# How to open a car repair shop in Moldova: car repair, car sales, parts and accessories, motorcycles

No business in division 45 needs a licence in Moldova. Car repair, car sales, parts and accessories or motorcycles all start with a trade notification, filed with the town hall where the unit operates. The workshop is what sets them apart. A repair shop also registers with the National Road Transport Agency, and dismantling and fitting LPG systems require a full application. The page ends with motorcycles and car rental.

## In brief

- **CAEM codes:** 45.11, 45.19, 45.20, 45.32 and 45.40 (division 45, until the end of 2026)
- **Licence:** None (for any activity in division 45)
- **Notification:** 100 lei for each unit (a car wash is notified bay by bay)
- **Minimum share capital:** None (neither for a showroom nor for a workshop)

## Car repair shop: the town hall notification and registration with the National Road Transport Agency

A car repair shop needs no licence, but it does need two registrations. You file a 100 lei trade notification with the town hall and notify the National Road Transport Agency, which enters you in the Register of Related Activities within 15 working days, with tacit approval. The 2026 regulation sets the workshop’s minimum equipment. Dismantling and vehicle modification, including fitting LPG systems, require a full application and a certified manager.

| Code | Activity | What it means in practice |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 45.20 | Maintenance and repair of motor vehicles | Mechanical and electrical repairs, bodywork, painting, windscreens, tyre fitting and repair, fitting accessories, and car washes. Periodic technical inspection is not included here but under 71.20, and tyre retreading under 22.11. From 2027, the code becomes 95.31. |

- **Notification: Notification of the start of trading activity** — Town hall of the locality where the unit operates. All of division 45 and vehicle rental are on the list of trading activities, so you file a separate notification for each showroom, car lot, parts shop, workshop or car wash. The classification of commercial units has types for repair businesses: a technical assistance centre (over 500 m²), a service station (up to 500 m²), a workshop (up to 100 m²) and a tyre repair unit. A car wash is notified bay by bay. The fee is 100 lei, and trading starts from the acknowledgement of receipt, with tacit approval from the third working day.
- **Notification: Registration of a vehicle servicing workshop in the Register of Related Activities** — National Road Transport Agency (ANTA). Mechanical, electrical and bodywork repairs, tyre repair, maintenance, dismantling and vehicle modification may be carried out only after entry in the register. The notification, filed through e-Autorizație transport, states the workshop’s address, its activities and the manager in charge. The Agency enters the workshop within 15 working days, with tacit approval. For dismantling and modification, including fitting LPG or CNG systems, you file a full application: the manager’s certificate of professional competence, a declaration of good repute, the equipment list with its metrological verification certificates, and a plan of the workshop.
- **Notification: Registration of a workshop for tachographs and speed limiters** — National Road Transport Agency (ANTA), valid for Unlimited. Installing, repairing and checking tachographs and speed limiters. Registration is free and is made for each activity and each type of tachograph. You file a declaration of good repute, the certificates of professional competence of the manager and the experts, obtained after a training course, the metrological verification certificates, and a plan of the workshop and the test track. The Agency assigns the seal the workshop puts on tachographs.

**Who buys it:** Car owners, companies with their own fleets, and transport companies. Lorries and coaches need their tachograph checked every two years, in a workshop registered with the Agency.

**What is different about the money:** Repairs and fitted parts carry 20% VAT. The work order sets out the jobs, the deadlines and the cost of parts, labour and materials, and at the customer’s request the workshop issues a warranty certificate for the work.

