COS registered officially as car repair company Handwerkskammer Stuttgart

In Germany the regulations for running a car repair workshop are very strict. The reason for that is the extremely high responsibility you have as a car workshop, because of safety. If a mechanist does mistakes in e.g. repairing a brake it is life-threatening.

That's why it is a must to be Meister (Foreman) in vehicle technics, you must have several years experience in maintaining and repairing of cars and you must provide evidence of your technical ability to a chamber of handicrafts, if you want to run a car repair workshop.

4 Rules: What you have to consider buying an used-car in Germany?

Summary:

This article from 2019 sums up the legal situation related to buying a car and the possible risks. The information found in this article is based on experiences of "COS Stuttgart", as well as official sources. Key points to know:

- Being a car dealer in Europe, you do not need any qualification, certificate of proficiency or any license test (IHK Frankfurt)

- Every year 8.66 million used cars are sold in Germany, 50% of them are sold by authorized dealers (Federal Statistical Office Germany )

- 33% of all used cars sold in Germany have manipulated mileage (German Police statistics and ADAC)

- The used car market has the highest rate of manipulation and misconduct (Stern Magazine)

- In average the German cars are 9.4 years old (Federal Statistical Office Germany)

- In 2018 ADAC had about 4 million breakdowns (ADAC)

- Even authorized repair shops do not perform car inspections correctly or they “forget” important points to check (Auto Motor Sport, Auto Bild, own experience by COS Meisterwerkstatt doing inspections of customer vehicles after it was at authorized repair shop)

- 2.5 million car accidents are reported each year (Federal Statistical Office Germany)

- Many vehicles are offered as "accident-free", even though they have been involved in an accident (experience of COS advising a Japanese buyer of a vehicle purchase from a car dealer)

- Vehicles are sold at high prices by dealers, claiming to offer a mandatory warranty (experience of COS in assisting the purchase of a car of a Japanese customer)

-Rental cars (please never buy a rental car!!!) are defined as "company cars" to hide the real story behind it (experience of COS in supporting of vehicle purchase for a Japanese customer at VW Stuttgart)

-for a normal private person, it’s impossible to uncover cheaters (experience of COS customers, before they came to us)

-in Germany the purchase at a dealership leads automatically to a warranty obligation, that is German law. However to enforce this in practice is very difficult (HGB, BGB, experience of COS in assisting the purchase of a Japanese customer's vehicle purchase)

-a guarantee (in Germany that’s a kind of insurance with open/individual terms and conditions) is not to be misunderstood with a warranty obligation (terms of guarantee, German law BGB)

-the purchase of a used car is a matter of trust. In fact you will have a lot of trouble and costs, if you do business with the wrong people (Experiences of customers, before they knew COS)

What is to do, avoiding arguments with landlord?

Summerization:

Long time nothing happens. Misundertandings accumulate. Exceeding a certain limit, a querel rises. Consequence is a damaged confidence and a good relationship between renter and landlord is not possible anymore.

Which heating systems are available? How is energy consumption measured? How is the energy consumption?

Abstract:

Heating systems and measuring devices differ in Germany from those in other countries. Consumption determination sometimes leads to misunderstandings.