Since I recorded that podcast there has been a change in the way that the insurance works, as I found out when I changed my car last year.

One of the best things about the German registration system is that you must arrange insurance for the car before you go to the Zulassungsstelle to register it.  If you do not, then you will either not receive any number plates to put on the car, or at the very least they will not have valid stickers on them, making uninsured cars very easy to spot on German roads.

So before you go to register the car, you used to call your insurance company and they would send you a white card called a Doppeldeckungskarte.  Originally this consisted of two identical parts, hence the Doppel in the name.  When you registered ownership of the car, one part stayed with the registration office and the other was used to notify the insurance company that you had been there and completed the process.

The card also had some insurance implications, such as 3rd party cover for the journey to and from the registration office.

The format of the card changed slightly in 2003, when the Doppel part got dropped, and was replaced with an electronic system.  But you still needed the single white card to register the car.

Now (and apparently since 2008) everything is electronic.  When I called my insurance company last year, they just dictated a code to me over the phone consisting of numbers and letters.  This is called a VB-Nummer, and it replaces all of the paperwork that used to take place between the registration office and the insurance company.  Everything happens electronically, so the only piece of paper involved was the one that I noted the code on!

Needless to say that after registering the car you still need to sign a contract with the insurance company for them to cover the car long-term.  Of course, you can do this on-line as well, but for once I still prefer to go to my agent and actually sign a piece of paper instead.

Some other posts on this topic that you might like to read:

• Buying and registering a car
• Leasing a car in Germany (and why you might want to)
• Leb’ wohl, Bio-Ethanol

By leasing the car, I pay a monthly fee to a leasing company, often a bank, who have purchased the vehicle from my usual dealer.  That fee allows me to drive the car up to an agreed number of kilometres each year.

And when the lease runs out, I just return the car to the dealer and can lease a new one.

Buy why not buy the car outright as a business and then sell it again later?

Well, for a start I do not have to put down a lump sum at the beginning or end of the lease, as I would do with a normal purchase by instalments – as long as I give the car back in a reasonable condition!

If I did purchase the car by instalments, the car would be considered part of the company assets and I could even offset the VAT for the entire price in the first month (or so I’m told), meaning that I would have a massive VAT rebate.  The trouble is, that when I sold the car I would have to pay a portion of this back again, so I would need to put it on a company savings account somewhere.

As it is, my monthly leasing rate is taken into account each month for tax purposes and at the end of the lease I either get a refund if I have driven less kilometres than agreed, or I have to pay a surcharge if I have used more.

But a very good reason for not selling a company car to a consumer is that as a business seller you have to offer a one year warranty on it.  Or put another way, if something goes wrong with the car within 12 months of selling it, it’s the business’ responsibility to get it fixed or at worst even take the car back again and refund purchase price.

This really is a hassle that you don’t need as a small business, and since it’s a lot easier to budget for the monthly leasing rate than risks like that, it’s easy to see why many businesses use this method of providing cars for their employees.

For anyone staying in Germany for a fixed length of time, eg. 2 years, then leasing can also be a good option, because you can just hand the car back at the end of that time and leave the country – again without the problem of selling or exporting the car.

Some other posts on this topic that you might like to read:

• ZM – The Zusammenfassende Meldung
• Blogging in Germany: Personal, Business or Journalist?
• MwSt

The car that I have replaced it with no longer runs on bio-ethanol (E85), although it does use the new E10 fuel.

So how have those four years been and why did I switch back?

Well, whilst on the one hand it was nice to try something new and be environmentally friendly at the same time, it did come with some drawbacks.  The main one being that, although it was cheaper than normal petrol, the fuel consumption was slightly higher with bio-ethanol and at first there were only about 70 petrol stations in Germany selling it.

More recently, on the way to Rügen for example, I have come across some petrol stations on or near the motorways selling it, which has been a pleasant surprise.  But outside of Germany I don’t believe I’ve seen it yet on my travels.

