Selling a car before a PCS move makes sense when the military won't move it for you. On an overseas move the government ships one car and stores one only when it can't be shipped; on a stateside move it usually pays mileage for up to two cars you drive, not shipping. Call your transportation office as soon as orders arrive, because a car loan, an open recall or a car that doesn't run can each hold up a shipment.
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On a permanent change of station (PCS) move to, from or between overseas duty stations, the government can ship one privately owned vehicle (POV) for you, up to 20 measurement tons. It stores one only when your new overseas station won't take the car, or the car would need extensive modification to get in. A second car, and in most cases any car on a stateside move, is yours to drive, ship at your own cost, or sell.
| Option | When the government pays | Limits to know |
|---|---|---|
| Ship | PCS to, from or between overseas (OCONUS) duty stations | One car per member, up to 20 measurement tons. To size yours, multiply length, width and height in inches, divide by 1,728, then by 40. A compact car is roughly 9 and a full-size car roughly 15, so measure a large truck or SUV. You pay for any excess. Shipping by air is not paid. |
| Store | Only when shipping to your new overseas station isn't allowed, or the car would need extensive modification to enter | You can't pick storage instead of a shipment you're allowed. If the government stores your car for a foreign station, it won't pay to ship a car from there on your next move. |
| Drive (stateside) | Mileage (MALT) for up to two cars that are actually driven | If you ship a car instead of driving it, the shipping cost is yours. |
| Sell | No allowance | Ends shipping, storage, insurance and registration costs for that car. |
Your installation transportation office has the final word, and the regulation tells you to contact it before you make any plans. The rules are in the Defense Transportation Regulation's attachments on shipping your POV and storing your POV. If you and your spouse are both service members with PCS orders, the shipping rules let you combine your size limits to ship one larger vehicle instead of two; ask your transportation office what your household can ship.
For car shipping, overseas (OCONUS) means anywhere outside the lower 48 states. Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and Puerto Rico all have vehicle processing centers listed with the overseas ones, so a PCS there counts as an overseas move for shipping.
On an overseas move, when your car has to reach the port depends on your branch:
That timing shapes who does the selling. On a long Air Force tour, the car can follow up to 90 days after you or your dependent leave, which gives a spouse a window to sell a second car and deliver the first. In the other branches, the 12 months are counted on the day the car reaches the port, so a car that shows up late on a short tour won't be accepted.
On a stateside (CONUS to CONUS) move, Military OneSource says moving your cars is largely your responsibility. The military pays mileage (MALT) for up to two cars that are driven, and if you ship a car instead of driving it, you pay for the shipping. There are exceptions, for example if you can't drive for medical reasons or there isn't enough time to drive before your report date, so ask your transportation office. So the stateside question is whether you have two drivers and two cars that can make the trip. If not, compare a shipping quote with what the extra car would sell for.
Put what the car would sell for now next to what keeping it will cost. For a second car on an overseas move, that means:
Then check whether the car can pass turn-in at the vehicle processing center (VPC). It won't accept a car that doesn't run, leaks, has a major crack in the windshield, or has brakes that don't work properly, parking brake included. It must be clean inside and out, including the undercarriage, carry no more than a quarter tank of fuel, and have no unrepaired safety recall.
Run the VIN through NHTSA's recall lookup early. If it shows an open recall, see what an open recall means when you sell. If the car needs a repair to pass, price the repair against what the car is worth. A car that fails turn-in can still be sold as it is: our team picks up or tows the car whatever is wrong with it. For the wider picture, see selling a car that has problems.
A car loan doesn't stop a shipment to Alaska, Hawaii, Guam or within the lower 48; the regulation says no lienholder letter is needed for those moves. Shipping a financed or leased car to a foreign country, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands does need written approval from the lender. The letter has to:
Government storage of a financed car needs a lender letter too, acknowledging the car will sit in long-term storage in the United States until your next PCS. Ask the lender as soon as you have orders, because this is a signed original you can't fill out yourself. Wherever the car goes, you still have to meet any terms in your loan or lease contract. If you'd rather sell, see how to sell a car that still has a loan on it.
