Leiden draws researchers, students and staff from all over the world to its university, its hospital and the Bio Science Park. Many stay a few years, and the car has to be sold when they leave.
Leiden University, founded in 1575, is the oldest university in the Netherlands. Together with the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) and the companies on the Leiden Bio Science Park, it brings in many international staff, often on contracts of two to five years. ESA's space research centre ESTEC is close by in Noordwijk.
The historic centre has narrow streets along the canals, and parking there is limited and regulated. Many people living in the centre use a bike day to day and keep a car for trips out of town, so the car can stand still for weeks.
Around the centre, in neighbourhoods such as the Merenwijk and Stevenshof and in towns like Oegstgeest and Leiderdorp, more households drive every day.
Local rules change, so check the municipality's website for anything official. Each note links to its source.
Leiden uses parking zones, and a residents' permit is linked to your number plate. After the sale, you change the plate or end the permit in the municipality's online parking service, which needs DigiD. In the central zone there is a waiting list for permits, so if you will have another car, change the plate on your permit and keep it.
Changing the plate on your permit (Gemeente Leiden, in Dutch)Leiden has no environmental zone (milieuzone) for passenger cars. Nearby, The Hague and Amsterdam do have zones for older diesel cars.
Environmental zones by city (milieuzones.nl, in Dutch)If the car has not moved for a while, tell us when it last ran and whether the APK, the Dutch roadworthiness test, is still valid. It changes how we collect the car more than what we offer for it.
We arrange the collection with you in Leiden and the towns around it. If the car is parked in the centre, in a permit zone or in a garage, tell us when you ask so we can plan a time and place that works in narrow streets.
If your street or town is not on these lists, you can still ask for an offer. We buy cars in every province.
The online parking service uses DigiD. Without it, contact the municipality of Leiden on 14 071 and ask how to change or end the permit. The sale of the car itself does not depend on it.
A few weeks before your last day is a good moment. Your offer stays open until you answer it, and you choose the handover day when you accept.
Yes. The APK is the Dutch roadworthiness test. You do not need a new test before you sell the car to us. Tell us when it expired or what it failed on.
Tell us in the form. A car that does not drive is worth less, and we can still make an offer. We then arrange a way to collect it that does not depend on it driving.
Enter your number plate and mileage. Asking is free and you are not committing to anything.