Iranian Automotive

Owning a car in Germany is less a purchase than a system, and most people meet its parts one at a time, usually after the first expensive mistake: a registration document in two halves, of which the second decides who owns the car; a roadworthiness test whose result is glued to your rear plate; a freedom to choose your own workshop that begins only when the warranty ends; and rules that make buying the same car from a trader and from a private seller two legally different transactions. This page sits above two branches, and it exists to make that system legible in advance.

What the Verified badge does and does not say

Verified says one thing only: a real person stands behind this profile and manages it themselves. YabInfy does not check anyone's certificates, licences, experience or competence, and the badge is not for sale. Vehicle mechatronics is one of the German trades that requires a master craftsman's qualification, and the business itself is entered in the Handwerksrolle, the trade register kept by the local Handwerkskammer (chamber of skilled crafts), so whether a particular workshop is on that register, and exactly which work the requirement covers today, is a question the chamber itself answers.

What is on this page

This category has two branches, and the line between them is clean:

• Car workshops: where the car you already own is serviced, repaired and prepared for its roadworthiness test.
• Car dealers: where a car changes hands, under a contract, with the seller carrying legal liability for it.

None of this happens at a distance, and distance is worth a thought: there is nearly always a second trip, for the re-test, or for the noise still there after the repair.

The periodic test, and that round sticker on your plate

Every car here goes through a periodic roadworthiness inspection, the Hauptuntersuchung, which everybody calls "the TÜV" whoever performs it. A new car normally goes first after three years and every two years after that. It is carried out by the approved testing organisations (TÜV, DEKRA, GTÜ, KÜS), and many workshops bring an inspector to their own premises, so a service and a test happen in one visit.

The result does not go in a drawer, it goes on the car: a round sticker on the rear plate showing the month and year the next test is due, in a colour that changes from year to year. When you are looking at a used car, read that sticker before you admire the paint. A date that is close means a cost that is close.

What you are handed afterwards is a list, and its findings are graded: no defects, minor defects, major defects, and a state that makes the car unsafe to drive. With minor defects you normally still get the sticker and putting them right is left to you. With major defects the sticker is withheld: you repair, then come back for a re-test, and there is a window for that, usually around a month. Miss it and the whole inspection is run again at full price. The window, what the re-test covers and what it costs are set by the testing organisation, so read your own report and ask them there. The report is also a shopping list written by someone with nothing to sell you: hand it to a workshop, ask for a price line by line, and decline anything proposed that is not on it.

Once the warranty ends, the workshop is your choice

While a manufacturer's warranty is running, its terms usually require servicing to the maker's schedule, and whether that has to happen at a franchised dealer of the same brand or a qualified independent workshop will do is written in the warranty text. Read the text rather than the rumour.

When the warranty ends, so does the constraint. From then on you take the car wherever you like, and nobody can tell you a repair outside the brand network is not "allowed". For many people who have recently arrived this is new information, and not knowing it is expensive, because an independent workshop's hourly labour rate and a franchised dealer's are not the same number. What the dealer has in return is the brand's own diagnostic equipment, which for complicated electronic faults is a real difference.

One more word is worth knowing: Kulanz, goodwill. When the warranty has expired but the fault is the sort that should not have appeared at this mileage, the maker or the dealer may carry part of the cost, sometimes the part, sometimes the labour. It is not a legal right and cannot be demanded, but a complete service book and an early written report improve your chances. Ask for the request to go formally to the importer, and for the answer in writing.

A written estimate, and why an estimate is not a fixed price

Do not let work start without a written cost estimate, a Kostenvoranschlag, itemised: parts by name and number, labour hours at a stated rate, VAT shown separately. A figure given over the phone is not an estimate.

Now the part people learn late: an estimate is legally an estimate, not a guaranteed price. The final invoice can come out somewhat higher without anything improper having happened, and in return, if the cost will exceed it noticeably, the workshop has to tell you before carrying on. How much "somewhat" is has no fixed figure and depends on the case, so do not plan around a percentage. If you want certainty, ask instead for a fixed price, a Festpreis, in writing. Ask too whether the estimate or the diagnosis is chargeable, and whether that comes off the bill if you go ahead.

Buying used: the most valuable paragraph on this page

If one thing survives from this text, make it this: buying the same car from a commercial dealer and from a private seller are two different legal transactions.

A dealer selling to a consumer is liable for defects the car already had at handover and cannot exclude that liability altogether; for a used car the period can be shortened, but it does not go to zero. A private seller can exclude the same liability completely with one short clause, and doing so is entirely lawful: the familiar phrases about selling with no warranty, or selling the car as seen, mean exactly that. The exception is a seller who concealed a defect they knew about, or who expressly guaranteed a quality.

So the same car is usually dearer from a dealer, and that difference is not necessarily a trick: part of what you pay for is a legal position rather than metal. The choice is yours, but make it knowingly. The periods and exceptions come from the law and from your contract, so read it word by word before signing, and if the amount is large for you, take legal advice first. One step lowers the risk either way: before you hand over money, take the car to an independent workshop or a testing organisation for a pre-purchase inspection. A seller who objects has answered the question for you.

The two-part document, and the half you must physically receive

The German vehicle document is not one piece of paper, it is two:

• Part I of the registration certificate (Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil I, the old Fahrzeugschein): travels with the car and must be in it when you drive, carrying the technical data and the plate number.
• Part II (Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil II, the old Fahrzeugbrief): does not belong in the car, it belongs at home. It is the paper by which ownership is evidenced and passed on, and without it the car cannot be registered in your name.

A precision worth having: the name recorded on the document is the vehicle's keeper, which in German law is not automatically its owner. In practice, though, no sale is complete without Part II, so the rule is simple: the money and Part II change hands in the same moment. If a seller says the document is "with the bank" or "will be posted later", pause the deal until it is clear who holds it: on a financed car the lender commonly keeps Part II until the loan is settled. Check the vehicle identification number on the document against the one on the car.

Re-registering the car after you buy it

The purchase is not finished until the car is registered to you, at the vehicle registration office (Zulassungsstelle) for where you live. Usually asked for: both parts of the document, a valid roadworthiness report, the electronic insurance confirmation number your insurer gives you beforehand (without insurance there is no registration), ID and proof of address, a direct debit mandate for vehicle tax, and plates. The exact list, the fee and whether you need an appointment differ by city and are set by that office, so ask before you go. Until the car is registered to you and insured, do not drive it.

What to ask before you pay

• The hourly labour rate, separate from parts, in writing.
• Whether a part is the maker's own or an aftermarket equivalent, what warranty it carries, and whether the old parts will be kept for you.
• How long the repair is guaranteed, and whether that is on the invoice.
• For a car: how long the roadworthiness test runs, the last test report, the service book, and any accident history.
• Where Part II of the document is, who holds it, and whether the seller is commercial or private.
• YabInfy checks none of this, so ask for it yourself, and ask to see the document where it matters.

Picking a name off this list, and what stays private

• Reviews here come from people who had work done: a clear invoice, a car ready when promised, how a place behaves after the money has changed hands. What no review tells you is whether a repair someone quoted was necessary. For that, get a second opinion.
• Contact details and the address sit behind the "Show contact details & address" button, so you deal with the business directly and nothing is added to the price.
• YabInfy never shows who viewed a profile or who got in touch, so you can collect several quotes without anyone being told. What is public is the review you decide to leave, under a name of your choosing.
• Using YabInfy costs you nothing: the search, the reviews, the contact details. The FAQ covers the rest.
• If you run a workshop or a dealership and serve Persian speakers, add your business.