car-germany-drive back? how?

This is one where the EU helps you.

You can insure your German purchase on your UK insurance on the VIN plate. When you get back to the UK just drive in through the "Nothing to declare" channel and you are golden. You need a customs form to "prove" it came from another EU country and no duty due in order for the DVLA to register it so you may want to stop off at customs on your way through the port to sort that but I believe you can do it by post otherwise. There is something about export plates too, I dunno how you get them though

Somewhere there is a really really good thread about importing from Germany written by that chap who had the nice Ascona. It really should have been FAQ'd but wasn't. I did a section on US Imports as well. See if you can find it.

wicked cheers guys.... gonna try get handy with this search function too ***alistair***

the cars I'm looking for are simply polo's but all being well whatever i choose will be a rare one... oh the joys of LHD lol....

so basically at the port i just need to get a form from customs saying that it came from the EU...

these export plates sound interesting too...


back to my german language audio book on the ipod

just found this for anyone else interested...


* Export plates (also known as "Ausfuhrkennzeichen", customs plates) are used for exporting vehicles abroad. The plates are the only ones which do not have the blue Euro strip on the left and the owner does not have to be a German resident to register the car. The date on the red strip on the right hand side does not show the expiration date of the plate; instead it shows the expiration date of the vehicle insurance. After this date the vehicle must have left Germany.

there is a couple of ways to register a car here; in case you know the seller (and he sells you very well) he could let you drive home with the german registration... but a car can only be de-registered over here when you have the plates and the papers.. if the car is not de-registered, tax and insurance go on forever... so it is unlikely someone let's you drive home on their plates if they don't know you well... you can get a 5day plate over here, but you need to have insurance for that and you must be living in germany.... most insurers hesitate to cover that, so they make it expensive.... for the 5day plate you don't need a german MOT (TÜV) .Prepare to get stopped a couple of times on your journey with these plates... i am also not sure, which countries in europe are covered by the insurance; and be careful; though the german MOT centres are tested regularily, it could be that you get an export MOT (that means, it wouldn't pass a a normal MOT, but when it goes abroad....)

you also could get an export plate, in this case you can insure this car by the ADAC (= german RAC), the car then has to have a valid MOT and emission test, and you have to bring the car to the local registration office so they can check the VIN ... (if the car is not currently registered you need to bring it there by trailer, or on a 5day plate....) . Dealers often have trade plates and help you with going to the registration office... moneywise this might be the most expensive way, but the safest .... ( i wouldn't want anyone driving around through europe with my insurance...) . I think once you have passed the german border, no-one cares about the plates, i have seen vans with cardboard plates going on the ferry to the UK ;D

what ever kind of plates you fit on the car, make sure they are fitted where they should be. If you get stopped by the police with the plates on the dashboard etc. it could cause trouble ...

for the dealers; what kind of car are you looking at? I might have a couple of adresses.... and whatever is around Stuttgart can be viewed by me, and of course stored.....

oldbus will know the name the place to get export plates from - some threads on forums (from 05 oddly) say that the plate office shuts on friday lunchtimes - if you miss that youll be stuck till the monday

think they're usually valid for a week cost 50-100 euro (when daz did it - cant find his thread)

needs tuv then as akku said insure on vin collect v55/5 form and register within 6 months of gettin it home

The local vehicle registration office is the place you´d need to go (Strassenvekehrsamt) Each town has it´s own but don´t expect them to sort it all out for you in english and they don´t do late night opening and weekends

I wouldn´t bother with all the hassle and paperwork.
Just borrow a trailer and drag it home. I´ll probably be cheaper in the long run too.

blimey, and a Starfire

suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/showDetails.html?id=122566515&__lp=4&scopeId=C&sortOption.sortBy=price.consumerGrossEuro&sortOption.sortOrder=ASCENDING&makeModelVariant1.makeId=18975&makeModelVariant1.searchInFreetext=false&makeModelVariant2.searchInFreetext=false&makeModelVariant3.searchInFreetext=false&vehicleCategory=Car&segment=Car&siteId=GERMANY&negativeFeatures=EXPORT&damageUnrepaired=NO_DAMAGE_UNREPAIRED&export=NO_EXPORT&customerIdsAsString=&lang=de&pageNumber=1

more H body madness.

I would do that too, once it's back register it. You have to do that anyway, so save yourself the bother of dealing with the English DVLA and the German DVLA!

jurgen wtf ;D