Moving to Germany!!

[SLR]

Hi all and thanks for any input.
I'm heading to Germany to live from the UK, and will take my 1985 911 with me.
I have driven a lot in Germany with the Porsche, But what am I looking at as far as getting it licensed and approved?. I have had a look on the net but there is something cooled a key code, (not the door key) for the engine. What is that? I have no cat, the car was a UK delivery so not needing one. There are a lot of ex pats from the USA and the UK living there, so can any one give me an idea.

Thanks Steve.

[Chris_Berlin]

Hi Steve,

what you have to do is bring the car to one of the technical control organizations (similar to MOT in the UK), e.g., TUEV, DEKRA, GTUE etc. If you want to register the car in Germany for the first time, the car will have to go through a "Vollabnahme" (German for "full technical examination"), which takes 1 to 2 hours and costs about 130 EUR, as far as I can remember. This involves inspection of the body, all technical features relevant to road security, the exhaust system and the VIN (not the motor number). You need something proving your ownership - I guess your UK documents should be fine for this.

The cat is not important for registration as such, but it is important if you want to use the car in the city centre. Most bigger towns and citys in Germany have so-called "Umweltzonen" (environmental zone), which ist an area your car may basically only access if it has a cat. These zones are designated by special road signs. Every vehicle entering an environmental zone - no matter whether registered in Germany or another country - now needs to display an environmental badge. These badges have unrestricted validity for the individual vehicle and all German environmental zones. The badges are available in three colors, depending on the car: green (best), yellow (middle), red (bad). Most environmental zones don't allow cars with red badges.

Unfortunately, your 911 would only get a red badge.

The only option to circumvent the requirement of a badge is a historical registration ("H-Kennzeichen"), which is available if the car is 30 years or older (for your 911, this means not before 2015...).

Hope this helps!

Best
Chris

[PeterRT]

Originally Posted by Chris_Berlin

The badges are available in three colors, depending on the car: green (best), yellow (middle), red (bad). Most environmental zones don't allow cars with red badges.

Unfortunately, your 911 would only get a red badge.

No, yellow and red badges only apply to Diesels. Petrol cars get either green (almost anything with a cat) or no badge at all (e.g. catless 911s).
Not being able to legally enter Umweltzonen is one thing, the more annoying thing might be the 811€ (=1000$) tax per year for a catless 3.2.

[carrera84]

Correct.

E.g. no drive in to Zuffenhausen (P- Museum, Werk 1...) without green badge on your 3.2


P.S.
Gruß nach Reutlingen (?)

[hessel1974]

Just out of curiosity, does this apply to foreign classic cars with classic registration? For Instance, when I drive my 1971 911 with a dutch blue license plate (historical license plate) would this also be exempt like the German H kennzeichen?

[PeterRT]

Originally Posted by carrera84

P.S.
Gruß nach Reutlingen (?)

Aachen
Gruß zurück

Just out of curiosity, does this apply to foreign classic cars with classic registration? For Instance, when I drive my 1971 911 with a dutch blue license plate (historical license plate) would this also be exempt like the German H kennzeichen?

According to the ADAC (Germany's largest automobile club), it would:

"Historic vehicles registered in Germany and carrying an “H” or a red “07” historic car licence plate are
exempt from the emissions labelling regulation and do not require a sticker to access low-emission
zones.
This exemption applies also to foreign-registered historic cars. However, the vehicles should meet
equivalent standards as the vehicles qualifying for a German “H” or red “07” licence plate. As a prerequisite,
the vehicles must be at least 30 years old. And they have to be well-preserved. Inappropriate
conversions will not be accepted – unless coeval modifications.
The international FIVA Identity Card (Fédération Internationale des Véhicules Anciens) is further evidence
for a foreign-registered car qualifying as a historic vehicle. The FIVA Identity Card can be obtained
from the national FIVA clubs. For further information, please visit Fédération Internationale des Véhicules Anciens.
When parking their historic vehicles in a low-emission zone, the owners should visibly display on the
inside of the windscreen a copy of the national vehicle registration certificate indicating the vehicle’s
age, and, if applicable, the FIVA Identity Card."
( http://www.adac.de/_mmm/pdf/27048_25569.pdf )

[hessel1974]

Ok, thanks. I should be ok then.

[Joeaksa]

Steve,

If you have been driving the car outside of Europe, be careful of parts that have been installed on the car that are not TUV approved. For instance, aftermarket parts like a steering wheel or road wheels or spoiler that could have been installed that were not either from Porsche itself or TUV approved. These will be detected on the TUV inspection and not allowed until approved.

Do not even think of getting something approved, its not worth it. In other words, if your steering wheel or road wheels have been changed out for something else, get the factory parts back on the car NOW and before the TUV inspection. Also get underneath the car and have it inspected for rust. They go all over it with a sharp welders hammer and tap everywhere. Any rust found must be fixed...

Lastly check your parking brake. It must work evenly and to the same standards as your normal road brakes. They will put it on a set of rollers and apply the parking brake. If its not real tight or one side is stronger than the other, the car will fail. They treat the parking brake as a true "emergency brake" there and it must be up to snuff.

Joe A

[1-ev.com]

That all explains why AutoBahns do not have a speed limit, ha...

[carrera84]

Originally Posted by 1-ev.com

That all explains why AutoBahns do not have a speed limit, ha...

Correct.

No polution problems on Autobahn.