Buying a car without speaking a word of German

Hello All,

Shortly, I will be moving to Munich (from London) in order to take on a new position within my company's German operation. When I arrive, I will certainly need to buy a car; however, I don't yet speak a word of German. Will this present an impossible challenge when trying to purchase a car from a local dealership?

I suppose I am less concerned about the initial purchase than I am about the follow-up visits in order to take care of the expected service visits which will most certainly occur - infrequently I hope.

Thanks.

Will you be buying new or secondhand?

In fairness, for secondhand you'd probably be better off speaking Turkish than German.

Anyway, I'd suggest that one way or another you have a local, preferably one who knows about buying cars, with you for any purchase. That way you'll be confident that you're not missing out on any important details. Shouldn't be that hard to find someone to go along and help you out.

you'll be alright - i know for a fact that there are people in the BMW service dept that speak english, and in their new and second hand sales depts too. I guess other dealers will always rustle up someone

Usually on this forum people will question that assumption. If you live in the city & work in the city you probably do well to use public transport which is generally good in most German cities.
The other factor is what you plan to do in your free time and whether that requires that you head out of town.

I would be worth considering first settling in & than deciding if you need a car. There is that drive on left/right to think about as well.

Keydeck / Lassie / HEM,

Thanks for the replies. Although I plan to take up residence in the city, my office is located somewhere between the city and the Munich airport. Anyway, I've lived in West London (without a car) for the past 3 years and - as a result - I'm very much looking forward to having a car again, if not to at least be able to escape from time to time.

Again, thanks for the replies and I'm very much looking forward to the upcoming move to Munich. I've heard only great things. Take care.

Hookem!

Unless you need it for business car ownership in the city is foolish, expensive and frustrating. Better to sign up to a car sharing service such as Stattauto. They have pickup points all over the city. You can reserve the vehicle of your choice with a few minutes notice on an hourly or daily basis and only pay for what you drive.

It can be a hassle and expensive, but if you're into cars and or have just decided it's best for going to work, then you can buy one without speaking German.

I did this last summer. Was looking for something a bit different. Got onto mobile.de and autoscout24.de. Found 4 suitable cars within an hour of Munich. Rented cars, test drove them all and bought one over a period of a few weeks.

The 4 garages were normal second-hand car dealers and all spoke very good english. I contacted them via Email first, doing an English and german version using babbelfish to translate. Much better than UK secondhand car dealers. Was surprised how honest they seemed.

Finding the car is just the start. Then you have finance (wihtout german credit history is tough), insurance, registration, etc... The dealers can help on some of this, but I found a broker for insurance and got the loan of my current bank at probably too high a rate. It is a fair amount of work if you're new or can't speak German, but if you have decided you want a car...

Coming straight from London myself it's a lot easier to drive around here, there's no worries leaving your car anywhere, and some great places to explore. And no speed limits in places, of course.

Exactly. If coming to Bavaria there are lots of places to go and things to see at the weekend - but for most of these you will want a car. Obviously you want a city apartment WITH a parking space (ideally underground if possible cos of snow and frost) and then even if you choose not to use the car Monday to Friday it is there when needed at the weekends.

I agree with Jocraig that driving over here is a pleasure compared to the UK. You can actually make arrangements and be there on time without needing to leave an extra 45 minutes "in case of traffic". Munich does have traffic but its kiddies stuff compared to Greater London.

Thanks again to all who have replied... your advice is greatly appreciated. I especially liked the tip regarding underground parking... Take care. Hookem!

have you considered leasing a car? works out very nicely tax wise (get a tax advisor. no one in germany should ever be without one) and you dont have to worry about depreiciation etc etc.

Dont know how rich or poor you are (i fall into the latter) you could always get a car over here, use it for a few months over there, that way you get a car pretty quick and drive it over...saves the hassle at the start of not speaking German and all the bloody paperwork.

Mid 90's BMW's on UK ebay always go for a good price and i used to take mine over a few times each year, you can get a v v reliable good one for much less than in Germany. get a nice 525 and it will eat up the miles.

Only if you have a business, the car is leased by the business and used predominantly for business use. Leasing privately is a financial convenience, but not usually a cost saving.

If you go to a major dealership (especially in the city) like Mercedes Benz or BMW, it is easy to find English speaking sales staff. I've been working with people at the big Mercedes Dealership here in Munich (Arnulfstrabe ?). It is impossible to find a car and drive away with it that same day like in the US. I was told that it usually takes a few days to process the paper work needed and then a few days or week to get the car ready for delivery (inspect it, clean it, etc). It takes about a week or two to get a car in stock.

So far, the two cars I wanted were sold (one even before it arrived). Apparently, the dealership has buyers who buy without even seeing the car since "they sell very good cars" I was told.

Sales staff does not pressure you - so unlike some of the bad American car salesman stereotypes. That is nice! But at the same time, they seem to take their time and you have to follow up a lot with them to get your search going.

Good luck!