We are definitely not car experts so buying a car was very intimidating for us, especially in a foreign country. We hope our stumbling through the process can help someone with the system!

@barbarusbloodshed6347

4 жыл бұрын

You didn't tell us the most important thing: what car did you get?!?

@barbarusbloodshed6347

4 жыл бұрын

Oh, and negotiations on price are common, but if you show the slightest sign of being clueless you've lost. Go with a friend who's a mechanic and have him look at the car and tell the dealer every little thing that's wrong with it. THEN you have a negotiation going :D

@michaelgrabner8977

4 жыл бұрын

Funfact: If you make a driver´s licence here then you can choose if you like to make one for automatic cars or for manual cars BUT if you make a d. license for automatic cars then you are not allowed to drive manual cars but on the other hand if you make a d. license for manual cars you are allowed to drive both kinds of cars so therefore the vast majority simply make the manual driver´s licence...besides the fact that manual cars are cheaper. Driving manual is way more fun by the way...you simply have to learn it..it is just a matter of a little bit of practice to get a feeling for the clutch....so don´t be disappointed when it didn´t go so well the very first time..we all experienced that at the very first time....you just have to don´t give up and stick at it and therefore you have to try and practice several times...although now it´s a bit too late because you already got your automatic car. And about price-negotiations Well therefore you need to know the average value of that particular car depending on the year of construction and the actual condition of varnish, motor and so on... but therefore you need a bit of car-knowledge at least on the surface respectively you need someone with car-knowledge who goes along with you during the buying process otherwise you are completely and utterly at the dealer´s mercy. By the way Opel is german ..all the other ones (Renault, Citroen, Peugeot) were french. The bloopers at the end were funny ..very nice that you shared that as well.

@skraus8786

4 жыл бұрын

@@barbarusbloodshed6347 I think it depends here in Germany. If you look online for a car you should not expect to negotiate much on the rather cheap ones. I think a lot of prices are competative right from the start. If they were not , the offer would be on page 3-XX of the search results where no one ever looks... On the other hand, if you buy from an private seller or if the offer is more on the expensive side there maybe room for a bargain.

@betaich

4 жыл бұрын

Are you aware that Germany does not recognize all American driver licenses as equal to a German one?

germans dont like being confronted by sales staff AT ALL. It is assumed that you go to the staff yourself, if you need help! One of the reasons the Wal-Mart concept failed here..

@Wha73v3r

4 жыл бұрын

Wal-Mart mostly failed because of they bad treatment of their employees

@S_Black

4 жыл бұрын

@@Wha73v3r Mostly it failed because it couldn't compete with the already very low prices. All the tricks they use to undercut other companies in the US are either illegal or already in use. In addition to that they had higher than expected costs for renovations and supply chains. Yeah, there were the cultural and labor issues. But they failed for economical reasons.

@dankay7982

4 жыл бұрын

One of the biggest culture shocks when I arrived in Texas. "Hi, Sir, how are you doing today?" Do you really wanna know? Then grab a chair, it's gonna take a while. If you don't want to go down that road, why the eff are you asking me?

@wonda1992

4 жыл бұрын

What about the union factors? I would say that had more to do with Wal-Mart issues in Germany.

@cleancoder3838

4 жыл бұрын

there is no way to compete with the huge market power of Lidl and Aldi. Walmart would have had failed, no matter what they did or how the treated their employees. The complete opposite now happens. aldi and lidl are expanding in europe and even in the US. trader joe's is owend by ALDI. Best Market by LIDL de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidl#USA de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldi#Struktur_international

A interesting fact for you could be, that if you are making your driving license in Germany on an automatic car, you are not allowed to drive stick driven cars. § 17 VI FeV

@ronni2664

4 жыл бұрын

It's the same almost everywhere in Europa.

@_TeXoN_

4 жыл бұрын

@@ronni2664 drivers licences are standardized in Europe

@ronni2664

4 жыл бұрын

@@_TeXoN_ It's stadardized in the European union. I don't know if it is in all the contries on the European continet. Are you 100% sure about that?

@Mangafan47

4 жыл бұрын

@@ronni2664 In Europe there are 3 countries that don't care on which care you learned drinving by law. In reality there are a lot of countries that don't care for some extra money, but by law it's standarized. The biggest difference between non-EU and EU licenses are the look ;)

@FreFa-ch

4 жыл бұрын

Yesss thats how it used to be, but they changed the law starting this year (i think) to promote EV's.

And this is the different between German "Führerschein" and the American "Driver Licence"! We germans have to learn driving! The Führerschein is not simple and Its very expensive!

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

André Bosé we 100% agree that Germans tend to be much better drivers based on our experience driving in both countries. It was interesting though when we found out each American state has its own agreement set up with Germany about what people from that state has to do to get a German Führerschein. All we had to do is show them we learned in Oklahoma, give them our Oklahoma drivers license, pay 30€ then go and pick up our Führerschein. Each state in the US has its own drivers education, laws, tests, etc so I think Germany looked at what most closely resembles their standards and grants that reciprocity? 🤷🏻‍♂️

@TomWalterTX

4 жыл бұрын

@@PassportTwo Keep right, when passing I would look at the review mirror TWICE before passing. If that vehicle behind you appears larger the second time if you glance at it... WAIT as it is approaching at high speed.

@wonda1992

4 жыл бұрын

Been driving here for 2 months, and I will admit, you do have some great rules that are actually enforced here, alot of the same rules apply in America but are just not enforced. (Wish they would) But you guys have a couple of stupid driving rules as well.

@rogerwilco2

4 жыл бұрын

@@PassportTwo I had a friend take both the drivers test in Arizona and the Netherlands. After that, he said the main reason for the US driver's test is to get a photo ID to show your age when ordering alcohol. He called his US driver's licence his Ident-a-booze card.

@Leenapanther

4 жыл бұрын

Compared to Switzerland it's cheap. Even after we have our license we still have to visit courses. The first three years you're under probation.

Negotiate car prices is also possible and recommended in Germany! Prices are often set higher than necessary to allow a negotiating margin. You need to find only little things like scratches or a slightly cracked seam to trade the price.

@sensen9900

4 жыл бұрын

I had to laugh really bad after i saw these "comments" which said that Bargain is Prohibited and such in Germany and that so many People(saw that on several YT Channels espacialy from Americans) believe its even somewhat forbiden. These Missinformations all around the World about Germans and Trading is just Funny xD Ofc there are some Laws, most of them to Protect the Customer, but also some to Protect the Salesman or Company, to get screwed over or "dummping" the Market or simply to Protect the Value of Items and such but in Generall you could try to bargain with everyone about everything just, espacialy by Production New Items and Groceriers most simply Refuse to Bargain(from Company Side) or dont want because they felt kinda rude (from Customer Side) to try to get something cheaper which should be in Perfect Condition and in a Price Range appropriate for it´s Value.

@dankay7982

4 жыл бұрын

They paid the foreigner price. Same happens to me in Texas all the time :)

@Sp4mMe

4 жыл бұрын

It really depends on where you go to buy your car - private you definitely should always negotiate. Car dealers often don't leave much wriggle room. They might be willing to do something like an extra service or throw in new tyres or something like that though. Of course if you go buy a car RIGHT NOW chances are they'll be a lot more willing to negotiate something than usual, what with the crisis and all that.

I don’t mean to offend but I find it mind boggling that driving a manual gear car is supposed to be that difficult to learn...😅

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

I'm sure it's not that difficult to learn, but we have only ever had the opportunity to learn for about an hour or two. If we are able to actually practice, then no doubt we would be able to do it. Hopefully that helped to unboggle your mind! ;)

@Rick2010100

4 жыл бұрын

@@PassportTwo Automatic cars cost more new, but at the used market they are usually cheaper, as the most people want a manual.

