I am going to take the practical driving test at the DMV to get my license. I was wondering if its possible to take the exam with your own car or do you need to use the ones that they provide on site.
Loooong time ago when I did my license (around 2009?) it was possible to use your own car in the test. I did so.
However, then you needed to actually take the test. If you used the provided cars, the teachers would teach you tricks like âok you drive backwards till you see this tree in this window, then you completely turn the wheel left, then drive slowly until that pylon lines up with that randomly placed piece of black tape in that windowâŠâ
Explains the driving skills of some people, right? ^^
4 Likes
You can use your own car, I wouldnât bring anything larger than a Ford Focus though.
Yes you can. Tried twice and failed spectacularly. Ended up going to the driving school in the end to get my license
How would you drive your car to examination place if you donât have a license?
I had German drivers license with international permit. Went to DMV with own car to get Taiwanese drivers license. Practiced on the official track with own car for the first time and passed the test right after that also using own car. (the theory test was done a couple of months prior)
I did not want to exchange my German one as I wanted to keep it. But you can only use the International license for like 6 months after you arrive here.
2 Likes
I donât understand why you would lose your German driverâs license. I have my âEuropeanâ license and never had to hand it over to the DMV. Even back in the days when I exchanged my national license they didnât ask for my license. If I go back home I just use my European license, and if I need an International I just get it there, too bad itâs just 3 years valid tho, and is not valid in the country of residence.
1 Like
Huh what. Why did you have to do a test if you already had a license.
They are supposed to take your overseas license and send it back to your home country.
This is what happened when I changed my USA license to German license in Germany (but still had to do the driving and theory tests, because my license was from NY state). So I donât have my USA license anymore.
1 Like
You changed your license⊠but you had to take tests. So what is the point then? You can just take the tests. Did you get a discount or something? I am not following.
It was in Germany. It saved me doing the mandatory road hours with a driving teacher, which is very expensive.
On Thursday I just got my licenses changed because of change of ID number in Taiwan. Still have my âEuropeanâ one. Pretty easy although I ran into some small issues as they told me I hadnât paid tax on my scooter for three years (not successive), but no problem, just pay for it and pay the small fine and all is OK.
Oh alright I understand. And why did you take the test in Taiwan? They did not let you apply for a Taiwan license based on your European license? I could do that no problem no questions asked, no need to return my European license.
Well, I did need to take the eye test, which I failed once or twice and the guy let me re-take and by that time I memorized the first couple rows.
I did that recently. Do you have any motor vehicles registered to your old ID? They do not automatically transfer over 
That tripped me up big time.
Yes, I told them I needed to update that too and thatâs how I found out. I wasnât even aware of it.
I had an address change at the same time and they kept sending traffic tickets to the old address (and old ID) that then went overdue
As I understand it that is usually how a conversion goes. They donât want you to have several licenses. One could go back to home country and drive with Taiwanese license (incl. International license), loose is for a driving offense, but then just continue driving using the other local license.
Beim Umtausch eines deutschen FĂŒhrerscheins in einen auslĂ€ndischen FĂŒhrerschein mĂŒssen Sie Ihren deutschen FĂŒhrerschein hinterlegen, dieser wird von den auslĂ€ndischen Stellen an das Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA) in Flensburg ĂŒbersandt. Im Ausland umgetauschte deutsche FĂŒhrerscheine werden vom KBA dann an die deutsche Fahrerlaubnisbehörde (StraĂenverkehrsamt) zurĂŒckgeschickt, die den FĂŒhrerschein ausgestellt hat. Das KBA behĂ€lt keine FĂŒhrerscheine. Wenn Sie Ihren Hauptwohnsitz wieder in Deutschland haben, wenden Sie sich fĂŒr den Umtausch der auslĂ€ndischen Fahrerlaubnis an die fĂŒr ihren aktuellen Wohnort zustĂ€ndige deutsche Fahrerlaubnisbehörde. Es ist nicht zulĂ€ssig, mehrere gĂŒltige FĂŒhrerscheine gleichzeitig zu besitzen.
When exchanging a German driving license for a foreign driving license, you must deposit your German driving license, which will be sent by the foreign authorities to the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) in Flensburg. German driving licenses exchanged abroad are then returned by the KBA to the German driving license authority (road traffic office) that issued the driving license. The KBA does not keep driving licenses. If you have your main residence in Germany again, contact the German driving license authority responsible for your current place of residence to exchange your foreign driving license. It is not permitted to hold several valid driving licenses at the same time.
1 Like
No, because you cannot use your Taiwanese license in Europe, only an international Taiwan issued license if you officially reside in Taiwan. You cannot use your European or national license in Taiwan, only an international license issued in your home country if you do not reside in Taiwan, and if you reside in Taiwan, you can only use your international license for a limited time.
Itâs probably a German 'GrĂŒndlichkeit â thing. Bureaucracy first. Because whatâs written in the law makes no sense. Whoâs going to find out you have a license somewhere in your closet and use it only when visiting home.
I resided in Germany and could use my USA license for 6 months together with the International license (which is basically just a translation).
There I also drove my car to the driving school. That was funny seeing the faces of other driving students when I drove up in my car by myself.