Audi R8 4.2 V8
Andrew and I had a dream to buy a car and drive across Europe as long as I can remember.
We spent weeks googling how to buy a car in continental Europe, but it was extremely difficult to obtain information current and accurate on the subject we have posted questions on forums and wrote to government agencies but we could not get concrete answers is why I am writing to you that others do not have to struggle as we have done to be clear, however; we are not experts on the subject - it's simply describing our experience.
Here is our situation, so that you can compare it to yours.
- We're the adventurous Australians in our mid 20s - We have no residential address in any European country - As a personal preference, we insisted on a disk in the left hand - We wanted to stay in Europe for at least 6 months - We had no plans to leave European soil to go to Asia or Africa, for example.
This site will be in the details about the process that we followed, things that you need to be aware of, and costs in local currency All - generally Euros.
All information on this site relates to the ownership of the vehicle in Germany, as the only country that we know which allows non-EU citizens from buying a car in Continental Europe without local residential address.
Export plates also known as Ausfuhrkennzeichen are used for exporting vehicles abroad.
Plates are the only ones who do not have the Euro blue band on the left and the owner does not have to be a German resident to register the car Date on the red stripe on the right side shows the expiration date of vehicle insurance - After that, the vehicle must have left Germany.
Despite popular belief, you are allowed to drive on German roads as long as your Insuarance is valid, and will not leave within two weeks of purchase of the plates.
For more general information on German plates I found this wiki page very useful.
For us, it was very difficult to make the house the size of Germany can be overwhelming if the only thing you can really do is choose an area you want to travel and then look for vehicles in the region we are stayed at these popular sites.
Personally, we wanted a small commercial van because we wanted to turn into a camper we needed a cheap to run, easy to maneuver and quite inconspicuous We focused on the purchase of our goal, a Citeron Berlingo because it fulfilled our decided to buy a licensed car dealer because we surmised from information available at the time and because our German is nicht gut hat zehr they would organize insurance and saving for us with the Looking back, we would never get a better vehicle for a cheaper price if we had bought privately, but if you are unsure, it is a great way to get on the road without hassle.
We found our car in Essen, in the northwest of Germany, the Auto-M website and we rented a car to see the German car sites are different from what we are used to at home, where all vehicles in a place we went at the car dealership and found a small office rather disheveled with both cars on the front, we had to ask about the car on the Internet and were demolished to court about 10 km It would have been very difficult for us to see the car without our rental wheels.
This is a delicate issue for Australians, as we are not familiar with the use of diesel fuel on a regular basis.
From the standpoint of cost most people who buy a small car and plan to drive longer distances through several countries will see significant cost benefit by going Diesel - we certainly did.
Diesel is plentiful and easy to find in most service stations across Europe - we had no problem finding a pump The only places we found most difficult was in Switzerland, which promotes the use of unleaded gasoline on diesel far as Australia - but even then you could always find at least one black pump at each station.
In general, we found the cost of diesel on 10-15c cheaper than gasoline in 95 countries.
Prices for diesel has fluctuated between countries - from 1 50 liters in Germany 1 13 liter Andorra - because of different levels of taxation imposed - and if cost is a factor worth it to check this site to see if it is worth filling the tank before crossing your next frontier.
We took our chosen car for a test drive and bought on site very simple, we put a deposit 10, explained that we wanted the maximum time available for export insurance and plates in most places it ' is 90 days, but it is always worth asking more if you can get it We have also given the passport and my husband's address in Australia so it can be registered in his name.
The next day, the car dealer took this information to offices and brought all our relevant documents We paid the rest and bam we have a car in Europe.
UPDATE I have recently been informed that the tax is now payable on all vehicles - there is more than one exemption for registrations of 90 days or less.
We received the following with our car.
Note that the Fahrzeugbrief was replaced by Zulassungbescheinigung Teil I and II.
Many cars always come with their Fahrzeugbrief of origin, particularly those who are a few years older it as the title of the car in Germany this article remains with the vehicle and pass owner Don t keep it in the glove box - keep in a safe place separate from the car.
Both portfolio size documents have replaced Fahrzeugbrief as a primary car registration papers for the documentation in conformity with EU regulations The Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil is the proof of ownership and Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil II is your certificate vehicle registration.
You will need to prove your ownership and cross borders in non-Schengen countries.
International Versicherungskarte as Kraftverkehr green form.
You can buy insurance for your export vehicle plated all Autoschilder If you buy a car dealership, they arrange for you - just tell them how long you need.
