frozen Red Edition" E92 M3, M-DCT with all the 'fixin's, Akrapovic Evolution w/CF Tips, BPM Stage 2 Tune, BPM DCT Software
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04-10-2010, 04:50 AM	#9
Moxie Lieutenant Colonel 67 Rep 1,895 Posts Drives: AW 328d Touring/SG 335d Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: North Carolina iTrader: (12)	I'd recommend selling it there & picking up something over here. Like was mentioned, BMW will ship the vehicle back for you if you buy a new one here. No taxes, no gas guzzler, reduced prices.... Do your maintenance & get your tires there. Don't plan on going to Aafees for anything but buying oil. I brought my 4 runner &needing new tires thinking they'd sell something decent here. Ended up getting Coopers & getting my rims beat to s@#t. Shipping costs too much for mailorder. I sold my Suburban @ CARMAX & got more than I expected. It was very easy. If you want the links to check out new BMW's & Mercedes, PM me your e-mail. I haven't found a decent price for Audi's.
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