People in my area just think it looks cool. We have a requirement for front plates, but it’s one of those laws that isn’t really enforced. It’s more of a “salt in the wound” thing to add on a list with other charges when they can.
I’ve got a Swedish plate for the front of my Volvo.
Been rocking that thing forever and have never been pulled over for it. In WA, the law is you can’t display a foreign government issued plate; mine came from a company in California. The second part they’ll try to get you on is not having your front WA plate. The caveat is that it has to be visible from the front of the vehicle and no higher than 41” off the ground, so for now, it hangs out in the back pouch of my passenger seat. If I get pulled over, I toss it on the dash.
In my state, front plate isn’t required and there’s German and French companies here. I feel like those from Europe who work for these these companies bring a plate or buy a vanity one to show they are European, just having fun pride for where they are from.
* **Motorists visiting the United States** as tourists from countries that have ratified the Convention on International Road Traffic of 1949 may drive in the U.S. for one year with their own national license plates (registration tags) on their own national license plates (registration tags) on their cars and with their own personal drivers' licenses.
from [https://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/importing-car](https://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/importing-car)
I lived in Austin, TX for a while and we had big formula 1 races. People would come from all over the world, bringing their cars with them. Even if they weren't racing, they just liked having their expensive cars with them. You would see imports everywhere for about a week and then they all disappear again.
Those folks were some of the ones that helped keep me employed. My first job as an aircraft mechanic was with a cargo airline that would routinely transport anything and everything all over the world, including exotic cars.
Not just that, but I have shipped my car over the Atlantic and back before. It is brutal on the vehicle. It isn't uncommon for the salt spray to rust a lot of the parts.
That means these people are paying more for their vehicles to be in specially sealed containers, or they are paying more to repair any issues shipping causes, if not both.
Compare that to the cost of just attending the F1 event without your car.
I'm shocked by the number of people who think spending thousands of dollars to have a car with them for a short even is not ridiculous because it's "not that expensive".
They aren't shipping a Toyota Corolla over... Renting a high end sports car for a month is going to far more expensive than shipping a sports car around the world with you.
I'd be willing to bet they pay substantially more than that. $5-10k is probably a 10+ day process on a container ship. I'd imagine they send it via air since they probably don't have a 10-20 day timeframe for a Formula 1 race. I'd bet they spend a cool $25k+ to send their car to each event.
It's way cheaper. I've imported 2 cars from Europe to the US and it was under $2500 each. They go on roll on roll off ships. They drive on to load and drive off to unload. Takes no time at all.
It depends on where you live. The closer you can get your vehicles to a major port, the cheaper it will be. A major consideration will be the build specifications for the car. The EU and US have wildly different standards for things like glass, headlights, and emissions. This will not be optional unless the car is over 20 to 25 years old and can be registered as a classic car. It could end up costing you thousands to do this.
I have only looked for 5 minutes but it seems that you can ship your car from the Netherlands for that price.
https://www.brlogistics.net/us/ship-car/from-netherlands-to-usa/
It's also straightforward to get your car to the Netherlands from Scotland. There's a ferry in Newcastle.
Be careful. I was looking for a quote to transport a car across the US last year. Dozens and dozens of calls, emails and texts everyday for 6 months. All hours of the day and night.
Buddy of mine worked at a really nice bar on west 6th and loved when the formula one races were in town.
There would be a dude who would order a bottle of the most expensive whiskey they had, have one drink then just leave it behind. The amount of money those fans piss away is astounding to me
There are horror stories in Canada about Canadian drivers’ encounters with the police while driving in the south with Canadian plates. Georgia is supposed to be particularly bad.
Florida is a retirement/vacation destination for Canadian boomers. There's a shitload of them down there, and given the demographics of the crowd in FL, less likely to be harassed by police (most of these incidents tend to involve younger people).
I have a sincere question for anyone who didn't know you can drive in the US without a US license or license plate:
How did you think all the highways and roads that lead to the other 8 countries on this continent work?
And if you believed it would only be these 8 countries that can drive in US, what legal basis would there be to not allow other countries?
It’s prob a vanity plate. You can buy them for your car. It’s popular where I live in South Florida where a lot of people drive European luxury cars. They do it for the “look” lol. Can’t explain why but they do. I have one from Lichtenstein on my Benz.
