So, what is it gonna take for your car to pass the dreaded auto TÜV inspection? How hard is it to pass the TÜV; for those of us who don't understand the test? When I was in Germany, many people said after 7 years or so; many cars got taken to the junk yard, because there was too many repairs and it wasn't cost effective to keep the car; is this true?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technischer_Überwachungsverein
Every car/motorcycle has to pass the TÜV inspection every 2 years. Is the car new the first inspection is after 3 years then every 2 yrs. The TÜV checks everything from the brakes, tires, wheels, frame/body, exhaust system, steering, shocks, lights (function , height adjustment) , wipers, horn, windshield, mirrors, seats, belts, and all safety systems (air restraint system, anti lock brakes etc.) plus the electrical systems (if OBD equipped car). They also check for rust/corrosion (underbody, structual parts, brake lines, suspension). They perform a brake test (machine looks like a dyno tester) , they they have to work evenly and surpass a certain value. They also perform a emission test and the proper function of the catalytic converter to see if the emission is within legal range.
Then they fill out a inspection report were the defects are written down. If the car is ok you pay your $122 and get the new stickers on your license plate . If there are any major defects you have to repair them within a month and they will check your car again and see if the defects are removed.
so if you drive an old jalopy with rust or many defects the inspector may look closer , if you have bad luck he will pull his screwdriver and try to pierce through the rusted parts. But most modern cars have zink plated bodys so thats more a problem of cars from the 80`s or 90`s . But nothing holds up forever so on older cars there is always something wrong like rusted exhaust system, steering linkage, shocks etc. So if too many defects occur it might not pay off to repair it since you can expect to pay about $80.- an hour (cheap) or if you drive to mercedes or audi etc. you pay around $ 130.- for a mechanics hour, so if you cant repair it yourself and have to hire someone its gonna be expensive. The other reason to scrap your older car is you pay more tax because they have higher co2 emissions .
And from january 2009 the goverment gives you 2500.- Euro (about 3300 $) if you bring your car to a junkyard and buy a new one, so you could buy a brand new "Dacia Logan" for $9900 minus $3300 = 6600 minus dealer rebate , so lets say you can buy a brand new car here now for just $6000.- so thats another reason to scrap your car
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