Gepek

Buying a used car

With a used vehicle the most expensive mistake is not too high a price but too much trust. Every check you make before you pay costs less than any repair afterwards — and some things, such as an outstanding charge registered against the vehicle, can no longer be put right once the money has gone.

Before you set off

Set a total budget, not just a price for the vehicle. On top of the price in the advert come the tax on the transfer of used vehicles, registration, insurance, the annual vehicle-use tax and almost always something that has to be replaced straight away — tyres, brakes, oil. If the vehicle has only just been imported and not yet cleared through customs, the customs duty, VAT and homologation come on top as well.

Compare the price with other listings for the same model, model year and similar mileage. A price noticeably below average almost always has an explanation: an unfinished import, damage, unresolved documents, a charge registered against the vehicle. Ask for the explanation before you travel, over the phone — not when you are already standing next to the car.

Checking the vehicle

Compare the chassis number in several places: the plate under the windscreen, the sticker on the pillar or the door frame, the number stamped in the engine bay or on the body, and the number in the documents. The locations differ from manufacturer to manufacturer, but they must all match. The plate should be metal, riveted and machine-stamped — glue, an uneven layout, over-stamping, fresh paint and non-factory rivets are a sign to stop.

The best proof of mileage is not a single reading but a series. In Germany, at every roadworthiness test the odometer reading, the chassis number and the date of the previous test are entered in the report, and if the reading is lower than the previously documented one and a replacement odometer cannot be proved, the tester is obliged to mark it as implausible and report it to the competent authority. So ask for the series of roadworthiness test reports and read the remarks, not just the most recent sheet.

Take the vehicle to an independent garage and ask for a fault-memory readout and an inspection on a ramp. Check the sills, the bottom of the doors, the wing edges, the spare wheel well and any traces of welding. Bear in mind, too, what no garage can do: a cleanly executed odometer manipulation is not detected in a workshop. That is why a documented trail is worth more than an impression, and a seller's refusal to let you take the vehicle for an inspection is an answer in itself.

Checking the documents and any charges

Before you pay, check whether the vehicle carries a registered pledge. The Registar zaloga (Register of Pledges) of the Commercial Court of Montenegro is public, free and searchable by chassis number at rzcg.sudovi.me — you enter the chassis number in the serial number field. The entry shows the pledgee, the debtor, the date of entry and the expiry date; pay attention to the expiry date, because a lapsed entry is not an active charge.

The register's limitation matters: it covers pledges registered in Montenegro. A loan or a lease from a foreign bank on a vehicle that is only now arriving from abroad will not show up in it. With an imported vehicle, therefore, ask for the documents from the country of origin and for proof that the vehicle has been deregistered and has no outstanding obligations.

Payment and handover

Arrange the inspection and the handover in daylight and in a place that suits you. Payment by bank transfer leaves a trail; if cash is unavoidable, count it at a bank, not in a car park. Do not pay a deposit for a vehicle you have not seen, however convincing the story about “another interested buyer” sounds.

Draw up the contract in enough copies and with accurate details of the vehicle and the price. As a condition of registration the law requires proof of ownership; in practice that is a contract with certified signatures, and signatures are certified by notaries and by the certification offices in the municipalities. A certified contract is forwarded to the tax authority, so the buyer's tax liability is triggered by itself — one more reason for the details in the contract to be accurate.

Pre-purchase checks, in order

  • Compare the price with similar listings and ask on the phone why it is below or above average.
  • Compare the chassis number on the vehicle and in the documents, in every place where it is stamped.
  • Ask for the series of roadworthiness test reports and compare the mileage against the dates.
  • Check the vehicle in the Commercial Court's Register of Pledges by chassis number (rzcg.sudovi.me).
  • Take the vehicle for an independent diagnostic check and a ramp inspection, with a fault-memory readout.
  • Take a test drive that includes town, open road and at least one climb and one descent.
  • Check how long the vehicle is registered for and whether the LPG system, if there is one, is entered and certified.
  • A contract with certified signatures, payment that leaves a trail, and registration of the transfer within the legal deadline.

Frequently asked questions

How do I check whether a vehicle is under a pledge or on lease?
The Registar zaloga (Register of Pledges) of the Commercial Court of Montenegro is publicly available and free, at rzcg.sudovi.me. The search runs on the chassis number, which is entered in the serial number field. The result shows the pledgee, the debtor, a description of the pledged item with the chassis number and, most importantly, the expiry date of the entry. The register covers pledges registered in Montenegro — a charge registered abroad will not show up in it.
How do I check the mileage?
There is no single place where this is checked. In Germany, where a large part of the imported stock comes from, the mileage is entered by regulation in the report of every roadworthiness test, but the central database is not public — it is available only to authorised testing organisations and solely for the purpose of carrying out the next test. The most reliable approach is therefore to ask for a series of roadworthiness test reports and compare the mileage against the dates, to contact the previous owner named in the documents and to have a garage read out the vehicle's memory. Commercial reports by chassis number can help; autoDNA and Carfax expressly list Germany among their data sources, while some providers do not publish the list of countries they actually cover — none names Montenegro as a source.
Is there a Montenegrin mileage database?
A publicly available one does not exist. Mileage is recorded at the roadworthiness test — the rulebook requires the chassis identification number and the distance covered to be entered in the record, and the record is submitted to the Ministry of the Interior — but the certificate the owner receives does not contain the mileage and there is no way for a buyer to check it in advance. For vehicles bought in Belgium there is Car-Pass, an official and compulsory document with a history of readings, which as a buyer from abroad you are entitled to receive.
How do I pay safely?
With a payment that leaves a trail. A bank transfer is the simplest; if you pay in cash, do it at a bank, with the money counted and with the signed contract and the documents exchanged at the same time. Do not pay a deposit for a vehicle you have not seen and do not send money to an intermediary who is not a party to the contract.
Does the contract have to be certified by a notary?
As a condition of registration the law requires proof of ownership, not expressly a notarial deed. In practice that is a sales contract with certified signatures, and signatures are certified by notaries and by the certification offices in the municipalities. A certified contract that is relevant for taxation is forwarded to the tax authority within a short deadline, and the new act on the tax on the transfer of used vehicles expressly obliges notaries and registration organisations to submit the documents on the transfer. In practice: without a certified contract you will complete neither the tax nor the registration.
Who pays the transfer tax and how much is it?
The tax on the transfer of used motor vehicles is paid by the buyer and amounts to five per cent of the market value of the vehicle at the moment of acquisition. It applies only where the transaction is not subject to VAT, that is, when buying from a private individual. The application is filed with the tax authority within fifteen days of acquisition, the decision is issued within fifteen days, and the tax is paid within ten days of the decision being served. Without proof of payment the vehicle cannot be registered. Those exempt include, among others, first-order heirs and spouses and common-law partners.
Within what deadline must I transfer the vehicle into my name?
A change to the details in the registration document, including a change of owner, must be reported within fifteen days. Running alongside it is the fifteen-day deadline for filing the application for assessment of the transfer tax. Whether the plates stay with the vehicle depends on whether the registration area changes, so check that with the competent police directorate before you book an appointment.

This text is a general explanation of the procedure, not legal or tax advice. Regulations and the amounts of fees and taxes in Montenegro change — in the last two years alone both the homologation act and the act on the tax on the transfer of used vehicles have been amended. Before you make a decision that costs you money, check the conditions in force with the Uprava prihoda i carina (Revenue and Customs Administration), the Ministarstvo saobraćaja i pomorstva (Ministry of Transport and Maritime Affairs) and the competent police directorate. We deliberately do not quote amounts we cannot support with an official source.