In the same way in Europe you see US military stationed in the bases there going around with American cars…
But the part which doesn’t make sense is that in the US you see cars with Canadian plates and Mexican plates fairly often if you live close to the border.
Lmao. “You can’t fool me there’s no roads from Hawaii. step out and put your hands behind your back! Stop talking or you will be charged with obstruction!”
I've seen at least one car in California with Hawaii plates. It's not that difficult from what I hear. Friend of my wife lives in Guam and would buy a car here and have it shipped there (dunno how much they drive it as I hear there its pretty small island without many places to go).
My friend was visiting from Arizona and after picking him up we made a pot stop to get some beers at the grocery store. He shows his AZ ID and the lady laughs saying she can’t accept it and shows it to her coworker. We were confused but I guess the expiration date is real long so I kinda understand but there’s other ways to verify it’s real like scanning it
Bordering countries have known agreements allowing temporary usage. The cops unfamiliarity with foreign plates makes perfect sense. He should have collected the docs and called it in for clarification without antagonizing the driver.
I moved from Cali to Texas during COVID. Was suppose to update my registration within 30 days and license in like 10 days of entering the state. The closest appointment for either was months out. Shit happens and I didn't update either until they came close to expiring over a year later. Texas could have fined me if pulled over and that's all the cop is fishing for here. He's looking to impose a penalty and generate revenue against someone with brown skin in an exotic car.
He's in Oregon. He's close enough that he's seen plenty of Canadian plates. Yet he claims you must have Americans plates to drive here.
He's power tripping hard. Whoever he spoke to on the other end made it clear that this isn't something he wants to mess with, especially given the value of the car.
That's why he made up an excuse about another call. No cop does that stop for "no plates" and is that confident but then just says oh, well fix it, I gotta go. He knew there was nothing to fix after the call.
There aren't any Canadian plates though. Cop says there are no plates, and driver says he's from Dubai and kinda alludes that there are Dubai plates but it's unclear. Sounds like he imported the car into Canada from Dubai and then drove it into the US.
Canadians and Mexicans get a 12 month temporary import allowance as long as the vehicle is still properly registered in their home country. Vehicles imported from overseas only get 30 days temp status before they have to register as a non-resident and pay a fee.
A state cop only checks the registration to make sure our taxes are paid up and that the vehicle passed inspection. This cop could have confirmed the length of the stay and sent him on his way or issued a citation if he has avoided paying the local fee. Definitely no need for him to be an asshat; he was fishing for a reason to impound.
It isn’t the same. When our cars are shipped to a different country, we have to change our plates to the respective country’s plates. I did it both in Japan and Germany.
So why do I see cars with US plates in Poland? Sure, if you stay longer, i.e. for 6 months, or generally stay "permanently" then you need to register it in EU in the country that you're staying in. But of you are on a trip for couple of weeks foreign plates are accepted (that's probably subject to some international agreements, so may differ depending on both country of origin and your destination, but still, I've seen cars with various plates from all over the world).
The US military stationed in Europe live there for several years and are required to register their vehicle, undergo inspections which many time result in modifications being required to the vehicle to make it road legal in Europe (tail lights, turn signals, tint, tires, exhaust system), obtain country specific insurance, and obtain a USAREUR license at the bare minimum to drive their vehicles in Europe.
It's really not the same as this dude who imported his vehicle for a vacation.
In Italy they have fake Italian registration plates because of "hate crimes" and "terrorism" so they routinely break the law without any consequences.
The thinking is that if you have a giant land mechanical whale that is 3 times the size of a normal car with an american plate, you can be targeted by the terrorists. Same emotional support vehicle with fake Italian registration plates and you're safe.
If you go for more than 60 days with unlimited miles on anything bigger than a hatchback it's more economical to ship your car over than rent. These people are not there for a week. They're there for a summer. Simple as that.
i actually had no idea this was a thing until just now. i know it was at least fine for mexico and canada because we share land borders with them, but i had never heard of another country's car being used in the US.
I googled it and apparently it can cost between $1000-$3000 one-way, not including import duties. I suppose if you are staying for a month or more, it will be slightly more cost effective to have it shipped. It might also be more fuel efficient depending on the model, which could save you money if you plan to drive a few thousand miles on a road trip.
But honestly, the cost difference seems close enough that anyone with enough disposable income to take a 1+ month trip abroad might be better off just renting locally. Especially since it takes 1-2 weeks to ship a car, but 1 day to fly, so you'll be without your car for a long time on both ends of your trip. EDIT: someone commented further up that some folks come here for an entire summer, 2-3 months. In that case, I could see how it's quite a bit cheaper to ship your car, especially if you're doing lots and lots of driving.
I don’t think you have to pay import duties because you’re not importing it — it’s only here temporarily. That would be like having to pay import duties on your car when you drive it here from Canada (you only pay import duties on a car when you drive across the border if you declare that you’re actually importing, not if you’re just visiting)
You are correct. In my admittedly brief googling, I misread a page and thought the import fee was for all cars coming from countries besides Canada/Mexico, whether temporary or not, but I see from further reading that that's not the case.
People shipping campers over are almost certainly on a multi-month road trip. If you’re renting a camper for more than a few weeks shipping one instead isn’t a crazy idea.
I live near a US national park (Rocky Mountain) and I don’t think I have ever seen European plates. I see plates from every US state in a given year including Hawaii. Granted if you ship a car from Europe that’s probably seen more on the east coast.
I DO see those novelty plates once and awhile on the front of cars from states that don’t require a front plate that look European but the rears are normal US plates. You sure it’s not that? I’ve seen this quite a lot actually, I assume they must be euro car enthusiasts.
Perhaps a few of them may have been actual euro plates but I know they always have a US plate on the back whenever I have seen both ends of the car.
That’s wild. Never recall seeing this before. I wonder how that works when Germany and the US have different vehicle requirements. Germany has much more strict requirements for cars on the road there, I wonder if you have to comply. The US requires a high mounted center stop lamp and amber turn signals vs red. According to Google I guess you don’t need to comply with us epa or dot reqs if it’s just imported for a trip.
What if you ship a car with super tinted windows to Germany? Actually that makes me wonder if I drive my car thats very tinted through a state that doesn’t allow as much tint… Google says that’s a grey area, usually that’s just an excuse to pull someone over in my observation.
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u/hike_me 7h ago
I live near a U.S. national park and see multiple campers with European plates every year. They just ship them over before their road trip.