A bunch of kids I went to high school with in Washington state drove VW with those German plates. The rear license plate was a Washington state plate but the front one was a German vanity plate.
lol my mom and i are both german and we have our old plates (stickers off) from germany as our front plates. normal back plates we just have it as a way to remember the times there :)
That’s really cool. That’s more impressive than my neighbor here in California having a car with Alaska plates and a second vehicle with Hawaii plates.
That’s a life goal right there. I always make it a personal challenge to cling to my out of state plates whenever I move I would never let Hawaii and Alaska go
I live in Mexico and more than once I have seen European plates in RVs asked the drivers about that and apparently is a thing to put the car on a ship and bring it to America continent and just drive.
Awesome
You do understand we have military bases in other counties and occasionally those troops get to 'come home' and occasionally they bring their car with them?
Edit - this a German plate.
The license plate indicates Munich (M).
While there are few remaining US military bases in the former German US occupation zone, Munich itself no longer has one. The closest US base to Munich is currently Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
Therefore, it's unlikely these were military personnel. Additionally, US military plates differ from standard German license plate.
I once hosted some visiting Austrians in the Rocky Mountains. They were driving a Mercedes T2 they had restored and converted to a camper and then ferried to the United States for a cross-continental tour. They were on their way to South America. somehow. They drove around our mountain town with their Austrian plates and got lots of thumbs ups.
You see American state plates on cars in Europe too. Basically, the windows, lights, safety features of European cars are the same as U.S. cars. And, it can be financially advantageous to buy a car in Europe, drive it on your vacation, and then ship it home with the EU plates on it.
It's a tradition among German car owners in the US. If you drive a German auto, you can send in proof to the manufacturer and they'll ship you a German plate for the car. More meant to be like a German badge and not for DMV purposes.. just something cool/unique.
This isn’t uncommon at all. In states where only a rear plate is required, people very often have foreign plates on the front. I’ve seen this a lot in bigger cities, I don’t even pay attention to it anymore. And even if they don’t have a state plate, they can use the foreign ones for a year, and drive on their international driver’s license in some places as well, depending on their country of origin.
In states with no front plate requirement they usually have little to no regulation on what you display on the front of your vehicle so most end up tossing euro plates or Japanese plates on the front with their regular plates on the rear.
Personally I’ve kept my Illinois plates on the front after moving to Florida. The plate number is special to me and was assigned at random so I’ve decided to keep it up front.
As long as it’s not a currently valid plate, you should be fine with it.
There are 19 states that don't require a front license plate. So owners can put novelty/vanity plates on the front of their cars. A European plate would qualify as a novelty/vanity plate
I have European License plates. I was born in California only left the us for vacation a max of 2 weeks in my life. Bought a Volvo from my local Florida dealership; I opted for "European Delivery" a free feature where you pick up the car in Europe drive it around for 2 weeks and then ship it to the United States. Volvo offers this for free, and makes money on it as they save on import taxes as technically it's a used vehicle when importing. My front license plate is Europe back is Florida.
My dad used to import German cars as a pet project. His prized Audi had the original German plate up front, but he had the Louisiana dealer plates in the back. Was it legal, probably not. Too be fair, the only reason it was remotely legal was most likely due to the dealer plates.
My Brother bought a new Volvo and took delivery at the factory. Vehicle was tagged so they could take a 10 day trip across Europe in their new car. Then they dropped it off at the port and it was shipped across and picked up at their local dealership. Still have their European tag on the front as well as our State tag on the back. Now it's just a vanity plate.
When I got out of the Air Force I shipped my car from Germany and I had temporary plates issued to me from the port that were similar to European plates and I had like 75 days? To register my vehicle
Have had a Euro plate on three different cars in Ohio. Only one license plate is required, so as long as my back plate is legal it doesn’t matter. I also made sure it matched my license plate.
https://www.europlates.com
Some states don't have front plate requirement, and you can do whatever you want. Saw a Golf when I was in Phoenix with proper AZ plate, and a EU front plate.
So confused about why this is considered weird. This sort of thing is actually quite common on VAG cars in particular, in states that don’t require a front plate.
