F!@#$%^ USAREUR Vehicle Inpections!

[Big Daddy Kane]

As you can tell, I'm stationed in Germany via the Air Force. Since there's a whole lot of Army personnel here, they devised part of the SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) to allowed the US Army to license it's personnel and inspect/register their POVs (Personally Operated Vehicle) to drive on German roads.

Up until now, it was pretty much fair game. They inspected for safety and mechanical violations. Things they checked were brake force on a machine, lights, wipers, horn, first aid kit, triangle, etc. and if it was crashed. They also checked for exhaust leaks, torn CV boots, excessive leaks, and smoking.

Now they just pinned regulations down without a grandfather clause, that we have to abide by.

I have been saving enough money to repair deficiencies on this car and fix it. Biggest things were that the mufflers rusted out, needing replacements, and an oil leak from the bad oil tap done when the car had a supercharger.

Now I go in to get it inspected, and fail due to it being loud. Dude tells me that I can take it up with the NCOIC (dude in charger) of POV inspections, since he has the final say.

So I go and talk to the guy that just put the exhaust on a couple weeks ago, and he says that they were just handed a binder of the new regulations they are to abide by when modifying someone's vehicle.

He knew exactly what I was there for, so he busted out the binder and went to the exhaust section... here is what we saw:

C-23. MUFFLERS AND EXHAUSTS SYSTEMS

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times]Mufflers and exhaust systems not manufacturer- or factory-installed on vehicles or motorbikes that are suspected of exceeding the noise level of 90 decibels must be checked by the inspector using a handheld decibel-meter tester. If the vehicle is found to exceed the noise level in the links in subparagraph a (motor vehicles) or b (motor bikes) below, it will be rejected.[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times]a.Motor vehicle: http://www.unece.org/trans/main/wp29/wp29regs/r051r1e.pdf.[/FONT]


C-24. NOISE-LEVEL TESTING

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times]a. The test in paragraph C-23will be conducted using scale "A" on the handheld decibel meter. The tester must be located 0.5 meters away, at a 45-degree angle from the exhaust pipe, and the instrument must remain level with the exhaust pipe as shown below. The exhaust noise level will be tested with the engine at idle and during acceleration up to half the permissible revolutions per minute (rpm) for the engine. This test must be conducted at a distance greater than 50 meters from surrounding structures. Figures C-1 through C-3show distances and angles for measuring noise.b. Table C-2lists decibel maximum allowable values for different vehicle types. [/FONT]

It shows a figure, but it's incredibly hard to read (looks like it's been copied 100 times before being scanned) and just illustrates C-24 above.

Now ok, that seems like I am now subject to have the dB meter pulled out and see if I am over 90dB at 1/2 a meter. HOWEVER, they don't even have meters yet! They're "on order."

So my test was subject to someone's "calibrated ear" to see if it was too loud. :help:

Now, I know A LOT of people that have loud exhaust. I mean, just about every slightly modified Honda up to your random truck has exhaust louder than mine!

That was just the exhaust issue... at least they didn't fully inspect the vehicle for other things they slipped in the regulation, like:

C-7. BODY

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times]a. Operators of vehicles that have had major alterations that change the basic U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)- or [/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times]Technischer Überwachungsverein[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times]([/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times]TÜV[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times])-approved specifications (for example, body or frame cut and rewelded, after-market body or suspension parts applied) must provide certified documentation showing that the alterations do not affect the vehicle’s operation and safety characteristics as verified by DOT, [/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times]TÜV[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times], or the manufacturer.b. Spoilers attached to vehicles must meet the manufacturer’s installation specifications. Homemade spoilers or spoilers that do not meet the manufacturer’s specifications will be grounds for rejection.[/FONT]

That paragraph eliminates any body/suspension mods! The last sentence eliminates a ricers favorite mod! :laugh:

C-8. ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION

c. A vehicle will be rejected if the gearshift of the vehicle can be placed into reverse gear without engaging the lock-out mechanism on both automatic and standard transmission vehicles.'

And this one... WTH? Most US cars don't have reverse lockouts!

