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Buying and then importing a secand-hand car from Germany.


NormanH
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Given our very limited budget, we weren't going to any main dealers.  I did ring before we went and they seemed quite helpful.  However, when we got there the car places were really a step up from a scrapyard. Accident wrecks were mixed up with saleable cars and everything was squashed together so you couldn't see the cars properly, let alone drive (it would have taken ages to extricate the ones we were interested in!) .  My German is basic, and the dealers spoke minimal English which didn't help either.  As soon as they heard how little money we wanted to spend, they really weren't interested.  Like some estate agents, the cars on the website weren't available any more either.  Oh yes, and there were Dobermans roaming around - frankly it was slightly scary!

However we have got exactly what we wanted in Holland, for 900 euros, so we are sorted.  If I was going on a car buying trip to Germany again I would make sure I had a German-speaking car expert in tow (who wasn't scared of large, scary dogs!)

It was an education!

Fi

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sounds like one hell of an experience!  I worked over my options etc, I haven't got the time to go to Germany and pick up a car, decided to do something totally different.  I needed a vehicle which could tow, take a load of stuff in the back (tiles, wood, dogs, bags, boxes etc etc), and I needed a diesel, so i went for a Peugeot Partner voiture utilitaire.  It's a 06 model, with a 2lt diesel borrowed from the 306, I tried it, loved it, got a good deal from the local dealership (2kms down the road) and that's the end of that. 

As for the DSG gearbox, I heard nothing but rave reports about it!  Another guy told me that 300,000kms after, the dsg was still going strong.  I wouldn't worry too bad about the DSG system.  I've tried many automatic boxes, the jeep auto box (new quadradrive auto) is problematic, the ford auto box i had in my F150 was great, but it was anything but smooth, the dsg box is smooth as anything and it's economical.

As for a website in germany.....look at the following for private sellers:-

http://www.autoscout24.de/QuickSearch.aspx?msgid=13&msgtp=2&id=vgppc4ghpsnf

Everybody have a good weekend! :)

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hi

Dual mass flywheels can be a problem particularly in more powerfull cars and vans carrying heavy loads.  VW tdi engines devour them as do transit mk6s.  If you have to change one at the first clutch change here in france I would expect the bill to be huge, well over 1000 euros.  Best to buy a used vehicle after a clutch/dmf change, on a vw any mileage up to 90k miles.

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Cars built to current EU standards already have freedom of movement throughout the EU regardless of which member state they were originally registered in. Their EU type approval number allows them to be regsitered in any other EU member state without further inspection or modification.

As long as they aren't fitted with special headlamps for that quaint offshore island where they drive on a different side of the road to everyone else....[;-)]

 

 

 

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  • 4 years later...

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread, I wonder how this chap got on.

I have been looking at second hand cars in Germany and they seem a lot cheaper than French ones especially if they are made in Germany (Merc, Audi, VW etc). I noticed they don't have number plates on them when offered for sale in Germany so I wondered how you get hold of one (number plate) to export it. I am OK with the French end as I have helped somebody who had a German car and registered it France but unfortunately I have lost contact with them so I don't know how the German end works. Any help would be appreciated.

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[quote user="Quillan"]Sorry for resurrecting an old thread, I wonder how this chap got on.

I have been looking at second hand cars in Germany and they seem a lot cheaper than French ones especially if they are made in Germany (Merc, Audi, VW etc). I noticed they don't have number plates on them when offered for sale in Germany so I wondered how you get hold of one (number plate) to export it. I am OK with the French end as I have helped somebody who had a German car and registered it France but unfortunately I have lost contact with them so I don't know how the German end works. Any help would be appreciated.[/quote]

The German dealer supplies export plates, which come with insurance which can be for 7 days (optionally longer IIRC).

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  • 3 weeks later...

Just to say thanks Pickles and it costs a flat fee of 120 Euros for the plates and 7 days insurance. You can get the plates in an hour.

Have to say the premium cars like Mercs, Audi and BMW in Germany year for year, kilometer for kilometer are about 20% cheaper than in France. What I did was to look at German airports served by my region of France then searched with 10km of each airport for the car I wanted. Cheap middle of the week flight for 89 Euros, no overnight stay required and started the drive back same day. Took three hours to walk the paperwork round the prefecture and 15 minutes to get the plates made up. What did I get, an Audi A6 estate S Line (3ltr TDI), 68k on the clock for 17,000 Euros (from a Audi approved garrage). The nearest I found on the French websites was 25K for the same spec and year with a higher mileage.

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