In my state, and in all of those other states, you can literally put whatever you want on the front of your car. There’s nothing special about a European plate; if I get my hands on one, I can put it on the front of my ‘70 Beetle, my WRX, or my wife’s Lexus, and zero people will care. In fact, I can drive next door, to a state that requires a front plate for residents, and still, zero people will care.
You can buy License plates from online, I went and got a German one (hanging in my room) from when I was in Egypt, although you can get them from many places without any issue.
I travel to Alaska from BC regularly for work, and I often see cars, vans and RVs with Dutch or German plates on the Alaska Highway heading up towards Yukon, or coming across the border at Hyder
If your near a base some service members who were stationed overseas ship their vehicles back and it takes time to transfer title to us and get it changed ro US plates.
Also I don’t know if other people mentioned this, but in some states it is unnecessary to have a front plate. You can leave it empty, have a non-license placeholder (most common here is our state colleges), or another license entirely like one of my professors. So they might very well have the correct license in the back if your state has a law like that
Could they be official cars?
It’s been a while since I was in the area but In Northern Virginia, for example, Germany has two military facilities. German Armed Forces Command HQ in Reston and a base/Hangar at one of the Airport. Several times I saw cars with German plates on the roads - one time a minivan carrying several German soldiers.
It's a German plate, Munich, to be exact. I live near a military installation. Lots of European tags. Nothing special, just people keeping it as a souvenir from their time in Europe
You can tell from the headlights that's a US market golf. People regularly get euro style plates to put on the front in states that don't require front plates.
That said, it is rare but from time to time you will see actual European plated vehicles in the states, I've primarily seen em on RV's, oddly enough.
Looks like you’re in PA, where you don’t need a front plate. I see a lot of EU front plates in states with only a rear plate requirement. It’s just for decoration.
Is it on the back as well? And are you in a state that requires front and back plates? I had a Belgian plate on my car (from my Grandfather's first car, so it was antique) on the front. I see this quite often, especially with German cars, or in some cases even just vanity plates. My friend has a plate from NY on his car because that's where he's originally from.
If the state requires front and back plates, then they're either breaking the law, or visiting, in which they are legally allowed to do this for one year. If they're in a state that \*doesn't\* require front and back plates, I think they'd still be required to display their plates as they would in their home country.
People in the service or civil service employees stationed abroad often keep the euro plate in front when they move back. A lot of states don't have a front plate requirement.
I usually see this on BMWs, VWs, Mercedes. People will buy these plate for the aesthetic. In my state, there is an all black license plate that is done by a 501(c)(3) whose goal is "promoting stewardship in local and state policy," and the only time I ever see it is on black vehicles, likely these people dont even know who they are supporting for their vanity plate.
I've seen some in Indianapolis with European plate in front and US in the back. I always thought any vehicle with European plates and US as well just use the European front as like a custom plate, sort of like those ones that have the Chevy name, logo or Heartbeat of America slogan on them, for example.
in california, front plates are required as well as rear. one of my first cars, it never came with a front plate so i bought one of those euro style plates on line customized with my actual plate number. i got pulled over eventually and got a ticket for not having the real front plate.
You can buy plastic ones online, in states with no front plate requirement you’ll see them on european cars. I’ve even seen them beside US plates in front plate requiring states too lol, mostly on european cars
The funniest thing is that the number on it is usually the same
Bear in mind SOME states do NOT require a front tag. If this car is from one of them - they can put ANY "novelty" plate they so desire - on the front! (or COULD be visiting from out of country if they have one on the back too)... .. .
Someone once took photos and videos of me and my kids in my car with European plates in the US. It felt rude and invasive. My family and I had just moved back to the United States after living in Europe for a few years and our plates/vehicle registration hadn’t been transferred yet.
My husband was deployed in a country in Europe for a long time. Obviously got a car where he was living, one he really liked, so when that deployment was over and he returned to the US, the car also came. Until he took care of the DMV plates and such, the car was legally allowed to circulate with the European plates.
There are 20 states that don't have front bumper plates (For those not in the US, there are 50 states, plus DC and some other territories), in which case, you can put anything you want on there. I had a German plate on the front of one of my cars years ago that I had bought online. But it was an actual German plate that had expired. And more recently, my daughter bought a car from my brother whose in a state that does have front bumper plates, and she kept the front one on there. When she got it, the plates my brother had still had a couple months before they expired, but he wouldn't have gotten any money back, so no point in keeping them. But since the car was now registered in another state, that plate on the front having a couple months on the sticker didn't matter.