A leased car has its own way out. Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), you can end a car lease early with PCS orders from the lower 48 to a location outside it, PCS orders from Alaska or Hawaii to anywhere outside that state, or orders to deploy for at least 180 days. You deliver written notice and a copy of your orders, then return the car within 15 days. The leasing company can't charge an early termination fee, but you still owe unpaid taxes, title and registration fees, and reasonable charges for excess wear and mileage. A PCS from one lower-48 state to another isn't on the car-lease list in the law itself.
If you'll be gone before the car sells, give your spouse or another trusted person a power of attorney (POA) before you leave. Your installation's legal assistance office prepares POAs for free, according to Military OneSource. Ask for a special, or limited, POA that names this car and the sale. Some institutions won't accept a general POA beyond basic transactions.
Shipping works the same way. Anyone turning your car in at a VPC for you needs a POA or letter of authorization, and so do you if the car is titled in your spouse's name. A spouse who is named on your travel orders and ships the car to the duty station on those orders doesn't need one, but may need your marriage certificate, for example if your name isn't on the title or your last names differ.
Deployment orders on their own don't come with a car shipment; the shipping entitlement comes with PCS orders. Storage can be available: if you're sent on temporary duty of more than 30 days in support of a contingency operation, you may be eligible to store one car at government expense. Ask your transportation office, since storage needs a letter of authorization it signs.
Storage turn-in rules are strict, because the car will sit for months:
Whether the car sits in government storage or at home, ask your state whether it offers a non-use or de-insured certificate; the storage rules note that many states do, to avoid re-registration penalties. If the car is leased and the deployment is at least 180 days, the SCRA lease clause above applies. If none of that fits and no one will drive the car while you're away, selling it before you leave is one less thing to manage from overseas.
If your car is titled and registered in your home state, you may be able to keep it that way while you serve elsewhere; the shipping rules note that most state motor vehicle offices accept registrations by mail. Under the SCRA, military orders don't change your legal residence for tax purposes, your car isn't treated as located in the state where you're serving, and vehicle license fees and excises count as protected taxes as long as you pay them in your home state. Spouses get similar protection (50 U.S.C. 4001).
States put this into practice through their own forms. California, for example, exempts a nonresident service member from its vehicle license fee when the duty station is in California and the car isn't used in a trade or business (form REG 5045); California residents don't qualify. Other states handle it differently, so check both the state where the car is registered and the state where you're stationed on our state pages.
Selling while you're stationed away from the title state works like any out-of-state sale: you sign the title your home state issued, and the buyer titles the car where they live. See selling a car with an out-of-state title, check what to do with the license plates, and file your home state's release of liability so its records show the car is no longer yours.
If you bring a car back from overseas and sell it later, make sure you leave the VPC with the forms your state will ask for, and keep them. Most state DMVs won't title or register an imported vehicle without proof it entered through U.S. Customs and Border Protection; the contractor normally uses CBP Form 7501.
Ship it if it is your one government-paid car, it can pass turn-in, and it is worth more than keeping it overseas will cost. Sell a second car unless you're ready to pay commercial shipping, any import duty and overseas insurance yourself. On a stateside move the military pays mileage for up to two cars you drive, so selling mostly makes sense for a third car, or one nobody can drive there.
Yes. To a foreign country, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands you need a signed, dated letter on the lender's letterhead approving the shipment. To Alaska, Hawaii, Guam or within the lower 48, the regulation says no lienholder letter is needed. Government storage of a financed car also needs a lender letter.
Not as a choice. Government storage is for a car that can't be shipped to your new overseas station, or would need extensive modification to get in, plus some long temporary-duty assignments. Storing a car instead of a shipment you're allowed isn't permitted, so a car you don't want to ship is yours to store privately or sell.
Yes, with a power of attorney. The legal assistance office on your installation prepares one for free. Ask for a special POA that names the car by VIN and covers signing the title and the odometer disclosure, and check whether your title state has its own POA form or a notary rule.
The SCRA helps: it keeps your legal residence for tax purposes where it was and shields you from the duty state's vehicle license fees and excises as long as you pay them in your home state. Whether you can skip registering in the duty state is up to that state, so check the rules in both states.
Under the SCRA, yes if your orders move you from the lower 48 to outside it, from Alaska or Hawaii to outside that state, or deploy you for at least 180 days. Send written notice with a copy of your orders and return the car within 15 days. A move between two lower-48 states doesn't qualify for the car-lease clause.