Germany January 31-Feb 14, 2018
I ordered a factory VW California in August and flew from Florence Italy to Leipzig on January 31 to pick it up.
Why Leipzig? I met Christian in Petra 2 years ago, we got along well and he offered to help me with purchasing a motor home to travel around Europe for 2 years. He found a local VW dealer who was willing to deal with a foreign purchase (I believe that I made significant savings by going through a car dealership) and Wolfram turned out to be an excellent salesman to deal with. Even though he didn’t speak a word of English, we were able to translate all the messages between us to facilitate the purchase. To register a vehicle in Europe, an address is needed and Christian generously offered his.
Why a VW California? Specifically I wanted a smaller vehicle that would be inconspicuous (that is, a vehicle that did not look like a motorhome) and that would be easy to park. This is all about being able to “stealth camp” or wild camp, as it is called in Europe. As the plan was to spend 2 years in Europe, not paying for accommodation every night and being able to eat most meals in the camper, I would achieve significant savings. It comes with a refrigerator, stove and sink. The roof pops up to give extra sleeping room and headroom. Both front seats swivel completely to sit around a table. An awning, folding chairs and an outside table completed the options.
After going through the options available, I decided on the Coast, the mid range model without a lot of the cosmetic options (and thus about €10,000 cheaper). It has blacked out rear windows, a side window in the door and diesel heater for the rear. I ordered screens.
Diesel gives better mileage and is usually cheaper than gas in Europe. The vehicle also has a 6-speed manual transmission, 4WD and limited slip differential even though higher clearance would have been a more worthwhile (but not available) feature. A navigation system with the largest screen and maps for both Western and Eastern Europe were also part of the order. I added an outside shower, awning, and positraction (all things I never used and would not order again saving about €4,000).
The price for this vehicle was off the map. But second-hand Californias lose almost no value and I thought this would be the perfect vehicle for me. I believed that the savings outlined above would justify the exorbitant price. To factory order, I paid 30% at the time of the order and the remainder before I left home in December. The only cost-effective way to transfer money is to use XE money transfers, a significant saving over the charges your local bank charges.
After Europe, the long-range plan is to travel East Africa from Cairo to Cape Town and then ship it to Australia. As it is not possible to import vehicles there, I would ship it to SE Asia and decide its future then.
In retrospect I would not buy through a dealer in Germany again. My salesman was as helpful as possible but I believe I paid considerably more for his services. I demolished my original van in September 2018 in Sweden and purchased another California from My California in Amsterdam. They provide registration, arrange insurance, sell minimally used vehicles (milage usually 1500) for over €10,000 less. I did not get a shower, awning or a limited slip differential. They have the option of registering you in different countries to save road taxes.
The flight from Florence stopped in Dusseldorf. Security on reboarding was just as tight as in the USA with full body scans and a complete pat-down. Christian met me at the airport and took me to his home in Taucha, about 10kms NE of Leipzig. He has two kids, 18 and 20, who live at home and a girlfriend. I became part of the family. Read “How to be a German in 25 Easy Steps” to see what it is like to live in a German household. It is amazing but Christian’s household had all 25.
On my first day, we went to the city hall in Taucha to register me at Christian’s address. The next stop was at a local bank to open an account. A bank account is necessary in order to pay the annual German road tax – the cost depends on the specifications of the vehicle and was about 385€.
Then we went to Autohaus Burkhard GmBH to meet Wolfram and see my new vehicle. Unfortunately, VW has voluntarily stopped releasing vehicles for some emission problem and I couldn’t actually take possession of my vehicle. But the dealership gave me a replacement, similar but not identical to mine. They had agreed to drive my vehicle to wherever I would be when my vehicle was released (likely Sicily). Wolfram supplied a Garmin navigation system so that I would not get lost. Insurance was purchased from a private company through the dealership and amounted to about 750€ for the year (I needed to supply my no claim driving history for the insurance).
Requirements to Purchase a Vehicle in Europe.
1. You must have an address to register the vehicle. If you don’t, your only option is to drive with export license plates. Depending on the country, these only last for 6-12 months and one must either leave Europe or transfer ownership.
There are a few businesses in Europe who will register the vehicle for you while you still retain ownership. One is My California.
2. A bank account. This is necessary to pay road tax in Germany.
Monument to the Battle of the Nations. This monumental landmark of Leipzig was built between 1898 and 1913 to commemorate the 1810-13 war against Napoleon. A museum has detail about the war where Germany teamed up with Russia. Then climb the 500 steps in the giant concrete/stone monument for great views of Leipzig.
I took the tram from Taucha several times into Leipzig to shop. There are some great shopping malls downtown, hiking stores and book stores that have large English departments. I was able to buy Lonely Planets to Germany, France and the UK and a road atlas.
My next big hurdle was to wait for a box I sent from Canada on December 22. It contained all the stuff I didn’t want to carry 250kms on the Camino Portuguese. Weighing 16kgs, there was a warm sleeping bag, clothes, a power inverter, binoculars and cooking materials. Delivery time was estimated to be 6-8 weeks and it took exactly 7. I could follow the tracking and it arrived in German customs in Hamburg on February 7 and took a further 6 days to clear customs and arrive in Taucha. The post office delivered a letter to the car dealership that I took to a customs clearing house to declare the contents and take possession of the box.
As soon as it arrived, I said my goodbyes to Christian thanking him for his unlimited generosity and started my drive to Sicily. The drive was due south via Munich, Innsbruck, Austria and Verona Italy. Despite there being no snow in Leipzig, there was a skiff of snow all the way to Italy. Germany was surprising with mature forest and all the wind turbines and solar panels. Their plan to completely get rid of nuclear power seems well on the way.
The autobahn was interesting. They are all 3 lanes each way. Trucks seem to have a speed limit of 100km/hour – there are so many that they clog up the middle lane and it is necessary to drive in the “fast” left hand lane to pass them all. But only go out there when you see no one approaching as they seem to drive between 160-200km/hour, tending to the fast side of that. It is not only Audi’s and BMWs out there. I drove between 120-140 most of the time in the middle lane. All roads in Germany are toll free.
