foreign licensed car trade-in for Italian one

Anyone have any experience and/or knowledge about trading in a foreign (German) registered and licenced car for an Italian registered and licensed car? Does the car dealer handle all the paperwork etc. or is this another experience in Italian bureaucratic efficiency?
Thanks for any info and suggestions.
Fred

Well - it depends what you want to do with the German car. If it is very old, (pre 2000, I think, though the year is a moveable feast and maybe it's 2003 now) and you want to demolish it in order to take advantage of a rottamazione deal on a new eco-friendly car, a helpful/dodgy car dealership may agree to take it off your hands, and you won't ever know any more. (And it will be better for you if you stay ignorant.)

However, if it is a trade in for which you hope to get money, then the garage is going to point out to you that you will have to put the car onto Italian plates - which means you will have to sell it to yourself - which means you will have to pay the passaggio di proprieta (plus taxes and bolli) which (depending on the car) is unlikely to be less than €600. To do this you'll need (depends on age of car) either an Italian scheda tecnica, or (for more modern vehicles) I think the Italians accept a European Conformity doc (in Italian, natch).

It is possible that a dealership keen to sell you a (new) car will assist you (Mercedes and VW agents have proved particularly amenable - dunno about BMW). But expect your German reg car to be worth about €800 less than the exact same IT reg model. 

It isn't their fault, the motorizazzione bureaucracy in place compels them to recognise the costs of changing the reg, (and the bit that the dealership fleeces you for is probably a very good deal compared with facing the hassle yourself)!

Thanks for the reply and info.
Car is 2000 (120,000km) Subaru Forester AWD with turbo gas motor in excellent condition and has been serviced regularly over the years. We have the option of  trading it in to buy a new Subaru from our German dealer and continue with driving on German plates as only one of us is resident in Italy six months annually. Will try to deal with a new car dealer here first and if too big a hassle go the German route again.
Thanks again for your response.
Fred