@MrTohawk

4 жыл бұрын

@@PassportTwo To even be allowed to drive one here you need to have had your drivers training and your exam in one.

@aswler

4 жыл бұрын

Me as a European I love automatic, too. This way I can focus on the traffic instead of thinking about the gears.

@-----REDACTED-----

4 жыл бұрын

@Passport Two true that. It’s really not difficult, you guys should get the hang of it in a couple hours. The greatest difficulty probably will be hill-starting but that, too can be mastered. @aswler Well, by all means please drive an automatic. I still wouldn’t want to encounter you on the street since driving manual really should take zero effort...your admission is thus somewhat disconcerting.

the big thing about a new car is that you can basically configure it as you want you can still pick up the showcase cars from the dealers

There's another option, the Jahreswagen (under one year car). They have been registered for up to 12 months by the manufacturer but either have never been used or used by their empoyes, they usualy have very little to no kilometers and are way cheaper than a new car from the factory. The car lots usually have quite a lot of them sitting around. They often come with full waranty!

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

Ja, we have just heard of a few people who did this option and it is very interesting. Something definitely worth looking into next time we are shopping for a car! Thanks for adding this info 😊

I am surprised to hear that you couldn't negotiate the price. I am German and it's actually common to negotiate with the car dealer. Alternatively, the price stays the same but you might get a new set of winter tyres and car mats, a trunk liner, a future full inspection, additional months of warranty or other services on top for free. If you got nothing else but the car for the non-negotiable price you've probably been ripped off (more or less).

@DesertFish2007

4 жыл бұрын

Yeah. Also normally the Carlot registers the Car for you. Because they are a business they have the "Fast Lane" in the Registration Authority. A private person needs to set up an appointment. Which normally takes forever for a timeslot. Also you can take the car home directly, the seller can offer you "short term plates" which you only need to press. They are valid for 5 days. Looks like they ripped you of pretty hard

The process doesn‘t need to take a week. When I purchased my last, used car, it already had a pretty new TÜV inspection and my buddy just went to get the insurance and license plates, while I did the financing paperwork with the dealership. Choosing the car, test driving, purchasing and driving off took a few hours. But it’s a lot different, when you’re new to the process, of course. About the haggling. It’s not all that common here. They have to tell you, if the car was ever in an accident. That will definitely lower the price, so you should always ask. Or you can drop the price a little bit, if you find scratches or such (but the dealership will likely have fixed any of those). But you can usually get a few extras thrown in, like a set of winter tires or coupons for the next inspections. Anyhow, welcome to Germany and enjoy your stay! From an ex-expat to the US, which was just as mind blowing the other way around. 😉

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

Haha, I’m sure it was just as fun the other way around! We don’t think the process should have taken that long either...we worked with a particularly frustrating dealer...haha Next time we’ll know all this better! Thanks for all the info! 👍🏼

You're mistaken about german cars being cheaper in Germany, at least when you buy them new. Quite the contrary. We just like em ;) Also, there are a lot of company cars in the market and those are mostly german manufacturers.

@TGoKovenant

4 жыл бұрын

This is very true. If a BMW is $35000 in the US, it's €40000 in Germany. I've never understood that.

@ricoricardo4850

4 жыл бұрын

TGoKovenant es ist deswegen so dass die deutschen Hersteller ihre Autos für den amerikanischen Markt in Amerika bauen Und dort benutzen sie eine schlechtere Qualität zB statt Mettallschläuche benutzen die in Amerika Plastik

@TGoKovenant

4 жыл бұрын

Rico Ricardo nur Mercedes wird in die USA gebaut und für den deutschen Markt auch. VW wird in Mexico gebaut, auch für Deutschland. BMW wird in Leipzig gebaut. Die Autos sind in der USA günstiger weil Import Steuer günstiger ist als MwSt in Deutschland. Nicht nur das. Deutschen leiden unter den Glauben "wenn es teurer ist muss es besser sein". Amis sagen "der Preis lohnt sich nicht".

@ricoricardo4850

4 жыл бұрын

TGoKovenant Ehm du hast anscheinend keine Ahnung BMW hat auch ein Werk in Amerika und ich weiß da ich dort mal geschäftlich wahr das die Matrealien schlechter sind für den Amerikanischen markt

@KniKnaKnorke

4 жыл бұрын

@@TGoKovenant the 35k are before taxes. Like all price tags in the US.

Okay, you worked your way through that jungle and my respect for that. But as an older (babyboomer) native German and carbuff I like to give you additional information in case you have to buy another car in the future. 1. Car dealers, you could divide them into two groups. "Vertragshändler" this kind of dealers did have a contract with one of the car manufactures. This kind of dealer did have a reputation as a bit more trustworthy because the manufacturer did have also an eye on them. On the other hand, they have the reputation of being a bit more expansive. The dealers without any manufacturer contract could also be trustworthy but that depends on your impression. However, every professional dealer did have to follow a bunch of laws that are there to protect you as a customer against professional fraud. 2. The brands that are new to you. Opel is an old German manufacturer that was part of the GM company from the 1920s until 2017 when GM sold that manufacturer to the French PSA Group (Citroen and Peugeot). Renault is an old French manufacturer with a lot of ties to Japan and South Korean companies. 3. How to get the keys and your car directly from the dealer to your home. Besides the standard plates that come with the registration, you could also get special ones. A. Plates with red letters and numbers, these ones are so-called dealer plates (Händlerkennzeichen) and as they have tightened the rules, it is nowadays very uncommon that you could et this anymore. B. But you could get so-called short term plates (Kurzzeitkennzeichen) this once did have a yellow stripe at one side and inside this stripe is the day printed when they expire. To get such plates you have to go to the local car registration office and show them the required papers. These plates did normally last 3 working days and their purpose is to enable you to drive your new car from any place inside Germany to your place. 4. The whole paperwork to register your car. A. You have to prove your address (because many speed checks in Germany are done by so-called Blitzer, automatic speed checks and if you did speeding you got the ticket by mail) B. Insurance If your car is not covered by an Insurance company that is registered in the EU, it is illegal to drive and that one is something we take very seriously, you could easily end up in jail if you did not follow that rule. In case someone did not pay his car insurance, the company will inform the local registration office and they will come and take the plates of the car. C. The certification that your car is roadworthy. If you miss the next inspection date for the roadworthy stamp, the German law is not that harsh as if you drive without an insurance cover, but you still will face serious financial fines, so keep the date to your agenda. 5. The luxury car brands. Yes they are German companies but we did not get any discount to buy them, in fact, most of them are cheaper in the US than here in Germany (one reason is VAT). But as our tax system gives companies the right to write-off cars over a time period of six years, we did have a strong secondhand market for such cars. And trust us it is a difference if you drive 200Km/h on the Autobahn in a small car or in an E class Mercedes Benz. Btw. we did not consider VW as a luxury brand it is a brand that sells serious cars (except the emission data) to ordinary folks.

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

Lothar Schepers wow! Thanks for all this amazing information! I actually became familiar with the “Blitzers” day 1 and day 3 of having our car....should be expecting some mail soon I’m afraid... So our car insurance company is very unique. It is an American company that only insures veterans/soldiers of our military and their dependents. So it is an amazing insurance company by any standards because the goal is to help our our soldiers (my father was in, so we can their coverage, but our children won’t be able to have it). Because of this and because we have so many soldiers in Germany, they get the privilege to cover Americans within the EU and is recognized here. Thanks for that info though! Really appreciate all the though and effort you put into this post to help us. It really does help! 👍🏼

@swanpride

4 жыл бұрын

The reason why companies (especially Taxi companies) like to buy the brand cars is that they come with special service for them which come VERY in handy in case of emergency. They are also genuinely more cost effective for them, because quality pays off in the long run.