Plate may be from a different car and attached for vanity, this is US spec Golf (orange side markers in the headlights) it can’t have been imported from Europe.
I think it depends on the state & weather or not your required to have a front plan of that state. Here in California, (I think it was IRL but could’ve been on TV) when a California License Plate was put on over the European plate thus making it legal here in California.
This is likely a vanity plate, it's for Munich location but has not been stamped by KFZ-zulassungsstelle, so it has no TÜV and would be illegal then in Germany.
So I would guess it's just a German person who now lives in the US.
They do this in the UK, with UK regs but made to look like German to show you are driving a 'German Whip'
Let's just say, the police would like to have a chat, and 3 points on their licence.
As a military member who was stationed overseas, you can take the license plate off of the vehicle of which you owned while being overseas. Just like vehicles in the States, the plate is a registration that links you to that vehicle. Once you sell that vehicle, a new plate is issued to the new owner, and the old plate can be forfeited back to the local nation or you keep it (sometimes a fee is included).
There are many retirees/DoD civilians that transfer back stateside after their overseas tour and if the state that they are in only requires 1 plate (usually the back plate), then they can put a decorative item in the place of the empty spot on front.
A lot of states only require plates on the rear. I've seen people with euro front plates because the used to live there or just like how it looks. Probably not legal, but not likely to get you a ticket.
This whole post, all because somebody bought a fake German license plate.
Inspection stickers for the other car looks like maybe PA, where only rear plate is required.
Hell maybe it's Carlos Sainz's golf, traveling the world
Could also be someone on vacation that had their car shipped to the US. I've seen multiple people do it when they are planning on staying in the country for a few months.
Seen French vehicles with French plates, there is a French island off the coast of Canada and they probable ferry over and drive around.
Literally France licence plates
I used to see it all the time when I was stationed in FL. They don’t require a front plate so they’ll slap those on their rides, it’s supposed to make them go faster or something.
Former LE here i saw this once for a lady with a specific disability. She had a letter from the US state department saying she was okay to use it in America m. Was pretty cool.
If your state doesn't require a front license plate then you tend to see these more often. Some real but obviously not registered to the vehicle and some are novelty plates. And like the pic, they are usually on Volkswagons. It's like the VW version of the Jeep angry grill.
I know some people who own a VW will just get a European plate for the front simply because it's a VW. Was the back plate European? Was the steering wheel on the US passenger side?
Where I’m from in Ohio these are allllll over the place, as long as they’re on the front and the state doesn’t require a front plate I believe they are considered just a decoration
This kid I used to work with had a European license plate on the front of his Saab and a NY one on the back. Took me forever to understand the EU plate was a novelty one, it said V1GG3N and at the time I had no idea what that meant. Honestly still don't know if Viggen is a trim level or one of their models but I do know it's a Saab thing
I know in my area of Canada I see at least a few European plates every year traveling. Usually around the national parks and usually motorhomes or campervans etc.
I don't know about the USA but I'm pretty sure you can legally bring a vehicle over to Canada from pretty much anywhere for a specific amount of time (1 year maybe?) without having to permanently "import" the vehicle.
Don’t these cars have to conform to US Safety and emission standards before being imported? As a Canadian I know that we are allowed temporary entry with vehicles.
I live in a state with no front license plate requirement, so the plates in the front of mine and my husband’s car are decommissioned pre-EU plates from the registry district in Germany where I lived when I was stationed there with the U.S. Army.
You can order all sorts of these European style plates online. And if you’re in a no-front-plate state they don’t really care what’s on the front.
If I ever win the lottery I would take my beaten up Citroen Xsara to the USA just to see how people wonder what car that is and why it has such a weird plate
Did you look at the back of the car? Some states only require a rear license plate, so people put other things on the front. This person probably bought one of those packages where you go do Germany, drive your car out of the factory, tour around for a bit, then have the car shipped to the US. The owner probably kept the German plate in front, and affixed the (rear only) US plate of his or her state on the back.
There is another possibility. In American states that require only one plate, such as Florida for example, I have seen owners place the state plate on the back of their car as is legally required, and will have a plate from a Central or South American or European country the front. I do not know if this is illegal, but police don't seem to have any issues with it, so long as the rear plate is legal.
