Unless things have changed drastically, the inspections from both Inbound and Outbound vehicles were pretty rigorous. I shipped two cars over to Germany and back again. Once in 1975 (return in 1978) and again in 1986 (return in 1989). Both times through the port of Bremerhaven. Import inspections during the pick-up process lasted about an hour and were much more detailed than typical annual state inspections here in Virginia. Any issues found during the inspection had to be corrected at the inspection station before the car would be released to the owner. I am pretty sure that the German Vehicle Import inspection code was used. I had to wait 3 hours for a friend while his entire exhaust system was replaced. Fortunately, in 1975, I was driving a brand new Dodge Charger and breezed right through the inspection process without a problem.
Shipping my van home in 1989 was a real chore because the entire car had to be steam cleaned (engine too) in order to get rid of any dirt, bugs or parasites the might be carried back into the US.
So my personal experience is a little different than the Ramstein poster.