@lotharschepers2240

4 жыл бұрын

@@PassportTwo About the time that it takes to receive the Blitzer mail. The way traffic laws work are a bit different in Germany. Our legislative tries to prevent our society from becoming one full of folks with a criminal record, so if it comes to traffic rules we have different kinds of laws in force. Untouchable above all is the constitution, but that one did only provide the ground how we and the administration have to act. Specific to the point of traffic is the Streetlaw (Strassenverkehrsgesetz) but that one did only count if you do some really serious stuff, in most cases, you will "only" face the street rules (Strassenverkehrsordnung) and that one prevents you from becoming any kind of criminal record. For example, nearly every case of speeding is a case of breaking a rule in Germany until you are not so dumb to declare that you have noticed the speed limit and decided to ignore it by will. As in the US, although German prosecutors must show reliable evidence to the court if they accuse you of any wrongdoing and at this point, the rules come in handy to them. If they accuse you of speeding they only have to prove that their methode of measuring your speed is out of any question. If your speed was the result of your will or if it happens by accident is regardless of which. The whole procedure for that could be done outside the court if you accept their decisions. But you have always the right to question their decisions or even the whole accusation. If you pick up your right the court gets involved and with that the chance that you could face a accusation that is written in the law and if such one got the approvement of a judge the chance to get a criminal record. On the other hand, you although have the chance that the whole accusation could be dropped. As I had mentioned in other comments, my society leans to overregulate all little aspects and with that, it sometimes struggles over its own rules/laws. We even have created a new word to describe that fact "verschlimmbessern" literally to make things worse by trying to make something better. But anyway, back to more practical things. Starting at the moment the Blitzer did catch you the administration did have 3 moth time to send a letter to the driver if the administration did fail this timeline the issue is time-barred. But keep in mind the 3 months did only count in Blitzer cases. If the police have stopped you, you did had the chance to describe your point of view. So, in this case, the 3 moths rule did not count. Another important thing is the difference between the person at which the car is registered and the one who did drive it. As Germany did have a central traffic register commonly known as "Flensburgerkartei" the administration must identify the driver in nearly all cases (one exception is wrongly parking) but the only one they knows from the records is the one at which the car is registered. So the administration did send a letter to this person in which they ask for information about the driver. Under German law, no one is committed to inculpate himself or any close relevant (e.g. wife, husband, child, parents, fiancé, and so on) therefore the administration will guess that the one who had registered the car did drive it when the Blitzer catch him/her. But the first letter did also provide the possibility to claim that someone else has driven the car and that the registered person claims his right to not disclose who this person is. If you pick that way the administration will send a letter/Email to your local police station and ask them to investigate who did drove the car. Anyway, the whole Blitzer thing has a historical record of more than 5 decades in Germany so both sides did have developt a large arsenal to that and the ultimate administration weapon is the "Fahrtenbuch" literally divers record. Let's play an example, you avoided to pay the Blitzer fine by claiming that your father from the US has visited you at the time when the speeding happened and the picture is bad enuff that he could be the driver. The administration did have the right to send you an order to record any further movement of your car and who did drive it. Alone the administration act to send you such an order could be charged with more than €100 so that it will be often cheaper to pay the fine. On top of this, if there is any missed way in the record, the fine could easily pass the €1.000 mark. Stubborn disobey to write the record properly could also be punished with a jail sentence. And btw. have you ever checked if your US driving license is legal to use behind the 90days tourist timeframe. In the days when my son planed his exchange year, we noticed that not all driving licenses from any US state did get recognition in Germany. In some US states the rules for getting a driver's license are so laughable that we did not accept them and I know that the US military did train their staff and the family members before they could drive in Germany. And driving without a legal license is another one of the things that we take serious (that one breaks the law not only a rule).

IF they don´t want to lower the price, sometimes, you can negotiate other things, like free (new or as new 2nd hand) winter tyres, free first TÜV (apart from parts) etc. TÜV and registration formalities are usually done by the dealer for you.

I lived in Germany from 1987-92 when I was in the RCAF, Royal Canadian Air Force), in Lahr and Baden-Soellingen. I owned a 1978 Opel Rekord that I bought for 4000 DM. It was a great little car and very dependable. Enjoy your stay over there and have a schnitzel and beer for me. I really miss Germany.

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

We will definitely do that for you! haha, you were in Germany for some very amazing historical times. You must have amazing stories!

@tazman572

4 жыл бұрын

@@PassportTwo Hi guys, hope that your new VW is being dependable for you. My last four cars since 1992 have been VW's, 1 Passat and 3 Jetta's. You mentioned stories while I was there, so I thought that I would tell you a few of the things that I remember. 1) I was on base duty Dec. 25th 1989, and I remember watching CNN news over and over showing the story about the Romanian leader Nicolae Ceaușescu ), and his wife being shot. 2) My landlords could not speak English and my German was so-so, (I can speak it much better than I can understand it), but their daughters were pretty good at speaking English. One day the youngest girl who lived in the attic above me came and asked if they could have the spare bed in my apartment, (I had bought my own). She said that some aunts and uncles or cousins, (I don't remember exactly who), had written from East Germany and said that they were coming for a visit. She also said that they had never met these people before, but the East Germans were so happy to be able to travel that they were coming over to visit by the thousands, (millions) ? 3) One other thing that I remember was being on the Autobahn, (I used to drive between 130-160 Km/H), but as you have probably seen the Mercedes etc are going 180-220 Km/H. Well, the East Germans would come to visit in their Trabants and Ladas, and the max that they could do was about 80-100 Km/H. They would enter the Autobahn doing that speed puttering along all the while the car belched out black smoke from the exhaust. Funny to see but it was quite dangerous as all the other cars were coming up behind them at at least 130 Km/H or more. I'm sure that they caused a few accidents. P.S. I figure that you don't have any children as of yet, but if you want to adopt me and bring me to Germany, I am potty trained and am financially self sufficient, I won't be any trouble for you at all. LOL.

Great content guys. I am from wisconsin but spent that last 7 years living in Ireland. Moving to Germany soon so this is very helpful!

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

Awesome! Let us know if there is anything at all we can help you with. Feel free to reach out to us anytime 😊

You should set your 2nd camera, the one from the side, to 50 or 25 frames per second (fps). That avoids the flickering on that footage, that comes from a 50 herz light source, filmed with 30 or 60 fps.

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the tip! You are right, that camera is set to 60fps. We will make that adjustment 😊

@DatuDieter

4 жыл бұрын

Passport Two 👍🏻😀

On new cars you can negotiate. On used cars just at non brands used car dealerships. Until the late 90's it used to be the opposite. You paid for a new one the MSRP and got floor mats and flowers. And the german car brands are usually more expansive out here in Germany than in the US.

Citroën is pronounced 'cee-tro-en'. The two dots on the "e" only marks, that the vowels are pronounced separately, instead of blended together. Example: "naïve" ('na-eve' rather than 'naif')

@michielvoetberg4634

4 жыл бұрын

It comes from a Dutch person called Citroen (lemon). When he moved to France they couldn't pronounce it so it was changed to Citroën. His son started the car company Citroën. Can say Citroën like "See - true - and"

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

Amadrath perfect! Thanks for the help with that one!!

@IThee-hw8oj

4 жыл бұрын

@@PassportTwo See-true-and (without the "dee" at the end). French car maker, like Peu-Gee-ooh (Peugeot). Mostly cars in Europe are far smaller than American Cars and far more fuel efficient. That's because fuel prices are much higher as in the USA. It's common to pay €1,40-1,50 / ltr (about a quater gallon).

