Guides to selling a car in the Netherlands
The Dutch rules for selling a car, checked against the RDW, the Belastingdienst and the government's own pages. Each guide starts with a short answer and links to the official source.
Selling
Your options, what the car is worth to a buyer, and what happens on the day you sell.
Selling a car in the Netherlands
Everything an English speaker needs to sell a Dutch registered car: the ways to sell, the paperwork, how the registration moves to the buyer, and the situations that need an extra step.
Private sale, dealer or buyer service
The main ways to sell a car in the Netherlands compared on time, risk and paperwork, with notes on Marktplaats, viewings, test drives and getting paid safely.
What is my car worth in the Netherlands
A guide to car values in the Netherlands: the indications you can look up, the Dutch terms for different kinds of value, why a buyer's offer can differ from them, and what changes the figure.
What to do after you sell your car
Once the buyer has the car, a few jobs remain for you: confirming the registration, ending the insurance, checking road tax and keeping your proof. This guide puts them in order.
Car auctions explained for sellers
What a Dutch car auction looks like from the seller's side, which kinds you can use as a private person, what to read in the terms, and how the RDW transfer works after a winning bid.
Using a car buyer in the Netherlands
What a car buyer (opkoper) is, how the offer and the handover usually work, the checks that separate a reliable buyer from a risky one, and the warning signs to walk away from.
Selling your car without Marktplaats
Options for selling your car in the Netherlands without placing a Marktplaats advertisement: other car sites and Gaspedaal, consignment, a car buyer, a dealer or someone you know.
Campervans and motorbikes
Selling a vehicle that is not a car: what changes in the rules, and what a buyer wants to know.
Selling a campervan in the Netherlands
What is different when the vehicle you sell is a campervan: the APK rules by weight, the camper road tax rate, a winter suspension, the living area, and how to ask us for an offer.
Selling a motorbike in the Netherlands
How a motorbike sale works in the Netherlands: the same RDW transfer as a car, no APK, the road tax and insurance after the sale, safe test rides, and asking us for an offer.
Paperwork
The Dutch documents and registrations that come with a car, explained in English.
The RDW transfer, step by step
What happens at the RDW when you sell a car in the Netherlands, seen from the seller's side: who carries out the transfer, which routes there are, and the one rule that protects you.
Documents you need to sell your car
Which papers a buyer needs from you, what each Dutch document is called, where the two parts of the registration code come from, and how to replace anything you cannot find.
The tenaamstellingscode, explained
The nine digit code that proves you may sell, suspend, scrap or export a car in the Netherlands. What it is, where its two parts come from, and what to do when you cannot find it.
The vrijwaringsbewijs: proof the car left your name
The paper that records when a car left your name in the Dutch register. When you get it, what it must contain, and how to replace it or show the same thing in another way.
Road tax when you sell your car
A short explanation of Dutch road tax, and what it means for you as a seller: when it stops, how a refund works, and what changes if you suspend the car or take it abroad.
The Dutch APK explained for car owners
What the APK is, how often a car needs it, how to look up the expiry date from the plate, and what an expired APK means for driving, fines and selling.
Dutch number plates: colours, codes and checks
How the letters and digits on a Dutch plate work, what each plate colour is for, what anyone can look up from the plate, and what happens to the plate when the car is sold.
Selling a car with finance or a lease
An overview for expats with a car on finance or lease: how to tell who owns the car, why the registration code may be with the lender, and the order of steps that makes a sale possible.
Leaving the Netherlands
Selling, exporting or suspending the car when you move abroad.
Selling your car before you leave
A plan for the car when you are moving abroad: when to start, what has to happen before you deregister, and what your options are if the car is still yours when you go.
Exporting a car from the Netherlands
The steps for taking a Dutch registered car abroad: what to check first, how the RDW export registration works, what export plates allow, and what to ask the Tax Administration about BPM.
Suspending your car (schorsen) in the Netherlands
How a suspension with the RDW works, what changes while it runs, what you pay for, and what happens to it when the car is sold or transferred to a new owner.
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