With the higher consumption it has also meant that a day trip to somewhere like Cologne or Saarbrucken is just about possible without going to a petrol station on the way back, but it is pushing it if there are any hold ups.

But since most of my appointments are within a 20km radius of home, that was rarely an issue and I liked the convenience of driving to my local garage at any time of the day or night and filling up using my own coded key.  At the end of the month I just a received an invoice for the total due.

The real reason that I have reverted to a “normal” car though, is that Ford simply don’t make the “Flexifuel” model with the same specification as I had previously.

So instead I now have a car with an “EcoBoost” engine in it.  Apparently this uses 20% less fuel than a normal engine, and so is cheaper to run and has less emissions.  It also goes into a type of “standby” mode when you are waiting at traffic lights or level crossings, and recommends the driver which gear they should drive in for maximum fuel efficiency.

It may not be the great leap forward to using other forms of energy in cars, but I still hope that it is a step in the right direction.  I’ll let you know how I get on after a few hundred kilometres!

Some other posts on this topic that you might like to read:

• E10 in Germany – is your car compatible?
• Petrol prices in 2007
• Filling up with bio-ethanol for the first time

• Is it really good for the environment?

• Does it really cut CO2 emissions?

• Will it cause monotonous landscapes and food shortages?

However I am sure that the question on most motorists’ minds is “will it damage my car?”

To help answer this question, the Deutsche Automobil Treuhand who, amongst other things, are one of the sources that car dealers use to estimate the value of a used car, have issued a list of makes and models to help car owners find out whether they can put E10 into their vehicles.

• Download: E10 compatibility (in German)

The list also contains telephone numbers for many manufacturers if you are still unsure and prefer to contact them.  Please be aware though, that all of the lists circulating at the moment and even information from the manufacturer only applies if the car still has all of its original parts.

If at some time you have had parts replaced – especially if they were not replaced by official spares but rather by cheaper alternatives – then putting E10 into your tank is probably going to be at your own risk.

Some other posts on this topic that you might like to read:

• New in 2011: E10
• Leb’ wohl, Bio-Ethanol
• Petrol prices in 2007

Until now, the law only said that you had to have “suitable” tyres for the road conditions, but did not actually specify that you had to have winter tyres on in winter.  Indeed, many people with good tread on their summer tyres continued to use them throughout the winter, and would probably argue that they were suitable as long as the main roads were clear.

The trouble was, that unless they caused an accident, the police were as good as powerless to argue against them, so the politicians were under pressure to amend the law to get things clarified.

Unfortunately, they made quite a mess of it. 

For a start, they only agreed on it at the end of November, giving many people only a few days to change the tyres on their cars before it came into effect.

It would not have been so bad, if it wasn’t for the fact that the first snow was already on the ground.  At that is still part of the problem – the new rules still only apply for particular road conditions, ie. when there is snow, ice, slush, black ice, and a number of other variants of frozen water on the ground.

The M+S symbol

But the real problem is going to be the types of tyres that are allowed.  These have been defined as tyres showing the “M+S” logo.  M+S stands for “mud and snow” (or Matsch und Schnee in German), and the use of it on tyres is not standardised.

So apparently there are winter tyres available, that offer better grip on snow than many of the ones with the M+S Logo, but do not themselves have it on them.  Likewise, there are summer tyres that do have M+S on them, because the manufacturer has decided that they can be used in winter – and in other countries very possibly they are.

Another form of the M+S symbol, note the snow flake next to it showing the tyre adhers to the NHTSA traction standard for snow and ice

Not having the logo on your tyres means that you can be fined 40EUR (unless, of course, you just don’t use the car!) or 80EUR if you cause an obstruction to traffic as a result.

It is also worth noting that foreign cars are not exempt of the law, so if you visit Germany during the winter, you may need to check the symbols on your tyres.  However, if you do fit winter tyres to your car in the UK, just make sure that your insurance does not charge you extra for the privilege.

Some other posts on this topic that you might like to read:

• Winter tyres
• Winter in Germany
• Preparing for the coming winter