In Germany you can deal at used cars to! And May If you can t lower the price, you can ask for additionals Like winter tyres and a "New" TÜV as mentioned.

Actually about the "affordable" stuff. In the US you can buy a Mercedes,Bmw or Audi cheaper than in Germany.

@jbmcdoogle

4 жыл бұрын

They usually have the VAT to contend with. Our taxes aren't so high.

well, in recent years the number of automatic transmission cars in germany/europe has risen a lot. With DCTs in sporty cars, with electric vehicles and with hybrids there are a lot of cars which have automatic transmission by default...also a lot of people start to admire the comfort of automatics in traffic jams, stop-and-go-traffic and so on. my last car was a stick and my new car is a toyota hybrid, so switched to automatic as well.

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

For sure! It is definitely on the rise, but manuals still are way more driven still. I'm sure there may be a time when automatics become the preferred but I don't really know for sure. 🤷‍♂️

@maxdippininmylolo6421

4 жыл бұрын

@@PassportTwo its mostly about what you prefer, in terms of having more control of your car or what is more fun for you to drive. I, as a car Enthusiast love to drive Stick (also bc i can drift with it in winter lol).

As someone who has just started driving for 2 years in my opinion hand shift is just more fun to drive than automatic, but automatic is nicer for long trips :D

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

Marvin 101 that definitely seems to be the same opinion as a lot of people who drive stick! It definitely looks like fun but I do like the ‘mindlessness’ of an automatic...haha

Why did you have to show your private bank info? Thought you guys paid cash. Or has it to do with insurance? Interesting info on the video. Good luck with city parking, and manual transmission? Which kind did you get?

I am norwegian living in Norway, and went to Germany to buye a old rare car this summer. The people involved, the seller and employees at the public offices involved, was a pleasant experience, but it was a painfully old-fashon process. Walking in and out of different offices, watching people stamping and noting on papers with pencils was like taking a trip 30 years back in time. The same process, after the agreement, can now take 15 min in norway (and i guess other nordic countries), regardless private or dealer. The car inspection office (the public office who deals with car registration and inspection) has an app who seller starts, putting in information on the car, his/ her id-number and the buyers id-number. The buyer then recives text messages asking to agree/ disagree on the process. The buyer wil then recive a temproary certificates of title for the car on his/ her phone. One short phonecall to the incurance company (24 hr open) will take care of that issue. As the rest of the nordic countries (at least sweden) we are nearly a cash-free society, so a deal would start with a few minute operation for money transfering between the buyer and sellers accounts.

@mats7492

4 жыл бұрын

norways is a lot lot smaller than germany and has only 5 million inhabitants. so implementing new electronic systems is a lot quicker and easier than in germany with its 82 million poeple! also germany internet is shit!

.. the process of buying a car can also be done in 1-2 days ^^ - you can get also temp. plates in germany too :) -- and in germany you can also buy new cars directly -- on the same day. But if you want a individual config you have to wait for the factory - they have to build it first ;)

Manual gear shifting gives you a lot more control over the car, the revs, fuel consumption and overall driving dynamics. Also it's more fun and assists you in developing your own personal driving style.

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

Oh, we definitely want to learn! Just haven't been able to yet. With manuals being a lot more readily available in Europe I think we will have an easy opportunity to do so 😊

I've had quite the opposite experience when it comes to negotiating. I've bought two used cars in the US and was always told they're a "no haggle" dealership, blah blah, even though they were your usual corner used cars lot. But since I had to get a car, I bit the bullet and paid that price. At least they don't add a couple hundreds in fees and sales tax to the "official" price here in Germany.

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

Ya, that's all part of the game for most dealerships, they like to play that they don't negotiate but most of the times at the end of the day, they want the commission and do haggle. That's what we couldn't quite figure out here if it was 'the game' or if they truly don't negotiate. Personally, I hate it is that way in the US because it draws the process of buying a car out for a long time when it should be quick.

@Biergartenparadoxon

4 жыл бұрын

@@PassportTwo Of course it depends on the dealer etc. But a rule of thumb for the used websites: If the price is annotated with VB it's with haggle otherwise it's not. VB means Verhandlungsbasis (basis for negotiation). Without VB-Annotation a closer look on the car can help to haggle. For example: The fan or timing belt is loose and needs to be done soon, either you do it (before i buy it at the original price) or go down in price by x amount. But to be fair you should properly check the car anyways for obvious reasons, even if you don't intend to haggle.

The reason you see more "luxury brand" cars like Audi and BMW is not that they are cheaper per se - on the contrary, for the same model you will pay much more in germany compared to the US - but in Europe those brands also offer the cars with smaller engines and less equipment. For example, the most basic Audi A3 comes with a 2.0l 184hp engine and lots of kit standard in the US - in germany the most basic one has a 1.0L 115hp engine. without infotainment (some years ago even AC was optional), with steel rims, halogen lights and very basic everything else. so that naked car wouldnt be more "exclusive" than, f.e. a ford focus and more geared towards the mass marked. there are also some smaller and cheaper models (like the Audi A1) that are not sold in the US.

Hope you enjoy your time in Germany! It's pretty annoying here in Germany. Everything needs a visit in an office... Greets from the north of Germany!

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

matze vogl thank you! We are learning to deal with the bureaucracy but it hasn’t been too bad so far. :) Grüße aus Rhineland-Pfalz!

My BMW X3, which I bought in Germany at a local BMW dealer, was actually manufactured in the USA. I am wondering, do you have a German drivers license?

When buying a car in Germany, a few things I learned was, it helps if the car already has a current TUV inspection, insurance on automatic cars tends to be a little more expensive, vehicles are taxed based off of engine displacement (size, in liters or CC), power output, and fuel type. Diesel cars, as of late, are taxed far more than gasoline powered or electric cars. A lot of vehicles out here tend to have engines closer to or less than 2.0 liters displacement because, engine displacements are also grouped together in different tax categories, the bigger the engine, the more it is taxed. Insurance companies also consider engine power output and displacement along with which type of vehicle it is. Some more popular cars in Germany tend to have higher premiums than others due to the amount of newer drivers insured on those vehicles and the amount of claims they have involving those vehicles. When I registered my car here in Germany, my insurance here ended up being another 100 euro cheaper then in the US. Some of this info is just stuff I've experienced, some of it may be different for some folks, I hope this info is handy for anyone as well :)

The unfamiliar makes of cars they’d never seen in the US (Renault, Opel, Peugeot, and Citroen) were, in fact, sold in America in the past - but I only know that because I like cars, and I’m old enough to remember them in the ‘60s and ‘70s.

would a dealer in germany issue an export certificated to ship the car you bought back to the US or Canada if you wanted to? How is that done?

Welcome to Germany!😊

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much! We are super excited to be here and love it here so far!! 😊

I live in Pirmasens, so not very far from you, and were both close to the Palatinate Forest where you really need to go hiking. There are so many beautiful castle ruins near and across the French border!

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

We haven't checked out the hiking there yet but we love to hike around here so we will have to look into that 😊 Thanks for the suggestion!! We have been across into France a couple times but haven't checked out any castle ruins yet. Do you have any suggestions?