C-12. SEATBELTS

b. All vehicles made to foreign specifications or American vehicles made before 1 January 1968 must be equipped with at least a lap belt for the driver and front-seat passenger positions.

Obviously a safety issue, but this means modifying, which could cost someone with an otherwise mint condition vehicle down the road...

C-15. TIRES AND RIMS

c. Spinning rims attached to vehicles are prohibited and will cause the vehicle to be rejected.
d. POVs with tires that extend beyond the outermost portion of the fender well when viewed from above are not authorized and will be rejected.

No spinners! :shocked: Part d is a German law and the source of wide body kits.

C-18. MOTORCYCLES

Motorcycles with after-market, straight-through exhaust pipes and motorcycles with original mufflers that have the sound absorber removed will be rejected.

None of those loud Harleys are allowed!

So yeah, this is where I'm sitting at. :blackeye:

 

[Big Daddy Kane]

Oh jeez... keeps getting worse!

C-15. TIRES AND RIMS


e. A tire rim must not be bent, cracked, have elongated bolt holes, or have any indication of repair by welding. Tire and rim combinations other than those recommended by the manufacturer will cause the POV to be rejected. Wheel nuts and bolts must be in place and tight.

 

[TheMexicanJob]

Wow, that sucks, glad i'm in the U.S. and Mi to boot. No emissions, no check ups, pretty much free for all. Motor City FTW!!!

 

[svt4stv]

wow


if im not mistaken, Intrax are TUV approved. so is this for ALL the servicemen in Germany? ie, army, air force etc...? (id assume so but...)

 

[Mystique97]

Holy strick rules batman.
Glade I'm in the U.S.

 

[Andy W.]

Are we forgetting that they have a road in which speed limits do not exist? The reason they are so strict is because if anything fails at 100+MPH it's considerably more hazerdous.

Sound safe to me.

-Andy

 

[Big Daddy Kane]

if im not mistaken, Intrax are TUV approved. so is this for ALL the servicemen in Germany? ie, army, air force etc...? (id assume so but...)

Yes... Army/Air Force/Navy/Marines... We all have USAREUR licences/plates.

Are we forgetting that they have a road in which speed limits do not exist? The reason they are so strict is because if anything fails at 100+MPH it's considerably more hazerdous.

Sound safe to me.

-Andy

True, but my big gripe is that they dropped this down without notification. Most people get their car inspected in the month it's due, so that gives you about 1.5 months to get it in spec before being forced to register it non-op and get it towed to repair it (since it's illegal to work on your car in your driveway).

What about all the people that bring a car over from the states modified? They will be issued temp plates and have 1 month to get it in regs.

Even the guys that work on base modifying the cars didn't know about this reg until a couple weeks ago... They're required to keep modifications within regs!

 

[Beans]

Wow, that sucks, glad i'm in the U.S. and Mi to boot. No emissions, no check ups, pretty much free for all. Motor City FTW!!!

many yes!

no "spinner rims" might be a cool idea.. there ugly.

 

[Big Daddy Kane]

Well, this sucks... Talked to the NCOIC, dude pretty much told me tough luck and to deal with it. Told him my story, pretty much said I was screwed. Asked them how they were able to fail my car with the new regulations without having meters to test. Told me that he is the final say on this, so he can fail whatever he wants, test or not. Sad thing is, I know some of his trans buddies have modified cars that he will pass.

So what happens now is that I have to pay $30 to "non-op" register the SVT (you are required to keep the car registered), park it while I'm TDY, then the non-op registration will expire while I'm gone, so I have to renew it when I get back ($30), get temp plates, get the car quieter ($$$), then get regular plates again ($30).

Really pissing me off that I have to do this when my car was legal before this regulation change I was never notified about was signed! I wouldn't be nearly as heated if there had been a grace period!

Now the SVT gets to sit in my driveway. At least I get to remove the insurance on it.

Sometimes the military blows. Guess I'll keep working this and talk to my first sergent tomorrow and see what he says.

 

[ElKy]

that sucks that he wont let it pass.
and it sucks even more that he will most likely pass his friends.

 

[Big Daddy Kane]

This sucks... Got it registered non-op yesterday. Gonna cost me ~$200-$250 to register it again since I need a new muffler for it.

