In Germany, it is unusual to simply go to a car dealer one day and buy a car from the showroom floor. Germans are generally passionate about cars and investing in a new car, which is commonly bought outright and still fairly seldom leased, is a decision that needs some planning and careful investigation. A lot of factors are involved…
Apart from the obvious such as status, looks, comfort, sportiness, enough room, and color, there are a lot of hard calculations that need to be made. Paying for the car is the easy one. In Germany, cars are taxed on environmental friendliness and running costs can vary dramatically. Furthermore, there is that little problem of insurance. In Germany, every insurance claim is fed into a central computer so all insurers know exactly what claims for specific models cost in the preceding year. Every single model is rated according to these data so that the insurance of a Golf 1.4 is not necessarily cheaper than a Golf 1.6. You like a BMW X5 4.4 or 3.0? Unfortunately so do East European gangs and the insurance cost accordingly. A BMW X5 3.0 diesel is less popular with thieves so its insurance is less than the 3.0 petrol model even though it cost more to buy outright. It is nightmare. Every October the listings are awaited with some abated breath – one class up or down makes a significant difference to running costs.
Germans generally like to drive fast. In addition to those fantastic Autobahnen without speed restrictions, exceeding the speed limit by less than 20 km/h outside built-up areas are hardly considered speeding. More than two-thirds of German drivers admit to speeding on a regular basis and no, the German demographic is not dramatically skewed towards men. Many German women like cars as much if not more than men do. During a recent visit to the Frankfurt Motor Show, I saw a huge number of women visiting single or in groups but sans boyfriend of husband.
(Recently, BBC motoring journalist Jeremy Clarkson learned this to his embarrassment. He set out to lap the famous Nürburgring racing circuit in a diesel Jaguar in less than ten minutes. On his first lap, he was accompanied by Sabine Schmitz, a thirty-something, car-crazy German woman who works at the circuit. She pointed out some issues and concluded with “Mein Gott! You drive funny”. After two days of practice, he managed to get his lap time down to 9 minutes 59 seconds. He proudly informed the woman, who unimpressed said she could do it faster in a van but slipped behind the steering wheel of his diesel Jaguar anyway and lapped the circuit on her first attempt nearly a minute faster. She later actually did a lap in a Ford Transit van in 10 minutes 8 seconds.)
Once they have narrowed down their choices, Germans will generally test drive a few models just to make sure. (And just for the fun of it too!) According to car dealers, women increasingly play an active role in picking the family car. Once you made up your mind about the model, you visit the designated dealer and start working on the options lists. German cars are usually low on standard equipment – manual rear windows on even BMWs and Mercedes are not rare – and the options list long. A car is put together to your exact specification and once you paid 10% the order is forwarded to the factory and you receive the date that the car will be ready and by which time you have to pay the outstanding amount in full or forfeit the 10% deposit.
A few weeks or months later, you are informed that the car has been built. The car’s papers are forwarded to you and once you can provide insurance details, you can register it and have your number plates made. The car is then either delivered to your dealer or if you prefer, as a significant number of Germans do, you may pick it up directly at the factory.