@Zakuyuki

4 жыл бұрын

@@PassportTwo I personally love Burgruine Alt-Dahn near Dahn. It's three castles connected to one so there is a lot to explore. Then starting from Schönau (Pfalz) you can plan your hike to include 5 castle ruins, some located this side of the border, some across. For beautiful rock formations visit the Altschlossfelsen near Eppenbrunn. Any tourist information in villages in the Palatinate Forest should have the small hiking guide 'Wanderführer - 46 Wandertipps mit Karten' in which you will find many beautiful paths which are all marked with specific sign so nobody can get lost. I've done a lot of them and these paths were really chosen to lead through the most beautiful and interesting landscapes here, springs, rock formations, valleys with small streams etc. These paths were all given names, I recommend 'Graf-Heinrich-Weg' , 'Felsenwald' , 'Hahnenfels-Tour' (with the castle ruins of Alt-Dahn), 'Wasgau-Seentour' , 'Brunnen- und Quellenweg' and 'Deutsch-Französischer Burgenweg'. I hope you continue to have the only good experiences in Germany! You didn't come to the wealthiest part of Germany, Kaiserslautern and Pirmasens in particular are really struggling, people are leaving, there is above average unemployment, but for me the landscape makes up for much of it. I am by no means an expert on hiking in the Palatinate Forest, but in case you'd like some company on your hikes, I'm always up for it! Greetings from Caroline in Pirmasens

Driving a manual is not difficult once you get the hang of it. I hadn't driven a manual in years when we moved to Germany, but growing up in rural Oklahoma, my dad insisted that my sister and I learn to drive a stick, so it was easy to pick back up. I am sure after a year that you are both more comfortable.

Always take the factory pick up. You get a bracelet. Get to eat what you want for free. Free entry in the museum. Its like a celebration. A guy comes up the car goes into the showroom. You get everything explained in detail. Its fun. Atleast for Audi and Mercedes it was very fun to get the factory delievery. Dont know about other brands.

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

10010011 Midg that sounds awesome! Maybe one day if we are still here and need to buy a new car, we will do that. I’m sure it would be a unique experience 😊

In germany every price is negotionable. The more you can list up check ups of your car the more you can sell it to a higher price

Just a comment from a german: the inspection is actually called 'Hauptuntersuchung' - which roughly, translates into 'Main inspection'. The TÜV is just one of several companies that are allowed to do the inspection. Others companies e.g. are Dekra, KÜS, GTÜ.

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

Jan Thomas gotcha. Everybody we’ve spoken to around here, including the car seller, call it a ‘TÜV’ also so that is why we assumed that is what it is called. I wonder if here, everybody knows it’s called a “Hauptuntersuchung” but just call it a TÜV for short or because that is who everybody has do it. Kind of like a “Taschentuch” being called a “Tempo”?

@janthomas6971

4 жыл бұрын

@@PassportTwo The comparison with a 'Tempo' seems very accurate. It's just something people use in their everyday-tongue. Since everyone here knows what's meant by saying 'TÜV' I just thought it's some neat additional Info for you :)

@janthomas6971

4 жыл бұрын

Also the 'HU' includes a 'AU'. I will let you do the research on that :D

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

haha, well I appreciate the explanations. I will get right on that research right away ;)

I bought a car when I lived in Prague and it was very similar but I bought it in the name of my company and avoided paying VAT. I had to buy a combi (station wagon) so that a cargo gate could fit. The Audi A3 Sportback got me what I wanted. The salesman, once he knew I was an American switched to perfect English and made the process even easier.

Also, a TUV Inspection costs €84 and you can drive ANY Diesel Car in Munich ad long as the car engine is at least EU6 Certified.

If you ever buy a car in germany, buy a "Jahreswagen". Its a car 1 year old that was used by the carseller for testdrives. They are less expansiv and well mantained.

It is never too cold for cycling , just improper clothing. I still cycle , will avoid it only if heavy snow or ice is on the street. I ride over 4000kms a year Also that you cannot negotiate the price? Never heard of that. There are always options. Also you can get an almost new car if you choose a VORFÜHRWAGEN (demonstration car) for a lower price. If you have a good car insurer they would do the registration , plates etc for you. At least here in Austria.

You can also buy "Kurzzeitkennzeichen" wich did not last 30 days, but 5 days. With this licence plates you can take the car from the dealer and still use the car for 5 days, for eg bring the car home and get the real licence plate. If the car dealer is far away from you home, this is higly recommendable. The most dealer also offer for customer of new or more expensive cars the service to register the car for you. Your (German) insurance sends a copy of the certification of insurance by telefax or email to the dealer and with this copy of the certificate the dealer can register the car for you as service. You can than pick up the registetred car with your licence plate at the dealer.

You can usually negotiate to get some perks and services included in the price.

Of course you can negotiate the price. When you have a comparable car on the web and the price is lower, probably the dealer will match the price. A good dealership will take care of the registration process for a small fee. When you buy a new car in Germany you’re right that you mostly need to order it. The main difference is that’s the car is made to your likening. (Interior color and materials, exterior color, stick shift vs automatic, features, motor, etc.) But you can also buy one of the demonstration cars for a decent discount.

How do you pay for all this stuff? For example, health insurance.

I realy like the 30-days licencplate variant that makes it so much easier to pickup a car at buying and drive back to home and give you the time to do all other nessasary stuff later on. I think this is something Germany really should do as well to get the whole prosess much more smouth for the costumer.

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

I agree! We really like that system better as well...

@kallejodelbauer2955

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, but for this using, we had a other Plate, its not 30 Days, but its for bring the Car to youre Hometown.Germany is not so Big. An Example,you buy a Car in Hamburg and drive it to Munich and had 5 Days Time.After that, the Plate is useless.But in every europe Country its differnt. Ireland,Tschech and Spain had only Numbers in Plate.In the Nederland you can get the Plate by the Post.In France the mining authority gave your a Number in Past.Other Countrys, had other Insurance Money Limits, if you make an Accident and had not a special Insunrance for other Countrys you only get what they pay in this Country.I always wonder, that many People in US simply dont pay Insunrance and drive.If you had that here, you go to Jail.

Wow, what a process to buy a vehicle in Germany for sure. I did not realize all of the necessary paperwork that has to be completed before you could take it off the lot. I am sure by now that you both are expert stick shift drivers lol. Germany is a great place to crash learn for sure. :). Just curious, did you car chop at the American car sales there in Ramstein as well?

@PassportTwo

3 жыл бұрын

Actually...we got an automatic so we still can't drive one 😂 We did not car shop in the area because so many people warned us about elevated prices in the area due to the American military 🤷‍♂️

@MagnificentGermanywithDarion

3 жыл бұрын

@@PassportTwo Well that is awesome that you had purchased an automatic after all :). Oh, that's right I forgot about the sudden inflation around the military :) Good choice.

You are soo lucky that your insurance from the US covers you because that's a big cost factor for owing a car in Germany.

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

We really are and I was shocked that they did!

Temporary tags don't necessarily expire after 30 days. It varies from state to state. In Alaska, they're good for 60 days.

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

Right, that was a bit of an over generalization I guess. Sometimes w forget that even if something is one way in a lot or majority of states, there are always states that have different laws like this. Thanks for pointing out!

Well, you are right with all the paperwork you have to do to get your car on our roads without any legal issues and sure there are some backstabbers you might run into. It depends a lot on the guy you buy your car from. I would say that a huge part of a good deal besides the quality of the car you buy is sure the quality of the guy you buy it from...

Did you say luckily your US insurance was covering for your car in Germany? that is crazy. Are you sure that this a good deal? monthly insurance rates here in michigan are almost what I used to pay in Germany for the entire year..

@PassportTwo

3 жыл бұрын

We have USAA and they are always 1000% worth it! Haha, can’t ask for a better company.

Greetings From Ludwigshafen

About buying a new car at the dealership, most germans want to configurate their car, which means that it will be produced to the wishes of the customer. but the building process is about 3-6 month depanding on your options, you can buy "direct" a car that is configurated by the dealer, but those cars have most not the "right" options and the reduced price is not realy worth to take the wrong car.

