Because the article is in German here is my rough translation and interpretation of her 7 tips. Please feel free to suggest any changes.

1. Turn off the ‘Automatic Network Selection’ mode found on most mobile phones. Manually select your local network.  If your phone is set on automatic and it happens to think the French signal from across the Rhine is stronger than the German one and it connects to the French network even if you are physically standing in Germany you will be charged as if you are roaming.
2. Understand how your plan (tarife) charges you for incoming and outgoing calls, SMS and data usage when abroad. There was EU wide legislation in 2007 that requires pricing for calls within Europe to be fixed as part of your plan – though there wide variation between plans. Go to Handytarife.de for more information on international roaming and German cell phone plans.
3. Know how the system works before you decide to not pick the phone up when you are out of your home country and instead let your calls go to voicemail.  I will have to investigate this more, but the claim here is that you can still be charged a roaming fee for having the call connected through to your phone only to have it connected back again to your German voicemail box.  Assuming this is true there are two things you can do: 1) Deactivate the forwarding back to your mailbox or 2) setup automatic forwarding to mailbox (phone calls will go straight to voicemail and not be connected through to your handy).
4. Use SMS when abroad.  Beyond being the cheapest form of basic communication on your handy, receiving SMS’s is typically free. In the example Bianca provides,she carries two cellphone with her when in Switzerland (she lives in Freiburg and goes to school in Basel). She receives incoming SMS’s from her German friends on her German handy for free (and cheap for them).  She then replies using her pre-paid Swiss handy which offers better international SMS rates for her.
5. If you’re going to be abroad for an extended period of time, buy a pre-paid card in the country where you will be. One consideration here – make sure you have an unlocked handy so you can easily switch your SIM cards.
6. If you’re always traveling take a look at Globalsim.net.   This seems similar to Maxroam by Cubic Telecom, which claims to save you lots money on international cell phone roaming charges.
7. Use phone cards. While not the sexiest of options they’re available at every kiosk and grocery store worldwide and offer very competitive international rates.  When I studied abroad in Singapore, while it’s not the most fun standing at a payphone during a monsoon, this is what I used to manage my international calling costs.

Do you have any tips for managing your handy as a Grenzgänger? Please let me know.

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While I still plan on reading the copy of Jenseits von Eden, the classic Steinbeck Roman I picked up at a local German bookstore in Lörrach, it’s nice to know if I want some English reading material I don’t need to fly to London to get it!

In our investigation into buying a car in Germany, we’ve covered how to select a car that meets your needs, what the German car market looks like, and how to successfully visit and negotiate at a dealership.  This final installment will help you understand what you need to close the deal.

As I said earlier, if you want to close the deal quickly and painlessly, working with a dealer who understands your situation (you’re new to the area, you might not have all your residency paperwork complete, you are still waiting for your wire transfer from the States etc…) can make all the difference.

What does the dealer need to see from you? We were able to purchase a car (and the dealer was able to complete the Zulassung) with the following documentation:

• Anmeldebestätigung
• Kontonummer
• Reisepass
  
• American drivers license
  
• Proof of income.  This can be in the form of your employment contract or simply a letter from your employer.
• Proof of insurance. I’ll discuss the intricacies of purchasing insurance in an upcoming article. Suffice it to say for now that we worked though the dealer’s recommended insurance agent, though we did get quotes from other agents to ensure the price was competitive.
• Your approved Aufenthaltserlaubnisse would also be helpful for the Zulassung (the dealer could care less but the state wanted to see it) though ultimately was not necessary. Because our permits were still processing at the time we were trying to buy a car, we asked for a letter from our local Bürgerdinste saying that we had completed the applications and they were being processed. This seemed to suffice.

In order to pay the Anzahlung, we had to go to our bank and complete an Überweisung for the car dealership.  This is as simple as having the teller help you fill out a form – you have to give them the IBAN and BIC codes for the delership. Alternatively you can transfer the money at the ATM or through online banking.

