# Buying a car for export to other EU



## Dillinger

Hello all,

I am setting up this thread as there seems to be a lot of info out there for Non Eu (esp US Citizens) on how to buy a car in Germany, drive it and export it. 

I am from UK, and I will be living as a tourist in Italy (no official residence there as I do not yet know where exacly I want to live) and am buying a 2nd hand BMW in Germany. Why not in Italy? There is a much better market for German cars in germany (obviously) that means I can get a fully loaded car with all the goodies for the same price as an unladen car with no goodies in Italy and I am not a resident in Italy.

I have no yet bought a car. I do not speak German.

OK, so far I have found several cars with my wants and needs. I found them on BMW.de and went to used car search with Google translation.

I have found out from searches on Google that I will need RED export plates (as I am driving out of the country). Yellow are for within Germany only. To my limited knowledge.

There is an expiration date on the plates that date I BELIEVE is for insurance NOT the expiration of the plates. In other words ... get 90 days insurance and your plates are valid for 90 days.

Trouble is ... the dealer says that they are valid only for 30 days and yet every other info I have found says that the insurance is the validity NOT the plates.

Ref Exportkennzeichen fr die Ausfuhr gnstig online kaufen for example.

I am now asking the dealer to find another insurer. More soon.

DISCLAIMER. I am a complet novice and I am asking for input from others that know better to please correct any info. I am intending this thread to be a guide for other in a similar situation. Thanks.


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## Dillinger

I have also found out that as Italy is an EU member we cannot get EX VAT (Netto) price. We need to pay the BRUTTO price. Though Once paid I will not need to pay VAT again in Italy.


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## James3214

We did discuss this a while ago and you might find other threads under the German forum´, but for a start you could look at this one....

http://www.expatforum.com/expats/ge...g-germany/65075-how-do-i-buy-car-germany.html


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## MrTweek

> I have found out from searches on Google that I will need RED export plates (as I am driving out of the country). Yellow are for within Germany only. To my limited knowledge.


It's the other way round - red is only valid in Germany, yellow is for export.


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## Dillinger

MrTweek said:


> It's the other way round - red is only valid in Germany, yellow is for export.


Now i am really confused. Thanks for the input. I will take a look.

So far i hve found a BMW dealer that speaks English nd will do all the running around for me.

I am taking it that i do not need to pay VAT again once i register in Italy.


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## Dillinger

James3214 said:


> We did discuss this a while ago and you might find other threads under the German forum´, but for a start you could look at this one....
> 
> http://www.expatforum.com/expats/ge...g-germany/65075-how-do-i-buy-car-germany.html


Thanks for that. I took a look.

I was going to finish this thread though to it's conclusion.

We never heard the rest from mr canary isles.


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## Dillinger

Dillinger said:


> Now i am really confused. Thanks for the input. I will take a look.
> 
> So far i hve found a BMW dealer that speaks English nd will do all the running around for me.
> 
> I am taking it that i do not need to pay VAT again once i register in Italy.


OK, I see now that there were / are 2 Red plates.

_Ausfuhrkennzeichen_ are the ones I am talking about. I found an English language website selling the plates with insurance and tax. 

http://www.export-plate.com/


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## Dillinger

The price for Ausfuhrkennzeichen plates has really rocketed. 1200 Euros for 6 months. Eek. I will get 90 days and do things quicker.


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## TOMPAT

Hi! If you had a registered buisiness you could buy Netto (VAT FREE) but as you are buying as a private person you will have to pay the VAT ....


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## Dillinger

TOMPAT said:


> Hi! If you had a registered buisiness you could buy Netto (VAT FREE) but as you are buying as a private person you will have to pay the VAT ....


Yes, that is correct. I have not got the time to set up a business so private it is.


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## Dillinger

The dealer is setting up the export plates and the insurance for 90 days for me, so that the car can be bought and drove away in one day.

What will the Italian police make of those plates? I am guessing they have seen them before and there will be no problem, i guess being pulled over once or twice will not hurt me.

Once is have a residence ... Will register it in Italia.


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## MrTweek

> What will the Italian police make of those plates? I am guessing they have seen them before and there will be no problem, i guess being pulled over once or twice will not hurt me.


I doubt they will pull you over because of these plates. They are made for export, so you are surely not the first person to use them in Italy.


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## Dillinger

OK, the dealer has now told me that plates take a few days and cannot be done as fast as he reckoned. Fair enough, but wish he had told me.

Ayway, I will need to pay in FULL before they make the plates. That is what they want anyway.


