Strangest and most distant license plates you've seen in your area

[J N Winkler]

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

A generic Mexico (said "Mexico" instead of a state plate)

Are you sure that wasn't from Mexico state (Estado de Mexico)?

[xzmattzx]

Originally Posted by J N Winkler

Are you sure that wasn't from Mexico state (Estado de Mexico)?

I'm pretty sure. It was a basic white lettering-and-numbering on a red background, kind of like the old Missouri license plates, and it said "Mexico" on the top.

[Verso]

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

Here's what an American Armed Forces in Germany license plate looks like:

I've seen this too. Once in Germany and twice in Switzerland. I've also seen US forces in Italy (Aviano quite close).

[Simon91]

Once I've seen a European plate here in Sgp. Dun remember which country exactly, but i recall probably Swiss or Swedish. Guess some expats shipped their car over here, lol.

[tvdxer]

Originally Posted by J N Winkler

In Kansas (USA): Paraguay (old, rusted, but real, on a Nissan Maxima which had presumably made the journey north).

In Britain: Maryland plates (again, real).

That's amazing you saw a Paraguayan plate in Kansas. I'm pretty sure anything from south of Mexico is extremely rare in the U.S.

[nerdly_dood]

Originally Posted by Jonesy55

I don't understand why US and Canadian plates would be common in Hungary???

Surely no Hungarian would go to the trouble of buying a car in the US, registering it there and then shipping it over at large expense to Budapest?? Some people here in the UK privately import US cars but not many and in any case they register them once they get here, not before they leave America.

and I can't see many Americans driving up to Western Alaska, waiting for winter until the Bering strait freezes over and then driving across Siberia to Hungary for a vacation.

It would be nearly impossible for a Hungarian to register a car in an American state and keep it in hungary for a long period of time - i don't know about other states, but in Virginia you must take your car to be inspected (usually a auto repair shop or perhaps a dealer) once a year, and date stickers the license plate must be up-to-date (you can get them up to two years before they expire i think) to keep the registration valid.

[Verso]

I mostly see plates from New York, California and particularly Florida.

[BND]

Originally Posted by nerdly_dood

It would be nearly impossible for a Hungarian to register a car in an American state and keep it in hungary for a long period of time - i don't know about other states, but in Virginia you must take your car to be inspected (usually a auto repair shop or perhaps a dealer) once a year, and date stickers the license plate must be up-to-date (you can get them up to two years before they expire i think) to keep the registration valid.

These cars with US or Canadian plates mostly belong to companies, who work as a "car rental". So the car won't become a property of the Hungarian citizen, they just have a contract about the rental. That is how these cars can be registered in America. It is a nice way of avoiding fines, since no way the police can trace back who drove that car in that moment unless they stop it.

[Rail Claimore]

I've seen a few European plates here in the US on the front of cars, but only one on the rear, and it had "E", which I believe is Spain. There is also a ricer car around here that has a Japanese plate on the front.

I see Hawaii and Alaska plates here occasionally, probably because I live in a military town. North Dakota too, for the same reason, so they're not the rarest plates to see. The "HK" plates from Germany are also not uncommon.

The rarest plates from other US states to see here are probably Maine, Vermont, Wyoming, and Montana. The most common plates around here from outside the South are Michigan and Ohio, by far.

[Verso]

I didn't list countries close to me, but anyway, I've seen plates from whole Europe, except Andorra, Kazakhstan and some tiny dependent islands, like the Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey, Faroe Islands, Åland Islands or the Principality of Sealand. I haven't seen new Kosovo plates either, just old. Neither Transnistria, Tatarstan or Mount Athos.

[Gag Halfrunt]

The furthest-flung plates I can remember seeing in my hometown (a London suburb) were from the US (New York, New Jersey, California and Florida), Canada (Quebec), Ghana, South Africa and Australia (New South Wales).

[tvdxer]

Why are there so many U.S. plates in Europe, especially Slovenia?

[Verso]

Well, there aren't exactly many of them, I'm just not exceptionally surprised to see one. I remember an American professor at my uni a few years ago with his car in the garage with New York plates. But that explains just one case; I can't ask others who they are and why they shipped their car.

[rosn19]

here in mexico ive seen ONTARIO, QUEBEC and BRITISH COLUMBIA. there are license plates of some states here in mexico which i have never seen.

[snowman159]

Originally Posted by BND

These cars with US or Canadian plates mostly belong to companies, who work as a "car rental". So the car won't become a property of the Hungarian citizen, they just have a contract about the rental. That is how these cars can be registered in America. It is a nice way of avoiding fines, since no way the police can trace back who drove that car in that moment unless they stop it.

I find that very hard to believe. How do you know that?
I can't imagine any circumstances in which it would actually save them any money. And rental agencies don't pay fines anyway (for violations committed by their customers). And long-term I don't even think it's possible at all.

[snowman159]

Originally Posted by tvdxer

Why are there so many U.S. plates in Europe, especially Slovenia?

"Many" is probably a bit of an overstatement.

Container shipping from the US to Europe can be had for as little as $1,000-$2,000 (iirc). For some people who work/study/travel in Europe for a year or more, this may be an option worth considering. Buying and registering a car in Europe without being a permanent resident may be difficult or even impossible. Especially if you're in the country as a tourist and moving from place to place.

And then there's the Armed Forces. Don't military personnel (and family members?) get to take their car with them? At least, I used to observe a much higher concentration of US plates near bases in Germany or Italy, and I mean regular plates, not the HK or AF plates.

[Verso]

Once a car from Monaco parked in front of my house, which is on a very non-transit street, not in the downtown. I was quite amazed.

[spotila]

nothing but new zealand plates here in ..new zealand - ofcourse :~

[ChrisZwolle]

I cannot remember seeing a US plate in the Netherlands. I guess they're more common where NATO-bases are, so in Germany and Italy.

[Bahnsteig4]

On Austrian roads I've seen plates from Michigan, Russia, Turkey, Sweden, Belarus and perhaps some more.
In Calabria I was once surprised to see a plate from Norway, and in Alaska I came across a motorhome registered in Germany.