Relocating with a car already owned abroad raises the question of whether shipping it beats selling up and buying again here. The general arithmetic and the exemption available to people making a genuine household move point in opposite directions, and that exemption carries conditions which keep biting for a full year afterwards.
Usually not, once you add up the hidden costs — but there's one real exception. BPM on a private import gets calculated off an age-depreciation table, so an older car owes far less than the same model brand new, and that arbitrage is real: buying a lightly-used car in Germany and importing it can occasionally beat the Dutch used-car price. Just budget for RDW's import inspection, transport, and paperwork, since Dutch dealers already exploit this trade at scale, which tends to close most of the gap for anyone doing it as a one-off. The exception that actually pays off is the verhuisboedel (household-move) exemption: if you're relocating to the Netherlands and you owned and used the car for at least six months while living abroad for at least twelve months before the move, you can get BPM waived entirely — apply within twelve months of moving, and don't sell, rent or lend the car within twelve months after the exemption starts, or the bill comes due retroactively.