Car export from Doetinchem: prepare once, drive home on export plates

Buying a used car in the Netherlands and taking it home? Or moving abroad with your own vehicle? Before it leaves the country, the car has to come off the Dutch vehicle register. Auto Export Doetinchem handles that for you, together with the white export plates and the temporary insurance you need for the drive.

Our RDW-approved export desk is not in the Achterhoek but in Hengelo, about an hour's drive away. That is why we work with thorough preparation: you send us the details first, we check them, and your visit stays short. If you cannot come at all, the export can also be arranged remotely.

Car export from Doetinchem: how it works

To export a car from the Netherlands, the vehicle is deregistered for export in the Dutch registration system. As an RDW-approved export company we process that deregistration. We are not the RDW and not part of it, but approved export companies may carry out this step, just like RDW inspection stations and RDW counters.

After deregistration, the buyer (or the person in whose name the export is arranged) receives the export certificate, also called registration certificate part II, plus the registration card with one corner cut off. The seller receives the vrijwaringsbewijs, the proof that the Dutch registration has ended. According to the RDW guide to exporting a vehicle, the Dutch owner's insurance obligation, APK obligation and motor vehicle tax stop from that moment.

Read more about the export documents for the Netherlands, the Dutch export plates and the export insurance.

One trip to Hengelo: what to prepare

From the Simonsplein in Doetinchem it is about 60 km to our desk; allow roughly one hour via the N315. To make that trip count, prepare the following:

• a valid passport, ID card or driving licence of the person the export will be registered to;
• the Dutch registration card with its tenaamstellingscode, or the old paper parts (part 1B and the transfer certificate);
• the yellow Dutch number plates, which are handed in;
• the current mileage;
• the buyer's full address abroad;
• for insurance and plates: start date, destination and route, and details of the policyholder and driver. For a business buyer we also need the company name, address and VAT number.

Send photos of the papers by WhatsApp before you leave, so we can see whether anything is missing. Call or message us about 20 minutes before you arrive. With complete documents, a standard request at the desk is usually ready in about 15 minutes.

Driving home on Dutch export plates

After deregistration you may drive on Dutch public roads for another 14 days. The export registration uses the car's existing number on white plates with black characters. It is valid for 14 days, but never beyond the expiry date of the APK, the Dutch roadworthiness test. Without a valid APK a car may not use public roads.

Abroad, the rules for a Dutch export registration differ per country, so check your destination and every transit country before you set off. The Green Card shows that the vehicle has at least the compulsory third-party cover of the country you visit, but your policy and Green Card decide in which countries and for which driver you are covered.

Can't come to the Netherlands? Remote and postal service

Preparation can be done online. The yellow Dutch plates must reach us physically, by post or courier, and we start once they have arrived. We send documents and plates insured and tracked, also to addresses abroad. Postal delivery costs more, especially internationally, and we confirm the price in advance. If the buyer cannot travel, the RDW allows a contact person in the Netherlands to arrange the export.

Car export prices

There are three starting prices, including VAT where applicable: export documents from €50, export insurance with white plates from €100, and the complete export package from €150. The complete package is the standard choice when the car leaves on its own wheels straight after export.

The price can be higher outside office hours, for postal delivery and for heavy or non-standard vehicles. You always know the amount in advance.

Which vehicles?

We handle cars, vans and commercial vehicles, motorhomes, caravans, trailers, motorcycles, scooters, mopeds and trucks. A car gets two white plates; a motorcycle, scooter, moped, caravan or trailer has one plate at the rear. Heavy or non-standard vehicles, such as trucks, heavy motorhomes or semi-trailers, are priced on request. Destinations can be inside or outside the EU; outside the EU and EFTA a customs export declaration (EX-A) may also be needed.

Where to find us: Hengelo in Overijssel

Our RDW-approved export desk is at Slachthuisweg 135, 7556 AZ Hengelo, in the province of Overijssel. There is also a Hengelo in Gelderland, near Zelhem, but that is not where we are, so enter the full address with postcode in your navigation. The desk is about 1 km from the A1 motorway, exit via the Bornsestraat.

Not sure what applies to your situation? Contact the export desk and we will go through it with you.