Some time ago someone posted a note about not being able to sell your car in Taiwan. I sold mine and still have the MAAG form used for the contract. In August of 1961 while on leave I bought a 1957 Chevy in Ohio and drove it to California knowing that the Navy would transport it to Taiwan for me.
My car arrived about a month after I did (Oct '61). The day it arrived I was told I could sell it for $1,500.00 US easy, but I would have to wait for [reassignment] orders first. I wasn't interested in selling it until I was supposed to leave in Oct. of '62 so I did nothing.
In Oct. of 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis happened and I volunteered to extend at TDC for another year. I had already written a contract with a local for the sale of my car upon orders to transfer.
Well, when I extended my tour, this poor guy, who thought he would get the car in a month or so, was told he would have to wait another year. He was very upset but I didn't plan it and my hands were tied.
So the story goes that in 1961 I paid $900 for a great car, drove it across the country and all over Taiwan for 2 years, and still got $650 for it.
I bought a 1973 Celica when I was at TDC with the intention of taking it back to the states. I got orders to a "C" school in Pensacola for four months and then onto Korea. I was told that the car would be shipped to Korea or put in storage until I got there about five or six months later. At that time there was a diplomatic problem between Taiwan and Japan over the return of islands taken by Japan during WWII and Japanese products were not being allowed to enter Taiwan. A neighbor of mine that was with the Brazilian Consulate in Taipei wanted a car like mine for his wife as a present, couldn't order one at the time due to the problem, so offered me $3500,00 for the car. I drove it for almost a year all over Taiwan and made a $300.00 profit. Bought another new car in the states while in the school and had that one shipped to the new duty station, which had been changed from Korea to Spain while I was in Pensacola. Got lucky.
ReplyDeleteThe islands are called Pinnacle Islands http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senkaku_Islands . The issue is still under controversy among Taiwan, Japan, and China today.
ReplyDeleteMy Dad was told before we left for Taiwan to buy a black sedan and ship it over there and sell it before we got home. He had a black Grenada. I think it all worked out. He had no problems selling it and that was after driving it for 18 mo. I need to ask him if he turned a profit on that deal...
ReplyDelete