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9. Car documents and other related documents

9. Car documents and other related documents

Discover which documents are essential throughout the purchase process. 

9.1 When will I receive my car documents?

The vehicle documents will be sent to you by courier after the vehicle has arrived at its destination, and you have uploaded the duly completed CoD, and a copy of the driver’s id or CMR in ‘My account’.

You don’t need to upload the CMR anymore when you order transport to your doorstep. In all other cases, you still need to upload it! How do you upload these files? It’s simple. Just follow these simple steps:


Step 1:
Log in to ‘My account’ and click on ‘Upload documents’. Then select the vehicle you want to upload the CMR or CoD for. Indicate whether you want to upload a CoD or a CMR and upload the file. OPENLANE will check the final CMR or CoD, approve it and send you the vehicle documents by courier.

Important: If you upload the correct final CMR/CoD before 12:00h and it is approved by our Administration, and car documents are available, they will be shipped to you on the same day. The tracking number will be available online on the page ‘My account’ after 17:30h CET. Please upload only the final CMR that covers the delivery from the hub to your delivery address OR the Certificate of Delivery (CoD) together with ID card correctly filled in.


Step 2:
When you have received your documents, please remember to confirm the receipt. This is vital in order to successfully close the sale. Luckily, it’s very easy to do! Just log in to ‘My account’ again. Under ‘Orders’, find your vehicle, and confirm that you’ve received the documents.

Note: Please take into account that we will adapt the above procedure if needed, for instance if we need to be compliant with the local legislation or in case of export outside the EU.

In the case that fees for late pick-up are incurred, the car documents will not be released until the parking fees have been paid in full. In line with our Terms and Conditions (Paragraph 7.3.3), when you receive your vehicle pick-up authorisation, you have two weeks in which to collect the vehicle. If the vehicle is not collected within those two weeks, you will be charged an administration fee of EUR 50, plus up to EUR 5 per day until the vehicle is collected. You will receive a proforma for these parking fees once the car has been collected, and the car documents will be withheld until the invoice is paid. Once the payment has been received, the car documents will be sent to you via DHL Express.

9.2 Why do I receive German car documents for my Dutch car?

The vast majority of Dutch vehicles is subject to a special vehicle tax, called BPM, which is related to the CO2 emissions of a vehicle.

Each time a vehicle subject to BPM is sold, the remainder of the BPM tax is charged to the new owner. When this vehicle is sold to a foreign country the last owner (in this case OPENLANE Netherlands) is entitled to get a refund of the remainder of this tax amount provided he can submit a foreign registration to the Dutch Tax Authorities as a proof of export. For this reason most Dutch vehicles have foreign (in this case German) car registration documents.

For vehicles without BPM tax (mostly vans, light trucks, vehicles with first registration in the Netherlands before 16-10-2006) the de-registered and exported Dutch registration card (EU model) is offered.

9.3 Can I get a copy of the car documents before the car is delivered?

You can order a copy of the car documents as soon as you complete your order. Each copy will cost you €50,00.

This amount will be added to your invoice. As soon as you have paid the car, and the seller has sent us the car documents*, you will be able to download a copy in ‘My account’ unless the car has already been delivered and the original car documents are being shipped.

* Some sellers only provide the car documents after the final CMR is approved. In these cases we are not able to provide the copy of the car documents before the car is delivered.

9.4 What do I do if I’ve lost my car documents?

OPENLANE does not keep copies of vehicle documents. But if you can’t find them, you lose them or they are stolen, there’s still no need to panic.

The first thing to do is contact the local vehicle registration department for the country where you intended on registering the vehicle. They will then contact the registration department of the country where the vehicle was first registered.

It may take a little while for them to request, receive and check all the information. However, once finished, your local registration department will decide whether or not the vehicle can be registered based on the information they have.

OPENLANE have no input into or influence over this decision. We do wish you every success. For more information on this subject, please consult Article 5.2 of the European Directive 1999/37/EC of 29 April 1999 on the registration documents for vehicles.

9.5 Can I influence the shipping time of car documents?

It’s possible to influence the shipping time of the car documents. If you upload the final CMR/COD before 12 p.m. CET, it is approved by our administration and the car documents are available, then the original car documents will be shipped to you on the same day. The tracking number will be available online in ‘My account’ under ‘My Logistics’ after 5.30 p.m. CET.

You don’t need to upload the CMR anymore when you order transport to your delivery address. Hence, the field to upload the CMR in this case is no longer visible in ‘My account’. In all other cases, you still need to upload it!

9.6 What is a COC?

In this case, a Certificate of Conformity (COC) is a document that declares that your vehicle conforms to EC standards and is allowed free movement within the European Union. In the COC, the manufacturer declares that the vehicle meets the standards and requirements set by the EC. It identifies the vehicle and the manufacturer, the type approval number, technical specifications and other data. Exactly what the COC needs to include is set by EU regulation (Amendment IX, Regulation 92/53).