Assuming that everything goes through, you get:

• Keys to the car!
• The Zulassungsbesheinigung (Fahrzeugschein) – your car registration.
• Depending on where you live, you might get a Nachweis ordnungsgemäß zugeteilte FeinstaubPlakette. This is a sticker that you put on the bottom right corner of the windshield. It signifies that your vehicle meets certain emissions criteria,  and that you are allowed to drive in the so-called Umweltzonen. Umweltzonen are areas (generally cities) where authorities are trying to limit pollution. The German motoring club ADAC has more information on the sticker and locations of Umweltzonen here. The Strassenverkehrsamt has information here.
• Saftey and First Aid kit

Other things you might want:

• Vignettes. If you live in near Switzerland (as we do in Lörrach) you’ll probably want to purchase the Swiss Autobahn Vignette if you plan on driving on their highways (big fines if you are caught on the highway without one!). If you live near Austria you might want the Austrian Vignette.  In either case you can typically purchase the sticker at service stations near the border and border crossings. The Swiss Vignette is also available online. The Swiss Vignette costs CHF 40 and is valid over the course of the calendar year – whether you buy it in January or November it still expires come the new year and costs CHF 40. The Austrians are a bit more generous–they allow you to purchase vignettes for varying lengths of time. Since we live a ways from Austria, we’ve typically just purchased the 10 day vignette for EUR 7.50 when we’ve found ourselves on the Austrian Autobahn.  The German Way and More has additional information at Extra: Paying the Autobahn toll.
• A Traumkennzeichen (vanity plate). The Germans don’t have nearly the number of choices as states such as Virginia, but if you find your dream license plate and somebody else happens to be using it – you might be able to buy it from them. Neat.  Got a license plate that you think somebody else might want? Put it up for sale.

Well that’s it for now. Keep this information, vocab and tips on Buying a car in Germany in mind, and you’ll be well on your way to your new German car. Gute Fahrt!

As always, if you have any comments, questions, or have had a different experience buying a car in Germany and would like to share, please leave a comment below or email us at questions@tapxe.com.

With a decent view of what sort of cars were available and what the typical German drives, I set out to visit an Autohaus or two, get ein paar Angebote, and ultimately buy a car.

I did not think about what order in which to visit the dealerships–instead, I started with the one closest to home and stopped each time I came to a new one.  My actual order went: Mazda, Renault, VW, Mercedes, Audi, Volvo, Peugeot and last but not least Mini/BMW – phew.  In retrospect, this worked out fairly well,  though I would offer a few words of advice if I had to do it again.

Rank the brands you are interested in and then visit them in reverse order, saving the ones you are most interested in for last.  Why?  Use the first few dealerships to get comfortable with how the process works, to learn the types of questions the dealership will ask you, and to figure out how the requirements you identified in Part 1 mesh with reality.  Ideally, by the time  you get to the dealerships you are most interested in you’ll sound like you’ve been in Germany for years. By being at ease and confident, you’ll stand the best chance of making a successful decision. Making a good impression at the dealership and building a relationship with them from the start that makes them want to help you is the difference between driving off in a used Renault Clio or a new BMW 3er.

Buying a car in Germany: Types of cars at the the German car dealership

There are a few types of cars you are likely to find at the dealership:

1. Neuwagen – New cars
2. Gebrauchtwagen – Used cars
3. Vorführwagen – Dealership demonstration cars
4. Jahreswagen – Literally means ‘Year car’. These are cars I believe were bought by employees of the car manufacturer at a large discount and are able to be sold after a certain period of time. BMW explains their Jahreswagen policies here.

As with buying a car in the States, buying a Neuwagen is the surest way of getting a warranty if you want one.  With a Gebrauchtwagen, Vorfürwagen, or Jahreswagen, it will depend entirely on the vehicle and probably how long it has been since the Erstzulassung (first registration).   What about ‘Certified Used Cars,’ a term now very popular at dealerships in the U.S?

Volkswagen offers certified used cars through their First Class program. Every First Class car comes with a minimum 12 month warranty: Da ist es beruhigend, dass jedes Volkswagen First Class Fahrzeug inklusive einer mindestens zwölfmonatigen Gebrauchtwagen-Garantie ausgeliefert wird. Amoung other things, First Class certified cars are no more than 4 years old and have fewer than 100,000 km on them.