Bargaining with car salespeople is not easy here. But you can still knock off a few hundred euros normally by being a tough negotiator. Especially when a car has been sitting in a lot for some time. What's true enough is that they don't try to reel you in with outrageous discounts here the same way they often do in the U.S.

I am a bit confused. In the first part of the video you have shown train tickets from Ramstein to K'town. Later on you show license plates issued by the Hanseatic City of Rostock. It looks as if you have paid "Yankee surcharge" for your license plates. They usually are between €30 and €35; or have you added the cost for the vehicle registration (€27.60) to get to the amount of € 61?

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

Gerd Papenburg ya, we didn’t want to show our real license plates so we just grabbed some off the internet and through them on here haha

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

You know what...we may have added in the cost of registration like you say...I’m taking an intensive German course 4 hours a day, 5 days a week right now but my German is still horrible. I may have misunderstood the prices and that may be exactly what it was...thank you for that!!

For those in the USA wondering about driver License, here is the state list: Note California & NY Drivers license means passing a written and driving test. www.german-way.com/for-expats/living-in-germany/german-drivers-license-reciprocity/

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing that for others 👍 We were part of the lucky ones in which our state has full reciprocity and all we had to do was give them our license then pay 30 Euros and we were good to go! 😊

I hope you checked your car insurance and health insurance really good and made sure you are safe on that side.

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

Finndu definitely have 👍🏼 we have lots of people who are helping us get straightened out there. Thanks though!

The majority of US states require license plates on both the front and back of vehicles, so that’s not unusual to most Americans. A major difference is that most countries register vehicles nationally, with the same license plates used throughout the entire country. The USA (and Canada and Australia) have an entirely autonomous, separate registration system in each state or province. Furthermore, each state or province usually will offer quantities of different plates with various designs, along with personalized / vanity plates that can have numbers and letters - usually words - of the registrant’s choosing.

just one week for the registration! Damn! Im from Hanover, Germany and we have to wait at least 2 weeks for an appointment at the "Zulassungsstelle"

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

Chiller000Killer wow! we never even set up appointments for anything in our offices. Literally just walked in and waited our turn! Haha, I guess we are in significantly smaller cities for registration.

@Failbob95

4 жыл бұрын

@@PassportTwo yeah, i used to live about 20km away from Hanover in a small village... i never had any problems with offices but now living in the city its different

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

I can imagine...makes us a that much more grateful to live in a smaller village for now haha

Driving stick has a steep learning curve. Maybe for your next try, try to find sb with a diesel because they are harder to stall. An other thing you could try is to get a feel your the clutch by clutching in the idle position. After that trying to apply some gas to make in smother and faster. There are some good english videos on KZread explaining how to do it. Last step would be to learn to clutch in on a hill. If the car still has a hand operated hand brake there is a trick to pull that to have the brake foot free and let it go free when you feel the car hanging into the brake. But rentals beeing mostly modern in Europe that maybe will not help that mutch.

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks for all the tips!! This is definitely a skill that we plan on trying to learn very soon. We will look into everything you mentioned!

@daybyter

4 жыл бұрын

@@PassportTwo There is a 'Verkehrsübungsplatz' in Otterberg, where you can practice such stuff. But it costs some money

Concerning new cars: Most car dealers have a selection of new cars (usually only 1 brand). If you like one of these it's nearly the same procedure as buying a used cars (buying a new one you can skip the TÜV). If you don't find something you like, you can order a car with the setup and colour you want - but that will take some time, as this car has to be build...

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

Frank Schrewe ya! That’s really interesting. Where we are from in the US, a dealer will usually have a brand they specialize in and then will have a million different varieties of cars so you can just grab it there rather than I guess custom ordering from the factory. Literally the car lots stretch for mile(a) along the highways in some places.

My experience buying a car here in Germany was pretty nice. The dealership had me sign a "Vollmacht" (letter that allows someone to do something in my name), and they handled all the bureaucracy for me. I just had to sign, pay, and a few days later could drive off with my new car. I only had to pay the insurance a visit afterwards to finalize the contract, but it was all really painless.

@reinhard8053

Жыл бұрын

The same is possible in Austria. You can also do the registration at most (car)insurance offices. If you have an insurance, yet, it's just a short visit with the paperwork and off you go either with the old or new plates.

Negotiation is definitevly possible especially if you buy a used car.

What car did you end up buying?

Opel (Vauxhall in UK) was a German brand in origin, than went to General Motors and since 2018 (as fars I'm not wrong) it's part of french group PSA (peugeot/citroën)...

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

I don’t think you’re wrong! Some other people have commented the same thing. Thanks for helping out with the added info 😊

Thank u

" _The area of Germany we live in is not quite a bustling metropolis. So the trains really only come once every hour with some buses every now and then._ " You probably didn't mean that, but you sound a bit too sarcastic. Living in a small town without any really big cities in the vicinity, you actually have the luxury of an hourly direct train service offering a 30-40 minute ride to the next major city, with other alternative connections in between. And you find it " _tricky_ to schedule around those times". Well, the thing is there are much bigger German cities that are not so well-off in terms of train frequency, and there are millions of commuters who live with it. And compared to the U.S., European public transportation is often praised for being very developed and convenient. That's why I thought it sounded like some harsh criticism, coming from you.

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

I guess that's the difference in the way we talk and the way you may talk because it wasn't criticism. Sarcasm is vast majority of how Americans talk as a sense of humor and sometimes people who aren't from the US take our sarcasm as this way when it isn't intended that way. 🤷‍♂️ Of course we know that public transportation is better here. Where we lived in the US was 10X bigger than our current village and public transportation essentially doesn't exist. Because of this, we were very excited to come to Europe where public transportation is much better off. We were however, surprised when we got here and realized it isn't as 'convenient' as we expected because we chose to live in a smaller village. We still use it all the time but while we are here we want to be able to be spontaneous and travel a lot and a car allows us to do so. We're not saying it isn't 'liveable' or 'doable.'

@crock991

4 жыл бұрын

Ramstien is a very small town, the next largest town is Kaiserslautern, and with out a car it can be a real hassle getting around.

Wich car you buy ?

I think I like the American car buying process much better. I bought a new truck last year. It took an hour or so to do the paperwork and off I went. 60 day temporary tag in the rear window was all I needed. No inspections or emissions testing to worry about. No stickers for my windshield. No red light cameras or photo radar to worry about on the drive home. Since I had a personalized license plate already, I just had to wait for the registration and the "Z" tab sticker (Z tab in Alaska denotes a permanent registration), which I got in the mail during that 60 day time frame. I took the truck down to America a month later and no problems going through Canada or the other states I drove through with my temporary tag.

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

Ya, it does seem a little quicker and smoother in the US in some instances. 😊

In Austria - and I believe in Germany it will be the same - not knowing how to manually shift would be seen as not knowing how to drive ... ;-)

Next time, just spare yourself the hassle and let the dealership do all the registration work for you. They usually charge a fee, but they can do it faster than it takes the average person to do it themselves. And sometimes they throw in the registration for free, if you negotiate the price of the car.

Haha I guess it is more difficult then in the US 😅😅 nice video!

If you are buying a new car and not a used one the best thing is that you try to get a discount. If they dont want to give on or give one which is ok for you you say to them "pls print this offer so I can think about it" an leave. With this offer you go to the next car dealer and ask for a good price. If hes offering something more pricy you show him the printed offer from the other car dealer and say "make a better offer or i wont buy here" and so on. Of course you cant do it to often but it helps. If he says he can do the same price ask for some features like inspections and tyres

60€ for 2 plates is a rip-off! While prices may vary locally, you should expect them to be between 10 and 15 €.

