It’s a little bit of everything. But, by far, the biggest factor is the tax. Germany uses a Value Added Tax (VAT) which pretty much adds 19% to the price of any finished manufactured good. US service members are exempt from paying VAT. So a BMW that retails for 100,000 Euro will cost the service member 81,000 Euro. On top of that, the soldier is entitled to ship one vehicle back home for free. If the car is registered in Germany for at least a year, then most states will not charge sales tax when ordering a tag and title. The vehicle will have to be converted to US Specs, which isn’t nearly as much of a pain as it used to be. I think the biggest modification necessary is a DOD approved windshield. So, the soldier pays a couple hundred dollars extra for that, but gets the vehicle for tens of thousands of dollars less overall.
Also, US service members are paid in US Dollars. I’m not sure how things were done a few decades ago, though. But now it’s all direct deposit anyway, so the money just goes to the bank. ATMs on base have Euros and Dollars.
When I was stationed in Germany 92-94, this was not the case, unless the car was bought through the AAFES car dealership, or purchased from another servicemember who had the car shipped to Germany. Is it different now?
I think it’s safe to assume that car dealers ship large quantities of vehicles to Hawaii on an ongoing basis and pay a much lower rate per vehicle than an individual would pay if they wanted to ship over a single vehicle on a one-time basis. And I feel that is the assumption the OP’s question is based on.
One car to/from OCONUS and two cars to/from CONUS duty locations. Are you saying that when a soldier PCSd to Germany in 1991 he/she had to pay to ship a vehicle over there and/or that they had to pay to ship one back?
hmmmm. What if they PCSd to Germany with a car, then sold that car after about a year, and then bought a new one on the economy. Could they ship it back, then?
Seen a motor-home with a Hawaiian plate awhile back here in Calgary. Also seen what looked like a customized heavy-duty 4x4 with camper that had German plates up by the Columbia Ice-fields and talked to the couple who landed in Halifax and were making their way across Canada.
I’m thinking yes, but I’m not sure, so I’d say I have no definitive answer here in GQ.
I am sure about what I previously said though. One of the selling points AAFES used in order to get us to use them to buy a car was “You can ship it back for free after your assignment is over”
I live near Annapolis and as reported by others, we see lots of unusual plates due to the heavy naval presence. Saw a Guam and a Hawaii plated car side by side at my local supermarket. Not shocking.
I like the fact that there’s a US “interstate” highway in Hawaii.
Those bastards also say, “You can save delivery costs by picking the car up at the port in Bremen. We’ll give you a one-way rental car to take up there and get it.” Turns out, the rental is actually a line item on the invoice that is added to the cost of the vehicle! I’m still bitter about that little bit of shadiness. I’ve actually purchased four vehicles through them and another through Pentagon Car Sales. I’m generally happy with the AAFES program despite itself, but was really unhappy about my experience with Pentagon. AAFES car sales was called Exchange New Car Sales (ENCS) but recently changed to Military Auto Sales (MAS). Pentagon, fortunately, is now out of business after 40 years. They deserve it.
But anyway, yea, I don’t know of any restriction on shipping a car back only if you brought one into country. I can’t imagine that ever being the case. But AAFES did have a vested interest in making people think that was the case. I wonder if it was intentional. Or maybe that was the case after all. Don’t know.
If it used to be that way, then it changed at some point. A service member is entitled to ship back any vehicle as long as it is less than 20 Tons and has either EPA and DOT stickers, or EPA/DOT compliance letters prior to shipping.
For what it’s worth, the case with my dad would have been in the Vietnam era. He was stationed in Vietnam, but built up enough leave time to take a European vacation. And I don’t remember all of the details, but there was something about the deal that required that he put some miles on the vehicle before it was shipped to the US.
Plenty of interstate highways are entirely within one state, especially the three-digit ones. It’s not the individual roads that are interstate; it’s the system as a whole.
I only remember that because one day 3 drunk, poor Airmen (me and two friends) decided “Hey, let’s go buy new cars!”
Luckily, we sobered up partway before signing anything.
(Another time we decided “Hey, let’s go rent a Lamborghini and drive it on the Autobahn!” Hearing that the deposit was 30,000 Marks put off that one as well )
One relative of mine was doing work in Germany for a few months, and found it was cheaper (in the 90’s?) to buy a BMW, drive it a while in Germany, then ship it home. IIRC, there was a discount since a BMW bought in Germany and used there for a time then imported as personal property did not count against some tariff quota they had - with the added convenience of having a car in Germany for several months, and I presume when she shipped it home that qualified as moving expenses related to a job.
There was a general offer from many German manufacturers for people to buy their cars in Germany and get them shipped over. My godparents went to Germany, bought a VW, drove it around, and had it shipped to the U.S. This was in 1968. The car had its original odometer with a transparent sticker placed over the odometer with the MPH markings. My parents still have the original D license plate hanging in their garage. It could be that my godfather was still enlisted in the Army at that time.
Back around 1978 my dad bought a German Volkswagen with exactly the same story – it had been imported by a returning GI. It had disc brakes on it, front and rear.
When I was an E-5 I had my US VW shipped to Iceland and back. I had to pick it up in Norfolk on my way to my one stateside posting (in Maine) and drove it there.
Vaguely related, but interesting story. When I bought my first airplane (used, 24 yrs old), I was perusing the maintenance logs and found some strange entries. First the installation of lots of extra fuel capacity, then a page later, entries from mechanics in Hawaii as the extra tanks were removed. Then a series of entries from shops in Hawaii as regular maintenance was resumed.
The owner had apparently flown this single engine Piper all they way to Hawaii.
After a few years, the maintenance entries detailed removing the wings and crating them. The next entries were in San Diego regarding replacing the wings, etc.
My guess is he didn’t want to repeat the trip over water again. I wonder why sometimes.
