What deregistration actually does
Deregistering a car in Germany — Außerbetriebsetzung, or simply Auto abmelden — officially takes the vehicle off the road. From that moment your vehicle tax stops running and your insurance obligation ends, and the car may no longer be driven or parked on public roads.
When you sell to us, this has to happen before our driver arrives. They cannot take the car until it has been deregistered.
What you need
Registration Certificate Part I (Zulassungsbescheinigung I / ZB I)The vehicle registration document. To deregister online you must scratch the seal on the certificate to reveal the hidden security code underneath.
Your licence platesIn person, hand the physical plates over so the office can remove the registration stamps. Online, scratch the seal on each plate sticker to reveal its security code.
Photo ID or passportOfficial identification. For the online route it must be an ID card with the eID online function activated, plus your PIN.
→ Official German government summary of vehicle de-registration
Option A — deregister online (i-Kfz)
The official online route is the i-Kfz service, which you reach through your own municipality’s vehicle registration portal. It is available for vehicles registered or re-registered after 1 January 2015 — earlier plates do not carry the security codes the system needs.
You enter the vehicle details and the security codes from the ZB I and the plate stickers, identify yourself with your eID, and pay the fee by ePayment. The confirmation is issued digitally.
→ Find the service for your region (federal service directory, English)
→ Example: Bremen’s online deregistration service
Check the seals before you start
Scratch the security fields on the ZB I and on both plate stickers before you open the portal. If a code is damaged or was already scratched off, the online route is closed to you and you will need to go in person.
Option B — go in person
You can deregister at any vehicle registration office (Kfz-Zulassungsstelle) in Germany. You do not have to return to the city where the car was originally registered.
Bring the ZB I, the plates and your ID, and pay the local administrative fee — typically between €0 and €17 depending on the municipality. You get the confirmation over the counter.
→ Example: Stuttgart’s deregistration page (English)
What changes the moment it is done
You may not
- Drive or park the car on public roads
One exception
- If you deregistered in person, you may drive the car straight home or to its destination on the same day, until midnight, on the unstamped plates — by the shortest direct route, within Germany
The registration office notifies your insurer and the customs and tax office for you. Any vehicle tax you have overpaid is refunded proportionally.
If you want to keep your plate combination for a future car, you can reserve it for up to 12 months for a small extra fee, around €2.60.
→ Hamburg’s guidance on insurance, tax and the drive-home rule
→ Munich’s registration office, including plate reservation
Keep your plates off the car
Once the car is deregistered the plates are no longer valid and must come off before the driver arrives. Keep them, hand them in at the office, or let us take care of removal if you prefer.
Send us your confirmation
Deregistration produces a confirmation — the Abmeldebescheinigung. Please email us a copy as soon as you have it.
Don’t forget this step
We can only finalise your sale once we have a copy of your deregistration confirmation.
In short
- Deregister online through your municipality’s i-Kfz portal, or in person at any Zulassungsstelle, before pickup
- Have the ZB I with its security code, the plates and your ID ready — plus eID, if you go online
- After deregistration the car cannot be driven on public roads, apart from the same-day drive home after an in-person appointment
- Email us your Abmeldebescheinigung once received
