This is what the HU will cost in 2023
Passing the main inspection is one of the most important prerequisites for being allowed to drive your vehicle on public roads in Germany. That’s why you have to go to TÜV, KÜS or GTÜ every two years – but the testing organizations have been increasing their prices since the beginning of 2023. You can read here what costs you should expect, what happens if defects are found and what penalties there are if you exceed the deadlines.
Costs of the HU at TÜV & Co.
In addition to important documents such as the vehicle registration document – as well as operating permits or proof of the modification approvals if you have tinkered with your car – you should not forget your wallet on the way to TÜV or ATU. The main inspection (HU) is cheap, with the one since 2010, by the way also the emissions test (AU) is not carried out, but it is absolutely necessary.
If you do without the exhaust gas test at the HU, you save between 50 (cars) and 24 euros (motorcycles) – in Hesse, Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria it can even be almost 90 euros. General is the main inspection significantly cheaper for motorcyclesmostly you pay about half as a car driver.
There is no fixed price, it is much more important which testing company you have made your appointment with and where you are. Because the Prices vary by statebut not enough to justify a kind of HU tourism.
In 2023 you will pay the TÜV for your car up to 3.5 tons between 133.90 euros and 145 euros. With KÜS, Dekra and GTÜ you only get the price on request (source: business week). Many workshops also offer the HU including AU, for example ATU (to the workshop finder).
| MOT | Federal State | Costs HU for cars (with AU / without AU) | Costs HU for motorcycles (with AU / without AU) |
| north | Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein | 140.50/90 euros | 83/58 euros |
| Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania | 142.50/91.50 euros | 83/58 euros | |
| Lower Saxony | 143/92 euros | 84/60 euros | |
| North Rhine-Westphalia | 144.50/93.50 euros | 84/60 euros | |
| Saxony-Anhalt | 142.50/91.50 euros | 83/57.80 euros | |
| Hesse | Hesse | 145/56.60 euros | 67.30/42.50 euros |
| South | Bremen, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland |
143/95 euros | 84/60 euros |
| Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt | 142.50/91 euros | 84/60 euros | |
| Thuringia | 133.90/56.60 euros | 67.10/42.40 euros | |
| Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bavaria | 139.90/56.60 euros | 67.10/42.4 euros | |
| Schleswig Holstein | 140.50/91 euros | 84/60 euros |
You can find out here how you know at a glance when your vehicle has to go back to the general inspection and what it costs to miss the deadline:
Defects in the car? On to the workshop
If the experts notice something that must not remain the same, you will be sent home without a sticker. This can be the case if the brakes are dragging, the tires are too worn or there is too much play in the steering. Then you have for a month Time to go to a workshop and fix the problem. Then you have to present your car again.
Since the inspector examined your car the first time, it takes time to present it again just a few minutes and at around 20 euros (depending on the organization and federal state), it also costs correspondingly little. After all, he now knows what to look out for.
However, this is only so cheap if you actually come back within a month. Otherwise, unfortunately, one completely new HU due, for which you then pay the full price.
