Headed to Germany!

[BoiseTDI]

Looks like I may come down on orders to Germany in a few months. Any recommendations on what to bring back?

A few options I've thought of:
VW Polo - 75mpg? nice.
BMW 320d
Honda Civic Diesel
Toyota Hilux

I will be looking at the used market, especially for the VW's and BMW's, since they are a dime a dozen over there.

 

[Powder Hound]

I would very carefully look over the hoops you'd have to jump through in order to get one (any one of them) into this country.

There are a lot of complicated reasons why there are so few of these offered on this side of the pond.

 

[TDI smile]

Buy a US - equipped GOLF TDI and brake it in on the Autobahn. Stay with what is available in the States.

 

[texcross]

There would be a ton of paperwork and hassle bringing one of those over here. Stay in the US like the others have said. If I were picking one though I would go with the Civic Diesel...

 

[BKmetz]

The NHTSA will demotivate you to bring anything back..

http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/

 

[TDI2000Zim]

That list has the following cars allowed:

(i) All passenger cars manufactured on or after September 1, 2011 and before September 1, 2017 that, as originally manufactured, comply with FMVSS Nos. 138, 201, 206, 208, 213, 214, and 225.

 

[RabbitGTI]

Only option is Euro delivery of USA model. Drive it and ship it back as used car. You get a discounted vacation. I don't know if any German marks still do that.

 

[Jetta SS]

If not a diesel, how bout that other thing Germany is famous for? BIER!

 

[TDI smile]

Beer and Fraeulein

 

[hughesjasonk]

Looks like I may come down on orders to Germany in a few months. Any recommendations on what to bring back?

A few options I've thought of:
VW Polo - 75mpg? nice.
BMW 320d
Honda Civic Diesel
Toyota Hilux

I will be looking at the used market, especially for the VW's and BMW's, since they are a dime a dozen over there.

if your passion is to get a vehicle from there and bring it back.... get it from Norway or Sweden then convert it to DOT specs. That will be your cheapest option. The bottom line is that you will need to replace the windshield, head lights, taillights, then install side beams. There are a couple of companies that specialize in those customizations. You are looking at around 5k total with all of the necessary inspections and titling paperwork.

 

[rotarykid]

Audi was doing the selling of US spec cars that were a package deal of :

"you buy it, you pick it up over there at the factory, you drive it around the region then they ship it back for you. All the paperwork handled along with the costs of shipping & importing to the US included in purchase price" ......

And if I am not mistaken there is someone on here that did this with a diesel A3 a couple of years ago.......

 

[hughesjasonk]

Audi was doing the selling of US spec cars that were a package deal of :

"you buy it, you pick it up over there at the factory, you drive it around the region then they ship it back for you. All the paperwork handled along with the costs of shipping & importing to the US included in purchase price" ......

And if I am not mistaken there is someone on here that did this with a diesel A3 a couple of years ago.......

Not entirely true. For this to be the case you have to order it from a German dealer then you are paying euros and the 19% sales tax unless you are a us service member.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[rotarykid]

I found the string I was looking for "here"

Ok, I have been asked a couple times about my ED (ugh, yeah, that is European Delivery, not the other thing...), so I will post the story here as well:

Ok, an overview of the car in case you haven't read through the whole thread, it is a 2010 A3 TDI with the Titanium Package. We put 2013 miles on the car in two weeks while in Europe. Overall, I think that we averaged around 38mpg over the duration of the trip which included stops in Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Italy and Austria.

Friday 5/21: Depart ORD arrive at JFK, miss flight to Pisa by literally 2 minutes. : ( Get upgraded to Business Class though on the flight out the next day, free hotel room.

Saturday 5/22: My wife had never been to NYC so we took the subway to downtown and did a bus tour.

The Plaza Hotel from Central Park.

Who doesn't need solar panels on their Maybach!

I am a big Seinfeld fan, and couldn't help but laugh and think of Kramer when I saw this

And then it was out to JFK to hop on an airplane. Champagne awaited us at our seats!

