Buying a secondhand car in GERMANY

[Leni75]

Hi

I am looking for some help and advice about buying a car in Germany, I am in Tübingen in Baden Wurtemburg if that will make a difference :)

I am planning to buy a secondhand car direct from a dealer as this is quickest and easiest for me in my situation, but want to have everything sorted before I go, I know i will need to get some temporary plates to drive away from garage before I get my actual plates but do i need an insurance code to get them or do they come with some cover? I believe i need this insurance code to get them, so who are good cheap insurers to use?

Basically if some one could just briefly outline the order of events and what i need that would be great :) I have looked online at various expat sites but they all seem to say something different

Thanks in advance

I used to live in Tübingen!
No idea if they are especially cheap but I've always used Württembergische Versicherung AG for car haftpflichtversicherung.
I called them when I had found a car that I liked and they sent me the details of the insurance to sign. The car dealer did the rest so I didn't have to get temporary plates.

You don't need temporary plates once you've bought the car if you go via a dealer - the (red) temp plates are generally for going on a test drive with. We've got several second-hands from dealers over the years and the dealer usually arranges everything. For insurance I think we tried asking our general (house contents) insurer first and then ended up with another insurer who was cheaper and had better conditions - we're with VHV now and not had a problem in the last 12 years. Direct Line also promises to offer cheap policies. I think what we did was get the relevant details and numbers from the Fahrbrief - this is the piece of paper that basically proves ownership, and the dealer will have it until you officially exchange. We gave those details to the insurers who prepared a policy starting on the day of sale, which meant that we were insured from the moment we picked up the car. The dealer got the permanent plates ready for us and had them on the car when we went to pick it up - obviously we had to pay for that service, but it was worth not having the hassle of getting them from the Bürgeramt. I think generally the only people who have to put on their own plates are those who sell and buy privately (which we've never done).

I bought a second hand VW from a dealer this year in NRW. He did all the registration for me, it was so much easier!

I had to give him my German insurance certificate and my passport and he went to the Stadtsverkehr place and did all the registration for me. I simply drove it away once it was all ready and I had paid.

I got my insurance through a broker - far easier than wading through all the different policies on my own!

I actually got my old plates moved from my old car to my new one as well, so in addition I gave him the old car plates and my little green ownership booklet for my old car too.

Thanks for all the advice, the problem i see is that, whilst i plan to go to a dealer, I don't plan on spending a lot so i think i may have to do a lot myself!!!! i don't mind getting the new plates but will a dealer have ones so i can test drive or do i need to get them for that?

Don't worry, the dealer will always have spare plates for a test drive - they just screw them on whichever car you take out. I think you're making this more complicated than it is in reality - we knew nothing about cars when we went along to get our first used car and the dealer saw us through it all. It really wasn't more expensive with him doing all the paperwork for us, but it was a helluva lot easier.