## Car sales: the showroom notification, registering imported cars and test-drive plates

Selling new or used cars needs no licence. You file a 100 lei trade notification for each showroom or car lot with the town hall where it operates. Cars you import for sale do not have to be registered in the company’s name first: the buyer registers them on the company’s customs documents. For test drives, the Public Services Agency issues temporary registration certificates for testing, valid for one year.

| Code | Activity | What it means in practice |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 45.11 | Sale of cars and light motor vehicles (under 3.5 tonnes) | New and used cars, minibuses and off-road vehicles under 3.5 tonnes, including online and auction sales and sales through commission agents. From 2027, wholesale moves to 46.71 and retail to 47.81. |
| 45.19 | Sale of other motor vehicles | Lorries, trailers, semi-trailers, caravans and off-road vehicles over 3.5 tonnes. From 2027, weight no longer matters: lorries move to the same codes as cars, 46.71 and 47.81. |

- **Notification: Notification of the start of trading activity** — Town hall of the locality where the unit operates. All of division 45 and vehicle rental are on the list of trading activities, so you file a separate notification for each showroom, car lot, parts shop, workshop or car wash. The classification of commercial units has types for repair businesses: a technical assistance centre (over 500 m²), a service station (up to 500 m²), a workshop (up to 100 m²) and a tyre repair unit. A car wash is notified bay by bay. The fee is 100 lei, and trading starts from the acknowledgement of receipt, with tacit approval from the third working day.
- **Authorisation: Temporary registration certificate for testing** — Public Services Agency, valid for 1 year. A company whose registered activity is selling vehicles and which has premises fitted out to display them receives the certificate for test drives requested by customers, valid in Moldova only. You file the articles of association and the documents for the display premises, and before each test drive you enter the vehicle and the driver in a register kept at the registered office. A vehicle on test-drive plates may not be used for commercial transport. Road tax is 25% of the annual rate for 90 days, and compulsory third-party motor insurance (RCA) can be taken out for as little as 30 days.
- **Authorisation: Registration on the List of Producers** — Environment Agency. A company that places cars and light vans, tyres, oils or batteries on the market for the first time, including the batteries in imported vehicles, is a producer and pays for collecting and treating them once they become waste, on its own or through a collective scheme. For oils, you register within three months of registering the company and before the first sale; the number is issued within 10 working days and is valid for five years. Buyers ask you for your number on the list.

**Who buys it:** Private individuals and companies buying cars, including fleets. An importer also sells wholesale to other dealers. Selling other people’s cars as a commission agent still falls under the vehicle sales code.

**What is different about the money:** Cars are on the list of supplies exempt from VAT without the right to deduct. Lorries, motorcycles, parts and repairs carry 20% VAT. On import, excise duty depends on engine capacity, fuel and the car’s age.

## Car parts and accessories shop: the notification and the duties for tyres, oils and batteries

A car parts and accessories shop or warehouse needs no licence: you file a 100 lei trade notification for each unit. If you import tyres, oils or batteries, you register on the Environment Agency’s List of Producers and pay for collecting them once they become waste. If you only resell tyres, you may buy them only from producers on the list.

| Code | Activity | What it means in practice |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 45.31 | Wholesale trade of motor vehicle parts and accessories | A warehouse selling tyres, batteries, spark plugs, lighting equipment and other parts to shops and repair shops. From 2027, the code becomes 46.72. |
| 45.32 | Retail trade of motor vehicle parts and accessories | A shop selling parts, tyres and accessories to drivers. Fuel, lubricants and coolants sold at retail come under 47.30. From 2027, the code becomes 47.82. |

- **Notification: Notification of the start of trading activity** — Town hall of the locality where the unit operates. All of division 45 and vehicle rental are on the list of trading activities, so you file a separate notification for each showroom, car lot, parts shop, workshop or car wash. The classification of commercial units has types for repair businesses: a technical assistance centre (over 500 m²), a service station (up to 500 m²), a workshop (up to 100 m²) and a tyre repair unit. A car wash is notified bay by bay. The fee is 100 lei, and trading starts from the acknowledgement of receipt, with tacit approval from the third working day.
- **Authorisation: Registration on the List of Producers** — Environment Agency. A company that places cars and light vans, tyres, oils or batteries on the market for the first time, including the batteries in imported vehicles, is a producer and pays for collecting and treating them once they become waste, on its own or through a collective scheme. For oils, you register within three months of registering the company and before the first sale; the number is issued within 10 working days and is valid for five years. Buyers ask you for your number on the list.

