AEsco48

not sure if its physically red, or just a term...

We were warned by a friend in Europe to do everything possible so the license plate put on the car at the euro delivery is not "red"....b\c its like the tourist plate so the thieves know their will be cash, luggage in the trunk, passsaports....

that basically happen in Florida b\c all the rental cars has license plates starting with "Z"....

jhh

The "red" refers to a small red sticker on the plate. Otherwise, the plate is essentially identical to the standard issue.

These plates are issued under special rules by the German government and are valid only for limited times. Regular registrations cost a hell of a lot more, so you probably don't want a "regular" plate, even if you could get one, which you probably can't becuase the car is a US spec car, not a Euro spec car.

I would be highly doubtful that ED cars in Europe suffer the problems of rental cars in Florida, but lots of folks on this forum have gone through the ED program, so maybe you'll get some valuable feedback.

To the extent my experience provides any useful data, here it is: Rental cars in Europe typically do have the dreaded "Florida" problem, and are identifiable as such. My family had no probelms with two seprate rental cars in France this past summer over a two week period. We have picked up a total of four German ED cars over the years, and they've never been broken into.

SAguirre

The plates that are on the ED cars are definitely different looking than the regular EU plates. If I remember correctly, the red part refers to the part where the expiration date is. For Europeans who know their license plates, they will always be able to tell that you are a foreigner who just bought a car and will be taking it out of the country.

Even if the plate were not different, I could always tell that it was an ED car because the car had US size plate holes/holders in the back (different trunk lid panel) and the front plate was smaller. Thieves will be thieves and they will be able to tell that you are a tourist, the key is not to be stupid. Europe is a pretty safe place (for the most part) and you should not have any problems unless you are tempting disaster.

I personally am a car nut and I could even tell who put the wrong numbers on the trunk of their Mercedes (badge an E200 as an E500) by just simply looking at the muffler(s). I could always tell the Americans on the Autobahn with their band new cars. I had a University of Florida Gators bumper sticker on my Mercedes there and that usually caught their attention.

I remember that problem in Florida. Even leased cars that were privately owned had a different plate and were in jeopardy. I think that it was any plate starting in either Y or Z that was most likely a rental car. But even then, they were always caught in the bad areas of Miami when they missed the on ramp to I25 and ended up in Overtown or a place like that.

Steve

Oslo

Custom



Normal

SAguirre

Thank you Oslo!

There is no way that you would not notice the difference here right? I could always notice them when I lived in Germany.

Steve

Oslo

You remember this?

SAguirre

Well . . . I do remember seeing these in either my Uncle's garage or my grandfather's garage. I was in Graduate school in Aachen and Maastricht from 1998 to early 2000. I have also gone back to Germany/Europe the last few summers so I am mostly familiar with the new one. I am 31 Oslo. Those pictures are from my birth decade (I am not trying to make you feel old here).

BTW, I truly enjoyed Scandinavia! But I never quite figured out why the Swedish hate the Norwegians so much. Maybe it is because you guys have oil???

Steve

Oslo

I do not feel old. I’m old (57)

I don’t think we hate the Swedes. This year, we are celebrating our 100 anniversary as an independent country. Until 1905 we were in union with Sweden. We have always been the little brother, but after we found the oil in the North Sea and turned to be the richest country in the world (according to UN)(and also the most expensive), the whole scenario turned. It’s more a “love and hate” situation. Last night we beat the Swedes in the World Championship in handball. It has never happened before, and it all took off. Reading today’s newspapers looked like the headlines from the Phoney War…

amdeutsch

Makes me wonder how many Americans actually know what sport you are talking about considering that term is used for a different sport/exercise overall.





Over here they call it Team Handball for the few that know it.

pa28pilot

On a related note, mine were "BB" plates. Am I correct in thinking that was for Böblingen?

etenn

I leased a new car in France for six months about 2 years ago and it did have a red plate. The plate did catch the attention of people who would actually stop and look at it. I was told that it was a "temporary" plate and was used in short term leases and other short term rental situations.

We did get the car broken into...so maybe it did attract the bad guys. I did see a couple of other cars with the same plates in various places in Europe and assumed that they also were leased or somehow only had a temporary license plate.

SAguirre

No, I'm sorry to tell you. "BB" stands for Baden Baden, Near the Stuttgart general area.

For example, "rusnakmb's" front plate that starts with “HB” stands for Hansestadt Bremen. So it is from the Bremen County. I made it a hobby to know what the German plates meant.

When I got my plates in Germany they had to start with AC since I lived in Aachen, but I tried to customize the next set to "SA" (my initials). The lady a the registration office turned red and stated that "SA" and "SS" were not allowed since the SA was the "SturmAbteilung" and well, we all know what it brother organization the SS was (SchutzStaffe). I thought it was funny that I requested a **** acronym, the other people didn't though! I think that they saw that I had prior addresses in Argentina and might have started to question my roots!


Steve

pa28pilot

That's interesting. I wonder whether they all are. I went to Baden Baden immediately upon leaving Stuttgart (Sindelfingen).