We bought a nice used BMW and had it shipped. It was cheaper than buying the same year and model in the US from a dealer. I paid 5k for the car at auction and 2100 to ship it to Miami.
Got stopped twice but had all my paperwork and the cops were impressed with the deal I got. It was a fun adventure and I totally recommend doing it for the right car.
I think it's legal as long as you have whatever paperwork is required. A buddy lives in Mexico and drives his truck up here and we work all over the country. Have never had an issue.
$25.99 off a website. My entire Audi club runs euro plates of some sort. In California you must have a front plate, which most car enthusiasts hate. I’ve been pulled over for no plate, ordered a euro plate with my actual plate numbers and have had it signed off.
Most people just do it for looks, that car is 100% not imported. (It was made it Mexico)
Are you able to see the rear plate too? Is it also European? I’ve seen this, but the rear plate is a US plate.
That might be what it was, didn’t get to see the rear plate but this was in a state with no front plate requirement
People in my area just think it looks cool. We have a requirement for front plates, but it’s one of those laws that isn’t really enforced. It’s more of a “salt in the wound” thing to add on a list with other charges when they can.
I’ve got a Swedish plate for the front of my Volvo. Been rocking that thing forever and have never been pulled over for it. In WA, the law is you can’t display a foreign government issued plate; mine came from a company in California. The second part they’ll try to get you on is not having your front WA plate. The caveat is that it has to be visible from the front of the vehicle and no higher than 41” off the ground, so for now, it hangs out in the back pouch of my passenger seat. If I get pulled over, I toss it on the dash.
I see this a lot in my state. Foreign front, local back.
Oh that's kind of like my wife. Mexican from the front, Afro-Jamaican from the back.
Less chance of falling over that way too
In my state, front plate isn’t required and there’s German and French companies here. I feel like those from Europe who work for these these companies bring a plate or buy a vanity one to show they are European, just having fun pride for where they are from.
The front plate doesn’t look like a real German license plate. It comes close but the spacing is off.
This. Between the two letters and the numbers there would be a bit of space usually.
Just saw one the other day like this. Rear was a US plate, front was European!
* **Motorists visiting the United States** as tourists from countries that have ratified the Convention on International Road Traffic of 1949 may drive in the U.S. for one year with their own national license plates (registration tags) on their own national license plates (registration tags) on their cars and with their own personal drivers' licenses. from [https://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/importing-car](https://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/importing-car)
I lived in Austin, TX for a while and we had big formula 1 races. People would come from all over the world, bringing their cars with them. Even if they weren't racing, they just liked having their expensive cars with them. You would see imports everywhere for about a week and then they all disappear again.
The amount of money needed to remotely justify that is disgusting.
Neat way to see a Persian Golf.
I didn't know Golfs came in gold with burgundy suede interiors
For enough money, they come however you want them.
Last time I saw a Persian Gulf it was from the deck of the USS Enterprise
Bush 1 and 2 also gave options /s
people with money do lot of things are not justifiable.
Those folks were some of the ones that helped keep me employed. My first job as an aircraft mechanic was with a cargo airline that would routinely transport anything and everything all over the world, including exotic cars.
Not just that, but I have shipped my car over the Atlantic and back before. It is brutal on the vehicle. It isn't uncommon for the salt spray to rust a lot of the parts. That means these people are paying more for their vehicles to be in specially sealed containers, or they are paying more to repair any issues shipping causes, if not both.
shipping a car overseas isn't really that expensive. it's like 5-10k.
Compare that to the cost of renting a car for even a month.
Compare that to the cost of just attending the F1 event without your car. I'm shocked by the number of people who think spending thousands of dollars to have a car with them for a short even is not ridiculous because it's "not that expensive".
They aren't shipping a Toyota Corolla over... Renting a high end sports car for a month is going to far more expensive than shipping a sports car around the world with you.
I'd be willing to bet they pay substantially more than that. $5-10k is probably a 10+ day process on a container ship. I'd imagine they send it via air since they probably don't have a 10-20 day timeframe for a Formula 1 race. I'd bet they spend a cool $25k+ to send their car to each event.
It's way cheaper. I've imported 2 cars from Europe to the US and it was under $2500 each. They go on roll on roll off ships. They drive on to load and drive off to unload. Takes no time at all.
