I'm doing an ED in early July and heading deep into eastern Europe. 13 countries including Romania, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina.

I'm worried about border crossing with the tourist plate in Serbia and B&H. Has anybody done this before and can share some advice?

I've corresponded with PCNA and they guarantee me that the registration and insurance are valid in these countries but they are not so sure of the tourist plate since these two countries are non-EU.

In addition to the unusual tourist plate, I am also not getting my front bumper drilled for the plate so my understanding is that Porsche puts a "sticker" of the plate on the front bumper in lieu of mounting a front plate which may add even more scrutiny to my border entry.

Any advice or experiences from the forum?

 

You might actually run into problems in Serbia as there are not only passport checks at the border but also customs checks and your vehicle on temporary tags (there are no "tourist" tags) might be considered "merchandise".

If I were you, I'd try as hard as possible to get a written official paper (in Serbian) from the Serbian embassy in the US describing how to go about this and carry it at all times with you just in case. And get it explained in English for you as well ;-)

And pls don't park a brand new porsche without proper registration that's not designated for EU anywhere you can not see it and reach it in under 1minute.

 

Thanks and good recommendation. I have emailed the Serbian Embassy in Washington DC.

I am assuming you are referring to crime and car theft in Serbia and B&H? Do you have any experience with this? Is it really that bad that my car would not be safe outside our hotel in Belgrade?

 

When I was in Belgrade in 2010, my MB Eclass was not stolen. I stayed at Intercontinental Belgrade (crowne plaza now) and they had decent security.
My Austrian business partner was not so lucky and his bmw 550 was stolen and never found. He went to see some museum or whatever and after 2hrs in a public parking lot, the car was gone.

 

I emailed the Serbian Embassy and I will have no problem crossing the border with the temporary plates! Email below.

Dear Mr. XXXX,

I am happy to inform you that you will be able to travel to Serbia with your new car equipped with the temporary vehicle plates.
Below you can find response that we received from the Automobile and Motorcycle Association of Serbia (AMSS) regarding your inquire. It is written in Serbian but it confirms that they checked out with the traffic police authorities and that you can enter to Serbia and exit from it with car equipped with the temporary plates and the valid driver license!
My advice for you is to print this e mail and have it with you during your trip for any case.
Hoping that you will have a nice trip I am sending my best regards,

Mirjana Zivkovic
Consul General of Serbia in NYC

 

You need to check the Porsche Insurance. I don't believe Serbia is covered. Bosnia is. I drove through Croatia and Bosnia with my Boxter Spyder Last summer.

 

Oh yeah, and same goes for rentals if you plan on driving into certain countries.

 

Check your PM

 

Just an update on this thread since I completed by European delivery of my Porsche.

I had no real problems at all with the tourist plates crossing country borders including Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

We did get questioned and challenged going into Croatia and Serbia. they just asked us where we were going and where did we come from. All of our paper work checked out so we had no issues.

We got pulled over while entering France because of our plates. They just asked the same questions.

 

And the rest of the trip? any damage?

 

No damage at all.......except to my wallet.

I am planning to write a major thread on our trip with vidieo and pictures. I just need some time.