Open transport
The cheapest way
- How
- On an open car transporter or flatbed truck
- Protection
- The car is outside: rain, dirt and stone chips can reach it
- Usual for
- Everyday cars, modern cars and short trips
Car transportfrom the Netherlands and across Europe
See right away roughly what it costs to transport your car. Octane, the online auction for enthusiast cars, then requests quotes from transporters for you, free of charge.
What does your transport cost?
Enter the route and see a rough indication right away.
Free, no details needed.
How it works
Enter the route
Where the car is and where it has to go. You see a rough indication for open and for enclosed transport at once.
Request quotes
Tell us which car it is and where to send the quotes. We ask transporters for a price for your trip, without passing on your contact details.
You choose
You receive the quotes by email. If you pick one, your contract is with that transporter directly.
Open or enclosed car transport?
With open transport the car travels on an open car transporter or a flatbed truck. With enclosed transport it travels inside a closed trailer or truck. Open is cheaper, enclosed protects better.
Enclosed transport
The best protection
- How
- Inside a closed trailer or truck
- Protection
- The car stays dry and out of sight
What decides the price of car transport?
The price of car transport depends mainly on the distance, on the choice between open and enclosed transport and on whether the car can drive.
- Distance and route
- More kilometres cost more, but the price per kilometre drops on long routes. A ferry, tunnel or toll road is added.
- Open or enclosed
- Enclosed transport costs more than open transport, because fewer cars travel at once.
- Does the car run?
- A car that does not drive or brake is winched onto the trailer. Not every transporter does that.
- A shared trip or your own
- If your car can join a trip the transporter is already making, that is cheaper than a trip made for you alone.
- Size and weight
- A large SUV or a heavy electric car takes up more space and payload than a small sports car.
- The address
- Can a truck reach the address? A narrow street or a city centre sometimes calls for a different loading spot.
The indication on this page is based on published German market averages from 2026 and is not a quote. Transporters rarely work with fixed price lists, because the price depends on the trips they can combine. What the transport really costs is in the transporter’s quote.
Get a price indicationIs a car insured during transport?
It differs per transporter, so ask. Specialised car transporters carry insurance for the cars they move, with cover that can run to several million euros per load. That insurance is then part of the price.
- Ask up to what amount your car is insured, whether that amount is per car or for the whole load, and whether it is in the price. For the quotes Octane requests for you, we ask.
- Not every transporter has such insurance. If nothing extra is arranged, the law caps what a transporter pays for damage at about €15,000 for a car of 1,500 kilos on an international trip, and €5,100 within the Netherlands, whatever the car is worth.
- Take photos at loading and at unloading. Have visible damage noted on the consignment note before you sign.
- For international transport, report damage that was not visible at once in writing within seven days.
Taking a car out of the Netherlands: what to arrange
Within the EU a used car crosses the border without customs. The car does have to be deregistered in the Netherlands and registered in the new country.
- First ask the authorities in the destination country which documents they need. Do not deregister the car before you know; that is the advice of the RDW, the Dutch vehicle authority.
- A car is deregistered for export at an RDW inspection station, an RDW desk or an authorised export company. At the RDW it costs €12.00 (2026 rate). You receive the export certificate (kentekenbewijs deel II) and proof of deregistration.
- After deregistration the car may be driven on Dutch public roads for another 14 days.
Frequently asked questions about car transport
As a rough guide: published German market averages from 2026 come to about €0.55 per kilometre for open transport and €0.85 for enclosed transport, with a minimum of around €200 and €300. The real price depends on the route, on whether the car runs and on how flexible your dates are, and can be higher. The calculator on this page gives a range for your route. It is an indication and not a quote; a transporter’s price is in the quote that Octane requests for you free of charge.
No. The indication is a rough range based on published market averages and the distance by road. It is not based on quotes and binds neither Octane nor the transporter. The price that counts is the price in the transporter’s quote.
With open transport the car travels outside, on a car transporter or flatbed truck. It is the cheapest way. With enclosed transport the car travels inside a closed trailer, protected from rain, dirt and stone chips. It costs more and is usual for classics, sports cars and high-value cars.
It differs per transporter. Specialised car transporters carry insurance for the cars they move, with cover that can run to several million euros per load, and it is part of their price. If a transporter has arranged nothing extra, the law caps what it pays for damage at about €15,000 for a car of 1,500 kilos on an international trip (CMR Convention) and €5,100 within the Netherlands, whatever the car is worth. So always ask for the insured amount and have it written into the quote.
Yes. The car is winched onto the trailer. Say so in the request: not every transporter has a winch and it can cost more.
Within the EU there is no customs for a used car. The car is deregistered for export at the RDW or an authorised export company, which gives you the export certificate (kentekenbewijs deel II). First ask the authorities in your country which documents they need. If the car goes to a country outside the EU or to an EFTA country, an export declaration at Dutch Customs is needed as well.
With the transporter. Octane requests the quotes for you and puts you in touch with the transporter. The transporter carries out the transport and is liable for it. Octane may receive a fee from the transporter when you book a transport. You pay the price in the quote.
We only put the route and the car to transporters. We pass on your name, email address and phone number only to the transporter you choose.
Yes. The auction page has a link that fills in the car and the place where it is. You can also use the form on this page.
Curious what your transport costs?
Enter the route and see a rough indication right away. After that, a few details are enough to request quotes from transporters.
Cars from our auctions
Octane is the online auction for enthusiast cars. The car stays with the seller until the sale; the buyer collects it there or has it transported. Every auction page lets you request transport with the car and its location filled in.
