wacky things you don't think about until you have to...

[audette]

So, we're OCONUS, command sponsored, and we brought our vehicle with us.

Last week, we received a recall notice on our car.  The car that is with us in our OCONUS location.

This is not going to be simple to resolve...  But, I have at least managed to determine that it _can_ be done.

[meltoine]

Well then. That's a pain in the ass.

[Deleted]

That happened to us too (Toyota Prius). We called the nearest Toyota dealership, brought in the recall notice, and they contacted Toyota USA to get authorization to perform the recall (and to get paid for the work, I guess). Once they had authorization (about six weeks) they called us and we scheduled the work.

What kid of car? Does it exist in your OCONUS location? If not, then maybe try to call them in the US (should be a number on the recall notice) and ask what you should do.

[audette]

Apr 15, 2014 14:22:14 GMT -5 @villainv said:

That happened to us too (Toyota Prius). We called the nearest Toyota dealership, brought in the recall notice, and they contacted Toyota USA to get authorization to perform the recall (and to get paid for the work, I guess). Once they had authorization (about six weeks) they called us and we scheduled the work.

What kid of car? Does it exist in your OCONUS location? If not, then maybe try to call them in the US (should be a number on the recall notice) and ask what you should do.

It sounds like that is the process we will be looking at.  It's a Honda, and well, they _exist_ here.  I think there might be 2-3 dealers in Seoul, but it's not a common brand here.  (our car really stands out here...  not only is it a Honda, but it's a bright.red.Honda!).

Seeing as the nearest dealer is over an hour away, I decided to call the number on the recall notice first.  That's how I received confirmation that it can be handled here, but basically I need to identify for them the most convenient dealer for us to get the car to, and they will authorize that dealer to do the work.

[amaristella]

Hopefully it's not too much trouble!

I often have those "well, I sure didn't think that all the way through" moments.

[Deleted]

Apr 15, 2014 18:23:14 GMT -5 audette said:

Apr 15, 2014 14:22:14 GMT -5 @villainv said:

That happened to us too (Toyota Prius). We called the nearest Toyota dealership, brought in the recall notice, and they contacted Toyota USA to get authorization to perform the recall (and to get paid for the work, I guess). Once they had authorization (about six weeks) they called us and we scheduled the work.

What kid of car? Does it exist in your OCONUS location? If not, then maybe try to call them in the US (should be a number on the recall notice) and ask what you should do.

It sounds like that is the process we will be looking at.  It's a Honda, and well, they _exist_ here.  I think there might be 2-3 dealers in Seoul, but it's not a common brand here.  (our car really stands out here...  not only is it a Honda, but it's a bright.red.Honda!).

Seeing as the nearest dealer is over an hour away, I decided to call the number on the recall notice first.  That's how I received confirmation that it can be handled here, but basically I need to identify for them the most convenient dealer for us to get the car to, and they will authorize that dealer to do the work.

Cool, sounds like it'll work.  But yes, definitely a pain int he butt.  Our nearest Toyota dealership was about 45 minutes away (but we live in the middle of NOWHERE).

[brandienee]

Oh man... That sounds... so great.

Why didn't you buy a new car while you were out there instead? Was it easier to just ship your current car instead?

(Also, I want to warn you, I may be asking you more annoying questions about living OCONUS, because DH just got a ridiculous score on his DLAB test today, so the possibility of moving to Asia has become a smidge more realistic.) (Like, how did you get your yarn out there?) (You know, the important things)

[audette]

Apr 17, 2014 19:00:03 GMT -5 brandienee said:

Oh man... That sounds... so great.

Why didn't you buy a new car while you were out there instead? Was it easier to just ship your current car instead?

(Also, I want to warn you, I may be asking you more annoying questions about living OCONUS, because DH just got a ridiculous score on his DLAB test today, so the possibility of moving to Asia has become a smidge more realistic.) (Like, how did you get your yarn out there?) (You know, the important things)

The military ships one vehicle for us.  We could have had the option of buying a second one while here, or having the army store our car while we were here, but figured two year storage for the car wasn't a great idea, and we wanted to keep the car, so we brought it.  (if we had to pay for shipping the car, we likely would have just sold it before coming over here).  To get a second vehicle here, we need high level approval to register a second vehicle.  That was a pain in the butt to get, and now that we're over halfway thru the assignment here, we've realized it would be cheaper to pay for a few cab rides a week (it's $10-$20 between home and base) than it would be to buy a beater car here.

