This is what classic and modern cars cost in Germany: Are classic cars a hobby for millionaires?

Maintenance, repairs, restorations: Maintaining a classic or modern classic car can be expensive. How much it will cost depends on many factors in each individual case: What can you do yourself? How easy is it to get parts, and how much do replacement parts cost? What is the car's condition?

The market is large: A study by the consulting firm BBE Automotive from June 2025 estimates there will be 1.67 million classic cars and approximately 5 million modern classics by 2025. Cars 30 years old and older are considered classic cars, regardless of whether they have a German license plate.

According to the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA), 790,439 cars with H license plates were registered in Germany on January 1, 2025. In addition, according to the KBA, there are 888,355 classic cars without H license plates. Experts also estimate the number of classic cars with 07 license plates, interchangeable license plates, or without registration at 220,000. The study authors define youngtimers as cars between 20 and 29 years old.

Things always get interesting when money is involved. Using KBA data, BBE and market experts analyzed the inventory of 40,000 vehicle types and assessed them based on market prices. This sounds complicated, and probably was. In the end, the analysts divided the classic car inventory into seven price categories.

Almost half of cars 30 years old and older are worth less than €10,000. This is followed by the €10,001 to €20,000 price range, which accounts for 35 percent. On average, cars over 30 years old are worth €20,000.

The study authors estimate that classic cars with H-license plates are more expensive: the average price for a car with an H-license plate is €26,000. The €10,001 to €20,000 category also accounts for the largest share: 41 percent of classic cars with H-license plates are in this price range. The high-end segment accounts for the smallest share: only 0.5 percent of classic cars with H-license plates are worth more than €250,000. In numbers, that's just 4,300 cars. According to the study authors, this falls into the collector or art market.

On the one hand, maintaining this value costs money. On the other hand, it's worth investing money and time in preserving the condition—and thus the value—of the car. Owners of classic cars are willing to pay a lot for this: BBE estimates the market for repairs, maintenance, and restoration work on classic cars at 3.5 billion euros. On average, each classic car owner pays 2,200 euros annually for maintenance, repairs, restoration, and bodywork repainting. Because classic cars are rarely driven, every kilometer costs a lot of money: 90 cents for maintenance, repairs, and tires – for other cars, the value is 10 cents per kilometer.

The amount varies slightly between 30- to 40-year-old cars and cars over 40 years old, but on average, the difference is just €100. Maintenance and repairs for cars over 30 years old without a H license plate cost an average of €1,840 per year. Incidentally, modern classics are significantly cheaper to maintain: their owners spend an average of €1,500 annually in workshops.

By the way, modern classics are more likely to be used in everyday life and travel more: 5,100 kilometers per year. Classic cars travel an average of 2,500 kilometers per year – only half as much. The older the car, the lower the mileage: cars over 40 years old travel 1,380 kilometers per year. That's not even the distance covered in the Mille Miglia. The data comes from a survey of 2,254 owners of classic or modern classic cars. Other sources cite different figures: The ADAC estimates 1,931 km per year, a FIVA study estimates 1,576 km/year, and a 2021 Allensbach survey cites 2,480 km as the average annual mileage for classic cars.