Thanks! I really appreciate that!!!

hello to all you wonderful ladies!

Today is a bittersweet day for me...June 11 is my daughter's 20th bday and this is the first time ever we are not together with her for her bday. I wish I could magically be in Norfolk today to at least hug her. Little did 20years ago that my baby girl would be a Sailor, in Norfolk, and preparing for a trip to go underway! Wow!!! So I'd like to just ask of you, my Navy sisters, to just send a bday wish sometime in your thoughts today to Leach73's sailor so that she enjoy her day and be blessed today and always.

Thanks! :)

Also, any of you ever have your Sailor go underway that have a car on base?? Did they leave their car in the parking lot on base? put in storage? or what?

Is anyone from Texas going to the Weekend for Family in Norfolk?  My husband and I will be there, and I would love to meet you!

Well guys, gotta go for now.  Hope to meet anyone who will be at the Weekend for Family of Navy folks coming up.

Cat mom having computer trouble Want me to ask her where her daughter went?

OK HawaiiKat  She thinks it is the Charles Barkley dealership in Virginia Beach. It is a Toyota dealership and they have used cars there too. Or she just texted it could be Barkley or Barker. She thought she did a discussion on this group about car buying.

Yes she did look on page two of view all discussions above.

AUGUST 2013 POSITIVE CAR BUYING EXPERIENCE!!

When is this family weekend?

Thanks CO-TwinSalorMom..I'll search for it now :)

When my son went to Navy Federal Credit Union to be pre-approved for a car loan, they referred him to a couple car dealers and told him to be careful of the others.  He bought his car at one of those dealers that were recommended by NFCU.

Thanks all for the advice! Although buying from a private seller might be a bit cheaper, I'm just leery about him doing it all by himself. LOL..sheesh, talk about me having a hard time letting him go. HAHAHA!! 

But still $15 a month is not bad.

My nuke sailor sold his old car, bought a new one and got his own insurance all before his 20th birthday. They do grow up and I was proud of him for taking over and doing such adult things on his own.

thanks ladies!

abuon18 - is the long term storage lot that you mentioned on  the base?

TonyaM - the storage facility you mentioned, is this the same thing that abuon18 is talking about?

thanks!

Leach73 - it is sad the first time we can't celebrate their birthday with them.  In February my son turned 19 on the same day one of his sisters turned 21.  She was sad because it was their first time apart on a birthday.  He was in Norfolk, and she was in Chicago on a work trip.  So we didn't get to see either one on their special day.  Hope your daughter has a great birthday!

HawaiiKat,

Hello!  Finally "fixed" my computer myself by uninstalling something I thought would help it--wonder if I have some latent "IT" tendencies??  (My Sailor daughter is an IT3 going through her 2nd year the in Navy!)

Anyways, I hope you've had a chance to read my "August 2013 Positive Car Buying Experience" on page 2 of the Discussion Forum!  Yep, your son should get "pre-approved" by NavyFed or ABNB so he doesn't overspend what he can afford in a vehicle~~  The best thing is that we were able to be with our daughter via Skype on the test drive and paperwork.  I took notes on what they were trying to sell our daughter and the costs and we were able to ask if they would let us advise our daughter and they walked away and let us talk to her.  They were very accomodating with allowing her to check on auto insurance rates right there and they got her the better interest rate from ABNB, which beat NavyFed.

You and your son might want to look at their website to see what they have available on their lot.  It's the Charles Barker dealership in Virginia Beach~~  I hope he can find a good one too!

One more for the "what to do on base" file  :)  Summer Marina Mixers every Thursday from 4 - 6 pm at the MWR Sailing Center and Marina. 

I need to ship a package to my son that is attached to the USS Eisenhower. Can anyone help me with an address?

My son said he needed a P.O. Box but I didn't know how true that was. And, like you said it's hard to get to your P.O. Box without a car. This really stinks!

Thanks CountryGirl for the offer but I think the FedEx location at Newport News is going to be easiest for us! This way, we don't have to worry about someone being home to sign for it and my sailor has a good friend in Newport that is willing to pick up the package and deliver it! Thanks Moms for all your help!

I cannot tell you how much I LOVE this site! You moms are full of helpful information and the support that you give one another is amazing! I don't think I'd have made it through bootcamp, A-School to Norfolk without my new Navy family! Thank you!!!

