Owning a Luxury Car in Europe as an Australian Resident

It is 6am in Sydney when the flight boards. Twenty-four hours later the car is waiting in a quiet, insured hall outside Berlin — washed, on its plates, fuelled and ready for three weeks of Alpine passes and coastal roads. When the trip ends, it goes back into the hall and you fly home. That is the whole idea.

1. The European garage concept

A European garage is simply a car that lives where you travel, rather than where you live. For an Australian owner, that means the vehicle is registered in Germany, insured in Germany and stored in Germany, and it is used during your European visits.

2. Rental cars vs your own vehicle

Premium rental in Europe is expensive, restrictive and rarely the car you actually want. Cross-border rules, mileage caps and insurance excesses turn a three-week trip into a negotiation. Your own car removes all of it.

3. Buying the car in Europe

Germany is one of the deepest European markets for Porsche, Mercedes-AMG, BMW M, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bentley and Rolls-Royce. You choose the vehicle; on request we review it and speak to the seller. The full buying guide for Australians covers that side in detail.

4. Registration in Germany

In eligible cases, German registration is available to owners without a German residence, using an authorised German recipient for official correspondence. See registration without German residency.

5. Your own name, your Australian address

Where the case allows it, you remain the registered keeper with your actual Australian address. GermanCarRegistration does not purchase the vehicle, does not become its owner and does not use a trust structure.

6. Insurance for a high-value vehicle

A German-registered car must be insured by a German-licensed insurer. For high-value and collector vehicles, agreed-value cover, storage conditions and annual mileage all influence the premium, which is quoted per case.

7. Storage between trips

Between visits the vehicle sits indoors in an insured building. There is no separate storage charge during the active registration procedure; afterwards it is €250 per month.

8. What indoor storage means here

Indoor storage in an insured building, with the vehicle off the street and out of the weather. Services beyond that — maintenance, detailing, regular driving — are not part of the standard arrangement unless separately confirmed for your case. We would rather state that plainly than promise a concierge service we do not sell.

9. Transport and collection

If you buy in Stuttgart, Milan or Vienna, the car can be collected or transported. Transport is individually quoted — route, vehicle and timing decide the price.

10. Flying in and collecting the car

Tell us your arrival date before you board. The vehicle is prepared so that collection is a handover, not an afternoon of admin.

11. Roadtrips from Germany

From Berlin or Munich the classic runs are Germany's Autobahn network, the Austrian and Swiss Alpine passes, northern Italy and the lakes, the Côte d'Azur and Monaco, and France. A German-registered, German-insured vehicle can generally be driven across Europe; insurance cover areas and each country's own rules still apply, and permanent basing abroad can trigger local registration duties.

12. The vehicles this suits

• Porsche 911, GT3, GT3 RS, Spyder
• Ferrari, including GT models such as the GTC4Lusso
• Lamborghini
• Mercedes-AMG
• BMW M
• Bentley and Rolls-Royce
• European collector and classic vehicles

13. Paperwork reaches you in Australia

Official German correspondence is received in Germany and passed to you digitally, including via WhatsApp where appropriate. Nothing depends on you checking a European letterbox.

14. Buying in Europe instead of shipping your Australian car

For most owners, buying an EU-specification vehicle already in Europe is faster, cheaper and considerably less technical than shipping a car from Australia.

15. If you do want to bring your Australian car

Right-hand drive is not a general bar to German registration. CoC or type approval, lighting, emissions documentation, modifications and TÜV requirements decide the outcome, and each vehicle is reviewed individually.

16. Customs and import tax

As a general reference for a standard passenger car entering Germany from outside the EU: 10% customs duty and 19% German import VAT, calculated on the relevant customs/import taxable base. The exact treatment is case specific.

17. TÜV and technical documentation

A valid technical inspection may be required depending on the vehicle. Where the standard inspection service applies, it costs €200.

18. Ongoing German obligations

German vehicle tax and insurance continue while the car is registered, whether or not you are in Europe. They are paid to the authorities and the insurer, separately from our service fees.

19. What the arrangement costs

• €500 one-time setup
• €1,188 per year correspondence service
• €400 one-off foreign-paper processing where applicable
• €200 standard TÜV / inspection service where applicable
• No storage charge during the active registration procedure
• €250 per month storage afterwards
• Transport, insurance, vehicle tax and customs: individually quoted

Full pricing FAQ · Storage details

20. The vehicles Australians ask us about

GermanCarRegistration has already received Australian enquiries involving high-value vehicles, including Porsche Spyder and Ferrari GTC4Lusso models. We publish no customer counts or testimonials we cannot verify.

21. Starting the conversation

Send the vehicle, your country of residence and how you intend to use the car in Europe. We will tell you whether the arrangement is realistic for your case — including when it is not.