Car export from Enschede: deregistration, white plates and insurance

Moving away from Enschede and taking your car with you, or selling it to someone abroad? Before a Dutch car can leave the country for good, it has to be deregistered for export in the Dutch vehicle register. As an RDW-approved car export company, we arrange this for you, plus white export plates and temporary insurance if the car will be driven across the border.

There is no desk in Enschede itself. You come to our export desk on the Slachthuisweg in Hengelo, or you arrange most of it remotely. If Dutch rules are new to you, that is fine: we take the time to explain each step and every document you receive.

Car export from Enschede: what actually happens

When you export a car from the Netherlands, we deregister it with the RDW, the Dutch vehicle authority. The person in whose name the export is arranged (when a car is sold, the buyer) receives the export certificate, also called registration certificate part II (kentekenbewijs deel II), together with the registration card, which has one corner cut off. The seller receives the indemnification certificate (vrijwaringsbewijs): proof that the registration in their name has ended.

After the export, the Dutch owner's obligations for insurance, the APK roadworthiness test and road tax end. The RDW explains the procedure on its English page about exporting a vehicle. Our page on export documents in the Netherlands shows who receives which paper.

Leaving the Netherlands with your own car

Are you a student or staff member at the University of Twente or Saxion, and is it time to leave the Netherlands? If you drive to your new home country yourself, the complete export package is usually the logical choice: export document, indemnification certificate, 14 days of third-party liability insurance with a Green Card, and white export plates.

After deregistration you may drive on Dutch public roads for 14 more days, with your existing registration number on white plates. That export registration is never valid for longer than the APK, the Dutch periodic roadworthiness test. Read more about Dutch export plates. Not sure about your departure date yet? Only deregister once you know when you are leaving, because the 14 days start at deregistration.

Selling to a buyer from Germany or further away

Enschede borders Germany: Glanerbrug lies right next to Gronau. If you sell your car to a buyer from across the border or further away, the car is not transferred into the buyer's name in the Dutch register. The RDW advises having the buyer export the vehicle in their own name. The buyer then receives the export certificate and you receive the indemnification certificate. That is how the 'transfer' works when a car is exported, and it proves the car is no longer registered to you.

If the buyer will drive the car home, they need white export plates and insurance, so agree beforehand how the car will travel.

What does car export cost?

We work with three packages, each with a starting price. The price can be higher outside office hours, for delivery by post (especially abroad) and depending on the vehicle, for example a truck or a heavy motorhome. You always know the price in advance.

Already have the export document and only need plates and cover? That is possible too: see how export insurance in the Netherlands works.

What to bring to the desk

Lost the yellow plates? Then first have new ones made by a number plate manufacturer recognised by the RDW. For insurance and plates, we also need your preferred start date, destination and route, plus the details of the policyholder and the driver. For a business buyer, we also need the company name, address and VAT number.

From Enschede to our desk in Hengelo

From the Oude Markt it is about 12 km to Slachthuisweg 135 in Hengelo, roughly 20 minutes via the Hengelosestraat or the A35. The desk is about 1 km from the A1 motorway (exit via the Bornsestraat). Coming from Glanerbrug, Boekelo or Lonneker? Use the route button in the address card below to get directions.

You can walk in during office hours, Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 16:30; please call or message us about 20 minutes before you arrive. With complete documents, a standard request is usually ready in about 15 minutes. On Sundays the desk is closed; outside office hours we work by appointment.

Can't come in person? Prepare the export online and send the yellow plates by post or courier. We start once they arrive and send documents and plates back insured and with tracking, also abroad. Postal delivery costs more; we confirm that price in advance. See our contact page for all the ways to reach us.

What can go wrong

• Expired APK. Without a valid APK the car may not be driven on public roads, white plates or not.
• Forgotten yellow plates. They are handed in at export, so bring them or send them to us.
• Rules abroad. The rules for a Dutch export registration differ per country. Check your destination and every country you drive through.
• Company name on the export certificate. Only possible at an RDW location, not with us.
• Destination outside the EU. For countries outside the EU and EFTA, a customs export declaration (EX-A) may also be needed. This is available on request; ask us before you come.

Tip: when you export a car, you can sometimes reclaim part of the BPM, the Dutch vehicle registration tax. See the conditions on the Belastingdienst website; we do not offer this as a service.