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

We may have not fully understood everything that was in the total looking back it 😊

@jkb2016

4 жыл бұрын

@@PassportTwo well, sometimes the license plates are included in the registration. If that was the case, then 60€ is a good deal.

What kind / brand did you get?

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

We went with VW

Not sure if it's the same in Germany, but here all the paperwork is done by the dealer. You wait more or less the same, but at least you don't have to queue :)

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

Where is “here”? Haha, ya, a lot of people have said normally you can work it in the deal where the dealer will do all the paperwork but I think it is because we crossed state lines and we’re an hour and a half away from where we bought the car that we had to do it.

unless you buy your car from a private person, the car sale business usually offer to do all the paperwork for you. you still have to pay for everything you listed, but it usually takes only like 3 days or up to a week and you get your car with licence plates and all the paperwork done. and yes if you are able to pay the entire car at once you basically always get either a small discount or a couple of extras without additional costs or a combination of both. otherwise i also never got a discount on anything.

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

Ya, I kind of wonder if it is because we were buying it in another state and an hour and a half away that I had to do that paperwork? I could just be making excuses for the dealer though pulling a fast one on me 😂

@necrionos

4 жыл бұрын

@@PassportTwo i buy my cars usually in the next larger city which is 15km away from me and if i would need to register the car by my self i would need to go 5km in the opposite direction. those business have some sort of digital way to do the registering i think so the distance shouldnt be an issue. but that you crossed to a different state within germany could possibly a reason or maybe that you are not a german citizien/dont have a permanent resident right could also play a role. i have no idea.

5:46 Porsche!

@ricoricardo4850

4 жыл бұрын

asrsi Vw owns Porsche

@klausrtmr

4 жыл бұрын

@@ricoricardo4850 but also Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Ducati, Skoda, Seat...

And what kind of car did you bought? Show it to us, SHOW IT :)

@normundsliepa990

4 жыл бұрын

Wolksvagen or opel or mercedes or Toyota or Volvo or Peugeot or citroen i know way to much about cars there are even 40 more car brand's its probably a Toyota or Volkswagen

I just want to mention another thing. Just in case you guys don't know it. They gave you two documents named "Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil 1" or also called "Fahrzeugschein" and "Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil 2" or also called "Fahrzeugbrief". These are extremly important! You have to carry your "Fahrzeugschein" with you everytime you drive your car. A copy can be accepted by the police but they don't have to. It is up to the police officer if he lets you get away with a copy or wants to see the original document. But usually they want to see the original. Most people I know carry the Fahrzeugschein with them in their wallet. If you want to drive another car you have to have the Fahrzeugschein of that car. So when you borrow a friends car make sure you also ask for the Fahrzeugschein. The Fahrzeugbrief is even more important. NEVER carry it around with you. Also DON'T leave it inside the car. It has to be kept in a safe place where noone but you has access to. It is the only document that clearly identifies you as the owner of the car. Your purchase contract has no evidential value when it comes to the question if you are the owner of your car or not. If your car gets stolen and the thief finds these documents in your car it is like christmas and eastern on the same day for him. Although he woun't be able to proof that he is the owner of that car he has a great chance to get that car out of Europe with these documents. And than it is gone... Enjoy your new car and have a wonderfull christmas time! :)

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

Really, thank you so much for all of these tips! Our insurance company warned us about the Fahrzeugbrief but they did not mention anything about the Fahrzeugschein. This is all super helpful to us! Frohe Weinachten! :)

@swanpride

4 жыл бұрын

Should you ever end up in a control, the police officer will most likely approach you car and ask for "Führerschein und Fahrzeugpapiere, bitte" (which means that he is asking you politely for your driver license and the papers for your car, which means above all your Fahrzeugschein (so ALWAYS have it with you, if you don't, the police can still put out a request who the owner of the car is and match this with your ID, but that is just a hassle on every level...and like the Fahrzeugbrief, never leave it in your car. The police checks of you are in possession of the papers, they don't really care all that much if the papers feature a different name because they will just assume that a friend or family member borrowed the thief the car if he can show them off) and sometimes they will also look at the papers of the HU (Hauptuntersuchung) and the AU (Abgasuntersuchung)….it is easier to make the HU and the AU in tandem, but you don't HAVE to. Most people keep the papers regarding the HU and the AU at the sun visor. Oh, and hopefully your car came with a small booklet in which all the visits to the workshop/garage are listed? It is important that you don't lose it and that your garage doesn't forget to list all the maintenance which has been done for the car. That is not important now but should you want to sell the car down the line, you get a better price if you can proof that you have always taken care of it properly.

@Mully-rv3ve

4 жыл бұрын

@@PassportTwo Hi, the "Fahrzeugbrief" / Zulassungsbescheinigung II is really important. It's like the Certificate of Ownerhip for the car. If you loose it or get it stolen or the dealer refuses to hand it over, you are quite f***ed up. Always make shure, you have posession of the "Fahrzeugbrief".

The process of buying and registering a car here in Germany may look complicated and tedious. But actually, it is not if you are used to the procedure. For most of us it just takes a few hours. If the car dealer is not near by you can get so called "Überführungskennzeichen" or short term license plates. These are valid for just a few days. So you can pick up the car and drive it home to have it registered then.

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

ActionHeinz even the process in the US on surface level seems easier to us just because it’s what we know but still, we don’t buy cars often enough that even the US process would be straight forward to us. Haha, it was a lot to do here but everybody was helpful and made it relatively smooth so it wasn’t a big deal! 😊

@ActionHeinz

4 жыл бұрын

@@PassportTwo Or maybe we are just used to bureaucracy... where there is a lot of in Germany... as you may have noticed 🤣

So interesting, the similarities and the differences. What about the driver license? Do you have an international one or is a U.S. driver license ok? I knew about the TUV inspection, my husband has German friends and they have told us about this. Probably why you don't see junker cars on the roads there!

@fazyam1

4 жыл бұрын

That's correct. For a brand new car you need to go to TÜV after 3 years. After that you have to see them every 2 years. This is the reson why you don't see realy scrapy cars here on the road.

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

We have a German license now. Each state in the US has a different agreement with Germany and we are lucky to come from one that doesn't require us to take any of the German driving exams! All we had to do was go hand in our Oklahoma drivers license, pay 30 Euro, then come back a week or two later and pick it up 😊

@fazyam1

4 жыл бұрын

How strange is that??? I thought one Country one Agreement?!?!

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

It really surprised us also! I think it is because in the US, each state sets their own driving standards, ages limits and sometimes road laws (all because the states put a big emphasis on the national government giving each state the right to govern themselves as they deem necessary). Therefore, Germany probably couldn't confidently say that all Americans drive to their standard and had to look at each state individually 🤷‍♂️

One thing about automotive sales is when you get the best deal possible in most US dealerships the sales man makes almost nothing we are commission based but when you pay 21k on a car the dealer has 20600 in the sales person makes 100 bucks if that essentially salespersons make less than minimum wage monthly for the amount of hours one puts in say you put in 55 hours and only get paid 350 after taxes it some point it becomes not worth it that’s why a lot of dealerships here essentially have a revolving door sales sales people

1. Learn to drive manual as well when you have time. Automatic is easy, manual is fun 2. In the NL 20-30% of NEW cars are automatic. But overall I think at most 10% is automatic. 3. No negotiating most of the time at a 2nd hand dealership. 4. Renault, Peugeot, Opel, Citroën, but also VW (VolksWagen) are rather cheap brands. Not sure why you listed VW as a luxury brand? But what about other European brands? Skoda, Volvo, Dacia, Seat, AlfaRomeo, Fiat? Are those in the USA at all? BMW, Audi, yes those are more expensive cars, but not a real luxury car like Mercedes 5. Here we don't see many American car brands. Ford is common, Tesla is getting common, but the rest not so much. Sometimes the odd pickup truck, but those are massive and have a bad reputation for being owned by rude people. 6. Why are there no front plates in Oklahoma? 7. What did you get, come on can't leave that out!