**Who buys it:** Car repair shops, which buy parts, oils and tyres for repairs, and drivers, who buy directly. A parts warehouse sells wholesale to other shops and repair shops.

**What is different about the money:** Parts and accessories carry 20% VAT. The road traffic safety law requires anyone importing vehicle accessories and equipment to have these products assessed for conformity with safety and environmental requirements.

## Motorcycle sales and repair: one CAEM code and zero excise for bikes up to ten years old

Trade in motorcycles, mopeds and their parts has a single code, 45.40, which also covers repairing them. There is no licence: you file a 100 lei trade notification for each unit. On import, motorcycles up to ten years old carry zero excise duty, and the rules on end-of-life vehicles do not apply to motorcycles, only to cars and light vans.

| Code | Activity | What it means in practice |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 45.40 | Sale of motorcycles and related parts and accessories; maintenance and repair of motorcycles | Motorcycles and mopeds, their parts and their repair, all under one code. Bicycles are not included, and motorcycle rental is under 77.39. From 2027, the trade moves to 46.73 and 47.83, and repair to 95.32. |

- **Notification: Notification of the start of trading activity** — Town hall of the locality where the unit operates. All of division 45 and vehicle rental are on the list of trading activities, so you file a separate notification for each showroom, car lot, parts shop, workshop or car wash. The classification of commercial units has types for repair businesses: a technical assistance centre (over 500 m²), a service station (up to 500 m²), a workshop (up to 100 m²) and a tyre repair unit. A car wash is notified bay by bay. The fee is 100 lei, and trading starts from the acknowledgement of receipt, with tacit approval from the third working day.
- **Authorisation: Registration on the List of Producers** — Environment Agency. A company that places cars and light vans, tyres, oils or batteries on the market for the first time, including the batteries in imported vehicles, is a producer and pays for collecting and treating them once they become waste, on its own or through a collective scheme. For oils, you register within three months of registering the company and before the first sale; the number is issued within 10 working days and is valid for five years. Buyers ask you for your number on the list.

**Who buys it:** Private individuals and companies buying motorcycles and mopeds, parts for them or repairs.

**What is different about the money:** Motorcycles are not on the VAT exemption list, so they are sold with 20% VAT. A motorcycle importer is liable as a producer for the batteries in them.

## How the sector got here

- **18 April 2024 — Government Decision No. 93/2023.** Importers of cars and light vans become producers under extended producer responsibility: they take back, free of charge, the end-of-life vehicles they placed on the market, under a contract with an authorised operator, which issues the certificate of destruction.
- **12 June 2026 — Government Decision No. 249/2025.** The Regulation on vehicle servicing comes into force: workshops are entered in the Register of Related Activities, each activity has minimum equipment, and the workshop has duties towards the customer, from the work order to the warranty certificate.
- **1 January 2027 — NBS Order No. 78/2026.** The CAEM Rev. 2.1 classification comes into force, and division 45 no longer exists in it. The sale of vehicles and parts moves to 46.71–46.73 and 47.81–47.83, depending on the buyer, and repair to 95.31 and 95.32.
- **23 January 2027 — Law No. 136/2026.** Registration is suspended automatically when the periodic technical inspection expires or when major defects are found. A car with major defects may still be driven for 30 days, solely to have it repaired, including the drive to a vehicle servicing workshop.
- **12 June 2027 — Government Decision No. 249/2025.** Workshops notified and registered before the new regulation must have the minimum equipment it requires.

## How big the market is

For 2025, 2,981 companies in division 45 filed financial statements, with 13,557 employees and sales revenue of 26,041 million lei. Of these, 2,708 have fewer than ten employees: most automotive businesses are micro-enterprises.

The average gross salary in the motor trade and vehicle repair was 14,034.8 lei in the fourth quarter of 2025, below the economy-wide average of 16,355.1 lei. Headcount rose by 12.3% on the same quarter of 2024 and kept growing in 2026: by 7.4% in the first quarter and 6.4% in the second. In each of these quarters, division 45 took on staff faster than wholesale and retail trade.

