CarTurf
Your gateway to European roads.
CarTurf — European Car Registration for Non-Residents
CarTurf is a production platform that solves a very specific problem: anyone can buy a car in Europe, but registering it, insuring it, and getting license plates all require local residency — which most foreigners, expats, and digital nomads don’t have. CarTurf removes that barrier. The customer buys a car, and CarTurf registers it under its own German company (a licensed GmbH) and insures it, so the customer drives their own car on German plates that are valid across all 27 EU countries — without ever needing to live there.
The business runs on a simple model: a one-time setup fee plus an ongoing monthly service fee that covers the registration, the role of legal keeper, and insurance handling. Customers manage everything through an online account, and a public website explains the service and lists vehicles available to buy. Behind the scenes, the platform automates the operational work that would otherwise be done by hand — when a payment clears, the customer’s service activates on its own; each month, renewal invoices are generated automatically; and incoming payments are matched to the right customer without manual reconciliation.
CarTurf is a real, operating company — a German GmbH with a licensed dealership and a physical office in Remagen, Germany, serving active drivers in more than 12 countries.
Tech Stack
- Backend & data platform: Directus (a headless backend), self-hosted on Elestio, with custom automation workflows
- Web application: Next.js with shadcn/ui — the customer-facing account portal
- Marketing website: Astro with a Directus-driven content system, multilingual (English & German)
- Payments: Stripe, Airwallex, and Wise — supporting card payments, invoicing, and bank transfers
- Email & notifications: Emailit for both transactional and marketing communication
- Integrations: Custom API connections and webhook-driven automation tying the services together
What I Did
I led the technical development of CarTurf, designing the underlying data model and building the systems that keep the platform running day to day:
- Backend architecture & automation — Designed the database structure and built the automated workflows behind the service, so customer accounts activate, renew, and update without manual intervention.
- Multi-provider payments — Integrated three separate payment providers to give customers flexible ways to pay — by card, by invoice, or by bank transfer — with the system automatically matching each payment to the correct account.
- Service lifecycle — Built the logic that carries a customer’s registration and insurance service through its full life, from pending payment to active to monthly renewal, including safeguards against duplicate or mismatched transactions.
- Notifications system — Developed a flexible system that keeps customers informed across email and in-app channels.
- Vehicle management & marketplace — Implemented vehicle status tracking so staff and customers always have an accurate, current view of each vehicle, and built a searchable marketplace of cars available to buy.
- Multilingual marketing site — Built the public website on a content-managed system, fully localized in English and German, so the team can publish and update pages without developer involvement.
Each component was built and tested iteratively in a live environment, refined through continuous real-world feedback until it was production-ready.