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## gus-lopez

Why not register it on the chassis number in Italy & sort out the plates yourself ? 
When I was looking to bring a car from Germany down here , having insured on chassis number, the export plates only had 3 days validity & didn't cost anything , or hardly anything, if I remember rightly ?

In fact for 1200€ , you'd be better buying it without plates & having it transported to Italy for around £500.


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## foxyzerman

*german car buyer*

so to be clear for everyone, stop missleading the man if you don't knw what you are talking about.

both yellow or red can be used for export, yellow ones are only valid for few days.
for the red, as long as you pay, they are valid along with insurance, usuallyvnot more than 90 days.
validity ends in the same time, both for plates and insurance, nobody's gonna issu plates valid longer than the insurance for the car registered on those plate, wherever you are on this planet, if the car is for export.


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## foxyzerman

btw, the plates are issued in the same day by the police, where you also, or also dealer pays for the insurance, same place. after the car is sold, and course, payed for


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## Dillinger

OK, all done.

I got RED plates with insurance for 90 days. I now need to get residence in Italy to register the car here. 

I need residence for a bank account to buy a house anyway. I am using Bancopostale (Post office). They can also issue certified cheques for the purchase.

Anyway, residence involves ... Go to local municipio. They are usually busy looking but are quite bored if not in a city center and you are an interesting distraction. They will/should help.

1. Passport copy
2. Codice Fiscal (easy to get) just ask landlord or friends there. It is free and take a few moments only; You will need it for Mobile services and so much more, so get one.
3. Rental agreement or a declaration from friends if you are staying with them for free.
4. Contract of employment or Bank account to show funds if you are not yet working .. Chicken/Egg situation as the bank wants you to have residency to open an account. So ask the Municipio to issue a letter to tell the bank that you are in the process of residency. Go there and open an account. Now pay some money in and ask for a printout. The amount they want to see is something like 8000 Euros for a couple.
5. Insurance or your E111 or equivalent (look this up online) I The insurance must be Italian, so try INA ASSITALIA if needed.
6. Wait a week or so ... the police will come to check your address. Once they do that (give them your phone number if you may not be at home all day) you are all done.

With all the above done it should not take more than a week ... true of my small town anyway.

Next ... register the car.


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## Dillinger

gus-lopez said:


> Why not register it on the chassis number in Italy & sort out the plates yourself ?
> When I was looking to bring a car from Germany down here , having insured on chassis number, the export plates only had 3 days validity & didn't cost anything , or hardly anything, if I remember rightly ?
> 
> In fact for 1200€ , you'd be better buying it without plates & having it transported to Italy for around £500.


If you read the post (I never do properly either) I say that I am not yet in Italy. I needed the car to drive.

I landed in France ... bought a car online in Germany (new enough with warranty not to be worried) and they delivered the car to Strasbourg Airport. I then drove it down to Calabria ... great journey.

I would never do that with a used car though. It was a BMW 8000km on the clock and with all BMW guarantees etc. I know nothing about cars so no point in driving to Germany to view it.


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## Dillinger

Update time.

OK, I got the residency a while ago. Actually it was quite easy. Since that you are basically saying "can I pay you tax please?" they make it easy for you.

< ..... disclaimer 

I am on 'holiday' in the sense that I am between projects and having a good rest before starting 2 new ones, so that is why everything is taking so long. So far Italy is not the problem. The whole residency issue could have been done in a week here, with all the right documents in place.

...... >

I am now ready for the car. So I go to the commune (where I got the residency) and ask their advice. they tell me to go to a local business that takes care of this for you and does the MOT etc (if needed).

OK, so I go there. They ask for proof of residency ... I go back to comune. They give me a signed certificate ... I go back to the business. The whole thing seems like a huge project until I tell them the car is NOT registered in Germany, but on export plates. This seems to be easier. They say they will now go to the registry with photocopies of my documents and see what the registry thinks. In the morning they will give me an answer.

12 days later after many calls and to and fro they finally tell me that I need an Italian identity card. The comune did not even tell me there was such a thing.

Anyway, comune says OK, get 3 photos and they will make the card in one day. It was actually open on a Friday evening and the guy was there ... amazing.

Not yet finished, but nearly. Just think ... in a few days I will be able to pay tax on my car ... all this to pay tax eh?


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## cliogen

Hi, I live in Spain and a UK resident wants to buy my car. This means that it has to be exported and my concern is - if he has an accident whilst driving to UK I would be liable in some way because he wouldn't be the legal owner until he registers the car in UK.

Point number 2... would he, as the new owner living in England, have to be present at the Traffico Office when I go to arrange the legal exportation of my car?

Tony


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