Only certain motorcycles, tractors and passenger vehicles qualify for a COC. Vehicles that do not have the EU specification (e.g. vehicles manufactured for the U.S. or Japanese markets) and older vehicles that have not been given the type approval of the EC yet are ineligible for COCs. Converted vehicles are also unable to be issued with COCs. In these cases, we do not provide a COC. This information will be highlighted in the car description, which we advise you to read carefully.

EuroCOC

If there is no Certificate of Conformity (COC) available for your vehicle, you can easily order one online through EuroCoC. To make the process even more convenient, we’re currently offering a special promotion code that you can use at checkout. Simply enter the code during your purchase to receive a discount. This ensures that you’ll have the necessary documentation quickly and affordably. Promo code = OPENLANE10

If you would like to know more about the Certificate of Conformity, please follow this link: www.eurococ.eu.

9.7 Can I get a duplicate invoice?

Lost your invoice? No problem. All our invoices are available online as PDF files.

All your vehicle information, including the invoice, will be permanently available at ‘My account’ > ‘Orders’.

9.8 Can I get a hard copy of my invoice?

OPENLANE has abandoned printed documents for the convenience of electronic documents. They’re better for the environment and have the same legal status as hard copy equivalents.

Do you still need a hard copy invoice?
You can request a hard copy of your invoice when you complete your order. Each hard copy costs EUR 40. This amount will be added to your invoice.
As soon as the car is paid and the invoice is available, we will mail the hard copy of the invoice with the original stamp and original signature to your invoice address.

9.9 How to obtain the document “Proof of leasing closure” for French cars?

If you have bought French cars that have been subject to the leasing regime, the proof of leasing closure is required to register the cars in another country.

Follow these steps to request proof of leasing closure:

Step 1: Click on this link: https://siv.interieur.gouv.fr/map-usg-ui/do/accueil_certificat

Please note: This website is only available in French. You can use the translation service of your browser, e.g. Google Chrome:

Proof of leasing closure

Step 2: Click on “To start”

Click on 'To start'

Step 3: Use the information from the French vehicle registration document to fill in the information and click on “Validate and finish”

Proof of leasing closure 3

Step 4: Click on this icon to receive the document

PDF Document

9.10 What is the difference between the invoice address, the postal address, and the delivery address?

The invoice address is the official company address registered in the VAT Information Exchange System (VIES) or Chamber of Commerce. The invoice address appears on the invoice and is the address to which we will send the hard copy of your invoice via regular mail unless you nominate a postal address.

You can nominate a postal address if you wish to receive your car documents, hard copies of invoices, or any other documents you have requested at a different address to the invoice address. Your postal address can be different to the registered office address for your company; however, it must be in the same country in which your company is registered—car documents cannot be shipped to another country. 

The delivery address is the address to which we will deliver your vehicle. You can use different delivery addresses for different purchases. The delivery address can be submitted or changed when finalising each purchase.

9.11 How do I arrange the documents required for exporting a vehicle outside the EU?

OPENLANE is only able to provide the EX-A and T2 documents for cars located at the HUB in Bilzen (BE) and the HUB in Raamsdonksveer (NL).

EX documents
An EX document (or EX-release) is required when exporting vehicles to countries outside the European Union. The cost for having this form provided by OPENLANE is €110 and you will also receive a copy of the original car documents. It takes approximately two working days for the EX document to be delivered to you in digital form.

T2 documents
A T2 document is a transit note that’s required when exporting vehicles to European countries that are not members of the EU, including San Marino and Switzerland. When you are shipping to these countries and request your EX document from OPENLANE, we will also provide the T2 document in digital form.

Arranging your own EX and T2 documents
You are also free to arrange your EX and T2 documents yourself. If you do so, the customs agency will usually require you to complete a power of attorney/authorisation document. This needs to be filled in, stamped and signed by OPENLANE. As the customer, it is your responsibility to arrange the power of attorney/authorisation document with OPENLANE and ensure it is filled in correctly. This form can be sent to export@openlane.eu for processing. At your written request, a copy of the car documents will also be provided.

9.12 Does OPENLANE provide a Car-Pass for Belgian vehicles?

OPENLANE is a platform exclusively for use by car traders. As such, all vehicles sold through OPENLANE are bought by professional vehicle dealers and providing a Car-Pass is not legally required under these circumstances.

9.13 Can OPENLANE provide me the technical inspection document?

For some cars the validity date of the technical inspection is readily available on our website. You can find it on the car description page under “Condition”.

Car condition_en

For cars where this information is not stated on our website, we advise you to consult the following resources:

* IMPORTANT: For the majority of Dutch vehicles older than 3 years OPENLANE provides German vehicle documents. In this case, the German technical inspection document is not issued.

Availability of the technical inspection document: currently this document is not mandatory for exporting cars. OPENLANE provides this document only if we receive it from the Seller.

EURO Norm: OPENLANE provides all the information regarding the emission standard received from the seller or from an external database. We advise you to consult another source to acquire the exact information regarding Euro 5a and Euro 5b.

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