tp1_kenobi
01-30-2012, 12:10 AM
Well this is going to be a ongoing post for me as I haven't seen any information on this forum about this in regards to US citizens not in the armed forces moving to Germany with a "heavily" modified car. Hopefully this will provide someone with necessary information in getting past TUV and the road readiness test everyone has to take here in order to legally drive their car in Germany. One thing to note that Germany is a beaucratic nightmare. Paper and documentation is king.
I posted in another thread in regards to this, but I figured this topic is unique enough to create its own thread. I'll share my experience and attempt to provide all information as I get it.
I'm an American w/ an B6 S4 that's being shipped over to Munich from the US via an enclosed crate. If you haven't done the work already, I would do it over in the US than in Germany. From my German friends, they have noted that the aftermarket in Germany is quite expensive for parts. The reasoning behind this is because many of the aftermarket parts must be tested and approved by the government prior to install and those costs are rolled into the cost of the part. My major concern at the moment is dealing with the TUV certification and the myriad of aftermarket work I've done on my car and seeing if this will pass. Has anyone had any experience around the TUV cert and aftermarket from the US? [>_>]
It is a massive headache dealing with TUV if you are not in the armed forces. I found this out PM'ing a few military folk on AZ in Germany and they do not have to go through this process due to an agreement between the US Military and the German government. As part of the German TUV process, I need to provide paperwork and certification for all my aftermarket parts. If I cannot provide the paperwork or certification on my parts, I need to have each aftermarket product tested and certified independent from TUV. This can cost in the thousands of Euros according to TUV. Luckily, they only did a visual spot check, so I got away with all the modded internals and do not need to provide this information to them. For TUV, they want these documents from either the US government or the manufacturer. Based on my phone calls back to the US manufacturers, many of them do not have the certifications needed by Germany, let alone certifications at all from the DOT or NHTSA due to the high costs of certification in Germany. So right now, I'm still in the process of trying to obtain some type of paperwork from manufacturers stating that their products meet or exceed build standards of that from Audi.
The list of modifications under scrutiny, not including the standard Euro light changes:
-FI Aftermarket Exhaust (make sure they are catted or you're fucked for emissions testing), unsure of the DP's.
-Stasis Ohlins SL Coils (they didn't visually see the coilovers)
-Neuspeed wheels
-JHM BBK
-Light weight Rotors
During these phone calls back to the US, expect that the manufacturer will not put any legal binding information committing that their products will pass German laws which is understandable. Their products are geared for the American consumers and they build their products to the specs "required" by US law. I'm hoping what they put in terms of documentation is enough.
So what have I done so far and the steps I'm going to take to get my car on the road?
1) I've taken my car to the TUV thinking that they could simply check my car and let me know what had to be changed. From this checklist, I could then shop the checklist to garages to see who could do it the cheapest. If you're not smart, you could easily spend upwards to 2,000 Euros on a shop that could just rip you off by changing the lights and the programming associated to the lighting on your ECU. I originally thought it would be just the lights and needing them to be converted to European standards, but this was definitely not true. They nit picked the shit out of my modded car and gave me a 12 point list of items I needed change or didn't pass the intial check. Pretty fucking scary when you find out that you paid a ton of cash (a few thousand) to have your car shipped from the US and you may not be able to drive it legally in Germany. The TUV test cost me 150 Euros.
2) I have found out that not all testing centers are equal. There is no standard throughout Germany in regards to what they test and so forth. I could use this to my advantage knowing the initial test did not pass and the list of items I need to change. From what I've heard, there are garages that do the road readiness tests and are more lenient than others. The official TUV testing center are Nazi's about vehicle readiness (pardon the joke).
3) It is in my best interest for the next vehicle readiness check up to provide as much documentation as possible in regards to my car. Audi Germany provides a "free pre-check" on your vehicle and the non-OEM parts to determine road readiness. This is not the TUV test, but rather supplementary information to allow that their cars meet testing standards from their perspective. During my phone call with Audi HQ, they said that they have tons of issues with the testing center in regards to this. It is in your best interest to contact Audi and describe the situation of TUV and your American Audi and they can help you through this process. They can provide supplementary information that can help you pass this test. You will need your title, VIN, and most likely a list of the "certified" documentation from the aftermarket guys. I will be performing this free pre-check this week and emailing Audi HQ.
4) In the meantime, I have gone to the "Landkreis" (local authorities) to obtain a temporary 5 day license plate so I can drive with insurance. It is illegal to drive in Germany without insurance. For this, you will need your German residential registration, your passport, and your US car title. I'm hoping given that I have a temp German license plate, I can take off my American ones and will be under less scrutiny by the testing center. Total cost: 45 Euros. I am able to drive on my US plates for up to 90 days, however, my US insurance company (AAA) will not cover the car while it is overseas.
5) My goal is to get this free pre-check done by Audi with the associated documentation, obtain all necessary paperwork from the aftermarket manufacturers, and roll into a "local" garage with my temp plates hoping they will clear my car.
