OdoTrace buyer worksheet
Buying a used car abroad: landed cost, seller and documents
Fill this in before you pay a deposit: type into it, or print it and write. The example figures are fictional and only show the method; they are not prices for any country. Registration taxes, fees and inspection rules are national, so get your figures from your own registration and tax authorities. Nothing you type is saved or sent.
1. Four facts about this purchase
2. Who exactly is selling?
3. Landed cost
How to fill in: whole euros. Fill every cost line; write 0 if it doesn't apply (the purchase price and home price are never 0). Landed cost = the nine cost lines added up. Saving = home price − landed cost; a negative result means no saving.
How to type amounts: whole euros, no cents. 14000, 14 000, 14.000 and 14,000 all mean fourteen thousand euros; an optional € sign is fine.
Fill every cost line; type 0 if a line doesn't apply (the purchase price and home price can't be 0). On screen, the landed cost appears once all nine lines are filled, and the saving once the home price is filled too.
Cents, minus signs, letters, or separators that don't group digits in threes are flagged for you to correct, never guessed. Nothing you type is saved or sent.
| Cost line | Fictional example (€) | Your figure (€) |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase price | 14,000 | |
| Travel to view and collect | 450 | |
| Independent inspection in the purchase country | 180 | |
| Transport home, or temporary plates + route insurance + fuel/tolls | 900 | |
| VAT (used car, private seller: none) | 0 | |
| Registration tax / environmental charge at destination | 1,100 | |
| Registration fee, plates, inspection or approval at destination | 250 | |
| Immediate work found by the inspection | 700 | |
| Contingency (about 5% of price) | 700 | |
| Landed cost | 18,280 | |
| Price of a comparable car at home | 18,500 | |
| Saving (comparable price − landed cost; negative = no saving) | 220 |
4. Documents
| Got it | Document | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration certificate, original (both parts where issued) | Required | Both parts must be submitted for re-registration. | |
| Purchase contract or invoice | Required | Actual seller, VIN, price, date, agreed mileage, disclosed defects; dealer's VAT number. | |
| Proof of insurance | Required | Insurer based in your country, with a branch there, or authorised to provide services there without an office. | |
| Certificate of conformity (CoC) | Ask | Listed for new cars; an EC CoC is valid EU-wide. | |
| Valid inspection certificate | Depends | Must be recognised if still valid under your country's test intervals; may be verified. | |
| Export or deregistration papers | Authority check | Required where applicable; ask the registration country's authority and your own. | |
| Temporary plates + route insurance | Trip | Only if driving; valid in every country crossed. | |
| Service history, earlier inspection reports, repair invoices | Useful | Dated odometer readings fill gaps. | |
| All keys; recall repair confirmation | Useful | Avoids a bill for a missing key or unfinished recall. | |
| Saved advert and written promises; handover photos of odometer, VIN, condition | Useful | Evidence if a dispute arises. |
- Required: commonly needed for registration; confirm for this car.
- Ask: ask your authority whether it needs it.
- Depends: depends on your country's rules for this car.
- Authority check: required where applicable; ask both countries' authorities.
- Trip: needed only to drive the car home.
- Useful: not normally required, but protects you.
5. Stop or go
Pause if any of these is still open:
Open questions:
Guide: odotrace.com/guides/buying-used-car-abroad/ · Checked 12 November 2026 · Not legal or tax advice; confirm national rules with the relevant authority.