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Export plates (zol tablice): cost, validity and documents

A car bought in Germany and driven home to Serbia or BiH needs German export plates (Ausfuhrkennzeichen), often called "zol tablice". They are valid only as long as their special insurance, at most one year, and cost the €31.40 office fee plus the plates, the insurance and German road tax. You get them at a German registration office with a paper insurance card and both parts of the registration certificate, and the car's next HU (TÜV) must fall after the plates expire.

What export plates look like

Export plates are the German registration for driving a car permanently out of Germany (Vehicle Registration Ordinance, FZV section 45). The plate is white with black characters and a black border, has no blue EU strip, and has a red field on the right with the expiry day, month and year.

Red characters with a red border mark different plates, the red plates, such as the dealers' plates whose numbers start with 06.

How long they are valid

The registration lasts as long as the export insurance, at most one year (FZV section 45). The office may set a shorter period; Hamburg as a rule gives at most one month.

The next HU (TÜV) must fall after the expiry date, or a new HU is done first. After the expiry date the car must not be driven on public roads in Germany.

Which insurance you need

Export plates need special liability insurance of their own, proven by a paper card, the Doppelkarte. The page below explains where to buy it, what it costs and what to check on the Green Card that comes with it.

Where to apply and what to bring

Apply at the registration office (Zulassungsstelle) where you live or, with no German residence, where your authorised recipient (Empfangsbevollmächtigter) lives: a German resident who receives official mail for you (FZV section 75). Hamburg requires that person to live there and to attend in person.

  • Passport or ID card, plus official proof of address if the ID does not show it.
  • The paper insurance confirmation, Part I and Part II of the registration certificate, and the HU report.
  • The old plates, if the car is still registered.
  • A SEPA direct debit mandate for the road tax.
  • If someone applies for you: the original power of attorney, a colour copy of your ID and their own ID.

A registered car needs no separate deregistration: the office cancels the old plates, takes back Part I, updates Part II and issues an export-only Part I with the expiry date, which you carry while driving.

What the plates cost

  • Office fee: €31.40 (federal fee schedule GebOSt, no. 221.3, as amended 12 August 2026), plus €15.30 if the car's data cannot be retrieved.
  • Plates: from a private plate maker, not part of the fee; ADAC estimates about €20 to €40.

The insurance is paid separately; its price is on the insurance page linked above.

German road tax comes on top; the page below explains how much it is and how it is paid.

Short-term plates or a transporter

Short-term plates (Kurzzeitkennzeichen), with a yellow date field, are for test and transfer drives and run to the end of the fifth day after issue. The federal administration portal says they are valid only in Germany; ADAC names Hungary among countries where checks can end in a fine or seizure of the car.

Instead of driving it home, you can have the car carried on a car transporter; the page below explains what that costs and what it changes for the plates, customs clearance and the dealer.

Vignettes, papers and the border

Carry the export Part I, the insurance card, the Green Card, Part II, the purchase papers and the ABD with its MRN. The international registration certificate (Internationaler Zulassungsschein) is not needed on either route; the page below explains why. Export plates have no EU strip, so the car must carry an oval D sign at the rear (Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, article 37).

At the Serbian border a transit declaration is lodged; the Serbian customs guide covers what follows. In BiH the car enters in transit and must be homologated within the transit deadline; the BiH customs guide explains it.

The page below explains which vignettes and tolls you pay on the way, when to buy the vignettes and what they cost.

Common mistakes

  • "Export plates have a red border." The border is black; the red part is the expiry field.
  • "They are valid for 3 to 30 days." Up to one year, as long as the insurance; the law sets no minimum.
  • "Deregister the car first." Not needed; the office cancels the old plates at the same appointment.
  • "Yellow five-day plates get you to the border." The federal portal says they are valid only in Germany.
  • "The office fee is €20 to €50 and differs by state." It is federal: €31.40, plus a possible €15.30 surcharge.

Next step

Work out the whole cost

Sources

The official laws, decisions and pages this guide rests on, read on 23/09/2026. Rules and amounts change, so check the ones that matter to you before you buy.