Has anyone bought a car from Germany?

I'm thinking of doing this.

maybe flying out there and doing all the necessary bits of paper work etc then driving back.

does anyone know what exactly you need to do to avoid any potential problems (obviously finding a good mk1 will help!!)

cheers john

i looked into this to see whats invloved in importing a 2 door mk1 jetta

if you look on the DVLA website it tells you what you need to import a car

as for exporting, there's a few things you need to sort out before you drive it out of the country, for instance the german side of things involves you writing to them and filling in a form but there's english speaking company's out there that know thier stuff (exporting cars for army personel etc) but the DVLA side of things can be done over here, which includes a thorough MOT at one of the DVLA centres

Dubboy's done it a few times. AFAIK you can't drive it back, at least not in the UK, because it will be unregistered in the UK and your car needs to be registered to be legal on the roads here. There is an exemption but it only applies to new cars (eg buy a new car abroad and personal import). You are exempt from SVA because its over 10 years old, so all you need to do is register it here and some days later you receive an age-related registration mark. Then you need tax and MoT (and insurance) then you're all done!

I think there's something funny in Germany, like when you buy a car both the buyer and seller need to go to a registration office (during office hours) to complete the transfer, or something.

I'v never done it myself so I don't know the details, though.

Got my Golf Country from Munich in 2002.  Got a Brit ex pat who ran/runs a 'middle man' export business for weird and wonderful cars and trucks…his name is Gregor McKenzie.  He was really good.  I couldn't just go over there and drive back.  I needed to get the car inspected and and export plates acquired and then re inspected.  Takes a few days at least.

Contact details for Gregor are here:
http://www.c-u-v.co.uk/sold_vehicles.asp

He may at least be able to give advice.

……further info.

CUV mainly do Pinzgauers but they stae the following on their site:

"Other lines of work from us are the standard VW T3 camper and also rare and classic cars from 356 Porsche to BMW Issetta  to Volvo Sugga, (rule being if we don?t have it we know someone who does) ."

As far as driving a German-registered car in the UK you can drive on German plates for 6 months and then return. If you know that the car is to stay in the UK for more than six months you need to register it with the DVLA (I'm not sure how to do this). You are allowed to drive a car over from Germany with German plates.

As far as plates go, the Germans own their number plates and transfer them between cars, the car has no fixed number plate. By the way the seals (stickers) on the plates you see denote the region the car is from, whether it has a current TUV and what pollution band the vehicle falls into.

To get the plates transferred over both the buyer and seller must go to an office to do some paperwork and pay a transfer fee. You then receive a special red export plate for you to drive with, you also receive third party insure (or the equivalent of) to drive with. I believe the car has to have a current TUV certificate to be exported.

Basically you can drive on English roads with German plates but if you are importing the vehicle then the most sensible thing to do would be to register it before using it.

I haven't personally imported a vehicle myself but it may be a good idea to find someone who has to get a few pointers.

HTH.

yradave said

As far as driving a German-registered car in the UK you can drive on German plates for 6 months and then return. If you know that the car is to stay in the UK for more than six months you need to register it with the DVLA (I'm not sure how to do this). You are allowed to drive a car over from Germany with German plates.

Only if you live in Germany….

You need a UK MOT before you get UK registration.

I had to go through this process with my T25 Camper.

Gareth

paul_c said

yradave said

As far as driving a German-registered car in the UK you can drive on German plates for 6 months and then return. If you know that the car is to stay in the UK for more than six months you need to register it with the DVLA (I'm not sure how to do this). You are allowed to drive a car over from Germany with German plates.

Only if you live in Germany….

I should have been more specific, sorry.

If you read on then you'll see that to buy a German car means the plate must be transferred by the German authorities, and if you don't live in Germany you will receive the red export plates. These plates are German, because they're from the German authorities. If you live in Germany you won't get export plates, they are still German plates, however.