## What permits you need

No activity in division 45 is licensed, and none is on the list of activities that need an environmental permit or a sanitary authorisation. They all start with the trade notification: the whole division is on the list of trading activities. You file it with the town hall of the locality where the unit is, not where the company is registered, and you file one for each unit. A showroom is notified as a specialised shop, while repair businesses have their own types: technical assistance centre, service station, workshop or tyre repair unit, depending on floor area and services.

The workshop has a second registration, with the National Road Transport Agency. Periodic technical inspection is not part of car repair: it has a different CAEM code, 71.20, and a separate authorisation for each station, described on the [architecture, engineering and design](/en/industries/architecture-engineering-design) page.

## Car repair: registering with ANTA

The Road Transport Code treats vehicle servicing as an activity related to transport. It may be carried out only in specialised workshops entered in advance in the Register of Related Activities. Registration starts with a notification, filed through e-Autorizație transport, giving the workshop’s address, its activities and the name of the manager in charge. The Agency enters you within 15 working days; if it carries out no inspection and issues no report within that time, tacit approval applies. You must notify any later change within 15 days.

A new regulation on vehicle servicing has applied since 12 June 2026. It lists the activities, from mechanical and electrical repairs to bodywork, windscreens, tyre repair and wheel balancing, fitting alarms and GPS systems, and changing oil and filters. Its annex sets the minimum equipment for each activity: an inspection pit or a lift where work is done under the vehicle, a tyre changer and a wheel balancer for tyre work, a body straightening bench for bodywork, and diagnostic equipment. The equipment may also be rented. Workshops registered before the regulation have until 12 June 2027 to equip themselves.

The regulation also sets duties towards the customer. The workshop displays consumer rights and obligations and its extract from the register, fills in the service book if the customer presents it, and the work order sets out the jobs, the deadlines and the cost of parts, labour and materials. On safety systems, the workshop fits only type-approved or certified parts.

## Dismantling, vehicle modification and LPG systems

Two vehicle servicing activities have a stricter regime. Dismantling end-of-life vehicles and vehicle modification, meaning any work that changes the vehicle’s parameters from the approved type, including tuning and fitting LPG or CNG systems, are not registered by notification alone. For each workshop you file a full application: the manager’s certificate of professional competence, a declaration of good repute, the equipment list, the metrological verification certificates and a 1:100 plan of the workshop.

The manager of such a workshop must be an engineer or technician in road transport, with at least two years in car repair, and their certificate of professional competence is valid for five years. If the modification changes the vehicle’s category, the company also needs an ISO 9000-series quality certificate. The modified car’s papers are reissued on presentation of the modification permit from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and proof that the work was done in an authorised workshop.

Dismantling also requires separate areas for handover and storage, impermeable surfaces and separate containers for fuel, oils, fluids and batteries. The dismantler issues a certificate of destruction in the owner’s name and notifies the register within 10 days so that the vehicle is deregistered. An operator that treats end-of-life vehicles also needs an environmental permit, described on the [waste and recycling](/en/industries/waste-and-recycling) page.

## Tachographs and speed limiters

Tachographs and speed limiters may be installed, repaired and checked only in workshops registered for this with the National Road Transport Agency. Registration is free and does not expire, but the application requires certificates of professional competence for the manager and the experts, obtained after a training course, metrological verification certificates, and a plan of the workshop and the test track. Fitted tachographs are checked every two years, so transport companies come back regularly. The duty for lorries and coaches to carry a tachograph is described on the [road freight and passenger transport](/en/industries/road-freight-passenger-transport) page.

## Car washes and tyre repair

A car wash has the same code as car repair, 45.20, but does not register with ANTA: washing is not a vehicle servicing activity. In the trade notification, a car wash is declared bay by bay, and so is a mobile waterless car wash. Tyre repair, by contrast, is vehicle servicing: repairing, fitting and balancing tyres is allowed only after entry in the register.

