Moving the Ram Rebel to Germany!

[reconshaun]

Good afternoon, All!
I am moving to Germany for a few years and will be taking my 2019 Ram 1500 Rebel with me. I have reached out to my local dealer to make sure that I have no open recalls, U-Connect updates or anything else that needs to be taken care of before I leave. I'm not sure why I didn't think about it before, but I thought I might be able to reach out here and see if anyone had any recommendations for anything that I should consider taking care of before I ship the truck, or if there are any considerations while I am stationed overseas.

I am already aware of the narrow roads and parking situation in Germany, and it will be a non-issue for the few years that I will be over there. I am also not aloud to install any performance modifications such as exhaust or lifts or I won't be able to register it in country. Any and all advice would be much appreciated.

 

[RockYacht2020]

Change the language display to German so du kannst sprechen mit deinen RAM auf Deutsch!

 

[reconshaun]

Change the language display to German so du kannst sprechen mit deinen RAM auf Deutsch!

I am all about learning the language and culture, but am not sure that I want to forget all of the menus on my truck.

 

[Dookie]

There were a couple of recalls a few months back, 1 to do with wiper arm nut, the other to the backup camera not turning off when shifted into D, and I have had 2 OTA updates since I bought mine in late Dec. 2019.

 

[chrisfuss]

Being from Germany I will tell you although you think you will be fine, you won’t. Parking will be a nightmare and in cities close to impossible... vast majority of parking garages you won’t even get in... this applies to all size cities... and I’m not even mentioning gas prices and that a lot of Germans will show you the middle finger just for the sake of driving a big truck...
I’d definitely get a small car for daily driver...

Also not sure if you are military you can still leave your truck in US configuration since they got rid of the lookalike plates. If you are not us military you will definitely have to get your truck retrofitted with taillights etc. and get TÜV (road safety inspection) be sure inspectors are very very very picky in Germany compared to the US... there are companies that specialize on modifying import cars and getting TÜV on them. If non military you’d also have to pay 10% import duty and 16/19% vat. No refund when you leave because you cannot export a vehicle on private account.


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[reconshaun]

There were a couple of recalls a few months back, 1 to do with wiper arm nut, the other to the backup camera not turning off when shifted into D, and I have had 2 OTA updates since I bought mine in late Dec. 2019.

The NHTSA.gov and U-Connect sites say that I am all up to date, as well as the dealer looking it up. I have never seen an OTA update or warning that it needed to happen however.

 

[reconshaun]

Being from Germany I will tell you although you think you will be fine, you won’t. Parking will be a nightmare and in cities close to impossible... vast majority of parking garages you won’t even get in... this applies to all size cities... and I’m not even mentioning gas prices and that a lot of Germans will show you the middle finger just for the sake of driving a big truck...
I’d definitely get a small car for daily driver...

Also not sure if you are military you can still leave your truck in US configuration since they got rid of the lookalike plates. If you are not us military you will definitely have to get your truck retrofitted with taillights etc. and get TÜV (road safety inspection) be sure inspectors are very very very picky in Germany compared to the US... there are companies that specialize on modifying import cars and getting TÜV on them. If non military you’d also have to pay 10% import duty and 16/19% vat. No refund when you leave because you cannot export a vehicle on private account.


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I am US Military and am tracking that I will not have to worry about much of what you described. At least that is what my research and people stationed over there have informed me of.
I do have a German-made wagon for my daily driver. I will mostly be using the Ram for driving to and from work on the military installation.
Thank you for the information.

 

[Seadweller23]

I am US Military and am tracking that I will not have to worry about much of what you described. At least that is what my research and people stationed over there have informed me of.
I do have a German-made wagon for my daily driver. I will mostly be using the Ram for driving to and from work on the military installation.
Thank you for the information.

I spent a wonderful four years in Germany (Gelnhausen) back in the mid 80's. Where are you going to be? What a great place, spend free time traveling and enjoying their great cuisine. I expect you can purchase gas coupons at the US rate. Expect your RAM to be "noticed" by people who live there. I parked my Z28 next to a Ferrari while we went to a fair. I came back to a crowd around my Camaro. The Ferrari guy was put off. lol ... I would have traded him.

 

[silver64]

Being from Germany I will tell you although you think you will be fine, you won’t. Parking will be a nightmare and in cities close to impossible... vast majority of parking garages you won’t even get in... this applies to all size cities... and I’m not even mentioning gas prices and that a lot of Germans will show you the middle finger just for the sake of driving a big truck...
I’d definitely get a small car for daily driver...

Also not sure if you are military you can still leave your truck in US configuration since they got rid of the lookalike plates. If you are not us military you will definitely have to get your truck retrofitted with taillights etc. and get TÜV (road safety inspection) be sure inspectors are very very very picky in Germany compared to the US... there are companies that specialize on modifying import cars and getting TÜV on them. If non military you’d also have to pay 10% import duty and 16/19% vat. No refund when you leave because you cannot export a vehicle on private account.


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Why would they flip a guy off for driving a truck? That sounds like some full blown jealousy to me. Would they also be a-holes to a guy driving a jeep? Is everyone expected to drive a smart car!!!!

 

[mikeru82]

Why would they flip a guy off for driving a truck? That sounds like some full blown jealousy to me. Would they also be a-holes to a guy driving a jeep? Is everyone expected to drive a smart car!!!!

I was in germany at the end of the summer last year. Never saw a single smart car. The majority of the cars I saw were Audi, BMW, and Mercedes Benz. And most were wagons. I did see one 4th gen Ram 1500, and people were giving him plenty of room on the highway. I gave him a thumbs up. He gave me one back as I passed him in my rented BMW wagon.