Feel free to ask me, or others questions - there are a few on this board that have experience OCONUS.

[kpol]

This was the reason we bought a major Korean brand vehicle before PCSing here. I was worried about trying to repair our Saab if we brought it over so we sold it instead.

Do you have someone who can speak Hangul to call the dealership and explain what is going on? I had a friend go through the recall notice with their Mini a few weeks ago. They turned it into an opportunity to shop in Gangnam while the car was being repaired.

[brandienee]

Apr 17, 2014 20:06:07 GMT -5 audette said:

The military ships one vehicle for us.  We could have had the option of buying a second one while here, or having the army store our car while we were here, but figured two year storage for the car wasn't a great idea, and we wanted to keep the car, so we brought it.  (if we had to pay for shipping the car, we likely would have just sold it before coming over here).  To get a second vehicle here, we need high level approval to register a second vehicle.  That was a pain in the butt to get, and now that we're over halfway thru the assignment here, we've realized it would be cheaper to pay for a few cab rides a week (it's $10-$20 between home and base) than it would be to buy a beater car here.

Feel free to ask me, or others questions - there are a few on this board that have experience OCONUS.

I see. I wouldn't want to pay to have my car in storage for two years either, not when I can use it. 

Still, its a bummer that you have to jump through strange hoops to get your car fixed. I hope that it goes as smoothly as possible for you. 

[audette]

Apr 17, 2014 20:59:27 GMT -5 brandienee said:

Apr 17, 2014 20:06:07 GMT -5 audette said:

The military ships one vehicle for us.  We could have had the option of buying a second one while here, or having the army store our car while we were here, but figured two year storage for the car wasn't a great idea, and we wanted to keep the car, so we brought it.  (if we had to pay for shipping the car, we likely would have just sold it before coming over here).  To get a second vehicle here, we need high level approval to register a second vehicle.  That was a pain in the butt to get, and now that we're over halfway thru the assignment here, we've realized it would be cheaper to pay for a few cab rides a week (it's $10-$20 between home and base) than it would be to buy a beater car here.

Feel free to ask me, or others questions - there are a few on this board that have experience OCONUS.

I see. I wouldn't want to pay to have my car in storage for two years either, not when I can use it. 

Still, its a bummer that you have to jump through strange hoops to get your car fixed. I hope that it goes as smoothly as possible for you. 

Oh, if the military didn't ship our vehicle, they would pay to store it (at least, that was my understanding from the meeting I attended).  So, at least the cost of storage wouldn't be on us.  But, the storage isn't ideal (from what I've seen it's a large open lot with not much protecting the cars other than a chain link fence with barbed wire on top...

[audette]

Apr 17, 2014 20:15:26 GMT -5 kpol said:

This was the reason we bought a major Korean brand vehicle before PCSing here. I was worried about trying to repair our Saab if we brought it over so we sold it instead.

Do you have someone who can speak Hangul to call the dealership and explain what is going on? I had a friend go through the recall notice with their Mini a few weeks ago. They turned it into an opportunity to shop in Gangnam while the car was being repaired.

When it comes time to schedule the actual appointment, I'll make sure my realtor is free to take a phone call or two to help us out... 

[Deleted]

Apr 17, 2014 19:00:03 GMT -5 brandienee said:

Oh man... That sounds... so great.

Why didn't you buy a new car while you were out there instead? Was it easier to just ship your current car instead?

(Also, I want to warn you, I may be asking you more annoying questions about living OCONUS, because DH just got a ridiculous score on his DLAB test today, so the possibility of moving to Asia has become a smidge more realistic.) (Like, how did you get your yarn out there?) (You know, the important things)

We're in the UK.  We had the AF ship one of our vehicles over here (the aforementioned Prius), and left my Honda Pilot with my parents.  They switched it over to their insurance, and they drive it every now and then to make sure it runs okay.   When we got here, we bought a beater for my H to drive around (in the UK you don't need approval for a second vehicle).   About a year ago we decided to buy a new Volvo to take back to the US because you can get amazing deals on buying cars direct from the factory while overseas -- we got about $8K below MSRP.  So we sold the beater.  Volvo will actually ship the car back to the US for us for 350 pounds (to any Volvo dealership).  So the AF will ship back the Prius, Volvo will ship back the Volvo, and we'll get my Pilot back from my parents...and just be a 3 car family for a while (all 3 cars are paid off, so it's not a huge burden having 3 cars and it will be nice to have a spare in case one has to go in the shop or whatever.