I think this is the last straw for this car. Always sinking money into it with no gain... I don't have the ability to keep repairing the car on my own, or keep paying for it to be fixed, which is obviously bad for business.

Maybe I can get into an MS6 in the States next summer and have it shipped here.

 

[TheMexicanJob]

then you can ship the svt to me.

 

[Big Daddy Kane]

Found a couple pics and wav of my exhaust:

Ignore the scratch... I backed into a big rock in the boonies on the way back from Stuttgart a while ago:

The mufflers... Dynomax 3" in / 3" out Ultra Flows, 3 of them total:

Sound (220KB WAV), as recorded by my Casio Z57 about 0.5m away, which is how far away they will be testing with the meters.

 

[F111D F]

Thanks for your service!!!!

Thanks for your service!!!!

Sounds like not much has changed, except specifics, since 1969-70. We also had local Germany inspectors loscated in Heilbronn that did the inpection. Still have to carry spare gas in the trunk? Still got my Triangle in it's gray container somewhere in the attic? Showed it to a Ohio State roadside inspection team it's not required but at least the older guy said oh stationed in Germany where you?
Was in Army spend 10 months in Neckarsulm Kaserne Pershing missile (NuK) unit. missiles are all gone now with the Arms reduction treaty. I noticed on Google earth that the brand new base being built near Heilbronn in spring of 70 is just a open field. As if we were never there. Neckarsulm Kaserne appears to re-done for German business?
Yes very expensive to have a modified car over there, it was bad enough to maintain an OEM. And that with Mark to dollar 3.65-1! And it was still tough.
My landlord on the local economy (no available Mil housing my wife was pregnant) he had 6 children and at 32 years of age got his first car, because of his attic rental. When they went to church it took several trips. VW square back used.
Do you still have gas ration stamps or does Air Force have decent priced gas on base? We $25 or $50 a month allocation and then had to pay the full price. Someone goofed and I got $50 for a VW and use sell left overs to guys with V-8's from the states.
My oldest son was born at the Badcannstat hospital in Stuttgart and there was a Porsche factory when we first got off the Autobahn (H-41) from Heilbronnon to the left along Stuttgarter Strasse. We use turn left and take a strasse (short cut to Badcannstat) between the Porsche plant and maybe a Mercedes test track. Use to see them prepping prototypes of 914 with the Porsche 6 motor. Riding with a friend on the Autobahn H-41 headed north I looked back to see a prototype entering about 2-3km back. IT was a long straight up hill and were lumbering along at 100-120Km and within seconds flashing lights ( gotta luv German drivers courtesy) it went bye as if we were sitting still. Interesting first Autobahn experience!!!!!
One memory that's not hard to forget when wife went into labor. Neckarsulm to Badcannst in used 59 VW Bug wide open from Einfart to Ausfart. Can you say frustratingly slow! I imagine if I'd been in the Air Force at Ramstein, Ehren would have been born on Base? Yes we gave him the Deutshe spelling for Arron.
Oh yes from Google Earth it looks like Mercedes has takening over all sorts of streets renamed and since you mentioned Stuttgart do you know if the Porsche plant still there? No your stationed west of Heidelburg-- never mind I was thinking Ramstein was the AFB near Echterdidngen. There use to be one there, don't remember the name.
I bet brakes take a beating driving the Autobahn now with urban area speed limits and of course I'm sure drivers don't slow down til the last moment and hammer the brakes????? Man those drivers love speed!!!!! Still have major wrecks during foggy conditions?
One night standing outside the Neckarsulm Karserne we thought for sure we under attack. Only 80-120 cars pile up, the flashes and noise we all swore Russians had dropped several 1000lbers" Google earth calls it "E-50" I hate to think all the accidents they'd weren't the strict rules and regs. What I really missed was German drives courtesy. Those folks are serious drivers! Bet with all ump-teen more drivers now they're not so courteous ?

TNX
Paul

Read a report in the doctor's office while back, drinking a "good" dark beer a day would improve the memory. (now that's a tough one to find here in the States compared to Germany) It works all this stuff's coming back, didn't do a darn thing for the short term though. I'm not giving up either!!!!!!!

