Importing Prius from US to Germany

I actually just exported an 07 Nissan Maxima to Poland for my cousin. I shipped it to Bremenhafen from New Jersey for $820. As far as modifications go I believe they definitely want sidemarker blinkers which is an easy fix. You might also have to modify they tail light color of the blinkers which shoudl be easy since it's just switching the bulbs. If you are moving you definitely dont want to export it regularly, you want to export as your own vehicle to avoid paying high customs fees and taxes.

 

I imported my 05 Prius from Ohio to Stuttgart in May 0f 06. I am a contractor working for the military in Stuttgart. I haven't had to make ANY modifications. The inspections on post are still done by Germans so I don't know if that makes a difference or not.

 

I should warn you though that your GPS won't work here. I thought there would be a DVD available to work here. I emailed Toyota and stopped at several dealers here. The problem is compatability with the actual DVD player which sits under the driver's seat. I bought a Navigon which has maps of Europe and US only to find out that my first time back in the states, I would have to re-register and pay another fee. Tom Tom works both places without having to re-register.

Of course if you don't have the GPS, as Emily Litella would say "Never mind"

 

Is it not possible to make a local purchase of the DVD player that meets that plays the European DVD? Seems DVD technology ought to be universal.

Also what about the headlights. We are facing a problem in that the xenon headlights have a DOT sticklers and not a European Sticker. We may have to retrofit back to Halegons at a steep cost. Any suggestions?

Any good ideas please send me an e-mail ... [email protected] Thanks

 

We are having problems with a 2009 coming into Germany.

Headlights .. Xenon light don't have a European sticker and we don't have the load leveling system either. We are really stuck. We have have to retro fit halegens into the car .... this needs headlight bulbs and housing as well as some wiring changes.

Any experience with this problem and suggestions on Solution? The car is in Erlangen.

Also the DVD player won't play the European DVD. I thoght DVD is DVD, but apparently not. is there any software or firm change that can be made or can I just buy a new European player.

Any experience with this?

Thanks for your help.

[email protected]

 

I am moving to Stuttgart soon. What is the name of the auto shipper you used? Does your built in GPS work after getting a replacement DVD in Stuttgart? Thanks for your time.

 

Blimey I didn't realise there were so many Americans moving to Germany!

 

DVD's have regions. So do Bluray disks. No easy way around it. You can use a computer, a dual layer DVD+R/DL disk, and both copies of the nav disk then put the euro mapdata on the new disk with the North American bootloader. Not easy. Will probably have to edit the hex to change the boot sector locations.

As for the headlights, you will need to buy euro-spec housings. There are ways around this to make it work, but none that will get past safety inspections. Meaning, you can open the headlights, swap the reflectors out, re-aim, and it will work. However once you open a housing it no longer conforms to US DOT specifications, and also that housing you modified has never been tested through euro spec. So you would need to make 4 or 5 and have them tested for that "design" you made to be accepted. Just buy them from a dealership or a junk yard. No need to change from HID to reflectors, you just need the right refletcors. The bulbs/balasts are the same.

 

I have found a way to get the gps to work

 

I am also moving my '05 Prius to Europe (though to Switzerland). Does anyone have experience getting the NAV to work? Also, I understand that the taillights need to change also. If anyone has a list of the parts (yellow lights, etc) and some hints on how to make that work, I would be really appreciate it. Thanks in advance!

 

Can you tell me more?

 

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