Getting Your Car to That New Location

Relocating as a military spouse often involves transporting an extra car to a new duty station. It’s a process that requires careful planning, organization, and flexibility. Recently, Family spoke with Susie Sincock, whose husband, Andy Sincock, is a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel. Susie and Andy have three daughters: Sarah Sincock (20), Ashleigh Sincock (18), and Lauren Sincock (16). The family currently resides in Colorado Springs.

Susie shares her valuable insight about moving a vehicle overseas and back to the States with five helpful tips to guide military spouses through getting their extra car to a new location. From paperwork preparation to understanding drop-off logistics and transit times, these insights will help ensure a smooth and successful transition for your vehicle.

What are the five most helpful tips for a military spouse when getting your extra car to a new location?

1. Get your paperwork organized:

To streamline the shipping process, you’ll have licensing, insurance, and names in vehicles to get situated. Know ahead of time what’s needed to send your car off and what is needed when it is received. One of our documents had to be notarized ahead of time.

2. Be flexible:

Flexibility is key when coordinating your car’s delivery to the port or drop-off location. And even though we had strict hours to get our car delivered to the port, that didn’t match with flight times for PCS. So our family had to be flexible and call for taxis later in the day since our delivery times were hours apart.

3. Know where to get your car detailed and fill the tank:

Or where you can detail it near the drop-off. I don’t know about you, but we are a family of five, and our extra car was well-loved inside. There were high expectations for delivering a thoroughly cleaned car and having a full tank made it so much easier once the car arrived.

4. Understand drop-off logistics:

Depending on the location, there are different locations for dropping off. For example, you can drop your car off in a different location than where you’re moving. Be prepared to transfer your car there. At the time we were PCSing to Italy, we lived in Ohio. We chose to drop off our vehicle in Virginia, where our overseas flight was, because we were also traveling with our family dog. We drove from Ohio to Norfolk, Virginia, then checked in our car the morning of our flight because, logistically, it made it easier to bring the pet.

5. Prepare for the transit time:

Realize you won’t see your vehicle for 45-60 days. Have plans for a temporary vehicle or buy another one to help your family when your vehicle is in transient at your next duty station. Trust the process. Our vehicle showed up, and it was great to have in Italy when we traveled as a family out of our area.

Is there one thing you wish you had known before moving with your vehicle?

It felt really stressful when we were going through it on the States side. I think I was well prepared to send the vehicle, but don’t hesitate to reach out and call if you have questions about anything. I feel like most customer service reps who helped us were patient and understanding of our situation!