Sell your car in the Netherlands for export, for example to Portugal

We look at cars built in 2008 or newer, for example:

• cars with more than 200,000 km on the clock;
• diesels;
• ex-lease cars;
• company vans;
• damaged cars.

Not sure whether your car fits? Send the details anyway and we will tell you whether it suits the export network. The Dutch export papers are the same for a buyer from any EU country.

1. Send the details. Registration number, make and model, year, mileage, fuel, condition and any damage, plus photos of the outside, the interior, the mileage and any damage, via WhatsApp or the form below.
2. We pass the car on to our network of car dealers abroad. They can make an offer.
3. We forward the offer. You decide whether to accept it.
4. The transfer for export. If you accept, the transfer for export can take place at our desk in Hengelo. You receive the vrijwaringsbewijs; the buyer receives the export documents and, if they drive the car to its destination, export insurance and two white plates.

Asking for an offer is free and without obligation. An offer is never certain, and we do not promise a response time. The buyer pays for the export papers and any insurance and plates.

The car is not transferred into the buyer's name in the Dutch register. Following the RDW, the buyer exports it in their own name: they receive the export certificate, kentekenbewijs deel II, and you receive the vrijwaringsbewijs, the proof that the registration has stopped. From then on, the insurance obligation, APK (the Dutch roadworthiness test) and road tax end for you. The papers are described on Dutch car export documents.

• the registration card with its code, or the old paper parts (tenaamstellingsbewijs deel 1B and overschrijvingsbewijs);
• the yellow Dutch number plates, which are handed in;
• the current mileage;
• a valid ID of the person in whose name the export is arranged;
• the buyer's full address abroad.

If the buyer drives the car to its destination, we also need the start date, the destination and route, and the details of the policyholder and driver for the export insurance. For a business buyer: company name, address and VAT number. With complete papers, a standard application is usually ready in about 15 minutes.

Found a buyer in Portugal on your own? Then the buyer exports the car in their name at our desk and handles the legalisation there themselves: homologation, inspection, customs and registration. Point them to our page on car registration in Portugal. If the buyer cannot come to the Netherlands, a contact person here may arrange the export for them. The buyer takes the original export certificate and registration card along: Portuguese customs and the IMT ask for the foreign registration certificate.

A car carried home on a trailer or transporter usually needs no driving insurance, but the export document is still required.

The transfer for export can then take place at our desk in Hengelo. The buyer pays for the export papers and, if they drive the car away, for the export insurance and the two white plates. After the transfer, keep the vrijwaringsbewijs safe: it shows that the car is no longer registered in your name.

Not sure whether your car is suitable? Contact the export desk by phone or WhatsApp; advice is free. For the bigger picture, see our overview of exporting a car from the Netherlands to Portugal.