Purchasing and Licensing a Car in Korea

Purchasing a car in Korea requires several steps. This information is related to people stationed in Area 1.
1. Once you have found the car you want to purchase you will need to get insurance from either AIG or USAA. I recommend USAA because they have good rates and it only takes one phone call. You can't do it on line with USAA because it is a Korean VIN#.
2. Next, is Temporary Registration: You will need to go to Camp Kim which is located across the street from the PX gate at Yongsan, and get temporary plates and registration (good for 10-days) that will allow you to actually drive your car to Camp Kim and have it safety tested and registered. The temporary plates are actually wooden plates.
3. Now that you have your temporary plates on your car you can drive it to Camp Kim for the safety inspection and pay the registration/plates fee. The fee for the plates is only $6.90. Once you pass the safety inspection you will get your new Korean plates to put on your car. After you attach them you go back in and someone comes out to attach a little coin looking item on it.
4. I recommend a Korean GPS. They have them in stock at the Yongsan PX for $430.00. Besides giving great, detailed instructions in English, it also plays MP3 files, allows you to watch TV, takes pictures and records video.

We bought our car at James Garage. The nice thing about buying a car there is that it comes with the safety inspection included in the price. They also obtain the temporary plates for you so you only have to go to Camp Kim once. They also include a 3-month drive train warranty.