Deregistering a car for sale, scrapping, export or lay-up

Selling: deregister before or after handover?

For a private sale, there are two routes. Either you deregister the car before handover, in which case the buyer takes over a deregistered vehicle and arranges the registration themselves. Or the buyer drives off with your licence plates and transfers the car into their own name.

The second route is convenient for the buyer but risky for you. Until the transfer of registration, you remain registered as the keeper, so parking tickets and tax assessments will initially be sent to you. The safe option is therefore deregistration before handover.

• Record the time of handover with date and time in the sales contract.
• Carry out the deregistration before handover, print out the notice and attach it to the contract.
• Hand over the registration certificate and the vehicle title to the buyer.
• Also notify your insurer of the sale.

Scrapping: keep the certificate of destruction

A car that is to be scrapped belongs at an approved dismantling facility. It will issue you with a certificate of destruction (Verwertungsnachweis). Many facilities offer to handle the deregistration at the same time. If you would rather do it yourself, you can deregister the vehicle online before handing it in.

Keep the certificate of destruction in a safe place. It proves that the vehicle was disposed of properly and may be requested by the registration authority. Without this proof, it is difficult to establish later what happened to the car.

Export: deregistration in Germany, registration in the destination country

If a vehicle is sold abroad or taken abroad, it must be deregistered in Germany. To register it in the destination country, the new keeper usually needs the German vehicle documents, meaning the registration certificate (Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil I, Fahrzeugschein) and the vehicle title (Fahrzeugbrief).

If the car is to be driven across the border under its own power, it needs an export licence plate after deregistration. This is issued in person at the registration authority and cannot be applied for online. Alternatively, the vehicle is transported on a trailer or in a van.

Lay-up: winter break, repair or time out

Deregistering can be worthwhile even without a sale, for example for a convertible in winter, a car undergoing a lengthy repair or during a stay abroad. Tax and insurance end, but the vehicle remains your property. For seasonal vehicles, a seasonal licence plate at the next registration is an alternative to deregistering every year.

If you are planning a long break, note an important deadline: under current rules, the vehicle data in the register are deleted seven years after deregistration. A later re-registration is then considerably more complicated, because the technical data have to be proven again. You can complete a re-registration within this period online via Zulassung24.

Who may deregister the car?

In online deregistration, the data of the registered keeper are transmitted, and the three security codes prove that the registration certificate and plates are present. If you are handling the deregistration for a relative or a company vehicle, coordinate with the keeper beforehand and enter their details exactly as they appear in the registration certificate.

In person, an authorised representative can also handle the deregistration. They then additionally bring a written power of attorney and a copy of the keeper's ID.