Short Answer You cannot legally drive a newly purchased vehicle onto a public road without securing an electronic registration tracking code. The state vehicle registry will completely block your vehicle registration until a digital data profile proves you carry liability protection. What Most Expats Don't Realize You bought a deregistered vehicle from a private seller and planned to drive it home on the old plates before sorting out insurance. A police checkpoint stopped you three blocks away and initiated criminal proceedings for operating an uninsured vehicle — a criminal offense in Germany, not a parking-ticket matter. You were hit with a fine of €1,500 and a months-long license suspension simply because you treated insurance as a post-purchase administrative step. Buying a still-registered car is the one exception: the seller's existing policy transfers to you by law for the drive home — but only while that registration is genuinely active. What To Do * Open a digital insurance comparison portal on your phone before finalizing any vehicle purchase transaction. * Download the seven-digit alphanumeric code called an "eVB-Nummer" generated by the system instantly. * "Ich benötige eine eVB-Nummer für die Fahrzeugzulassung." (I need an electronic insurance confirmation number for vehicle registration.) — Call the provider hotline to request this code if the automated web portal experiences processing delays. The Truth Germany treats an unregistered, uninsured vehicle as an immediate physical weapon against the public collective. The system structures vehicle registration laws to prioritize the financial protection of potential third-party victims over your individual transport convenience.