Sunday 5/23: After two hours of sleep awoken to a French Toast Breakfast and I was so stuffed I could barely move, luckily a couple hours later we landed in Pisa, Italy. Immediately off to the Leaning Tower to check it out.

I tried to push it over the rest of the way, but it just wouldn't budge!

Then we took a train from Pisa to Milan, shoved in a small room with 6 other people, during very hot temperatures, miserable!

Monday 5/24: We toured Milan for the day.

There was this castle (I forgot the name).

The Duomo, amazing, I can only imagine the craftsmanship that went into building such a thing

That night we took an overnight train from Milan to Munich, once again MISERABLE! Sweaty and hot, stuck in a room with 6 other people, once again got only about 2 hours of sleep...

 

[rotarykid]

And.....

Tuesday 5/25: Delivery Day! Greeted at the Munich Central Station by Wagner, with an Audi sign. Driven to the Forum in a black A8L (I presume, for some reason probably 50% of the cars in Europe don't have badges identifying the model...). Delivery went pretty well, the majority of the people at the Forum DIDN'T speak English which was surprising and at times a bit of a problem. We had to ask for the Munich sticker, so remember to do this, for some reason it wasn't included in our paper work.
Here is the car parked out front of the Audi Forum in Ingolstadt, out of about 100 deliveries they did at the factory that day, only 4 were for Americans doing European Delivery. Multiples S3s, RS6s, and TTRSs...

In front of the Audi Museum:

We did the factory tour which included seeing almost everything, except the paint process, from stamping the steel for body components, to welding the body to the final assembly of the A3, we walked the whole line. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed...

Probably the car that got me started on Audis. My Dad and I went to the 12 hours of Sebring (when we lived in FL) and stood at these guys pits for about an hour, such a great experience/memory

And to be able to buy one of these one day, such a cool car.

These are all of the German/European owner cars in front of the forum that took delivery the same day I did.

Yes, this is a 200k Euro Q7 V12 TDI, didn't even know they made it

 

[rotarykid]

And......

A shot of the inside of the Forum and the delivery area

And my car, waiting for us to pick it up!

After the factory tour, we toured the museum and got on the Autobahn to Dusseldorf. Got the car up to 120mph.

Wednesday 5/26: Leave Dusseldorf, head for Amsterdam. The only stop in Dusseldorf was our hotel and a brewery called Zum Uerige, definitely worth the stop, seeing actual barrels of beer being served and rolled around took you back into the old days.
In front of the hotel in Amsterdam, by far the coolest city I have ever traveled to, everyone was so nice there.

That is a bike parking garage in Amsterdam, I think they said it has room for close to 3k bikes.

Other stops in Amsterdam included, Arendsnest and In de Wildeman which are bars.

Thursday 5/27: Leave Amsterdam, head for Brussels but first we toured the Anne Frank House.

In front of the Onze Lieve Vrouw van Koningshoeven Abbey in the Netherlands, they make La Trappe brand of Trappist beer. My wife and I are both beer geeks, we stopped at lots of world renown bars and 4 of the 7 total Trappist Abbeys.

After La Trappe, we headed for the Westmalle brewery/monastery.

First time filling up the car, I wish that diesel would be this easy to find in the US...

Friday 5/28: We toured Brussels for the morning and then headed to Brugge for the night.

The Mannekin Pis in Brussels, not really sure why this thing is a big sightseeing hit, he is about 18" tall

you can go to the string for the rest......

 

[bhtooefr]

Something 25+ years old.

For a Polo, that means you're looking at the 1.3 or 1.4 IDI NA diesels.
For a 3-series, that means an E30 324d or 324td.
There wasn't a Civic diesel back then.
Plenty of Hilux diesels though, and that's the generation that was considered indestructible. Also, the VW Taro, it's a rebadge.

