What do I need a COC for?

Why should I buy a CoC document?

If a vehicle does not yet have any papers from the country in which it is to be registered, then the Certificate of Conformity from the Registration Office is used to determine the technical data required for registration. CoC confirms that the vehicle is of an approved type. It simplifies registration - even if the vehicle is to be registered in another EU country. Before the CoC certificate was introduced, the cost of registering a car from the EU was significantly higher.

Can I register a vehicle without a CoC document?

If no COC document is submitted for registration, the registration office needs the information about the technical data of the vehicle from another source. Alternatively, the TÜV can do a full acceptance according to §21 StVZO or §13 EG-FGV, but this has three decisive disadvantages:

  1. The fees for a full purchase are usually significantly higher than the costs for a COC paper
  2. Since the vehicle cannot usually be assigned to an existing EC type approval number, the type numbers in the vehicle registration document are blanked out. On the one hand, this complicates the search for suitable spare parts, which is carried out in many independent workshops using the manufacturer and type numbers.
  3. Many accessories or tuning parts have an ABE with which the manufacturer proves that these parts (e.g. rims) can be used on this vehicle. This means that these accessories can be used on the vehicle without having to be registered. However, if this assignment to a type approval number is missing, the parts must be checked for suitability on the individual vehicle and entered in the vehicle documents.
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