Is there any mass transit from VB to the base?

Ok Moms, I need some help! My son just got to Norfolk and decided it is best to have my paid for, beat up Buick than have a car payment! YAY! So, now I'm just trying to figure out a couple things...

1. Car is in my name and my insurance; what does he need to be able to drive it in Norfolk and still be covered in the case of an accident?

2. Any suggestions on how I get the car to him? I'm thinking of driving the car to him (9 hour drive from NE Ohio) over a weekend and having someone follow me in my vehicle. Or, I could have him fly home on the weekend and drive it back but it is an old car. I'm not too comfortable with him driving this vehicle that far all by himself. 

3. We don't have a lot of money so I'm not interested in shipping the vehicle.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!  Thank you!

Can you afford to take the car to a good auto shop and have them check it out to give you an answer if it would be safe to drive to Norfolk or a list of what to make it be in good shape. then see he can afford the repairs or at least split it with you. If he is on his own and is to have a car he has to be able to take care of it, pay insurance (mine got USAA at a good price), pay registration, pay parking, pay maintenance. When I bought my first car and I was still at home my Dad went through all this with me and if it was my car I had to make sure I could afford it first.

Thackersmom - funny you should ask! Ijust went thru this a few weeks back! Thanks to Marcy I was able to prepare and take the car to my daughter.

if you can, go back a few pages in the posts to about page 16 around the timeframe of May 22, right before Memorial day and you will see the convo that went on about the whole car thing. i tried to copy and paste but it didn't work. sorry.

We ended up driving my daugther our car, that she used while she was home to go to work and school, from chicago to Norfolk (14 hours) on a Saturday and then my hubby and I flew back the next day after we had brunch with my Sailor and stayed with her for a little bit and she drove us to the NOrfolk Airport which is only like 10 min. from the base.

Yes, she is responsible for taking care of it and only using it as needed. My husband did take it to the mechanic before we left too to just have it looked at OH and good thing we checked the paperwork for the emissions test because it was due and thankfully we got that done too.

So get ready for your trip! My daughter says she is so thankful to have a way to get around.

ThackersMom, just to add one more thing - it looks like Pittsburgh Int'l Airport is nearest you?  Southwest Airlines flies between it and Norfolk.  Good fares and two bags fly free!  You'll need to type up a paragraph giving your sailor permission to have the car in his possession, take it to the bank or wherever and get your signature on it notarized. 

Leach73, that was pretty cool how it worked out!  How's your daughter doing? 

(What I was getting at is, you could drive it to him and then fly home.)

I wish I could get my thoughts together in one post!  Oh well.  Last but not least, I got a AAA membership for my son.  Even though he has roadside assistance through his insurance, I get a lot of peace of mind - cheaply, at about $40/year - knowing he can always call AAA for a dead battery, flat tire, a tow up to X miles, whatever, even if for some reason he's driving a vehicle not his own. 

Marcy, He also can get discounts at restaurants, auto repairs, tires, auto parts, travel, and many more. You can print off a list of all the discounts. I use it for rental cars, hotels, airfare and train fare. 

That's true!  Though I'm probably more likely to seek out the discounts than he is LOL

Hi Marcy!!

nice to hear from you again! My Sailor is hanging in there. Honeslty as much as I want to hear happiness in her voice, it isn't there :(

On the weekends when she is off the ship and trying to find things to do off the ship, she is in a better mood and more relaxed. Having the car has made things so much easier for her just to drive out and do what she needs to do. Thanks again so much for your help and guidance thru the vehicle ordea and for being here along the way!

Thackersmom - hope it all works out for you! It really is as easy as that...get your letter notarized, make sure you have the current reg., emissions, insurance, city sticker (if applicable), and if it works out better for you, buy your one way ticket to get back home, and you are set to go. We had also thought about taking both cars to leave my daughter the one and drive back in our minivan but we found a good deal on airfare so we  flew back instead.

Happy weekend to all!!

I want to give my son my old Karmen Ghia. He wants to restore it. my question is this car is a '67 and has no emissions controls on it. What happens in that case? 

just a reminder for all you moms whose sailors can't always find something to do...we get together on the weekends at our home with any who want to come over. Bowling night tonight. :)

yvonne

John and Yvonne - God bless you for what you do for our Sailors! Thank you!