Car Shipping When Moving to Germany
Car shipping to Germany for households moving from the UK, with the paperwork the car needs in both countries.
A few short questions. Nothing is sent until you check and confirm.
Is your car worth taking to Germany?
If you are moving your home to Germany, the car is registered to you and you’ve used it for at least six months before the move, it can come into Germany free of customs duty and import VAT with the rest of your household. Most of the effort comes afterwards, when it has to pass German technical checks and be registered before it’s back on the road with German plates.
How much effort depends on the car’s papers and lights, so that’s worth finding out before you decide.
Mention the car when you send your enquiry. We’ll pass the details to a partner removal company, which checks whether it covers the route. That company will tell you whether it can carry the car with your belongings or whether the car should travel separately, for example with a specialist vehicle carrier. Any quotation for the car comes from them.
Our guide to how vehicles are shipped overseas explains the ways a car can travel, and the vehicle shipping request form is the place to describe a car that will travel on its own.
Importing a car to Germany from the UK brings you into contact with the DVLA before you go, then German customs and the local vehicle registration office once you’ve arrived. The sections below follow that order. For the household side of the move, our UK to Germany route guide is the place to start, and the Germany moving guides by city and route deal with moves from elsewhere.
What to tell the removal company about your car
The removal company plans the car’s transport from a few details. Give us the make and model, whether it runs, and when you’d like it to arrive compared with your furniture. The removal company uses that to decide whether the car can share the lorry with your belongings or should go on its own, and the answer comes with its quotation.
Some people prefer to drive the car over themselves and leave the household to the removal company. German customs points out that a car on UK plates cleared for use in Germany is liable for German vehicle tax, with no exemption even for the drive to the registration office. Our page on customs and transfer of residence for Germany explains how that tax and the customs declaration are handled.
The same goes for a motorbike, a van or a trailer: say what it is in your enquiry, and the removal company will tell you how it can travel.
Telling the DVLA your car is leaving the UK
When a car leaves the UK for 12 months or more, the DVLA needs to know. GOV.UK says (opens in a new window) to fill in the permanent export section of the V5C log book, detach it and send it to the DVLA, then keep the rest of the log book because you’ll need it to register the car in Germany.
If your address is changing at the same time, include a letter with the new one so any vehicle tax refund reaches you.
Deal with a personalised number before the car goes. GOV.UK says to transfer or retain it before the vehicle is exported, otherwise you lose the right to it. The DVLA also can’t post a V5C to an address abroad, so if the log book is missing or still in someone else’s name, sort it out while you’re still in the UK.
Customs relief for a car you already own
Coming from the UK, a car is imported into the EU, but it can qualify for the same relief as your furniture when you move your home to Germany. German customs (the Zoll) (opens in a new window) counts private vehicles of any kind as personal property for a transfer of residence, known in German as Übersiedlungsgut.
The car must have been registered in your name, which the UK registration certificate shows, and, as with the rest of your belongings, you must have used it for at least six months before the move, except in special cases under Article 4 of the EU regulation. The household conditions apply too, including having lived outside the EU for at least 12 months.
One condition carries on after clearance. For 12 months from the date customs accepts the car, you can’t lend, pledge, hire out or transfer it, and transferring includes selling. If that happens, the relief is cancelled and the duties become payable.
Zoll’s list of private vehicles includes motor cycles and private motor vehicles with their trailers, so a motorbike qualifies on the same terms, and a van you use only privately may too, which customs decides. A vehicle used for your business is a commercial means of transport, which the relief excludes.
The registration office will ask for a customs clearance certificate for the car (Zollunbedenklichkeitsbescheinigung), so keep it with the V5C. The declaration for your other belongings, including form 0350 and the evidence customs looks for, is covered in the same customs guide.
Registering a UK car in Germany
Register your own address first. Berlin’s vehicle registration office (opens in a new window) asks for your passport or identity card together with the certificate from your address registration (Meldebescheinigung), so the Anmeldung comes before the car. Its list for a used car brought in from outside the EU includes:
- The completed application and a SEPA direct debit mandate for vehicle tax, so you’ll need a bank account the tax can be collected from.