Most Autoschilder offices have a 90-day limit on their insurance, and the countries concerned will be listed on the green form Most European countries are there, but not covered countries will generally allow you to purchase additional insurance their border with Kosovo, for example, prices vary from Autoschilder to Autoschilder, but we found that they generally charge about the same as we paid 300 for 90 days of insurance in Nov 2011. There are usually at least Autoshilder a field office of each Kraftfahrzeug-Zulassungsstelle registrar.
If you can read German or have someone who can read it for you and you want to get more than 90 days of insurance, it is worth trying to buy it online; as Kraftfahrzeug-Zulassungsstelle registrar will prolong the validity of your export plates to 1 year if you have adequate insurance A website that offers 6 months of insurance is non-DOS their price was 450 to 6 months in May 2012 must be purchased in advance, as the insurance slip will be mailed to your address There is no harm in buying early so; because it will not become active until the day you register the vehicle.
Due to the high cost you most likely with most insurance 3rd party base - which means that you will be covered for usual fire, theft, or the cost of any damage to your vehicle.
As a rule export plates are designed to be temporary, but there are things you can do to keep them a little longer.
You can not keep the plates for more than 1 year and unfortunately, many offices limit yourself to even less time than Rerecording your vehicle is possible, but many are confused by the process is what we have to expand our plates exports by an additional 90 days.
Find the Kraftfahrzeug-Zulassungsstelle local registry office and talk to staff there to ensure that you can re-register your vehicle donation not be afraid if your German language skills are not good, because there is usually someone around who will speak English they will check your documents and give you advice.
Note You can not go back to an office where you saved earlier - you can register the vehicle in each city once.
Buying a new insurance If you buy a Autoschilder office there is usually one or two near the registration desk, they will take payment and provide you with a form to take to the registration desk.
Go to the registration desk and show your passport, registration papers of the cars, your proof of insurance and proof of TÜV if not on registration documents The office will also take your old numberplates before issue new You'll need plates to step 5 to go to another office - we asked to use new, even if temporarily ounces they didn t even a sticker that they allowed us to do.
You must pay for registration and new numberplates, so make sure you have enough money with you about 150.
They will show you how to do this, we had to pay our money into a machine in the waiting area and take the receipt back to the window.
You must pay the vehicle Rights Kraftfahrzeugsteuer German citizens pay it through their bank accounts As a non-citizen, you will not be a local bank account is the case a little more complicated because it involves paying a run.
May 1 Go to the local office of tax Finanzamt to know how much you need to pay This is based on the age and type of vehicle and the duration of the recording.
February 5 The Finanzamt give you the account details and tell you which bank accept cash payments on their behalf.
March 5 Go to the bank, they keep asking until they tell you specify that one to go and make the payment of bank charges will apply - we paid May 50 - ask for a reciept.
Now go back to the registration desk and show them your reciept.
Final stage - I promise - the vehicle must be visually inspected and have its VIN number checked against the registration documents.
After the inspection sticker will be added to numberplates and you will then be given your new registration documents and you are good to go.
Of course, this is your best option to recover some of your costs Each country has different rules so that the process will depenant where you are some countries much more difficult for the buyer to register the vehicle for example, can take several months - and some great cost - in passing the entry to a Spanish buyer put a for sale sign in the windows and parking on the local market is an idea; but you'll have better luck by registering on the Internet - each country has one or two dominant car sales sites on the web as in Australia.
The countries that we have found it easier to sell were the UK, Germany, yes, you are allowed to sell in Germany despite export plates - but the car was removed from the German system, the new owner must register as if it were a foreign import and countries of eastern Europe such as Albania, Romania and Bulgaria but we were informed that the sale is to be more likely an informal sale, and the buyer will probably just drive unregistered vehicle this could be bad - but we said if your registration has expired in any case I do not see how it affects you as you get a signed bill of sale .
There is also a trade in sending used cars in general the UK to Africa You must be willing to lower the selling price well below its market value; but generally any vehicle will be considered, and recording or absence is not a problem This was the fate of our LHD - we could sell our car in London as an unregistered vehicle and is ready to continue its life in Ghana We found our buyer on the Gumtree website.
Similar to donate, you can go directly to the scrappers if you need a quick fix in most countries have facilities to do - just ask around We examined this option in Portugal and have been informed of several scrappers in the Lisbon area when the scrap is unlikely that you will get many - or any - money and in some cases you may need to pay a fee, for example, if the price of scrap is low Here is an option .
There are many charities that accept donated vehicles - which are usually discarded for a small profit The UK has a small number of these systems, and you can read more on sites like Give a car or charity car in the UK.
German car exports plates, German export plates.