“Don’t give up. Normally it is the last key on the ring which opens the door.”
Paulo Coelho
It is 12 o’clock on a Saturday. I am in the little garden shed in the parking lot of Auto Leo, and the phone is ringing. I can hear the conversation happening, but I have no idea what is being said. Finally Leo hangs up, and tells me: “It is not buy; you can buy”.
The gears shift, because he then informs me I will have to go get it myself, as the dealership is not willing to let him sell it on their behalf. Also, I will have to wait until Monday (montag) to test drive it. The information sinks in.
How can I get to Magdeburg? (Flixbus). Where will I stay?(Airbnb). What happens if for some reason it is not the right car? (Easyjet to Cologne). And off we go.
Montag finally happens, as I arrive with my big travel bag at the Blue Cow dealership in Magdeburg. And there she is, the saucy minx. Like a Kleenex box on wheels, the Torneo Connect is the perfect compromise between living space and rugged transport. The keys are handed to me, & I don’t even stall once during the test drive. Everything looks in order, & it dawns on me that I’ve come all the way to Germany to buy an American car. Fabulous.
Let the paperwork begin! The ever-patient Thomas speaks into my phone translator for over 3 hours, in order to figure out how to register the car in my name & wire the money from Canada. I arrived at 11am, & at 6pm the official payment is made. I am a weary corn husk by that point, so we agree to meet the next day at 8:30am to get the number plates and insurance done.
The car registration process in Germany is 1. the only place in the EU where it can be done by a foreigner (I learned this afterwards!) and 2. very complicated.
An AutoSchilder helped me register it, but then a trip to the local police station had me waiting a few hours, then going back and forth between automated machines and rusty government workers. It came to be understood that the only way for me to receive car insurance is with “export” plates, which allow me to pay a large sum to drive for maximum 3 months.
The news sinks in. The struggle resets from finding a car, to finding a way to drive it legally for at least 5 months. My mind does not have the capacity to figure it out, because I finally have the keys to my freedom, to the end of searching! So I buy 9 days worth of export licensing, slap the plates onto the car and decide to figure something else out later. For now, I just want to drive.
I’m finally in the driver’s seat, with all my official-looking green papers scattered over the passenger seat. I have never driven a manual car before, and the daunting task of driving across the country to my friend’s house is stalling my breathing. 600km, 6 hours, 60 € of diesel. I put the key in the ignition, take a deep breath, and shift into gear.
