Might be moving to Germany

troy · 10:45 AM

May be moving to Germany with the Air Force next year; a little concerned about my old 930. Anyone have experience with owning a 911/930 in Germany, or Europe in general? Insurance/parts/service/licencing/inspections/etc.? I know it sounds odd to be concerned with taking it to its home country, but I've heard servicing and parts can be very spendy in europe, along with some inspection requirements (TUV).

k9handler · 11-04-2003, 09:03 PM

PM me if you have questions, but I would bring it!

You will never be able to live with yourself afterwords if you dont, as you will never have the chance to drive the car to it's full potential until you have it here in Germany (Unrestricted Autobahn, the Nurburgring, etc).

Insurance: USAA (I pay $100 a month on two vehicles with full coverage)

TUV: Military has it's own inspection station on the installation and from what I am told is not quite as difficult to pass as the official TUV.

Fuel: We have the best fuel prices in Europe (.51 a litre) and that's cents not euro cents! So about $26 dollars will fill your tank.

I hope this helps.

GeorgeM · GeorgeM's Garage

Concur with Smitty. I'm glad I brought mine.

Service here in Stuttgart is €55 per hour, which at today's rates is about $64 an hour.. about the same as home. Some parts are more, some the same. If whatever you're looking for is a lot more, you order it online and have it shipped from the U.S. The Value Added Tax exemption helps too.

I have SSIs on my '89 and it was not issue at the inspection station. The inspector spent more time asking about the car than inspecting. He skipped the whole braking test because the car was too low to get over the ramp thing. We get away with a lot over here. As long as the big stuff is in good shape.

You'll be surprised how much attention your "old 930" will get over here. The locals like the classic 911s and most of the cars around here are 996s and Boxsters.

MFAFF · 11-05-2003, 05:21 AM

No question, bring it over......

It was designed for Europe, you'll never forgive yourself if you don't do it.

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

Where are you gonna be - Bitburg? Ramstein? Neither of those are too far from the Ring. And you can always dart down to Zuffenhausen's Originale Ersatzteile shop for really every part you could ever need. The only way I'd leave my p-car home is if I were planning on buying another one immediately when I got to Germany.

stomachmonkey · 11-05-2003, 05:42 AM

Obviously George and k9handler are the most qualified to offer advice.

Spent most of my youth running around on bases in Germany.

My father ALWAYS had at least one American car in the stable and it was never an issue. Oddly enough when we came back for good he only brought his Benz's.

I know all to well that your service to this country does not come without personal sacrifice so you owe it to yourself to make the best of it.

Take the car, you won't regret it.

And to all of you guys away from home, be safe, we appreciate what you do.

Scott

UTKarmann_Ghia · 07:35 AM

I spent 5 years in Bad Aibling as a DoD contractor. The (base) inspections were based mostly on the safety of your car. Things like struts, brakes, rust, etc were checked pretty closely. I owned a '87 Pontiac Fiero V6 and it was absolutely a BLAST over there. Where I was near Austria (just south of Munich) was subject to black ice through the cobblestone streets, so be leary of this (rolled my BMW on such a road). You'll have a blast with it over there and the auto hobby shops are a nice benefit too. Good luck!

One other thing, when I would go to the autoparts store in Rosenheim, I would tell them I was from the base hobby shop and they would give me a pretty substantial discount. Dunno if this still applies, so you may want to ask around.

jcossell · 11-05-2003, 07:33 AM

BLUF - Bring the car but remember she will be breathing a little heavier over here (due to the gravitational pull on your right foot)

My local P-Car dealer/garage (actually the parts department) turned me on to a guy in Karlsruhe who is a Porsche fanatic; they race, and sell parts new & old.
They have a web site ( http://www.m-freisinger.de/index.htm ) but do not offer an online catalog; they want the kid to come to the candy store! As far as a wrench, (unless you roll your own) the best thing to do is look for local events and the people you meet there will point you in the right direction.

troy · 10:45 AM

Thanks Huge for the replies! That's kind of what I expected to hear. A relief that there are no show-stoppers like insurance or inspections. I'd be going to the dreaded non-flying staff job at Ramstein. What are the resale values like on 911's in Germany? About the same as in the U.S.? Thanks again

k9handler · 11-06-2003, 08:22 PM

I would have to say the market here is not good as many of the older cars listed on www.mobile.de are priced pretty high because of the euro rate and most of them don't sell.

However...US tax free car sales can get you into a used 993 or 996 much cheaper, or even a boxter S for under $40K or so I am told.

THE BEST DEAL OF ALL: There is a 993 (Ruf) for sale here at the great price of 45K euro or $48K...awesome car! If you are intersted I can look up the info and post it here.

k9handler · 11-06-2003, 08:22 PM

jcossell · 11-06-2003, 10:55 PM

I got into my 82' SC for $7,000. It has 540,000 km on it (needs a lot of cosmetic work) but the motor has been redone at least once that I know (have records). The prior owner wanted 12K (based on KBB) he was honest about a bad leak (liter per day) and a brake problem, I offered him 7K, he did not want to deal with another big bill from a shop so he took it. He had bought it for $4,000 so felt he was at least breaking even (based on initial cost and shop bills). Turns out the leak was just the oil line to the right tensioner was not tight enough

You asked about resale. So I assume you are considering selling the turbo; if that is the case I would say leave it (sell it) on that side of the pond. For a German to buy it over here means big bucks because they have to re-import the car and pay customs. For a soldier it's no problem, just another transaction, they will need a stateside title to return it to the states, but you have just limited your pool of qualified buyers. I have seen 930's going for 12 - 18 K Euro over here, I have no idea what the range is in the states.

just my 2 euro cents

philippeF · 11-06-2003, 11:48 PM

Hi there are some good dealers here in France near the german border

Philippe

Axeman · 11-07-2003, 12:19 AM

Phippe,

I will be moving back to France in the next year or two as well. Could you point me in the right direction on what I need to do in order to take my car back over there. It's a 75 with a 3.0 engine and SSIs. Any help will be appreciated, I have no clue where to start.

Thanks!