Option 1: ship your POV
The government ships one privately owned vehicle per family. Drop-off is at a stateside VPC well before your report date. No official transit time is published or guaranteed: four to eight weeks to Bremerhaven is what people report, door to door often longer, and your VPC gives you the only date that counts. On arrival the car needs a POV inspection and USAREUR registration before it is legal.
- The lien rule. A car with an outstanding loan needs the lender's written permission to leave the country. Some lenders refuse. Ask before you book the VPC slot.
- Inspection standards. Tinted front windows are illegal in Germany. Oil leaks fail. Non-EU headlights are a grey area. A modified truck that passes in Texas may not pass here.
- Where it wins: you already own a reliable car with no loan, and you have a family that needs it from week six onward.
- Where it loses: the 4 to 12 weeks without it, and the fact that a big American car on Oberpfalz village roads and German fuel prices is a daily tax.
Option 2: buy new, tax-free
Military AutoSource and the BMW and Volvo military sales programs sell new cars to SOFA personnel without German VAT. The car is then USAREUR-registered, not German-registered. Two things to know about VAT and cars:
- The Grafenwoehr VAT office states that VAT forms are not used for buying new or used vehicles for the German registration system; tax-free vehicles must be registered with USAREUR.
- VAT forms are also not valid for long-term contracts such as leases. That is why we do not promise VAT-form savings on a subscription. We accept the forms where they legally apply and say so plainly.
Where it wins: a three-year tour, a car you want to keep and ship home, and a plan for the resale or the return shipment. Where it loses: a one-year tour, or any tour where you might leave early, because a new car sold in a hurry at PCS is where the tax saving evaporates.
Option 3: buy a hoopty
The lemon lot and the Facebook groups sell German-spec beaters for the price of a good laptop. This is the cheapest option on this page and we will not dress that up. The costs sit elsewhere: inspection, insurance at rates that can double a stateside quote, repairs on a car that has done four tours, and the resale scramble when your own orders land. Full guide: the lemon lot at Grafenwoehr and Stuttgart.
Option 4: subscribe
Our category. A SubYourCar car is €1,229 to €2,219 a month for six months, with insurance, registration, road tax, maintenance, seasonal tyres and 3,000 km included, a PCS clause that ends the contract when orders drop, and nothing to sell at the end. You still need the USAREUR licence.
Where it wins: the first six months while your POV is on the boat and you are in-processing; a short or uncertain tour; a second car for the family when the government shipped one; anyone who does not want to own a German car on the way out. Where it loses: a 24-month tour where a €3,000 hoopty and a weekend of paperwork saves you real money. We wrote that math in lemon lot vs. subscription and we stand by it.
The one-table version
- Ship: free, slow, your car. Best for owned, loan-free, sensible cars and a family.
- Buy new tax-free: big saving on a long tour, big risk on a short one.
- Hoopty: cheapest, most work, most risk, the resale is your problem.
- Subscribe: most expensive per month, least work, no resale, ends with your orders.
Questions people ask
How many cars does the Army ship to Germany on PCS?
One privately owned vehicle per family at government expense. A second car is on you: ship it privately, buy here, or subscribe.
Can I ship a car to Germany that still has a loan on it?
Only with the lender's written permission. Some lenders refuse. Ask before you book the VPC appointment.
Can I use a VAT form to buy a car in Germany?
Not for a car that goes into the German registration system, per the Grafenwoehr VAT office. Tax-free cars are USAREUR-registered. VAT forms are also not valid for long-term contracts such as leases.
Is a car subscription cheaper than buying a used car in Germany?
No. A hoopty is cheaper on a long tour. A subscription costs more per month and removes the inspection, registration, insurance and resale work. It wins on short or uncertain tours and as a second car.
Sources we checked
- Value Added Tax office Grafenwoehr (MWR)
- USAG Bavaria motor vehicles (MilitaryOneSource)
- Getting your POV registered and fueled in Europe (StuttgartCitizen)
- How to sell your car in Germany (DVIDS, updated Sep 2022)
Or skip the whole thing: SubYourCar cars arrive registered and insured. From €1,229 a month.
Insurance, German registration, road tax, maintenance and seasonal tyres are in one monthly number, with 3,000 km a month and a PCS clause. You still need your USAREUR licence, and a subscription is not cheaper than a €2,000 hoopty. What it removes is the waiting, the buying, the registering, the insuring and the reselling. Pickup in Weiden is free. Delivery costs €399 within a 150 km radius of Weiden (straight-line distance). Farther bases: Places farther away we deliver on request only, and we quote the price by email beforehand. See all 12 locations.