How we move your car from the UK to Germany
Every German shipment begins with a collection from a mainland UK address you nominate: most commonly a private residence, a family garage, a dealership or a specialist storage facility. Within the pre-agreed collection window, the driver photographs every panel, records the fuel level and indicated mileage, and walks the documentation with you before loading. That record is what a Stuttgart or Munich service centre checks the car against on arrival, so it is written up in full before the transporter leaves the UK.
After collection, the car travels in a single-vehicle enclosed transporter with air-ride suspension. The standard routing crosses on the Eurotunnel from Folkestone, then runs through Belgium and the Netherlands and into Germany. The road leg from Calais to Munich covers roughly 10 to 14 hours behind the wheel, governed by driver-hour regulations. Hamburg, Berlin and Düsseldorf sit closer to the entry point and typically clear a day faster than Stuttgart or Munich. For multi-vehicle moves we also run a sea option into Bremerhaven or Cuxhaven, useful when a household consignment travels alongside the car.
Hand-over takes place at the address of your choice: a private garage in a Berlin Altbau, a Stuttgart dealership service entrance, a Frankfurt corporate forecourt, a Lake Constance lakeside property or a Bavarian chalet near Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Depots and rail terminals are not on your schedule — the driver finishes the job at the door. Where a city-centre delivery sits inside a German low-emission zone, we arrange the appropriate Umweltplakette in advance.
Factory service, PPF and round trips to the marque
A large share of our German workload is round-trip movements for UK owners of German marques. Typical bookings include a Porsche 911 GT3 returning to Stuttgart for paint protection film, an enthusiast Mercedes-AMG sent back to Affalterbach for service, a BMW M car booked into the Garching facility, or an Audi RS routed to Ingolstadt or the quattro GmbH workshop. We collect, transport in our own enclosed trailer, hand over to the dealer or service partner, and return for the car on a date you nominate.
The benefit beyond convenience is a continuous inspection record. Pre-shipment photographs taken in the UK become the reference against which the car is handed over to the facility, and the post-service hand-over in Germany becomes the reference for the return leg. One quote, one provider, one paper trail across both legs. The same supercar transport standard applies whether the destination is Stuttgart, Monaco or Marbella.
Track-focused owners moving cars to the Eifel for Nordschleife laps are part of the same workload. The vehicle is delivered to a hotel forecourt or paddock-adjacent address near the Nürburgring, held over the booked dates, then returned. We do not run support trucks during track time; the service is transport to and from the venue, on the same enclosed haulage as every other German shipment.
Customs, TÜV and short-stay paperwork
We lodge the import declaration with a German broker at the Belgian or Dutch point of entry on your behalf, and confirm whether your shipment runs under temporary admission or permanent import before collection. Germany’s 19% MwSt and its annual Kfz-Steuer are set out below, alongside how the temporary-versus-permanent split works across the EU, on our European customs guide.
On TÜV: a UK-registered vehicle visiting Germany for less than six months does not require TÜV (the German technical inspection equivalent of an MOT) and does not need to be re-registered. Your UK V5C, valid UK MOT and UK insurance with European cover are sufficient. TÜV and German registration only become relevant if you become resident in Germany and the vehicle stays beyond the temporary-admission window. We can flag the threshold at the point of quote, and point you to a German registration specialist when the time comes.
Onward routings into Austria and Switzerland
Munich and Stuttgart are common staging points for onward routes south. Clients moving on to the Alps for ski season (Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Berchtesgaden, the Tirol, the Vorarlberg) frequently combine a German delivery with a short onward leg. The same applies to Lake Constance, where the shoreline runs across the German, Austrian and Swiss borders. Where the destination is on to Austria or Switzerland, we quote the full door-to-door. Cars routed via the Netherlands for collection of a second vehicle or onward consignment are handled in the same single booking.