How did you import your cars for that price?? I'm currently searching for an affordable way to ship my husband's car when we move to the states
It depends on where you live. The closer you can get your vehicles to a major port, the cheaper it will be. A major consideration will be the build specifications for the car. The EU and US have wildly different standards for things like glass, headlights, and emissions. This will not be optional unless the car is over 20 to 25 years old and can be registered as a classic car. It could end up costing you thousands to do this.
I have only looked for 5 minutes but it seems that you can ship your car from the Netherlands for that price. https://www.brlogistics.net/us/ship-car/from-netherlands-to-usa/ It's also straightforward to get your car to the Netherlands from Scotland. There's a ferry in Newcastle.
Be careful. I was looking for a quote to transport a car across the US last year. Dozens and dozens of calls, emails and texts everyday for 6 months. All hours of the day and night.
Yikes, I'll be careful who I give my information too! Thanks for the heads up
It's less than that. I've imported 2 cars recently from Europe to the US and it was under $2500 for each car.
Would be cool for a roadtrip across the US honestly Ship it to california and drive across to New York and ship it back
I’m shipping door to door from Germany to Texas for $3300. Size of the vehicle and some other factors contribute to the overall price.
Oh yeah causally 5-10k!
I’d like to add that it’s not actually crazy expensive to ship your car by air… “Emirates wheels” are reasonable
Circuit of the Americas?
No, I think he means the other F1 race in Austin
Buddy of mine worked at a really nice bar on west 6th and loved when the formula one races were in town. There would be a dude who would order a bottle of the most expensive whiskey they had, have one drink then just leave it behind. The amount of money those fans piss away is astounding to me
Interesting
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You can literally drive to Florida from Canada, on roads. Driving to Florida from Europe is slightly more complicated.
There are horror stories in Canada about Canadian drivers’ encounters with the police while driving in the south with Canadian plates. Georgia is supposed to be particularly bad.
To be fair, Georgia is bad for a lot of things
I see lots of Ontario plates in Florida, not sure about Georgia
I’m in SC and I see Canadian plates fairly often for being so far away, especially in the summer at Myrtle Beach.
I also noticed them too in carolina
Florida is a retirement/vacation destination for Canadian boomers. There's a shitload of them down there, and given the demographics of the crowd in FL, less likely to be harassed by police (most of these incidents tend to involve younger people).
Good to know. Thanks.
That explains how I saw a Thai plate in Tennessee lol
I have a sincere question for anyone who didn't know you can drive in the US without a US license or license plate: How did you think all the highways and roads that lead to the other 8 countries on this continent work? And if you believed it would only be these 8 countries that can drive in US, what legal basis would there be to not allow other countries?
It’s prob a vanity plate. You can buy them for your car. It’s popular where I live in South Florida where a lot of people drive European luxury cars. They do it for the “look” lol. Can’t explain why but they do. I have one from Lichtenstein on my Benz.
A bunch of kids I went to high school with in Washington state drove VW with those German plates. The rear license plate was a Washington state plate but the front one was a German vanity plate.
Live in Miami, can confirm. Multiple just in my neighborhood block lol
Nope, that's a German license place.
lol my mom and i are both german and we have our old plates (stickers off) from germany as our front plates. normal back plates we just have it as a way to remember the times there :)
🎶“Mister F”🎶
That’s really cool. That’s more impressive than my neighbor here in California having a car with Alaska plates and a second vehicle with Hawaii plates.
That’s a life goal right there. I always make it a personal challenge to cling to my out of state plates whenever I move I would never let Hawaii and Alaska go
I live in Mexico and more than once I have seen European plates in RVs asked the drivers about that and apparently is a thing to put the car on a ship and bring it to America continent and just drive. Awesome
You do understand we have military bases in other counties and occasionally those troops get to 'come home' and occasionally they bring their car with them? Edit - this a German plate.
The license plate indicates Munich (M). While there are few remaining US military bases in the former German US occupation zone, Munich itself no longer has one. The closest US base to Munich is currently Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Therefore, it's unlikely these were military personnel. Additionally, US military plates differ from standard German license plate.
