My story of buying a car in Germany

This article is dated as shown. Laws, fees and prices have changed since then. Check the figures before you rely on them.

This story is for those who are not serious car specialists and simply want not to be cheated. That is exactly where I want to start. I am a doctor, and I will simply call myself Doctor A. I know nothing about cars and, of course, I do not speak German.

For a whole year I analysed and studied how to do this. I looked into quite a few companies and their offers to help buy a car in Germany. Having studied everything I could through an ordinary Google search, reviews about them and their websites, I went further and asked IT friends of mine to analyse their deals and registrations. Most often I came across self-taught amateurs whose goal was to make money for themselves, with the client's interests coming last. In other words, it worked like an ordinary lottery: they took data from the websites and offered it, and that was all. Lucky or unlucky. Of course, all this was dressed up with meetings and send-offs.

The next stage was possible relatives, friends of friends and companies in the city I came from. That turned out to be even riskier, for a number of reasons, above all a complete detachment from the real situation on the ground, poor knowledge of the language, or a connection to some single dealer they knew, who, of course, again defended his own interests.

So I will tell you straight away, and I saw it for myself later, that this business in Germany largely rests on set-ups and deception. Be very vigilant and careful!

In the end, after such a serious approach to the subject, as was bound to happen, I got lucky: I finally found a company that matched my criteria. The main ones were honesty, openness and responsibility in their work.

That company turned out to be destacar.de, run by Denis Rem. It is a whole team, where each person handles their own area (search, negotiations, travelling to the location, an inspection lasting many hours, finances, paperwork questions) and a mass of other details I will tell you about further on.

In the first stage you sign an official contract and off it goes: the team searches for the car of your dreams together with you, then contacts the seller and asks clearly worked-out questions, dozens of them, too many to list, and then passes all of it on to you in an online programme. This is only the initial stage, the discussion stage, and it can last days and weeks. Of course you will ask, so where are all the cars searched for? Remember, in Germany there are only 2 decent websites for Russian speakers, and they mostly duplicate each other. These are mobile.de and autoscout24.ru. Everything else is complete nonsense, do not waste your time.

Now I will tell you how I eventually bought the car and explain the whole difficult path from the start of the purchase to the car's full registration at my place of residence.

We were selecting a BMW 5 Series from 2017, that is, the new improved model. Dozens of cars, and after checks by phone with the dealers, complete rejection due to unreliability after the check by Denis and his staff.

The first option

The first car we selected gave me a flood of positive emotions. I was already imagining it all, when it would be mine: full leather, xDrive, 23 thousand on the clock, wood trim throughout, automatic self-parking, push-button boot closing, spotless in the photos. Those who love cars understand my feelings.

Then came negotiations with the dealer, dozens of questions in excellent German, and the answers: the car had never been in any accident, well looked after and so on, everything simply superb. Now the decision had to be mine, because someone had to travel 400 km to see it and carry out a detailed inspection, inside, outside, on the lift, on the computer. I decided to go, all the more so because the car was 2 thousand euros cheaper than similar cars we had found on the site. And such encouraging answers from the dealer.

I paid for the company's work. It is serious work and responsibility, after all, since I could not fly in from thousands of kilometres away. The whole day I was tense and could think of nothing else. By lunchtime Denis and his staff had arrived there, and every hour they reported to me on WhatsApp where they were and what they were doing. By 5 pm I received the first pictures of the car, and they shocked me: the car was dirty inside, uncared for, the seats worn, the tyre on one wheel torn, the technical inspections not done on time.

Denis contacted me by video call and simply said: sorry, Doctor, but the car is simply wrecked. I was wrecked too that day. I so wanted to give that dealer a good punch, our way, for the deception. But the fact remains: imagine how I could have been set up if it had not been for Denis. Yes, I lost a small sum, but better a small one, and once again I saw how careful you have to be, and that set-ups like this in Germany, as I later understood, can be around every corner. And above all, if a car is priced below its real value, do not even think about it, it is a problem car. That is one of the important lessons I learned first-hand.

The second car option

But I still wanted to buy a car, and I decided that within my budget I would buy a new one, but without any extras, without leather or xDrive, that is, a basic one, but new.

Our search began again. This time I was wiser and started looking not far from where Denis's company is based, so that paying the company would be cheaper. In the end we found one: a new car, 150 km on the clock. Done, we signed a new contract (a small thing, but nice: I got a discount from Denis on the payment for this second car), settled on the day of the trip, that is, agreed it with the dealer. Now, I thought, everything is at the highest level, what could go wrong: the price is clear, the questionnaire is all clean, it is a new car after all. I worked out everything, where to book a hotel, when to collect, how to get there, but decided to wait for the full information.

But as they say on one TV show, “You won't believe it”. Yes, yes, you won't believe it: everything OK, new car, come and take it. But it was not to be. The seller set a condition: pay urgently and collect urgently (it turned out the dealer had bought the car on preferential terms from the factory and had to sell it within 3 days to get his bonus). Denis kicked up a row, started arguing, asked why he had not said so before, explained that the buyer could not come so urgently. But alas, nothing helped, and once again I lost out.

Once again my money was gone. And it was not only about the money; it hurt, honestly. So much for Germany, I said to myself.

And then, having calmed down, I said to myself: “Don't be stingy, add another 2 thousand euros and buy the decent car you dreamed of, one with no more than 20 thousand km on it”.

And the process went on, the whole company searching, and so another week passed. And as they say, third time lucky. And then the moment came: I saw my beauty, dark blue, in the Luxury line, xDrive, leather, all the extras, a year old, 16 thousand on the clock.

And forward again: payment (again I get a discount for paying for what was now the 3rd car), the day of Denis's trip, and waiting and nerves. A call from Denis, dozens of photos, a test drive, a full technical inspection. The car is wonderful, well looked after, clean. Denis's words: “you absolutely have to take it”. Hooray, we are taking it!

But know that now comes the most critical period. Transferring the money, constant contact with the dealer on every question, translating documents, all of it at a distance. And once again I want to explain to everyone how I would have done all this without the help of destacar.de, that is, without the help of Anna, who translated and explained every document to me, defended my interests before the dealer, was constantly in touch with him on WhatsApp, sent me confirmation that the money had been received, arranged the time of my arrival so that everything could be done on that day, insurance, number plates, dozens of calls and explanations, and most importantly with composure and patience from 8 in the morning until 10 at night throughout the whole period.

That is my whole saga of buying a car in Germany. The main thing I want to say to Denis and Anna and everyone who helped me: I do not regret at all the money spent on your honest work, and I want to say a BIG THANK YOU!!!!

And to all of you who dream of buying a car in Germany, I say: think for yourselves, decide for yourselves how to buy a car in Germany, but remember the main saying: “The greedy pay twice”.

With respect, Doctor A, July 2018