## Selling cars: registration and test-drive plates

Vehicles are registered with the Public Services Agency, in the owner’s name, after the Agency’s expert has identified them. Importers who sell cars benefit from an important exception. An imported vehicle is normally registered in the name of the person the customs documents were issued to, but the rule does not apply to companies whose line of business is selling vehicles: the buyer registers the car directly in their own name. A vehicle that has not been placed under a customs procedure cannot be registered.

For test drives requested by customers, a company that sells vehicles and has premises fitted out to display them receives a temporary registration certificate for testing. It is valid for one year, in Moldova only, and before each test drive you enter the vehicle and the driver in a register kept at the registered office. Test-drive plates may not be used to carry goods or passengers commercially.

From 23 January 2027, registration is suspended automatically when the periodic technical inspection expires or when major defects are found. A car with major defects may still be driven for 30 days, solely to have it repaired.

## VAT, excise duty and road tax

Cars are on the list of supplies exempt from VAT without the right to deduct. Lorries, motorcycles, trailers, parts and repairs are not on the list and carry 20% VAT.

Excise duty is paid on import. The rate is set in lei per cubic centimetre and depends on the fuel, the engine capacity and the car’s age: the older the car, the higher the rate. Cars with a customs value of 600,000 lei or more pay additional excise of 2% to 10% of the customs value. Plug-in hybrids have the rate cut by 50% and other hybrids by 25%. The 25% cut does not apply to micro hybrids and mild hybrids.

Cars on test-drive plates pay road tax: 25% of the annual rate, for 90 days from payment. Compulsory third-party motor insurance (RCA) for them may be taken out for less than a year, but for no less than 30 days.

## Parts, tyres, oils and batteries

A company that places tyres, oils or batteries on the market for the first time is a producer under extended producer responsibility. It registers on the Environment Agency’s List of Producers and pays for collecting and treating them once they become waste, on its own or through a collective scheme. An importer of cars and light vans is a producer for the vehicles, and both it and a motorcycle importer are producers for the batteries in them. Anyone buying cars for resale must ask the producers for their number on the list.

A distributor may sell only tyres from producers on the list. The collection network for used tyres is made up of technical service centres, car retail centres and car parks, and places where oil is changed have special containers for used oil. A repair shop may hand replaced parts and materials that have become waste only to authorised operators.

Used parts may be sold, with one limit: the law bans selling parts for reuse where they would breach road safety requirements. An importer of vehicle accessories and equipment must have these products assessed for conformity with safety and environmental requirements. Like any importer, it puts its name and address on the product and supplies the safety information in Romanian.

## Motorcycles

Motorcycles and mopeds have a single code, 45.40, for sales, parts and repairs. On import, excise duty is zero for motorcycles up to ten years old; from 11 years old, the rate rises with every year. Motorcycles are sold with 20% VAT, because they are not on the exemption list. The end-of-life vehicle rules cover only cars and light vans, not motorcycles, but the importer is liable as a producer for the batteries in them.

## Car rental

Renting out cars without a driver is not part of division 45: it has code 77.11, and lorries 77.12. It needs no licence and no authorisation from the National Road Transport Agency, and the Road Transport Code lists it neither among transport activities nor among related ones. You file a trade notification for the rental unit, and the cars are registered in the company’s name; where a car is let under a lease contract, registration certificates marked “locațiune” (lease) may be issued. Renting with a driver is transport and has a different code, 49.39, described on the [road freight and passenger transport](/en/industries/road-freight-passenger-transport) page. From 2027, codes 77.11 and 77.12 stay, and car rental brokerage gets its own code, 77.51.

## What changes in 2027

From 1 January 2027 the CAEM Rev. 2.1 classification applies, and division 45 no longer exists in it. Sales are split by buyer: at wholesale, vehicles move to 46.71, parts to 46.72 and motorcycles to 46.73; at retail, to 47.81, 47.82 and 47.83. The 3.5-tonne threshold disappears, so cars and lorries share the same code. Repair and maintenance move to another section, to 95.31 for motor vehicles and 95.32 for motorcycles. Codes 45.11, 45.20 and 45.32 will cease to exist.

