F-Body Europe

So I've been spending a lot of time on the Bug, both making it look better, and fixing things like an oil leak, faulty horn and an inop taillight.

Well, I get all this fixed, and I'm happy as can be. I'm confident in the ability to pass inspection, so I take it there this morning.. Lucky me, the two German guys are working, and I get the younger of the two.. After telling me how the two golf ball size holes in the floorpan, underneath the spare tire well in the front, he proceeds to tell me that I need to park the car, and take off the plates, because it's "UNSAFE TO DRIVE!" I could not believe it when he said that. If I would have had ANY idea that he might even say that, I would have at least bondoed it and then sprayed it with some undercoating... He TOTALLY caught me by surprise with that! I think Kapaun vehicle registration is turning into the freaking TUeV, and it pisses me off. I could understand if I had no floor under my seat, or if the pedal assembly was hanging down to the street, but UNDER THE SPARE TIRE WELL, GIVE ME A DAMN BREAK!!! That is total BS, and as you can tell, I am HIGHLY pissed off right now. I just wanted to vent a little. Hope you all don't mind..

On a lighter note, I took the Z to get checked out this morning.. Hopefully that will be ready in the near future.

It's getting the same way down here! A guy I work with was failed last week because one of the rear brakes, on his 96 Vette was "grabbing a little more than the other one".

Good luck with the Z!!!! Let us know how it works out!

So it's not just me! I actually had to take my car, ('96 Sebring) to the TUeV. Here's the story: The inspector in Wurzburg told me that my car failed and that it needed "Major Repairs". The fault? Two tires were not of the factory size. (the car has been inspected last year by the previous owner and had no problems with the larger tires. Factory size: 205/55 16, the two larger tires: 215/60 16.) He then said that it's in the regulation. I said BS as my '57 has "big and littles" on it and that many cars such as Corvettes and Porsches have different size tires. He would not show me the regulation. I then went to his supervisor who said the same thing. He actually showed me the regulation. Paragraph "F" stated that a vehicle would NOT be rejected if it had tires that were not recomended by the manufacter unless they were unsafe. He still said that the car would not pass. I then talked to his supervisor, (turns out, he is one of the senior guys for USAREUR). I tried to explain to him that the reg says that it's acceptable as it was right there in black and white. All three of them had to check out the car to make sure that it would be "safe". They were concerned that the tires would hit the suspension when there was a load in the car so they said, no. The suspension part in question? The spindle/hub that the rim bolts to. I told him that the only way the tire could hit the spindle is if all the lug studs broke off then the "rubbing" would be the least of my problems. He didn't like that comment. The "big boss" then stated that it was "not safe on these rear wheel drive cars". At that point I lost it. I had to let him know that if he can't tell the difference from a FWD and a RWD after looking underneath it, he had no business being an inspector, let alone the supervisor. I told him that I would then get proof from Chrysler stating that the tire size would be safe. His reply? They would be wrong. I had to ask again and he said that Chrysler would be wrong. I said that if someone who designed and built the car, they should know. How could he know better that Chrysler and an ASE certified mechanic (me)? I then said that I'll just go to TUeV then and he said that they wouldn't help me. Turns out that he was partially right. He called ahead and told them not to help me, (along with the other US inspection centers around). I ended up going to an other TUeV station, paid the guy eur39, and got an official form saying that it was OK. Had to talk to the guy in charge of vehicle registration in Heidelberg who didn't want to help, but did say that they would HAVE to pass my car if the German TUeV said that it was good to go. Went back and got my "inspection passed" stamp. I just wish that it was the same dumbf**ks there so I could rub it in their faces.
Sorry it's so long, had to vent after being "reminded".

WTF? Just because they don't like something, they feel the need to fail you.......

Envy is a bad thing....It's worse when you don't know your job and someone else reminds you...

Sounds like you guys are having similar fun with car inspections like us germans ... my theory still states that german inspectors are just frustrated and envious seeing nice cars that are not german brand

i hope i dont have any problem with those big ass tires that are on those 17 inch rims "jack" lol

Funny that it was the German TUeV (Tauberbischoffsheim) that was helpful and passed the car.

man this old fart here in baumholder is a pain in the ass.....he failed me because of my home made loudmouth lol

Zey don't like ze "SS" on ze side off ze car...

Just kidding .... no, really, just kidding.

damn that was cruel

When I tell people that I have a Camaro SS, they look at me funny. I keep forgetting about that and have to explain that it stands for Super Sport or Sehr Schnell! (hope I spelled that right.)

I've had both good and bad at wurzburg. One time I was flunked with the 3rd gen wheels on because "the tires stuck out too far from the fenders." So, like everyone else I brought up the porsches and beamers that have the wide tires. Because my car isn't of German Spec then I wasn't allowed to have wide tires. According to the Polzie: Place a ruler against the fender and slide it to the tire (to make a flat plane), if the grooves of the tire stick out from the fender its illeagal, if it doesn't then your good.

The last time I went, another guy was there. He found that my parking brake needed to be ajusted, a hole in my exhaust, a tail light out, and no battery clamp...he passed me!!! Go figure! But now...NO MORE INSPECTIONS for me!!!

You forgot:

Super Sexy
Suzuki Stomper
Smash Sushi
Stang Smoker
Serious Speed

YUp, you did ...
Btw, did you know that on german licence plates, you will never see the middle letters being HJ, KZ, NS, SA, SD und SS?

I tried to get USAREUR tags "SS 1996" but couldn't because they wouldn't make any with "SS". Not to sound ignorant, but why the other letters?
Hope I don't upset anyone

HJ = H*tlerjugend (H*tler Youth)
KZ = K*nzentrationslager (C*ncentration camp / Death camp)
NS = Nationals*zialismus (National Socialism = Nazi party)
SA = Sturmabtailung (like SS, only the uneducated brutes)
SD = ???? Dunno


Hope that helps.

Dino

Hm ... Dino, for the sake of the US personnel on here that sit behind a filtering proxy, I am changing some of the words there in order not to trigger the filter ... dunno how sensitive them things are ...

...learned that the hard way.
My first name and my middle name both start with S, so I tried very hard to get a "PS-SS ..." for that reason on my first car...
with the result that I got stopped and checked by the police for month...
for drugs, for guns, for whatever.
and back then I did not have a clue why because I just never thought about that.

Hmm, interesting info, Dino! Thanks for the knowledge. As they say, it is power!