4 Rules: What you have to consider buying an used-car in Germany?

Summary:

This article from 2019 sums up the legal situation related to buying a car and the possible risks. The information found in this article is based on experiences of "COS Stuttgart", as well as official sources. Key points to know:

- Being a car dealer in Europe, you do not need any qualification, certificate of proficiency or any license test (IHK Frankfurt)

- Every year 8.66 million used cars are sold in Germany, 50% of them are sold by authorized dealers (Federal Statistical Office Germany )

- 33% of all used cars sold in Germany have manipulated mileage (German Police statistics and ADAC)

- The used car market has the highest rate of manipulation and misconduct (Stern Magazine)

- In average the German cars are 9.4 years old (Federal Statistical Office Germany)

- In 2018 ADAC had about 4 million breakdowns (ADAC)

- Even authorized repair shops do not perform car inspections correctly or they “forget” important points to check (Auto Motor Sport, Auto Bild, own experience by COS Meisterwerkstatt doing inspections of customer vehicles after it was at authorized repair shop)

- 2.5 million car accidents are reported each year (Federal Statistical Office Germany)

- Many vehicles are offered as "accident-free", even though they have been involved in an accident (experience of COS advising a Japanese buyer of a vehicle purchase from a car dealer)

- Vehicles are sold at high prices by dealers, claiming to offer a mandatory warranty (experience of COS in assisting the purchase of a car of a Japanese customer)

-Rental cars (please never buy a rental car!!!) are defined as "company cars" to hide the real story behind it (experience of COS in supporting of vehicle purchase for a Japanese customer at VW Stuttgart)

-for a normal private person, it’s impossible to uncover cheaters (experience of COS customers, before they came to us)

-in Germany the purchase at a dealership leads automatically to a warranty obligation, that is German law. However to enforce this in practice is very difficult (HGB, BGB, experience of COS in assisting the purchase of a Japanese customer's vehicle purchase)

-a guarantee (in Germany that’s a kind of insurance with open/individual terms and conditions) is not to be misunderstood with a warranty obligation (terms of guarantee, German law BGB)

-the purchase of a used car is a matter of trust. In fact you will have a lot of trouble and costs, if you do business with the wrong people (Experiences of customers, before they knew COS)

What is to do, avoiding arguments with landlord?

Summerization:

Long time nothing happens. Misundertandings accumulate. Exceeding a certain limit, a querel rises. Consequence is a damaged confidence and a good relationship between renter and landlord is not possible anymore.

How is the real estate situation in Stuttgart?

Based on experience from COS and official statistical data „Mietspiegel“ of 2018, the Stuttgart house and flat situation is like:

-Concerning real estate costs, there is a big gap between reality and expectation by non-local people (they expect high rates for big famous cities, but not for a globally unknown town, however in case of Stuttgart the opposite is true)

-comparable to Silicon Valley, since last century, Stuttgart attracts the most innovative companies and talented people, resulting in enormous real estate costs and the highest yearly increases of rent prices in whole Europe

-the costs published in newspapers differ from reality. Reason is the German law “Mietpreisbremse”, which is a political measurement to limit this dramatic cost explosion. However the numbers written in contract differ from published information. So there’s a difference between “official price” and “real price”

-about 50.000 flats are missing in metropolitan area Stuttgart, leading to a bull market resulting in petrified applicants

-for buying a new flat, costs between 6.100€/m2 (normal) up to 15.000€/m2 (luxury) are to be expected

-rents in buildings later October 2014 (exception “Mietpreisbremse”) are between 17€/m2 and 20€/m2, plus additional 2-3€/m2 for variable cost

-there’s an extreme competition on market for applicants. About 200 people apply for an attractive flat per week. So the chance to get one, is very low. Depending on costs it could last very long, especially if you haven’t got private connections to get a flat. In average you need between 6 and 9 months to success.

-by increasing the distance to Stuttgart to regions like e.g. Aichtal, Waldenbuch, Remstal, Strohgäu, Neckarteilfingen, etc. costs can be decreased

-However the infrastructure for public transit is very bad outside of Stuttgart. Therefore people go by car to daily work. Consequence is that there are every day crazy traffic jams

-this aspects are the reasons, why Stuttgart is the city with most traffic jams in Germany.

COS Services Stuttgart is your relocation and real estate specialist having deepest local knowledge and experiences for decades. As local “Swabian” we can realize results, other relocation and real estate services can’t do.

COS patented anti-theft wheel fixation