- An electronic insurance confirmation (eVB), the reference number your motor insurer in Germany issues for the registration.
- The customs clearance certificate.
- A full expert report with a technical data sheet from a technical testing body, made under section 21 of the StVZO (opens in a new window) (Germany’s vehicle approval rules) and no more than 18 months old. Berlin accepts a certificate of conformity instead only where the car’s non-EU registration papers show its EC type-approval number was recognised.
- The UK vehicle papers and number plates, plus proof that the car is yours to register, such as the purchase contract.
- Proof of a valid German main inspection, the Hauptuntersuchung or HU.
Berlin wants every document in the original. The local office, often called the Kfz-Zulassungsstelle, is run by each city or district and publishes its own list, so check the one for your new address before you go. The registration steps on the moving checklist put the vehicle step after the Anmeldung. Our pages on removals to Berlin and removals to Munich cover the household side of a move to either city.
Right-hand drive and the headlamps
DEKRA (opens in a new window), one of Germany’s vehicle testing organisations, says a car from a country that drives on the left may need its dipped-beam headlamps changed. Otherwise, it says, a car that matches its type approval usually needs no conversion. Ask about the lights when you first contact a testing organisation, because the answer can decide whether the car is worth bringing. A car coming from the United States raises different approval questions, which our USA to Germany removals page explains.
Driving in Germany on a UK licence
Once you live in Germany, GOV.UK’s guide to living in Germany (opens in a new window) says you can drive on your UK licence for up to six months. To keep driving after that, you must exchange it for a German licence. Apply before the six months are up, because the exchange can take time and you’ll need the German licence to drive legally. You may be asked for an eye test or a medical certificate.
You also can’t renew or replace a UK licence while you live in Germany, so a UK licence that’s close to expiring is another reason to exchange it early.
Questions about taking your car to Germany
Can my car go on the same lorry as my furniture?
Sometimes, but it depends on the removal company and how your move is planned.
Tell us about the car in your enquiry, and the partner removal company will say whether it can carry the car with your belongings or whether the car should travel separately, for example with a specialist vehicle carrier.
I bought the car four months before the move. Does it still qualify for customs relief?
Not normally.
The transfer-of-residence relief applies to a car you've used for at least six months before your move, and the EU regulation allows exceptions only in special cases. A newer car can still come, but customs duty and import VAT are then charged in the normal way, so it's worth weighing that up before you decide.
Can I sell the car soon after it's registered in Germany?
Not in the first year without losing the relief.
A car brought in duty-free can't be lent, pledged, hired out or transferred until 12 months after customs accepted it. If it is, the relief is withdrawn and the duties become payable.
What happens to my personalised number plate?
Transfer it or retain it before the car leaves the UK.
GOV.UK says to transfer or retain a personalised registration before the vehicle is exported, otherwise you lose the right to it. Once the car is registered in Germany it carries German plates anyway.
Does a current MOT count in Germany?
Plan on a German test instead.
Berlin's registration office asks for proof of a valid main inspection, the Hauptuntersuchung or HU, under German rules, and a UK MOT certificate isn't on its list. A testing organisation can tell you whether the HU can be done alongside any expert report the car needs.
Can I bring a motorbike or a van the same way?
A motorbike can, as German customs lists motor cycles among the private vehicles that qualify.
A van you use only privately may qualify too, which customs decides, but a vehicle used for your business counts as commercial transport and is excluded. Mention either one in your enquiry so the removal company can say how it will travel.
Tell us about the car and your move
Send your UK postcode, the German town and your moving dates, with a rough idea of what’s going. For the car, add the make and model, whether it runs and when you’d like it in Germany, and mention any motorbike or van too.
About International Removals Companies
International Removals Companies is an enquiry and introduction service run by DATACONTEXT (UK) LTD, in partnership with AGM Group. We don't move goods ourselves: the removal company quotes for your move and carries it out, so check its credentials and terms before you book. Our service is free. Discuss the quotation and booking terms directly with the removal company.
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- In partnership withAGM Group (agm.group)