And I forgot to add that the export plates only give you third party insurance in Germany. You'll need to find an insurance company that will insure the vehicle on the chassis number and not the registration mark.

yradave said

paul_c said

yradave said

As far as driving a German-registered car in the UK you can drive on German plates for 6 months and then return. If you know that the car is to stay in the UK for more than six months you need to register it with the DVLA (I'm not sure how to do this). You are allowed to drive a car over from Germany with German plates.

Only if you live in Germany….

I should have been more specific, sorry.

If you read on then you'll see that to buy a German car means the plate must be transferred by the German authorities, and if you don't live in Germany you will receive the red export plates. These plates are German, because they're from the German authorities. If you live in Germany you won't get export plates, they are still German plates, however.

And I forgot to add that the export plates only give you third party insurance in Germany. You'll need to find an insurance company that will insure the vehicle on the chassis number and not the registration mark.

How do you overcome the UK requirement that all cars on the road must be UK registered? The exemption only applies for foreign visitors temporarily bringing their car over, eg for a holiday.

i think dont quote me on this, but as long as your car has insurance to drive in another country and this one, you can with some companies use the car on a road with insurance.

A friend of mine who came from Holland had her car on dutch plates for ages whilst getting english plates sorted and she was insured just fine. It went for a mot to make sure it was ok for british roads and it passed.

paul_c said

How do you overcome the UK requirement that all cars on the road must be UK registered? The exemption only applies for foreign visitors temporarily bringing their car over, eg for a holiday.

The exemption is for foreign vehicles, not foreign drivers:

http://www.direct.gov.…rtingAVehicle/DG_10014623



Here's some more info that may be useful to the original topic:

http://www.direct.gov.…ortingAVehicle/DG_4022583

I seem to remember that with my Golf Country I could drive it back from Germany within the time limit of the export plate coverage…they are dated… and get the car MoT'd asap (have an appointment etc) and then get the car registered at the local office.  So driving the car was only for transit/ export reasons as per usual.

not quite the same i know but when i bought my scooby from liverpool docks as it had come from japan there was no plates with it so booked into an mot station on the route home. car was insured on traders policy (chassis no) but no mot or number plates got some funny looks driving around with no plates at all, it is quite common around liverpool to see jap cars being driven from the docks with no plates. police occasionally stop some but its a bit of a grey area as the car is booked in for mot it can be driven (supposidly nearest station) for test because you need an mot before you can get a plate, bit of a catch 22 really.
regestering a german car is easy just keep every bit of paperwork get with the car, especially reciept of purchase make a check list of the paperwork you need from the dvla. best thing to do is go to licensing office and ask they are helpful

I also think that in germany, the no plate or export plate is the basic insurance. Not 100% sure so dont quote me on it!

I have bought a fair number of cars abroad. First lesson, forget driving it back. You don't want to be driving an unknown quantity these kind of distances, I have broken down and it was a nightmare (and I have European breakdown cover).

Trailer it back, ensuring you get the foreign registration document and a receipt (otherwise you may have problems at customs to prove you have not pinched it). Get an import pack from DVLA and fill out V55 and customs form. Get the car insured on chassis number and take it for MOT. Take all the paperwork to DVLA office with payment for first reg and tax fees and they will assign number and provide tax disc. You may have to take the car for inspection at the DVLA's discretion. This is the only time you can legally drive without UK plates.

dubboy said

I have bought a fair number of cars abroad. First lesson, forget driving it back. You don't want to be driving an unknown quantity these kind of distances, I have broken down and it was a nightmare (and I have European breakdown cover).

Trailer it back, ensuring you get the foreign registration document and a receipt (otherwise you may have problems at customs to prove you have not pinched it). Get an import pack from DVLA and fill out V55 and customs form. Get the car insured on chassis number and take it for MOT. Take all the paperwork to DVLA office with payment for first reg and tax fees and they will assign number and provide tax disc. You may have to take the car for inspection at the DVLA's discretion. This is the only time you can legally drive without UK plates.

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