Your anecdote about "SA" is a hoot. I wonder how many Americans realize that there is certain speech that will get you jailed in some Western countries...

Oslo

pa28pilot is correct.

BB stands for Böblingen, and BAD stands for Baden Baden. Both in Landkreis Baden-Württemberg



Regarding SA: Here are those combinations that are not allowed: HJ, KZ, NS, SA, SS

HJ = Hitlerjugend
KZ = Konzentrationslager
NS = National Sosialist
SA = Sturmabteilung
SS = SchutzStaffel

KShortill

If BB = Boeblingen (pardon the American keyboard without umlauts), what is BOEB?

Oslo

Never heard about that.


Check this

SAguirre

Sorry about that, I guess my memory is failing me after all. It has been a while since I brushed up on the plate's meanings.

I will have to print that page out that Oslo linked and memorize it! People who have never left Germany would always look at some US troops cars strangely when they imported their Chevy to Germany while they lived there. The Monte Carlo SS always turned heads. For all the wrong reasons.

Steve

SAguirre

All I could find about the name was that Boeblingen was founded by the Count 'Graf Wilhelm von Tuebingen-Boeblingen' 1252-1271. Not too much else. So there is no real meaning to the word, it was just a name.

Steve

northbenz

Yes the BB was for Boblingen. It means you picked up your car in Sindelfingen which is just across the autobahn from Boblingen where the train station and seat of local government are located. As to risk of thieves, we were warned that a European Delivery customer shortly before us had his vehicle broken into while travelling through Italy. We were warned at the Kundencenter not to leave luggage in the vehicle overnight. It was implied that travelling in Germnay was less likely to expose one to theives than in other parts of Europe. Perhaps a bit of German nationalism? Regardless, one of the pluses of going the Black forest Rally route is that you are assigned top notch hotels which come with excellent parking locations that are usually patroled and secure.

Mike Smith

Hi,

Its been a year since anyone has posted to this thread, but maybe
my experience will save someone else the problems I experienced.

Had a rental car in Nice, France. It had "special" plates that marked
it as a rental. It was broken into twice during a weekend. Once on
Friday evening. Half our luggage was stolen. We were not planning to
stay in Nice. Just passing through. The Police said thieves new to look
for the plates and target them.

The next time was Monday morning. We had to stay in Nice the weekend
because my brother did not take my advice to always keep his passport
on his person. While we were at the American Consolate getting him
a new passport, thieves broke into our car again and stole the rest
of the luggage.

We spent the next two weeks in Europe with only the clothes on our
backs. Tom hasn't been back to Europe since. I've been back maybe
5 or six times.

Mike

khaug

That's really unfortunate.

OTOH, we spent 10 days in the Stuttgart area in the fall of '04 after picking up our CDI with its temporary plates and had no trouble at all. My only disappointment concerning the temporary plates was that the Nurburgring won't allow cars wearing them onto the track.

Euro delivery was/is an unbelievably nice program, and I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Driving the Autobahn is an experience not to be missed. I'm currently in the process of buying a Porsche GT3, and was dismayed to find that Porsche charges $2250 to do Euro delivery! By contrast, the Mercedes program saves you a bunch of money.

glojo

Come to the UK, we drive on the proper side of the road and the hire cars do NOT have any type of special number plate.

Sorry to hear about your tales of woe. It is soul destroying wehen this happens on a holiday.

John

JimPurdy

John,

It is a good thing that you put the mark in your post. The "proper" side of the road? I suppose that those of us english language speaking folks on the left side of the Atlantic will start using pounds and pence when you start driving on the "right" side of the road

Jim

northbenz

It is ironic that you resurrected this thread. Since my post above I've had two additional European deliveries, both SLK's. On the one in which we ventured out of Germany/Austria into other parts of Europe we did end up getting robbed. Motorcycle riding highway robbers outside of Marseille, France signaled us over on the roadway under the pretense of our having a flat tire. The license plate was likely the key to our being a target. Fortunately we did not take the offramp and stayed on the main roadway where traffic was heavy so the theives were limited in what they could steal before speeding off. It was a real inconvenience though filing reports with the French police, cancelling credit cards, getting replacement documentation papers from the U.S. Counsulate, etc.

In addition when we were in Spain we actually had a flat tire which was likely induced by "security guards" at our roadside motel in the hopes of finding us stranded on the roadway. Fortunately we made it far enough to pull into a rest area shielded from the highway and where there were other cars though by that point the tire was beyond repair. Luckily it was a nice sunny day and changing the tire was an enjoyable diversion though we got a day behind schedule after having to locate a Mercedes dealer to switch out the mini-spare for a real tire.

christian.baier

it's more likely to have your car burgled in southern europe (italy, greece, southern france, spain) compared to germany, denmark, etc.
not really nationalism, just applied statistics :-)

btw, before the european plates became standard, short-term plates were printed red on white (and didn't have a printed on expire date...). only car dealers are allowed to have the classic red plates now (starting with XX-06xx)