June 2008
This is the story of our car.
It’s a long story, because everything takes a really long time in Germany, including the telling of stories. Even the first word of the next paragraph is long...
Long before the movers came to pack us up, we started thinking about what we would drive in Germany, the land of the Autobahn. Would we take our Porsche?
(no, too expensive, we were told.) The Lexi?
(no, why would we take a Japanese car to Germany??) Besides, how could we really live in Germany without driving a BMW, Mercedes or Audi?
We did some word of mouth research with our friends. Everyone had an opinion.
(I love this about our friends!) And, in the end, Audi came out on top.
( I know, I was surprised too!)
So, when we arrived, we set about trying to find a used Audi Avant station wagon (kombi). Of course, the car search was competing with other daily activities like trying to find groceries, understand the trash pickup schedule, and figure out how to get Jack into school. Needless to say, it was about 3 weeks before we got serious about finding a car.
As an aside, I should say – I was given a company car by Mattel. I inherited it from my predecessor who inherited it as well. Before he relocated to Germany a year ago, he heard rumors about this “absolutely cool car” he was to get. People literally would say, “Wow! You’re getting THAT car?!! You scored!!” Ok, they said it in German, but that’s what they meant. It was black, it was sporty, it was a BMW. He had visions of the convertible 6 series. So, imagine his surprise when he saw it – the BMW kombi. He was aghast that he (the cool single guy) would be driving a station wagon. Me? I’m quite happy about it. And, it’s an M-series for you car enthusiasts, so it can really move. At any rate, this became our family’s only car.
As we searched for our second car, Mattel was very supportive, and when possible, I used one of the “pool cars.” But after a short while, it just didn’t seem so appropriate. I began to hitch rides to work with fellow workers, or borrow their cars when they were on trips. John drove me to and from work when possible. I began to feel like an immigrant who only has one vehicle for the entire family. Wait a minute – I AM an immigrant with only one vehicle for the whole family! Humbling.
John could only manage one trip to a dealer per day, and many of them only spoke German. This makes the transaction a bit tricky. He finally managed to get an actual quote from the Audi dealer in Konigstein, the neighboring town. I was dumbfounded. They want HOW MUCH for a station wagon?? It was 70k euros, or about $110k. I needed a drink.
We decided to ditch the Audi and go for a BMW. There was a huge multi-level used BMW dealer in Dreieich, where Mattel is located. John and I went there numerous times.
There were discussions about all wheel drive. The men said we didn’t need it. The women said we did. Since we both grew up in the south (no snow) and my children are riding in this car, I wanted it. That added 10k to the car.
There were discussions about lease v. buy. We’ve always paid cash for our cars, but knowing we won’t be here long term, that didn’t seem like the best option, so we decided to lease. The leases here are for 3 years and don’t cover maintenance like in the States.
After six weeks of agonizing over which overpriced car to choose, we decided on an Audi. I was just relieved we’d have a second car.
Little did we know the process had just begun.There was paperwork. And more paperwork. All in German. No idea what it said.
We wanted to buy the car in John’s company’s name, but he hadn’t been granted a work permit yet, so this was impossible. It took us about 2 weeks to figure this one out.
They needed my passport for 3 days. This was a problem because of my travel schedule.
We had to have insurance before taking possession of the car – we had no insurance of any type here. We started from scratch. That took awhile.
But the biggest obstacle? My work permit was only for two years and the lease was for three. This had the Audi Leasing Program tied in knots for about four weeks.
So, in mid-June, we finally took possession of our prized Kombi, with lease papers originally signed on April 28. Six weeks to decide on a car + six weeks to get the car. A three month process for what in the States you can actually accomplish in one weekend if you put your mind to it.
Check out the license plate - we got to pick our initials, so we went with GJ for...guess who.
Shoulda just brought the Porsche.
