TÜV in Germany: How to Read Your HU Sticker and What Happens If You Miss It

If you drive a car registered in Germany, a small round sticker on your rear number plate decides when it has to be inspected. Most people call it "the TÜV". It is easy to ignore for two years and then easy to miss by a few months. Here is how to read it, and what happens if the date passes.

TÜV, HU and AU: what the inspection is

The official name is Hauptuntersuchung (HU), the general inspection. TÜV is just the best-known testing organisation: DEKRA, GTÜ and KÜS carry out the same HU. The inspector checks that the car is safe, matches its papers and meets environmental rules.

The emissions test, the Abgasuntersuchung (AU), has been part of the HU since 2010, so you do not book it separately. As the registered keeper, the Halter, you are responsible for getting the car inspected on time, and you pay for it. Prices differ between test organisations, so check your local test centre.

When your car is due

For a normal private car, the German vehicle regulations (StVZO) set two intervals:

• a new car has its first HU 36 months after it was first registered
• after that, every 24 months

Each period starts from the month of the last HU. You can go early, but the next date then counts from the new inspection. Within the due month, any day is fine.

How to read the HU sticker

The sticker is the Prüfplakette. It shows the due date in three ways:

• The number in the middle is the year. "26" means 2026.
• The number at the top, where 12 sits on a clock face, is the month. A 3 at the top means March.
• The colour stands for the year, so the police can see it from a distance. The colours repeat every six years.

So a blue sticker means your car is due this year. Cars that pass in 2026 mostly get a brown sticker, because they are next due in 2028.

The same month and year is stamped in your registration certificate, the Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil I (the old "Fahrzeugschein"). That stamp counts as proof, so you do not need to carry the inspection report.

When it counts as overdue

The sticker is valid until the end of the month shown. From the first day of the next month, the HU is overdue. There is no legal grace period: the ADAC says the HU must not be overrun at all, even though fines for cars only start after two months.

An example: a blue sticker with 10 at the top means October 2026. From 1 November the car is overdue. Going by the table below, a €15 fine is possible from January 2027, €25 from March 2027 and €60 with a point from July 2027.

What it costs: the Bußgeldkatalog

Fines come from the federal catalogue of traffic fines, the Bußgeldkatalog. For private cars, motorbikes and light trailers, they are aimed at the keeper:

"Flensburg" means the national driving register, the Fahreignungsregister, kept by the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) in Flensburg. Not driving the car does not help: the ADAC notes that a registered car needs a valid HU even on private ground.

Without a valid sticker, the authorities can also ban the car from public roads until it has one. Ignoring that ban costs €60 and a point.

According to the ADAC, your liability insurance still pays the other side after an accident, but if a defect the HU would have caught caused it, the insurer can claim part of the money back.

The extra cost at the test centre

The test centre does not fine you. But if you are over two months late, the inspector must do a deeper check, the Ergänzungsuntersuchung, and the official fee schedule adds 20 percent to the HU fee.

There is no backdating either. Your next HU is due 24 months after the inspection you actually had.

If the car fails: erhebliche Mängel

With only minor defects (geringe Mängel), you usually get the sticker and must fix them promptly, within one month at the latest. With significant defects, erhebliche Mängel, there is no new sticker. You fix them and bring the car back for a re-check within one month of the inspection. By law, your old sticker stays valid for one more month in this case.

Miss the re-check and the car needs a full new HU, and the delay can cost another €15. If the car is found unsafe, verkehrsunsicher, the inspector removes the sticker and informs the registration office.

Due while you are abroad

A German HU can only be done in Germany. If your car left with a valid HU and stayed abroad, the ADAC says you can avoid a German fine by proving that, as long as you have the HU done right after you return. Foreign authorities may not fine you for an overdue German HU, but the ADAC reports cases where drivers were stopped from driving on.

Why TÜV belongs on one list with your other dates

The HU is easy to lose because it only comes round every two years. It sits on the same car as your insurance renewal, which for most policies you can cancel by 30 November, and changes again when you buy, sell or move a car. If you are new here, our first 90 days checklist covers the deadlines that come first.

Notenz is one place for your household's contracts, insurance, bills, documents and dates, shared with your partner. Tick "Car inspection (TÜV / HU)" in the list of common German dates and enter the month from your sticker. Notenz emails you before it is due, and your short Sunday email shows it in the week it comes up.

This article describes the general rules for private cars. It is not legal advice.