Import costs: Germany and Russia

For Germany, the estimate starts from the car’s price on Encar and adds four items. It is the same calculation our cost calculator and every car page use.

• Car price in Korea– the Encar listing price, converted into euros
• Delivery to Germany– a flat €1,500, part of the customs value
• Customs duty– 10% of the car price plus delivery
• Import VAT (Einfuhrumsatzsteuer)– 19%, charged by German customs on import
• Unloading, clearance, storage– €500 for the customs broker, unloading at the port and storage in Germany

The estimate ends once the car has cleared customs. Before you can drive it on German roads, these costs are still to come:

• Registration (Zulassung) and number plates
• Approval for the road: a car built for the Korean market has no EU certificate of conformity (CoC), so it needs a TÜV inspection and an individual approval under § 21 StVZO
• Motor insurance
• Vehicle tax (Kfz-Steuer)
• Transport from the port to your address

Encar lists prices in Korean won. We convert them into euros at the European Central Bank’s reference rate of the day, on which German customs also base their conversion rates. If the ECB rate cannot be fetched, we convert through the Bank of Russia’s rates instead (from won to roubles, then to euros) and say so next to the figure. The euro figure therefore moves with the rate, and the rate German customs apply on the day of clearance may differ.

The Germany figure is an estimate for information only and is not a binding offer. German customs set the final duty and import VAT when the car is cleared, and the amount can differ from this estimate.

The estimate on this site covers the most common case: a private individual importing a car for personal use, with clearance in Vladivostok. In this case a single flat rate applies that already includes VAT and excise duty – they are not paid separately.

• Car price in Korea– the Encar listing price
• Costs in Korea– the dealer’s car park, inspection, export paperwork
• Sea freight– to Vladivostok
• Customs duty– depends on the car’s age and engine size
• Recycling fee (Russia)– depends on power and engine size
• Customs processing fee– based on the car’s value
• Clearance in Vladivostok– port handling, customs broker, vehicle safety certificate (SBKTS) and electronic vehicle passport (EPTS)
• Registration– state fees for the EPTS and number plates

Age is counted from the date of manufacture to the date the customs declaration is registered – not to today, but about 45 days ahead, allowing for logistics. For cars “over 3 but not over 5 years old”, duty is a fixed rate per cc, with no percentage of the value. It is the lowest rate of the three age bands.

Right now the lowest-duty window covers cars made from 12/2021 to 11/2023. It moves every month, so a car inside it today may be out of it in a few months – with delivery times in mind, this is worth checking in advance.

For a private individual importing for personal use, the Russian recycling fee is ₽5,200 – but only if two conditions are met at once: power up to 160 hp and engine size up to 3,000 cc.

Hybrids are a trap of their own. For customs, power is the combustion engine’s output plus the electric motor’s 30-minute rating. A listing may say 152 hp while customs count 192 – and the reduced fee no longer applies.

For electric cars and series hybrids, the threshold for the reduced fee is 80 hp of 30-minute power, and they are cleared with a combined customs payment: duty, excise duty and 22% VAT on top.

Restrictions on exporting cars from Korea come up for discussion from time to time, and we used to mark the cars concerned. Today the all-in price is shown for every car in the catalogue, including powerful and expensive ones. We confirm that a specific car can be delivered when you reserve it – before any payment.

The estimate is for information only and is not a binding offer. Customs payments are recalculated at the official Bank of Russia rate on the day the declaration is registered, which comes 6–10 weeks after the estimate, so the final amount may differ. Rates of duty, the recycling fee and customs fees are revised from time to time. The reduced recycling fee applies only if the car is registered to the person who paid it and is not sold for 12 months from the date of the customs receipt order; otherwise the fee is recalculated at the commercial rate.