[200q20v] Tranny from Germany

[Mike Miller]

Yesterday, I picked up my transmission that I ordered through Robert
Braunschweig in Germany ( rbraun at transtec.de ). I though I would share my
experience with the list in case anyone else needs/wants to get parts
through Robert.

Overall, the experience was pretty painless.

I sent Robert an email on Oct 5th. I expressed an interest and let him know
that I was in a hurry to get the tranny. Robert called me within about an
hour and gave me the details (which he followed up with in an email) of what
needed to be done and what the process was.

I wired the money to him that afternoon. For some reason that I don't know,
the German banks hold the wired money for a week before making it available
to the account holder so nothing happened for a week. It took another week
or so for Robert to get the tranny and get it crated, then a couple days for
the shipper to pick it up. I would say expect the whole process to take 3-4
weeks. I had an extra few days added on due to my schedule and NorthWest
Airlines trying to send it to the wrong place. A quick phone call had it
heading in the right direction.

I talked to the customs people at my airport of choice (Great Falls,
Montana) as to what was required to import the tranny. They were very
helpful and it sounded pretty easy to do so I elected to do my own customs
work versus paying the shipper $125 to do it for me. As it turned out, the
duty/fees were $4.50 and customs told me to just forget it ( not worth their
time to process) so there was no paperwork at all. By picking up the tranny
at the airport and doing my own customs work, I estimate I saved in the
range of $250-$300.

Robert built a very nice crate ( 3/4 plywood) on top of a pallet to ship the
tranny in and it arrived with the tranny  tied down in place.  The only
suprise was that I  (and Robert) thought the shipping was prepaid, (he uses
his company to ship thru) but when it arrived, it came freight collect and I
had to pay the shipping charges of ~$190. My understanding was that Robert
would contact me with the shipping charges when he received the bill and I
would reimburse him. This way seemed easier to me and saved me having to do
another international wire.

Robert and the shipper (panalpina) were pretty responsive to any of my
inquiries - especially considering the time zone differences. I usually had
a reply back within 24hrs.

No affliation - just a happy customer. The tranny goes in tomorrow, not a
moment too soon as the Montana weather is looking like cold and snow.

mike miller
ready to quattro it in the snow.