A&Q about Lotus
Q:
send it to me, I'll take care of it
A:
Originally Posted by WhitePlume
As I understand it keeping a car over there is fairly expensive. You have to maintain US insurance and well as get Japanese insurance, there's a road tax and Japanese inspections that are each in the hundreds of dollars per vehicle. Gas prices over there are about 3x what they are here...
Well hell, I'd just ride a bike or something.
A:
Looks like the Navy has Okinawa Japan in mind for my next duty station. No official orders yet, but I think my specialty advisor and detailer have their minds made up for me. So, what to do with the Liz?
The options are listed above in the title. I believe the Navy will pay to ship one vehicle...at least they usually do. However, Wife and 2 kids are going with me and Liz is not soccer-mom friendly. Storing it means a wee bit of expense, the burden of long-term/long-distance upkeep and paying on a car I'm not driving. The thought of selling just makes me ill.
True, anything could still happen in regard to orders, so I'm no being pushed just yet. The specter of what to do with my beloved is clawing at my brain. WWYD? WWSD (What Would Stan Do)?
A:
Japan drives on the left (unless they've changed since I was over there). You pretty much have no attractive choices with your present car. If I were in your situation, I'd sell the car and count on buying another upon return to the States. Of course, you could always buy one (RHD) over there, enjoy it, then sell it before you come back -- and then buy another here.
Best of luck to you.
A:
I'd sell it. But make it abundently clear to your wife that you're replacing it the minute you get back, and then follow through. Plenty of Elises will be available.
A:
If you can legally drive it over there, why sell?
I imagine you have a car over here that she uses now with the kids?
Sell the minivan, SUV, stationwagon, whatever.
I look at those other cars as more disposible / replaceable than the Lotus.
Just my opinion of course.
Best of luck with the move if you have to do it.
A:
As I understand it keeping a car over there is fairly expensive. You have to maintain US insurance and well as get Japanese insurance, there's a road tax and Japanese inspections that are each in the hundreds of dollars per vehicle. Gas prices over there are about 3x what they are here (although prices on base are supposedly reasonable). I not sure I'll want to operate 2 cars.
Both the DD's are Chyrslers and import laws prohibit taking them to Japan (though we have no shortage of their cars over here ), so they would have to be sold anyway. No big loss.
A:
One other thing to consider is that they will continue to depreciate while you are not driving it. That means you could sell it now and buy another equal or perhaps better model upon return and save yourself the storage, insurance, etc. in the interim. Just a thought... and I hate the idea of being forced to sell my partner in crime! err.. the Elise!
A:
my following suggestions are with the assumption that you don't want to end your relationship with the elise.
i'd choose shipping it there and driving it there, even it is an expensive option, as long as i could swallow the expense.
failing that, my second choice would be storage here. storage would be cheaper than selling now and buying on return. in either case you don't get to drive the car.
i expect that one of the lightly brought up options of selling now, buying there, selling there, and buying here again would be way to expensive for you, otherwise you wouldn't be asking these questions.
A:
Originally Posted by DragonRider1
One other thing to consider is that they will continue to depreciate while you are not driving it. That means you could sell it now and buy another equal or perhaps better model upon return and save yourself the storage, insurance, etc. in the interim. Just a thought... and I hate the idea of being forced to sell my partner in crime! err.. the Elise!
all taken into account, i would expect that selling and buying is more expensive than keeping. but it really depends what time is involved. (200/month)*(12 months)*(2 years) = $4800. if you sold your car today and went back tomorrow to buy the same car you'd loose at least $2000 just for the tax. then also at least that much for the trader to make some money. as the time interval becomes longer, the benefit of trading increases. but so does the difficulty in finding a good car to buy again.
A:
contrary to some etalkers beliefs these car are not platinum! they will lose value that being said if you are gone for a year or 2 when you get back in say 2008 fall or winter there will be some LOW mileage 05's out there for low 30's maybe high 20's.
i'd say sell it and not pay the storage+ insurance+ maintenance issues you'll have when coming back. old news that letting a car sit is the worst thing you can do to it!
this of course doesn't take into account the emotion side. worrying about it in storage.oh my what if the storage place is hit by a fire or tornado or mud slide. bye bye baby and from 4000 miles away?? what a pain in the...