Little help on buying a car in Germany

[cougfan335]

My Dad is driving a 2001 Acura CL Type S. He lives near Wiesbaden, Germany and is civilian DOD. Does anyone have experience with pentagon car sales, or the MB military discount or buying a used car in Germany as a US soldier stationed there? The nicest car my pops has ever bought is my 335 and he has only driven it once, this must be rectified. Does anyone have recommendations on military sales specials or something used he could get in Germany for <$100k?

[cougfan335]

Well craigslist is a complete bust and ebay seems to have strange pricing and I can't for the life of me tell where most of these cars are. What is with people in America posting on foreign craigslists?

[ArmyBimmerDude]

What would you like to know exactly? Where to go? By the way, whats wrong with the 335 being the nicest car he's ever driven? It's not garbage lol.

There are Military Car Sales for Audi, Volvo, BMW, Porsche, Mercedes, etc. You're going to have to narrow it down.

[orangepeelforest]

if your a solider, its easy to buy a car. and you dont have to pay tax on it either. the Germans pay huge taxes on their car but you can go to a German dealer (with a VAT form) and buy the car the exact same way you would from any place. they give you a title (farzoigbrief eh i dont know how to spell it) but its as easy as bringing the car back to post getting it inspected and registering it. from another solider is even easier. buy it, get a bill of sale, get it inspected and register it. i dont have any experience with MB or any other company but BMW has dealers that cater directly to US personnel stationed there and it is a very smooth process. you just gotta go talk to them.

[cougfan335]

Oh I love the 335, its my favorite car and exponentially nicer than all the other beaters I have had. Its just time my Dad bought a good car for himself. He is defintely thinking about just going for a 5 series from Pentagon military sales. I was thinking it might be a nice idea if he got something used that would be super rare here in the states and was hoping somebody had any idea of a German equivalent to Craigslist that Germans actually use. Thanks for the info on the VAT form though, sounds like avoiding that tax won't be a big hassle if we can find a sweet used car. I am wondering if the Ebay cars include the VAT in the price, anyone know?

[Ochmonek]

Originally Posted by cougfan335

Oh I love the 335, its my favorite car and exponentially nicer than all the other beaters I have had. Its just time my Dad bought a good car for himself. He is defintely thinking about just going for a 5 series from Pentagon military sales. I was thinking it might be a nice idea if he got something used that would be super rare here in the states and was hoping somebody had any idea of a German equivalent to Craigslist that Germans actually use. Thanks for the info on the VAT form though, sounds like avoiding that tax won't be a big hassle if we can find a sweet used car. I am wondering if the Ebay cars include the VAT in the price, anyone know?

You do know that cars sold in Germany are different specs (DOT, EPA) than those sold to the US ? Your Dad would be able to drive it in Germany, but it would be a big hassle to bring it back here.

[cougfan335]

Yeah I am wondering how hard it would be to import a Euro spec car over here. I was thinking maybe he could just get a couple year old Alfa 'vert or one of those Peugots just for fun and leave that damn Mr.2 behind, but there must be some reason they aren't in America already.

[E36_325i]

Forget trying to import a euro spec car it's just not worth the $$ and hassle. Tell him just to take advantage of the pentagon sales prices. I went through military pricing for my M3 when I was a DOD contractor a few years ago and it was pretty easy process. Gave them the specs exactly as I wanted my M ordered, gave them the down payment, 3 months later the car was shipped to my dealer of choice in the US and I picked it up and drove away when BMW received the remainder of the payment.

He can also choose to have the car shipped to where he is in Europe as well.

[BMWCadet]

Definitely make sure he doesn't get a euro spec. It'll cost thousands to convert it and not worth the money. You can go to Pentagon or any Military car sales and get it done. That or purchase an U.S. spec vehicle from someone there. Just remember BMW warranty in europe is only good for 2 years as opposed to here where it's good for 4.

[cougfan335]

Sounds like once again my dreams were too ambitious. At least there is this US spec 1970 911 Targa that looks like loads of fun for $14k and he can always do some military sales for a 5er or E class when he is about to come back to the US in about a year. Thanks guys, its just to bad there won't be a Lotus Super Seven, old Alpina, ridiculous 20 year old Bentley or early military G Wagen in his near future.

[E91 Dude]

I looked for used cars at www.autoscout24.de and www.mobile.de before I decided to buy a US spec from Military Sales. You can also compare them with Pentagon Car Sales, but they had the same prices as Military Sales when I looked in 05.

[orangepeelforest]

was just going to suggest those two sites... i found my 2nd prelude on mobile.de and used to be on there all the time when i was in germany.