 

[hotrod90019]

Damn! I am so glad that I got out of Germany. I heard that they were going to get harder on the inspections but holy hell. Good luck over there.

 

[Big Daddy Kane]

To F11D F:

The warning triangles come in yellow boxes now, and you're required to carry a first aid kit meeting or exceeding STvO standards. I bought a triangle in the States that ended up having 3 triangles stuffed in the box.

There are only 2 AF bases left here, Ramstein and Spengdalhm with their GSUs spread around. Even the Army is cutting back pretty big.

It was really weird a few weeks ago, I was looking for Sembach AB, and ended up on the abandoned part of the base on the runway, in the dark and fog. Was quite an experience...

This Google Maps satellite image is really old... the part of L393 that is going mostly N-S, if you follow that, it cuts right across the runway, then ends up either getting you on the really short east section of the runway, or to a gate for a business that is built there using part of the runway as a fenced in parking lot.

Drove up to what must be the old flightline drive (well, now I see it's an old taxiway), (nearly 99% of the buildings there are gone, only the hardened facilities are still up), and drove past a completely green building that still had the "BX/Commissary" sign up.

Continued on the road and ended up near the west side of the runway and all those HAZs. Couldn't get on the runway with my Sentra since the taxiway going onto the runway was covered in large plant growth.

At this point, the Wifey was scared (since it was like a horror movie with the fog), so we left and found the part of the base that's still up.

Our gas ration cards are now printed on our registration, and you get either 400, 600, or 800 Liters per month. I get 400L on both of my cars, but I saw a Colonel that had 800L, so I guess the extra is based on rank.

To use the ration card, you can only get gas on base, which is priced to the average of what gas costs in the states. If you need to get gas off base, you can purchase gas coupons for 25, 100, and 200 liter books for the same price per liter as you would on base. Then you can turn them in on all Esso stations on the autobahns, "participating" Aral autobahn station, and "participating" Esso stations elsewhere and in the Netherlands.

Complicated, but it works! Better than paying $6/gallon!

 

[Andy W.]

Yes... Army/Air Force/Navy/Marines... We all have USAREUR licences/plates.


True, but my big gripe is that they dropped this down without notification. Most people get their car inspected in the month it's due, so that gives you about 1.5 months to get it in spec before being forced to register it non-op and get it towed to repair it (since it's illegal to work on your car in your driveway).

What about all the people that bring a car over from the states modified? They will be issued temp plates and have 1 month to get it in regs.

Even the guys that work on base modifying the cars didn't know about this reg until a couple weeks ago... They're required to keep modifications within regs!

You are not required to bring a car over to Euro. You are infact probably better off selling and buying something more appropriate. It's your choice to bring over a car and you should be prepared to comply.

-Andy

 

[Big Daddy Kane]

You are not required to bring a car over to Euro. You are infact probably better off selling and buying something more appropriate. It's your choice to bring over a car and you should be prepared to comply.

-Andy

True, but I already brought it here, when it was legal to do so... now it is all of a sudden illegal, with no time to bring the car into regulations.

It's like a state (actually, I could see Cali doing this) putting a regulation in without telling anybody that every car must meet brand new emissions requirements. Including your pre-emissions cars. Your 1969 car was legal yesterday, but today it's illegal since it doesn't meet the 2007 emissions requirements.

You go to register said 69 car, and fail with them showing you the new regulation that says all cars must comply with the new regulation, regardless of the year.

To fully comply with the new USAREUR regulations, I either have to A) bring the SVT back to fully stock condition, or B) get DOT/TUV approval for all the aftermarket parts currently on the car.

Catch is, there is no DOT office here, and TUV isn't going to touch an American car with American parts with a 10ft pole unless you're converting it to Euro specs!

 

[svt4stv]

maybe park it, sell it, or ship the csvt back home. buy a fun little euro car to drive around. then you can bring that sucker back and make some money off it.

 

[Mystique97]

maybe park it, sell it, or ship the csvt back home. buy a fun little euro car to drive around. then you can bring that sucker back and make some money off it.

You know I like his idea the best!