Quote:
Originally Posted by asivan Hello all, Greetings from Germany!
I tried to find a similar thread, if it may have opened earlier, but couldn't, hence thought of asking my queries in this thread. Mods: Please feel free to merge this thread to any pre-existing ones, if any.
I've been in Germany for 2 years now, and "buy a car" bug has bitten me firmly ever since I acquired my german drivers license this month. Here are my requirements:
1. 4/5 door (hatchback or sedan?)
2. Fuel: Petrol
3. Condition: Used
4. Budget: 15k
5. Age: Preferably from this decade
In addition, my driving habits are going to be more focused towards highway driving (won't be using it much in the city, as public transport is really good). What would you all recommend as choices that I could consider?
I've been looking at 2014/15 VW Golfs with the 1.0/1.4 TSI around my budget which seem like pretty good value, but I want to see if there are any other better options that I may have overlooked.
Thanks for the help |
As someone who has owned a Golf here in Germany in the past, I can vouch for the fact that nothing comes close to a hassle free ownership.
I bought a 99700 kms driven 2011 Golf 1.6TDI Mk6 from a dealer in Hockenheim in July 2017. I drove it for 40000 kms in an year (my daily commute is about 60 kms). I was the third owner, the first being the VW AG itself, then another person and finally me. The vehicle was a Jahreswagen (these are cars that are used by company employees for an year before being sold off at hefty discounts in the used car market). The second owner bought it from VW AG and going by the saved radio stations on the music system, the car was driven by him in the Dortmund region. He finally sold it off to the dealer in Hockenheim and I came across the car on autoscout24.de while looking for other cars as well.
The initial idea was a vehicle to just get to office, however once I realised the cost benefit of your own vehicle against the DB trains, I ended up doing solo trips all over EU. I recently sold the car in July this year when I upgraded it to a BMW 430d. Since I had an amazing problem free experience with the Jahreswagen concept with the Golf, this time I made sure to head straight to a Company Niederlassung that dealt with these cars.
Now to answer your questions:
1. In my experience of driving long distances and really fast on the autobahn, a sedan is way more stable when people pass you over 180kmph. As long as you don't mind the low slung ride, I would suggest a sedan - maybe look at a used Passat 2.0TDI. They come cheap, are very very reliable and the sedan version from 2016 onwards is quite a looker.
2. Again, I would suggest you look at which city are you a living in and how far are you from a diesel ban in the city centre. Case in point is Stuttgart, I can't drive into the Umwelt zones there, it is kinda ridiculous. However, in terms of car prices, I dont see a major difference in between petrol and diesel cars. Maybe you end up like me, wanting to explore EU, driving upto Dunkirk just for fun, the diesel will certainly help there, would skip the petrol.
3. Used is the way to go in Germany, you seldom come across a bad example. People wouldn't be able to tell you what they ate for breakfast this morning but they can give you an exact breakup of each line item on their last car service Rechnung (bill) that was 3 months ago.
4. 15k sounds about the right budget when looking for a Passat. You could get good Golf Mk6 and Mk7 models depending on the options for less than 10k. Mine costed 9.7k for example.
5. Yes, play around with the filters on the website mobile.de or autoscout24.de and you will see that the options are endless.
I would suggest buying atleast a 2.0 litre motor else you will end up with a vehicle that electronically tops out at 180 kmph and on the unlimited speed stretches you would end up in a tricky situation. (It was one of the reasons I bought a 3 Litre 256 bhp motor, I was sick of being pushed around by mean looking passive aggressive germans who flash you till you move out of the fast lane. Now I do the same thing to the others
)
Do write in if you have more questions or if you need to guidance on the whole insurance and car registration process (been through it twice now).