## How much it costs to open an automotive business

The paperwork is cheap. The trade notification is 100 lei for each unit, and an SRL is registered with no minimum share capital. A repair shop adds the minimum equipment the regulation requires, and for vehicle modification and tachographs, metrologically verified measuring instruments.

The cost to budget for every year is the local tax on commercial units. Showrooms, repair shops, car washes and rental points are all types of commercial unit, so they pay it, and the local council sets it by type of unit and floor area. In Chișinău, a showroom is listed in the same tariff row as shops, and the tax rises in floor-area bands, so a large showroom pays much more than a small one. Read the council’s decision before signing the lease.

## Which legal form to choose: SRL or sole trader

**An SRL is the usual form for an automotive business.** Only the company’s assets are at risk, not your personal ones, and you can open a second workshop or showroom without changing anything. Below the threshold of 1.7 million lei in sales over 12 months, a company that is not a VAT payer may apply the 4% tax on income. Above it you become a VAT payer and move to the general regime.

**A sole trader has no access to the 4% regime**, because the law expressly excludes it, and the owner is personally liable for its obligations with everything they own.

We choose the CAEM codes, draw up the articles of association, file the application with the Public Services Agency and open the bank account. On your behalf, we file the trade notification with the town hall, the workshop’s notification or full application with the National Road Transport Agency, and the registration on the Environment Agency’s List of Producers. For a foreign manufacturer or importer that wants to sell cars or parts in Moldova, we register the SRL or the branch. We can take on the accounting from the first month, including VAT, excise duty and the local tax. What each service includes is set out on the [corporate services](/en/corporate-services) page.

## Frequently asked questions

### Which CAEM code does a car wash come under, and what documents does it need?

Washing and polishing vehicles falls under 45.20, like car repair. A car wash is notified to the town hall bay by bay, and so is a mobile waterless car wash. Washing is not among the vehicle servicing activities you register with the National Road Transport Agency, and it is not on the list of activities that need an environmental permit.

### What do you need to fit LPG systems to cars?

Fitting LPG or CNG systems counts as vehicle modification, so the workshop files the full application with the National Road Transport Agency. The manager must hold a certificate of professional competence, be an engineer or technician in road transport and have at least two years in car repair. An ISO quality certificate is required only if the work changes the vehicle’s category.

### Do cars imported for sale have to be registered in the company’s name?

No. As a general rule, an imported vehicle is registered in the name of the person the customs documents were issued to, but the rule does not apply to companies whose line of business is selling vehicles. The buyer registers the car in their own name. A vehicle that has not been placed under a customs procedure cannot be registered at all.

### How do you offer test drives in unregistered cars?

You apply to the Public Services Agency for a temporary registration certificate for testing. It goes to a company that sells vehicles and has premises fitted out to display them, and it is valid for one year and in Moldova only. Before each test drive you enter the vehicle and the driver in the register kept at the registered office. Road tax is 25% of the annual rate for 90 days.

### Can you sell second-hand car parts?

The law does not ban selling used parts, but it does ban selling parts for reuse where they would breach road safety requirements. On safety systems, workshops fit only type-approved or certified parts. For second-hand goods, the seller and the buyer may agree a warranty period shorter than two years, but not shorter than one year.

### Do you need a licence to open a car repair shop in Moldova?

No. A car repair shop starts with a 100 lei trade notification, filed with the town hall where the workshop operates, and a notification to the National Road Transport Agency, which enters you in the Register of Related Activities within 15 working days. For dismantling and vehicle modification, including fitting LPG, you file a full application, with a certified manager and metrologically verified equipment.

### Which CAEM codes do you choose for an automotive business?

Until the end of 2026, car repair has 45.20, car sales 45.11, lorry sales 45.19, parts 45.31 for wholesale and 45.32 for retail, and motorcycles 45.40. From 1 January 2027, division 45 disappears: sales move to 46.71–46.73 and 47.81–47.83, and repairs to 95.31 and 95.32. At registration you declare up to five main activities.

Choosing the CAEM codes, drafting the constitutive documents and filing with the Public Services Agency are part of the registration service.