 

[Neurobit]

I was in germany at the end of the summer last year. Never saw a single smart car. The majority of the cars I saw were Audi, BMW, and Mercedes Benz. And most were wagons. I did see one 4th gen Ram 1500, and people were giving him plenty of room on the highway. I gave him a thumbs up. He gave me one back as I passed him in my rented BMW wagon.

 

[silver64]

I was in germany at the end of the summer last year. Never saw a single smart car. The majority of the cars I saw were Audi, BMW, and Mercedes Benz. And most were wagons. I did see one 4th gen Ram 1500, and people were giving him plenty of room on the highway. I gave him a thumbs up. He gave me one back as I passed him in my rented BMW wagon.

I was being sarcastic about the smart car as it is the complete opposite of a big Ram truck.

 

[Firebird]

Rams are very common in Germany, I saw them everywhere. Enjoy your time over there!

 

[Hydroblueguy]

Good afternoon, All!
I am moving to Germany for a few years and will be taking my 2019 Ram 1500 Rebel with me. I have reached out to my local dealer to make sure that I have no open recalls, U-Connect updates or anything else that needs to be taken care of before I leave. I'm not sure why I didn't think about it before, but I thought I might be able to reach out here and see if anyone had any recommendations for anything that I should consider taking care of before I ship the truck, or if there are any considerations while I am stationed overseas.

I am already aware of the narrow roads and parking situation in Germany, and it will be a non-issue for the few years that I will be over there. I am also not aloud to install any performance modifications such as exhaust or lifts or I won't be able to register it in country. Any and all advice would be much appreciated.

As many problems as mine has, I’d sell it as quick as you can! Buy a smaller truck or car like someone else has stated. Good luck in whatever you decide.

 

[chrisfuss]

Why would they flip a guy off for driving a truck? That sounds like some full blown jealousy to me. Would they also be a-holes to a guy driving a jeep? Is everyone expected to drive a smart car!!!!

It’s a “cultural / political” thing people gotten very anti large cars, not even talking about large gas hungry engines. All the Mercedes, bmw Audi’s you See are mostly 2l engines. They are even seriously discussing banning SUVs from inner cities, some cities diesels are already banned. It’s en Vogue to be green and anti fossil fuels... people would rather call someone out about driving a big truck than someone walking around town naked... it is what it is... and actually you won’t believe it... it’s mostly conservative people. My bet for Germany’s next government a green led coalition with the conservative CDU. Unless Merkel gets persuaded and will run again because people are very pleased with the job she has been doing during covid. But she already announced she won’t be running... and the two clowns running for replacement in the party won’t win... so green chancellor it will probably be...


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[silver64]

It’s a “cultural / political” thing people gotten very anti large cars, not even talking about large gas hungry engines. All the Mercedes, bmw Audi’s you See are mostly 2l engines. They are even seriously discussing banning SUVs from inner cities, some cities diesels are already banned. It’s en Vogue to be green and anti fossil fuels... people would rather call someone out about driving a big truck than someone walking around town naked... it is what it is... and actually you won’t believe it... it’s mostly conservative people. My bet for Germany’s next government a green led coalition with the conservative CDU. Unless Merkel gets persuaded and will run again because people are very pleased with the job she has been doing during covid. But she already announced she won’t be running... and the two clowns running for replacement in the party won’t win... so green chancellor it will probably be...


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You would think that if people were interested in "green" they would actually look into the amount of actual pollution caused by modern engines compared to other things in the environment (other countries with zero regulations) that are much worse. I am still baffled that people think that buying an electric car somehow saves the environment when all they are doing is transferring the pollution from their tailpipe to the local power plant and most power plants are running near maximum as it is. Good luck to Germany and their green new deal government!

 

[EugeneYYZ]

It’s a “cultural / political” thing people gotten very anti large cars, not even talking about large gas hungry engines. All the Mercedes, bmw Audi’s you See are mostly 2l engines. They are even seriously discussing banning SUVs from inner cities, some cities diesels are already banned. It’s en Vogue to be green and anti fossil fuels... people would rather call someone out about driving a big truck than someone walking around town naked... it is what it is... and actually you won’t believe it... it’s mostly conservative people. My bet for Germany’s next government a green led coalition with the conservative CDU. Unless Merkel gets persuaded and will run again because people are very pleased with the job she has been doing during covid. But she already announced she won’t be running... and the two clowns running for replacement in the party won’t win... so green chancellor it will probably be...


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dont worry about Merkel , she got her back up long time ago , no greens or blue or another rainbow stuff . Regarding TUV why he needs to change yellow turns lights to european yellow ??? joke

 

[chrisfuss]

You would think that if people were interested in "green" they would actually look into the amount of actual pollution caused by modern engines compared to other things in the environment (other countries with zero regulations) that are much worse. I am still baffled that people think that buying an electric car somehow saves the environment when all they are doing is transferring the pollution from their tailpipe to the local power plant and most power plants are running near maximum as it is. Good luck to Germany and their green new deal government!

The emission footprint of electric cars is pretty well documented it takes a little until a electric car catches up but according to a German study with the renewable/conventional energy mix in Germany over lifetime a 2017 electric car will emission ~25% less compared to fuel cars. I’m also not convinced that bevs will be the future and more of a bridge technology but particular argument has been a bit short sighted


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[BrookMunshi5]

There are a few things to remember when shipping a vehicle overseas. First, you may need to purchase additional insurance to cover your truck in Germany. Second, in some countries, you may not be able to register a lifted or modified truck. Finally, ensure you have all the necessary paperwork before you ship the truck. This includes a bill of sale, proof of insurance, and other documents required by your shipping country. When I moved to college, I benefited from the Seka Moving services (https://sekamoving.com/moving/college-movers). I suggest you research using a search engine and find out some companies that might give you a helping hand. Cheers!

 

[Mr. Grumpy]

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