Tips before buying a car in Germany

You’re sure to know someone who has done it, and you may even have thought about it yourself at some point. Buying a car in Germany can be a very good idea for getting a high-end car at a much lower price than you would find in Spain. Especially if it’s a used car. New car prices may be more or less similar to those in Spain, but when it comes to used and pre-owned vehicles, that price is usually much lower.

But does that mean we save a good amount of money when buying through this system? That can vary depending on the car you want to buy and the conditions of the deal. There are two options for buying a car in Germany. One is to opt for an importer, who will handle all the paperwork. That said, any chance of saving money on the purchase of the car is harder to achieve, because of the commissions and the cost of the service provided.

Going to Germany to buy a car

The second option is to go to Germany yourself to buy that car you’ve been looking for. To do this, it’s important to know where the car is and the condition it is in. For this, you should know that there are also two ways to buy a used car in Germany. One of them is to go through a professional in the sector, which is usually a more suitable option if you want to avoid all the paperwork and have a fixed price for everything.

If you buy the car from a private seller, you should bear in mind that you must carry out all the legal procedures to transfer ownership of the vehicle. The cost of the car may be lower in this case, but you have to consider that all the procedures have to be completed, in a language you don’t control and which is quite difficult. In addition, we may run into unexpected expenses and some confusion with the procedures, which may mean having to spend a few extra days in Germany, with the additional cost that entails.

Cost of going to Germany to buy a car

Bear in mind that a trip to Germany has a cost. So the savings we were expecting may not be as large, and we may find that it is not as beneficial as we first thought. If the aim is to have a high-end German car (Mercedes, BMW or Audi) at a lower price than in Spain, all the expenses must be weighed up.

These may include, first of all, the trip to Germany, whether by plane or by another vehicle, accommodation and meals during the journey. You must also set aside a certain amount of money for extras and unforeseen costs, which must be added to the rest of the expenses. When it comes to the return journey, you must add to the purchase costs and the papers needed for the car to be road-legal the fuel used on the journey from Germany to Spain.

That is, the fuel used, a hotel night and the meals taken along the way. A good way to calculate it would be to add around 2,000 euros to the price of the car and the paperwork. Perhaps with these added costs, around 3,000-3,500 euros in total, it is not advisable to go all the way to Germany to buy a car, since the savings disappear with these additional expenses.

Things you need to know

First of all, you should know that the used car market in Germany is well stocked with cars from domestic brands, such as Mercedes, Audi, BMW and Volkswagen. The price of these cars is lower than what we would pay in Spain, and they are usually in very good condition, since Germans tend to change their cars more often than Spaniards. The reason is that employees of the brands get very attractive discounts to do so, and many Germans work for them.

VAT in Germany is slightly lower than in Spain, at 19% compared with Spain’s 21%. With these figures, we already know that the difference between a second-hand car in Spain and in Germany can be very advantageous. So, when is it worth going to Germany to buy a used car?

It is worth it when the difference between the price in Spain and in Germany exceeds those 3,500 euros that can be added to the final price of the vehicle. This can happen with chigh-end cars, which are more expensive and the difference can be greater. For example, it would be worthwhile if the difference is more than 4,000 euros. If the price difference is smaller, travelling to Germany may not be the best option for saving on the purchase of the car.