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

Michiel Voetberg I don’t know why we don’t have front plates. States around us like Texas does, but we just don’t 🤷🏻‍♂️

@manub.3847

4 жыл бұрын

@@PassportTwo In Germany you learn to drive with a manual, because then you can also drive vehicles with automatic. Anyone who does his test with an automatic transmission must not use manual vehicles. (§17 driving license regulation)

@arnoldhau1

4 жыл бұрын

Opel togehter with Vauxhaul used to be the European brand of General Motors, so probalby some of the used Opel vehicles actually resemble some of other GM Brands in the US? Nowadays it is a brand of Peugeot/Citroen.

@swanpride

4 жыл бұрын

Doubt it, the development of Opel is and has always been at Rüsselsheim. It not the European brand of General Motors per se, but a German company which was bought be General Motors at one point, so the designs aso have always been made by Germans for the German market...I am personally quite found of Opel because they offer good quality without the need to pay for the brand itself, and they lean more towards family friendly vehicles.

@erikv5382

4 жыл бұрын

@@arnoldhau1 you forgot Holden (the Australian brand of Opel's), Chevrolet is the American branch but currently there aren't many models that are available both in the US and the EU. The chevy Volt and the opel Ampera are the same and the chevy Trax is the opel mokka.

Many of the car sales offer this registration process as a service while doing the tüv etc so you don't have to this yourself

If your buying used cars in Germany the prices are mostly fixed, because they are made by the vendor right away. You can lower the price though. Check out the car thoroughly, take notes of every cratch, dent, spot, rust spot, brittle rubber, etc. Then ask for the price and have them mention every damage the car has. Ask them twice take notes of what they mention. If you are lucky you found more "mistakes". Mention that to the dealer and start your bargaining from there. ☺️

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

haha, great tips! We really had a hard time figuring out if saying there isn't negotiating is just part of "the game" of buying a car and haggling or if there truly isn't negotiating.

Mercedes Benz G63?

Well, there´s another difference between manual and automatic shift ... For every car (engine/transmission config.) there´s a set "proven" emission level to it and it is in 99% of the cases that the car with manual transmission has lower emissions which translates into a lower vehicle tax (as this is based on engine size - depending on cc`s in 100cc steps - combined with the amount of emissions it produces) aside from a lower fuel consumption. The green sticker (there do exist also yellow and red ones with lower emission standards) is needed for most bigger cities in order to be allowed to drive the car in designated areas - usually within a certain perimeter around the city center. Regarding "TÜV" this abbreviation (Technischer Überwachungs Verein) is commonly used as synonym for technical inspection (official term is "HU" / Haupt-Untersuchung) although there are several licensed entities where you can get the HU done for your car (e.g. Dekra/KÜS/etc.) But there´s no bargaining on that as the price you pay for the HU is fixed(by government) no matter where you get your recurring HU done. That´s because it has to be avoided that competition between entities might compromise enforcement of inspection standards. There are two different HU intervals for cars: 1) Brand new cars need their first HU only after 3 years. 2) After the first HU the recurrent interval switches to every two years.

@mortisCZ

4 жыл бұрын

For anyone wondering the Czech Republic does it practically the same and I would guess that most of EU has similar rules.

0:46 Did you just ignore the bike-lane (the redish lane on your right)? In some places in Germany this means death sentence! xD

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

BeccaBuckLebowski haha, normally we don’t but that bike lane ends basically as soon as it starts in that one section of the road and because it’s so short, I’m not sure it even really constitutes as a “bike lane.” Haha Our village is pretty small and not too busy anyways so it luckily is not a death sentence here 👍🏼

04:35 so funny, i watched it twice

A train once a hour? Busses in between? That's luxury

In addition to Markus: you can buy a new car from the lot, but the process would be the same as with an used car. We Germans usually don‘t like to buy a car just standing around, we like to configure them to our like and thus we often have to wait months for it and pay ridiculous delivery fees, which I consider sort of a punishment.

I'm really surprised that you had to register it yourself. Usually a dealership will do that for you. Usually even for free.

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

I think it was because we were buying it in a city that was an hour and a half away from the city we live in and needed to register it in?

German cars aren't cheaper in Germany than in the US. In fact, they are cheaper in the US. They may be relaatively more expensive than comparable American caaars, but the price is significantly lowered in the US. About car insurance and the novembre deadline: usually you have to cancel your insurance policy untill novembre 30th and your insurance ends at midnight decembre 31. However there are irregular possibilities to cancel your insuraance, for example when you sell your car (of course)) because you caan't sell the insurance with the car. nother one is if your insurance raises premiums aand the raise is not due to outside factor and yet another less known reason is in cas of insuraaance claim. You can only tell what your insurance is worth when they have to pay. So in case there is an incident where the insuraance has to paay both sides(!)) insurance and customer have the right to cancel the policy immediately. Plus: while the novembre-deadline is the common practice, there are aa few companies thaat offer "unterjährige Verträge" which means if you buy your insureance on April 5th you can cancel it untill March 55th the following year and your coverage will end on April 5th. So better talk to your insurance first.

So... what kind of brand have you bought????

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

We went with a VW!

@daybyter

4 жыл бұрын

@@PassportTwo VW...ok...Holderbaum has usually some reasonable offers in KL. Rittersbacher is usually expensive

@FL00BI

4 жыл бұрын

@@daybyter Grünstädter here. Rittersbacher is very expensive^^

normally the TÜV is included or renewed when u buy the car ! for registering the car u need the insurance number .. but u can get that in advance u can have a 5 day registration , in this 5 days u have to change the registration to your self and get new plates once u have the plates u can get the green emission sticker ! normally from any trader ! the main issue is that u don't inform yourself properly ! or u have friends that don't know the process! if u know it all can be done in 1 or 2 days !

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

We did the best we could with information from online, expats that have gone through the process we talked to as well as Germans we are friends with. It doesn't help when we bought a car in a city an hour and a half from where we live as well. 🤷‍♂️

@hfreistify

4 жыл бұрын

@@PassportTwo Well i know you have to go where u get the best deals :) I also did buy mine far aways ... but it was basically really easy because i did all the steps for the buy and take it with you option :) Hope next time you will have less issues :)

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks! We hope so too! haha

if you buy brand new cars from a dealer, find two, have one lower the price (which is easier achievable with new cars), then send his offer to the other dealer and have him lower his price. You can start a bidding spree. The dealer which is most desperate to sell a car will give you the lowest price possible. Some dealers get bonuses for the amount of cars they sold and for that juicy 15.000 EUR vacation trip, for the whole family, they might even chip in 3.000 EUR of their own money 😉

@PassportTwo

4 жыл бұрын

Again, great tips! Like I said in your other post, really couldn't tell if it was all a game and we were taking advice online from people who were just bad at haggling or if there truly is no haggling.

@nox5555

4 жыл бұрын

@@PassportTwo haggling is very different in germany, but you can get very good deals. there are a couple of different dealership typs, some dont realy haggle because they have already low prices (they buy bulk or re-Import cars). others will give you some room to haggle. If the Cars is in high demand in that color and trim, they dont haggle because they dont have to go down from the manufactors recommended price.

Just to be warned or remembered : Be sure to get the german national driving licence after 6 month of official move. Bc if you don`t have that after that time it is a crime, called "drive without a driving licence". And that ist very expensive in case u be controlled by police.