German city Environmental Zone permits

[minimoog]

Can anyone suggest where best to buy these environmental zone permits at fairly short notice (<two weeks)? I'll be visiting a few of the cities in the scheme and want to be able to drive around without getting nicked for not displaying proof of acceptable car emissions ().

The UK German embassy says they are available from TUV stations for €5, online (their suggested vendor charges €30 ) or from some German petrol stations. Any idea how much garages tend to charge? Any other ideas?

[inlovewithRWD]

You should be fine if you simply take a detour from the Autobahn and find a TUV station. It only takes 5 minutes as they take the information from the VIN plate and then issue it with an "Umweltplakette". You will need to show them a V5 though.

ETA I paid €5 when I bought one last year in Berlin.

Edited by inlovewithRWD on Sunday 1st August 19:04

[Lord Pikey]

Not that im condoning it but they rarely check. I have lived in Munich for two years now and never had one on my UK cars. Annoyingly I live 200m inside the exclusion zone. I have been stopped several time and its never been mentioned.

Personally i wouldn't bother, but don't send me the 40€ fine if you get caught

[minimoog]

Thanks that sounds like a pain but do-able. From what I can gather our Euro 3 diesel will be pretty much banned from most German city centres within the next couple of years.

[Lord Pikey]

minimoog said:

Thanks that sounds like a pain but do-able. From what I can gather our Euro 3 diesel will be pretty much banned from most German city centres within the next couple of years.

yup, my old Xantia was banned. Again stopped twice and they didnt say a thing.

[vz-r_dave]

I never had problems with UK plates and have been here in Frankfurt for 2 years.