What Car?: International Edition

My next work assignment will be in Germany until 2020. My employer will ship back one car at their expense. The question is - what car should I plan on bringing back to the states. It must meet the following criteria:

1. Under 25,000 Euro.
2. Be somewhat reliable. I will want to take a few road trips.
3. Enough room for the wife and dog.
4. Eligible for import to the States. (25+ years)
5. Must be something that isn't readily available in the US.

My initial thought is a Nissan Skyline. I grew up in the Gran Turismo generation and I always loved that car. Annnnnnd go!

Lancia Delta Integrale

Unimog

I dont think a skyline was sold in germany as they are only right hand drive.. you may find a gray market import thought. My tough are on german cars.. Limited editiin MB, BMW or porsche. Unimog is a good one, lancia delta integral, didnt they got an M3 wagon for 1 year?

Golf Country for different but not undrivable for daily German purposes and not unservicable back in the US.

unimog unimog unimog.

Until the end of 2020 or the beginning? We need to know what year the car can turn 25.

You could get a 1996 Elise if it can wait until 2021:

E30 wagons seem like a good choice if you need something more practical.

In reply to ¯_(ツ)_/¯:

I will be leaving in summer 2020, so I assume 95 will be the newest I can go.

You've got 3 years to keep your eyes open. In addition to cars that we don't have, there will be cars available with different engine options than over here, too.

I've seen several early 90s Renault Clio hatches that are always neat. Did Europe get the Evo III?

BG chassis GT-R

Pulsar GTi-R

I'm not really current on European car values

Is it possible to get an A310 for that money?

Alfa GTV?

Skoda Rapid?

It appears you can! This is my vote, if you're going to go weird and Euro no use being a Bob Costas about it

The Lancia Delta would be my first choice, followed closely by an Alfa 75 evoluzione. Some 155 q4s will be import legal by 2020, but I think the simplicity of the 75 is preferable.

And then there's James May's favorite, the Dacia SupeRNova:

Oh man I love the suggestions. So much Euro goodness. That A310 is pretty sweet. My wife liked the Golf country, lol.

Drive a VW Country while you're there. Come home with an Renault Alpine or Alfa.

How about an E36 BMW wagon, should be a great family car and never sold here. If they are within budget, they did make e34 M5 wagons, that would be fantastic.

One important question - do you have to register the car in Germany as a regular resident, or are you able to register it under exemptions like they at least used to have for US military? That makes a massive difference to the recommendation.

Skylines (and Elises etc) aren't exactly common in Germany, at least not compared to the UK and Ireland. While it's easier to register a car in Germany that's been registered previously in the UK or Ireland, it still requires jumping through a bunch of hoops that I wouldn't recommend to anybody not familiar with the process[1], especially if you don't speak fluent German. You can probably find a Skyline that is already registered, though. Same goes for Pulsar Gti-Rs and BG chassis GT-Rs - much more common in the UK, not very sought after in Germany.

Therefore, I would recommend sticking with cars that are already registered in Germany and still have valid TÜV and WhateverTheHeckTheirEmissionTestIsCalledTheseDays. Also, keep in mind that while it is possible to modify cars in Germany, any modification has to be listed in the KFZ-Schein (equivalent of a US registration doc) and the KFZ-Brief (equivalent of the title). If they aren't, that can get expensive. BTW, that can go down all the way to the tire size (normal) and tire brand/tire model you're allowed to use on the car. Oh, and of course wheels, suspension, body modifications, seats, exhaust, air filter etc etc etc. Imagine the CA DMV on a particular sadistic day, then double the pain .

Also, keep in mind that they do throw salt on the roads in Germany (more or less, depending on where you live) so a lot of German car people keep their nice cars tucked away for the winter. Kinda like we do here if you live the rust belt. If you buy something special, keep that in mind.

Anyway, some of my suggestions:

Matra Murena:

You might just about be able to find an Alpine A610 in your budget:

A Golf Rallye might also just about fit your budget, but like all the other cars above, not that easy to find:

One of these little guys should also be pretty easy to find:

One of these Renault R5 Turbos should be well within your budget in superb condition:

This one, not so much :

More French hot hatch goodness, Peugeot 205 GTI - flimsy, but boy do they go:

Got to have at least one Italian hot hatch - Alfa 33:

Or the original Alfasud, if you can find one that you don't have to carry home in a shopping bag:

Or if you want RWD and have watched too many European hillclimb videos on the 'tube - Opel Kadett C Coupe GT-E:

[1] I am German, but haven't lived there for a long time. When I moved from the UK to the US, I sold a bunch of vehicles to people from Germany who were importing them to Germany. IIRC in the case of my S1 Elise, it took the new owner a several months to complete all the required modifications to the car and register it. And that guy was a local who'd done this before. Of course he could have hired someone to do the work and potentially complete it faster.

Audi RS6 estate. A V-10, twin turbo, station wagon! They're ten years old now so surely they'll have depreciated enough....

In reply to KyAllroad:

Too new to take back to the US, plus he'll get a heart attack every time he has to fill it up, given the cost of petrol in Germany...

Ford Escort that's rear wheel drive.

Or something that says Cosworth on it.

I have to agree with Sonic about the e36 wagon. There's also a bunch of e36 Ti's with 6 cylinders in them... I think from the factory.

I'll also agree that you'll probably want to make sure whatever you pick up is already TuV'd... and be careful, if it's modified, you'll need TuV paperwork for all the modifications (i.e. all those mods need to be TuV approved).

Opel Calibra.

BMW e28 M5.

Any Lancia's under 25K euro any more are the 8V. Not a bad car but there are some better choices.

you can get the Cossies for that budget. Not sure what the insurance would look like for something like that.

G-Wagen, Discovery, or T4 Camper will be the best resale stateside once you get it here.

You can get an E36 M3 with the real engine about in that price range.

If you don't always need to get to work, there is a TVR Griffith.

Or damn it all and get this and just bike to work