Buying a used car in Germany: AutoScout24 by email

New to Germany, or simply not keen on browsing car ads every night, you can let AutoScout24 come to your inbox and spend the saved evenings on viewings instead.

3 steps

Set up in a minute

Search on AutoScout24.de, sort by newest

Set up the used-car search on autoscout24.de

Choose passenger cars, then make, model and body type: estate, hatchback, SUV. Add a first-registration year, a mileage cap and the price you can stretch to. Automatic gearbox and fuel type are worth setting if they matter to you. Enter your postcode with a radius that suits a day trip, sort newest first and copy the results address.
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Copy the link, paste it into mxsender

Paste it into MXSender with email selected

Add the link to MXSender and select email; nothing to install. Telegram is the other channel on every plan, should you want the same search there as well.
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New listings land in your inbox

Open the email that lists new cars

Whenever a check turns up new cars you get one email with all of them, each showing a photo, the price and a link to the ad. No new cars, no email.
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Start monitoring AutoScout24.de →

Track a search on AutoScout24.de right now

Paste the AutoScout24.de search link you want watched — we’ll check we can read it, then set up your alerts.

Track this search →

For example:

📘 How to pick the right link ↗

🔎 Open AutoScout24.de ↗

A shortlist for people who decide on a laptop

Some buyers like to see a candidate, open the ad, check the year and mileage, and only then decide whether to call. An email that collects all the new matches from one check suits that habit: open each ad in a tab, compare, keep the best two.

Because the emails stay in your inbox, a few weeks of them give you a feel for what the model you want really costs on AutoScout24 Germany. That is useful when a seller tells you the price is already the lowest in the country.

German terms you will meet in the ads

Erstzulassung is the first registration date. HU is the periodic roadworthiness inspection, often called TÜV after one of the testing bodies; a fresh one is worth something. Scheckheftgepflegt means serviced according to the book. Unfallfrei means the seller states the car has no accident history. Garantie in a dealer ad often points to an extra used-car warranty; ask what it covers and for how long.

None of these terms is a guarantee. Ask for the papers that back them up.

Viewing checklist for a German used car

Check that the chassis number matches the registration certificate part II, the Fahrzeugbrief, and that the person selling is the one named in it. Compare the odometer with service stamps and old inspection reports. Drive from a cold start. A dealer generally owes statutory warranty to a consumer; a private seller usually excludes it, so write any known faults into the contract.

Do not send money for a car you have not seen, and walk away from anyone offering delivery after an advance payment.

Getting the first match out of spam

Your provider decides where our mail is filed. After the first match, look in spam or promotions as well; if the email is there, mark it as not spam and add the sender to your contacts so later ones land in the inbox.

Plans, addresses and how often your search is checked

Free checks one search every 30 minutes and sends to one address. Starter at $5.99 checks five searches every 10 minutes, still one address. Pro at $14.99 runs twenty searches with the fastest checks and sends to up to three addresses, handy if a partner should see every candidate too.