BMW offers certified used cars through their Premium Selection program. BMW Premium Selection cars are no more than 7 years old and have fewer than 120,000 km on them. Premium Selection cars come with the EUROPlus Garantie that covers alle mechanischen und elektronischen Teile Ihres Fahrzeuges ohne Kilometerbegrenzung – für ein Jahr (all mechanical and electronic parts of the car for one year – regardless of mileage).

Audi offers certified used cars through their Plus program, and Mercedes through the Europa-Garantie.  Like BMW and VW,  both of these manufacturers offer similar certified used car warranties with Audi giving you a warranty through 12 months and Mercedes giving you through 12 months or to 100,000 km on your vehicle.

Buying a car in Germany: The test drive

I found two major differences in test driving a car in Germany.  First, dealerships do not offer it readily: you need to ask. Second, once you have arranged a test drive and filled out the paperwork, you can take the car for several hours (perhaps that’s why they don’t like doing it!).  In terms of paperwork, your US drivers license, Passport, and the Anmeldebestätigung should suffice.

Buying a car in Germany: Some German car vocabulary

While test driving cars and talking with dealers you’ll likely need some new vocabulary.

• Geshwindigkeitsregelung – cruise control
• Nebelscheinwerfer – fog lights
• Leichtmetallräder – alloy wheels
• bleifreies Benzin – unleaded
• Fahrwerk – chassis, typically used in Sportfahrwerk - Sport chassis/suspension
• Kraftstoffverbrauch - fuel consumption, typically in liters per 100 kilometers (l/100 km). For an explanation of why l/100km is a useful way of thinking about fuel consumption, check out Predictably Irrational. For more information on fuel economy in general, Wikipedia.  1 MPG is about 235 l/100km.
  • innerorts/städtisch – in the city
  • außerorts/außerstädtisch – on the highway
  • kombiniert/insgesamt - combined
• Höchstgeschwindigkeit - top speed
• Schaltgetriebe – manual transmission
• Automatikgetriebe – automatic transmission
• Erstzulassung – date of first registration
• Kilometerstand - current mileage
• KW and PS – Germans display the car’s power in terms of KW (kilowatts) and PS (Pferdestärke). PS is roughly equivalent to horsepower (HP) in the States. For more information on the history, usage,  and converting between these measures, please go here.
• Hubraum – displacement
• Drehmoment - torque
• Vorderradantrieb – front wheel drive
• Hinterradantrieb – rear wheel drive
• Scheibenbremsen - disk brakes
• Federung – suspension

Buying a car in Germany: Discussing the Angebot

Once you’ve settled on a few cars you are interested in, it’s time to talk about the Angebot.  What does the Angebot consist of? It’s a signed letter from the dealer to you outlining the car in question as well as the terms of the deal. What sort of terms? Assuming you are not paying all in cash up front…

• Is the car finanziert or will you be leasen?
  • The decision about whether to finance or lease is a personal one. Depending on the specials the dealership is offering, and the length of time you plan on holding the vehicle, one might be financially günstiger  than the other.  In my experience, the dealer was able to offer more favorable financing terms on certain cars and more favorable leasing terms on others.
• Anzahlung – down payment
• Laufleistung – mileage per year
• Rate – monthly payment
• Zulassung – Registration fees

Buying a car in Germany: Can you negotiate?

Yes and No. As with negotiating and buying anything as a foreigner in a new town, just remember to look for a winning deal for both you and the dealer. Your time as an expat will be much better if you have a network of friends you can count on – and yes, this goes for your car dealer as well. Some things to negotiate about? Increase your yearly kilometer per year allowance – 30,000 instead of 15,000. Ask to have such things as winter/all season tires or a better stereo included.  If it’s a used car, ask about extending the warranty.

Now that you’ve found the car, and are happy with the offer, it’s time to close the deal. Buying a car in Germany continues with Part 4 – Closing the Deal and required documents.