That's the plan for now, it should get even more interesting this week. I guess this could have all been avoided if I didn't a thing to my car. But during that time, I didn't know I would be planning on moving to Europe. Also, there was not much information for civvy's in regards to this issue. There is a bunch of information and modding done by military, but like I said earlier, they are exempt!
As I go through this process, I'll update the thread accordingly.
I posted in another thread in regards to this, but I figured this topic is unique enough to create its own thread. I'll share my experience and attempt to provide all information as I get it.
I'm an American w/ an B6 S4 that's being shipped over to Munich from the US via an enclosed crate. If you haven't done the work already, I would do it over in the US than in Germany. From my German friends, they have noted that the aftermarket in Germany is quite expensive for parts. The reasoning behind this is because many of the aftermarket parts must be tested and approved by the government prior to install and those costs are rolled into the cost of the part. My major concern at the moment is dealing with the TUV certification and the myriad of aftermarket work I've done on my car and seeing if this will pass. Has anyone had any experience around the TUV cert and aftermarket from the US? [>_>]
It is a massive headache dealing with TUV if you are not in the armed forces. I found this out PM'ing a few military folk on AZ in Germany and they do not have to go through this process due to an agreement between the US Military and the German government. As part of the German TUV process, I need to provide paperwork and certification for all my aftermarket parts. If I cannot provide the paperwork or certification on my parts, I need to have each aftermarket product tested and certified independent from TUV. This can cost in the thousands of Euros according to TUV. Luckily, they only did a visual spot check, so I got away with all the modded internals and do not need to provide this information to them. For TUV, they want these documents from either the US government or the manufacturer. Based on my phone calls back to the US manufacturers, many of them do not have the certifications needed by Germany, let alone certifications at all from the DOT or NHTSA due to the high costs of certification in Germany. So right now, I'm still in the process of trying to obtain some type of paperwork from manufacturers stating that their products meet or exceed build standards of that from Audi.
The list of modifications under scrutiny, not including the standard Euro light changes:
-FI Aftermarket Exhaust (make sure they are catted or you're fucked for emissions testing), unsure of the DP's.
-Stasis Ohlins SL Coils (they didn't visually see the coilovers)
-Neuspeed wheels
-JHM BBK
-Light weight Rotors
During these phone calls back to the US, expect that the manufacturer will not put any legal binding information committing that their products will pass German laws which is understandable. Their products are geared for the American consumers and they build their products to the specs "required" by US law. I'm hoping what they put in terms of documentation is enough.
So what have I done so far and the steps I'm going to take to get my car on the road?
1) I've taken my car to the TUV thinking that they could simply check my car and let me know what had to be changed. From this checklist, I could then shop the checklist to garages to see who could do it the cheapest. If you're not smart, you could easily spend upwards to 2,000 Euros on a shop that could just rip you off by changing the lights and the programming associated to the lighting on your ECU. I originally thought it would be just the lights and needing them to be converted to European standards, but this was definitely not true. They nit picked the shit out of my modded car and gave me a 12 point list of items I needed change or didn't pass the intial check. Pretty fucking scary when you find out that you paid a ton of cash (a few thousand) to have your car shipped from the US and you may not be able to drive it legally in Germany. The TUV test cost me 150 Euros.
2) I have found out that not all testing centers are equal. There is no standard throughout Germany in regards to what they test and so forth. I could use this to my advantage knowing the initial test did not pass and the list of items I need to change. From what I've heard, there are garages that do the road readiness tests and are more lenient than others. The official TUV testing center are Nazi's about vehicle readiness (pardon the joke).
3) It is in my best interest for the next vehicle readiness check up to provide as much documentation as possible in regards to my car. Audi Germany provides a "free pre-check" on your vehicle and the non-OEM parts to determine road readiness. This is not the TUV test, but rather supplementary information to allow that their cars meet testing standards from their perspective. During my phone call with Audi HQ, they said that they have tons of issues with the testing center in regards to this. It is in your best interest to contact Audi and describe the situation of TUV and your American Audi and they can help you through this process. They can provide supplementary information that can help you pass this test. You will need your title, VIN, and most likely a list of the "certified" documentation from the aftermarket guys. I will be performing this free pre-check this week and emailing Audi HQ.
4) In the meantime, I have gone to the "Landkreis" (local authorities) to obtain a temporary 5 day license plate so I can drive with insurance. It is illegal to drive in Germany without insurance. For this, you will need your German residential registration, your passport, and your US car title. I'm hoping given that I have a temp German license plate, I can take off my American ones and will be under less scrutiny by the testing center. Total cost: 45 Euros. I am able to drive on my US plates for up to 90 days, however, my US insurance company (AAA) will not cover the car while it is overseas.
5) My goal is to get this free pre-check done by Audi with the associated documentation, obtain all necessary paperwork from the aftermarket manufacturers, and roll into a "local" garage with my temp plates hoping they will clear my car.
That's the plan for now, it should get even more interesting this week. I guess this could have all been avoided if I didn't a thing to my car. But during that time, I didn't know I would be planning on moving to Europe. Also, there was not much information for civvy's in regards to this issue. There is a bunch of information and modding done by military, but like I said earlier, they are exempt!
As I go through this process, I'll update the thread accordingly.