# buying & selling used car for 5-month stay



## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

I will be moving to Berlin for five months later this year, for my wife's sabbatical. We are thinking of buying a cheap used car and selling it again when we leave. We will be properly angemeldet and have an Aufenhaltserlaubnis and all that, but we will only have Canadian drivers' licenses. Does anyone know if it's possible to do such a thing, and what one might do for insurance?


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## scotswahae (Nov 19, 2012)

I believe that if your license is only for an automatic car then this is all you can drive in Germany. Someone also told me that Canadian licenses are not approved and you will need to take a driving test but I am not sure about that. You should be able to get that info from the Canadian embassy in Berlin.
Five months is a short time to have a private car, I would think that renting would overall be cheaper and certainly easier as you don't have all the time and effort in finding something reliable and then getting it registered, insured etc. Also need to consider when you want the car as we have different sets of tyres fro summer and winter


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

I was thinking of doing what a friend did last year - buying a car worth about 500 euro. That kind of car. She actually made a small profit on the resale. That is definitely cheaper than renting. 

I wasn't aware that our licenses were only good for one kind of transmission - which is funny because both our cars here are standard. Come to think of it, I've rented standards in Germany and that's never been an issue. 

I definitely don't want to convert the license unless it's a straightforward process (I tried once many years ago then gave up when I realized how much work was involved). Last time I checked a foreign license was good for six months, and we'll be there for five.

But I'll check with the embassy, that's a useful point. Thanks.


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