 

[hskrdu]

Not entirely true. For this to be the case you have to order it from a German dealer then you are paying euros and the 19% sales tax unless you are a us service member.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

Most of the European brands offer European Delivery programs to US (and other) customers. The car can be ordered from a US dealer, the VAT is eventually refunded, the trip includes (varies) free transport from the airport to the factory, free hotel night near the factory, free meals at the factory, etc. Drive the car in Europe for 2 weeks, then drop it off. The car is then shipped to the US, which is included in the price- and most brands run this program with an overall discount on the total price of sale- Audi used to be 5%.

For the OP, however, getting a euro spec car back the US is a more expensive and red tape riddled process, discussed in a few previous threads.

 

[BoiseTDI]

I've spoke with Military Auto Source (overseas dealer) about a TDI Golf but their prices are no better than local dealers. Might just be better to take my car with me back to the motherland to experience the Autobahn. =)

Also, thanks everyone for your feedback!

 

[owr084]

A friend at Ramstein was just looking at Audi Q5/7 TDIs and the military prices were worse than the North American prices.

 

[MateoCicoria]

That Euro trip looks a lot like my trip to Munich and Brussels! THE TRAPPIST BEER IS AMAZING.

Anyways, just import a car and change the vin from some rolling chassis that you parted out here. That's what I'm going to do when I get a Jetta from someplace that doesn't use ****ing salt in amounts that might as well be airdropped from cargo planes so that every moron feels like it's their god given right to drive...

 

[MateoCicoria]

You have to import something as parts.

 

[BoiseTDI]

Can you elaborate? Are you saying you'd import a car back as "parts"?

You have to import something as parts.

 

[rotarykid]

If the law hasn't changed you can get a car, pull the engine & trans. Then pack the entire thing in a cargo container to be shipped here as parts. When you get home find a US spec'ed/titled car similar to what you have in the container and do a transplant. With the original in the container you are assured to have all the needed parts for the transplant....

 

[BoiseTDI]

I'll probably look at getting a 25 year old car while there. Maybe a caddy or older Toy Hilux. Can't imagine they'd be very expensive, especially the vdubs.

If the law hasn't changed you can get a car, pull the engine & trans. Then pack the entire thing in a cargo container to be shipped here as parts. When you get home find a US spec'ed/titled car similar to what you have in the container and do a transplant. With the original in the container you are assured to have all the needed parts for the transplant....

 

[CFriedriszik]

Hi BoiseTDI,

where will you stay ? If in the Ramstein/Landstuhl/Heidelberg area, we should arrange a meeting ...

 

[Votblindub]

Can I have a 6 pack of Rallye Golfs, a couple 4 liter Audi twin turbo V8s with transmissions, ecu's and harnesses, a 6 pack of S2's and stock Quattro Coupes, UR Quattro S4's, just a stack of those 5 cylinder turbo motors and transmissions and a MK4 R32 with the twin turbo kit that VW warranties as a daily, oh and a proper Lotus(not that I mind the 1.8 celica motor), please

 

[Dimitri16V]

Ur-Quattros !!! the car that made Audi

 

[BoiseTDI]

I will be at Katterback/Ansbach. Biggest city nearby is Nuremberg. We should most definitely meet up! What do you do in Germany?

I did a bit of research and there are a few diesel 4wd I would like to look into: Nissan Patrol
Toy Landcruiser
Range Rover.

Hi BoiseTDI,

where will you stay ? If in the Ramstein/Landstuhl/Heidelberg area, we should arrange a meeting ...

 

[vwdieseling]

I'd like a 1.2 TSI gasser engine. My 1.6 IDI in my 1984 Rabbit is from Germany. Mine was a greaser ran on oil. It's funny the German that owned it before me used mark and pray indices for the timing belt changes. I got it in a FAG crate, I pretty sure it came out of a Golf.

 

[CFriedriszik]

I will be at Katterback/Ansbach. Biggest city nearby is Nuremberg. We should most definitely meet up!

Well, Katterbach is 215km from Landau.
Meeting halfway in Neckarsulm ? http://www.zweirad-museum.de/