Buying a car anywhere can be a nerve wracking experience. Doing it in a foreign country, in a non-native language, and navigating all the different makes, models and dealerships was challenging even for a car-enthusiast-expat who grew up in Germany and speaks reasonable German (me). Where do you even begin?
Despite being a car enthusiast, my experience buying cars is pretty minimal. I’ve had two cars in my life: the first a late 90s silver VW Jetta my parents gave me, and the second an even older Jeep Wrangler that belonged to my wife and that her brother had used as a pizza delivery vehicle back when gas was cheap. Other than service on those vehicles, the closest I’ve been to a dealership is when my best friend worked at CarMax for a summer.
So, much like with the bank account, before I headed out to investigate the state of the car market in Lörrach my wife and I sat down and had a discussion about our requirements for a car. Beyond the standard ones such as fuel efficiency and budget-friendliness, my list included: fast on the Autobahn, while she added: easy to park and maneuver in villages (while Germany roads are plenty spacious, across the border in France they can be much smaller). We also thought about the people who might visit us and the road trips we want to take, so being able to hold 3-4 people with baggage for multiple hours at a time would be ideal. Sadly this ruled out a Mini or a Smart Roadster, but still left many questions:
Would a Mini Clubman be too small?
Would the best deals be on German cars or on French, Japanese or American ones?
Would we qualify for financing/leasing (especially given the current state of the world credit markets) or would we need to simply pay cash for the entire vehicle?
…would a dealership even talk to me?
More to come on buying a car in Germany in future installments:
Part 2 of this series will give you my unique view of the German car market based on some direct observations so you can decide if you want to blend in or if you want to stand out – what you should buy.
Part 3 of this series will show you how with a view of the market you can feel confident visiting dealerships and negotiating the best deal. Vocab included.
If you were reading this post to get the German requirements for buying a car, thus far you must be disapointed. I’ve only said that you need to have requirements as a way of not spinning your wheels. Part 4 of this series will address what you need from the German standpoint in order to legally and efficiently purchase a car.
