Which car to buy in Germany on a 30,000 euro budget?

He has narrowed down on the new Kona petrol. He's looked at the EU brands and they don't seem to be as loaded for the price.

BHPian nidhikapoor recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

This is a strange one but my friend is shifting to Germany for a 5 year stint. He has a budget of about 30,000 Euros [maybe a bit stretchable if I get him a good reco from you guys ;-) ] and wants something like a compact SUV but wants it loaded with features like adaptive CC, blind spot alert, lane keep assist, emergency braking, rear cross traffic alert, seat heating etc.

Should be either diesel or petrol. He has narrowed down on the new Kona petrol. He's looked at the EU brands and they don't seem to be as loaded for the price. He doesn't care about brand as long as safety rating is good.

Any other suggestions?

Here's what BHPian Jeroen had to say on the matter:

For a five year stint don’t buy a diesel. Diesels are on their way out and more and more restrictions are placed on diesel cars entering European towns. Depreciation will be even worse than on a petrol. Remember many EU countries are banning the sale of ICE cars altogether from 2030-35 onwards.

So from that perspective Consider going second hand and that sort of money can get you a lot of (European) car. More car, less depreciation!

In countries such as Germany and the Netherlands most people will buy second hand.

Both my kids have a (second hand) Kia Niro and it is pretty much loaded with every imaginable feature you can imagine.

Here's what BHPian ashivas89 had to say on the matter:

Buy used. The market in Germany is pretty mature, tonnes of end of lease options will be available at dealerships. Plenty of VWs out there for that price.

A juicy Tiguan can be had for that price. Servicing VWs in Germany is hassle free. Plenty of expertise available unlike India.

VWs have great residuals in Germany unlike Hyundai.

Here's what BHPian Simha.k had to say on the matter:

I highly recommend he must check the used car market first. Mobile.de is the best place to start looking for an attractive used car. 30000 Euros is a very good budget to find a good car.

A Volkswagen Tiguan should fit the budget and also meet his requirements. Most used car dealerships even offer 1 year warranty as standard. Also, he can check for sellers within his company especially colleagues who may be leaving the country for good. A friend of mine got a great car at a lucrative price from his colleague which, otherwise, he would not find in the open market.

I am assuming that he's yet to move and he doesn't have an EU driver's license yet. His first worry should be about getting a German DL and then worry about buying a car. It takes many attempts and many years and several thousand Euros to get one. I have many friends who've been living there since many years but have failed all their attempts to pass the test and have spent up to 4000 Euros and still no DL.

My best wishes to your friend for his DL.

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