Buying a Car in Germany

I bought a car. 

First of all, let me say that I didn't really need a car. I could continue to ride on the Strassenbahn every day, 57 minutes each way from here to Heidelberg and back for work. Though riding the tram so often and for so long subjects me to all the wicked German viruses my body can't fight without German antibiotics and is basically like a glorified city bus with a lot more people, one definite plus is I could finish reading 247 books in a year. But that may be the only positive, other than saving lots of money. But who needs money?Life is short.

Ah, the car.

Once secured financially, it was time to start shopping. I began reading the Sunday newspaper Anzeigen and storming various German search engines, such as autoscout24.de, mobile.de, and quoka.de. With the internet, you can hone your search to car makes and models, years, mileage (kilometerage), interior color, exterior color, number of seats, number of previous owners, type of transmission, number of doors, usw. You can also buy a car on ebay.de, if you find one you like and it's not too far away. I looked everywhere I could, from the comfort of my couch.

Soon I discovered that perhaps it is not so easy to buy a car in Germany. Everything is closed on Sundays, and people don't answer their telephones, because it's a day for doing nothing. But again, thanks to the internet and all my e-mails, I was getting a few responses. By that time, many cars were already sold. Also, I had a German consultant standing by, telling me what to buy and what not to buy, in a not so gentle manner. Ah, the Germans. 

She's a beaut!

Naja, after three visits to used car lots, many hours of searching, pining and pinging, sending e-mails to sellers, and making arrangements via telephone, I landed my beautiful blue Opel. It felt surprisingly easy after all was said and done. I think I got a fantastisch deal: a 4-door beauty with only 88,000 km (about 54,000 miles) for less than 3,000 euros (about $4,000). It was the best choice. 

My new used vehicle is actually classified as a Kleinbus. No matter what it is, it has an engine, gas pedal, stick shift, and a stereo, so it will work for me. It even has a DVD-Spieler. Besides, I'm an Oma now, and driving mini-vans seems to be my latest trend. It's all good: these types of vehicles are roomy, and you can pack kids, luggage, dogs and men over 6 feet tall into them quite easily. All of those things are important.

The process for registering a vehicle is a bit different than in the U.S. For example, if you want "personalized" plates, you order them in a shop right next door to the driver's license bureau, or Verkehrsbehörde. Mine were still warm from the stamping machine when I paid for them; it took no more than two minutes! You must remember, however, that your plates must include the letters that designate what region you live in. Sometimes, it can be hard to form words with the letters you're given, but it's possible. 

This person from Kaiserslautern chose to be klug (smart)

Though Germany seems more crowded than some American cities where I've lived, their department of motor vehicles was not. We drew # 44 from the ticket machine at the information desk, and it took about 40 minutes of waiting time and then just about 10 minutes to perform all the tasks we needed to: choosing a license plate number, giving bank information for the Steuer payment to the tax office, removing the old stamps from the old plates on the car (souvenirs for me), running next door to get my new plates stamped, and paying the cashier for the services rendered. It was quite painless, and I even managed some German small talk for practice while I waited.

Now the real test begins: driving my German car in German traffic with German street signs, while listening to German radio and perhaps making more German small talk.

Wörterbuch

Anzeigen - (classified) ads
DVD-Spieler - DVD player
fantastisch - amazing, fantastic
Kleinbus - mini-van, small bus
klug - smart
naja - oh well
Oma - grandma
Steuer - tax(es)
Strassenbahn  - streetcar, tram, light rail train
usw. - short for und so weiter  -- and so forth (etc.)
Verkehrsbehörde - literally "traffic agency", department of motor vehicles