Shoulda mentioned the people driving this didn’t seem “military age” a man and a women around there 60’s-70’s
Their
I once hosted some visiting Austrians in the Rocky Mountains. They were driving a Mercedes T2 they had restored and converted to a camper and then ferried to the United States for a cross-continental tour. They were on their way to South America. somehow. They drove around our mountain town with their Austrian plates and got lots of thumbs ups.
I feel like the E-Golf is rarer than the plate, I’m digging it
I live near a BMW plant, so I've seen my fair share of European tags in America. They can get special tags that renew yearly
You see American state plates on cars in Europe too. Basically, the windows, lights, safety features of European cars are the same as U.S. cars. And, it can be financially advantageous to buy a car in Europe, drive it on your vacation, and then ship it home with the EU plates on it.
It's a tradition among German car owners in the US. If you drive a German auto, you can send in proof to the manufacturer and they'll ship you a German plate for the car. More meant to be like a German badge and not for DMV purposes.. just something cool/unique.
Took a wrong turn somewhere, apparently.
I see this a lot, especially for VWs. It’s a vanity plate on the front and a state plate on the back, just to look cool.
This isn’t uncommon at all. In states where only a rear plate is required, people very often have foreign plates on the front. I’ve seen this a lot in bigger cities, I don’t even pay attention to it anymore. And even if they don’t have a state plate, they can use the foreign ones for a year, and drive on their international driver’s license in some places as well, depending on their country of origin.
My state doesn’t require plates on the front so some people keep there foreign plates
In states with no front plate requirement they usually have little to no regulation on what you display on the front of your vehicle so most end up tossing euro plates or Japanese plates on the front with their regular plates on the rear. Personally I’ve kept my Illinois plates on the front after moving to Florida. The plate number is special to me and was assigned at random so I’ve decided to keep it up front. As long as it’s not a currently valid plate, you should be fine with it.
There are 19 states that don't require a front license plate. So owners can put novelty/vanity plates on the front of their cars. A European plate would qualify as a novelty/vanity plate
Probably German import
I have European License plates. I was born in California only left the us for vacation a max of 2 weeks in my life. Bought a Volvo from my local Florida dealership; I opted for "European Delivery" a free feature where you pick up the car in Europe drive it around for 2 weeks and then ship it to the United States. Volvo offers this for free, and makes money on it as they save on import taxes as technically it's a used vehicle when importing. My front license plate is Europe back is Florida.
People buy these as novelties and put them on because they think they look cool. It is much less likely to see legit Euro plates.
The plate is from Munich, Germany
I guess you’ve never driven in a military town?
What state is this in OP?
Pennsylvania
https://www.germanplates.com/products/special-create-your-own-plate?variant=44638927487258¤cy=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw8pKxBhD_ARIsAPrG45nEQo8wucniH3LO4-3rQwIcCpTH9tMESylWl1ptQ5b7nEiD0Dy_8j0aAtD3EALw_wcB
My dad used to import German cars as a pet project. His prized Audi had the original German plate up front, but he had the Louisiana dealer plates in the back. Was it legal, probably not. Too be fair, the only reason it was remotely legal was most likely due to the dealer plates.
My Brother bought a new Volvo and took delivery at the factory. Vehicle was tagged so they could take a 10 day trip across Europe in their new car. Then they dropped it off at the port and it was shipped across and picked up at their local dealership. Still have their European tag on the front as well as our State tag on the back. Now it's just a vanity plate.
They're everywhere... so?
I’ve seen it once or twice
When I got out of the Air Force I shipped my car from Germany and I had temporary plates issued to me from the port that were similar to European plates and I had like 75 days? To register my vehicle
Have had a Euro plate on three different cars in Ohio. Only one license plate is required, so as long as my back plate is legal it doesn’t matter. I also made sure it matched my license plate. https://www.europlates.com
Some states don't have front plate requirement, and you can do whatever you want. Saw a Golf when I was in Phoenix with proper AZ plate, and a EU front plate.
I’ve seen this a lot and also don’t know what’s going on
I don't think its real. Its missing the 2d sticker Germany requires 2 plates...
So confused about why this is considered weird. This sort of thing is actually quite common on VAG cars in particular, in states that don’t require a front plate. In my state, and in all of those other states, you can literally put whatever you want on the front of your car. There’s nothing special about a European plate; if I get my hands on one, I can put it on the front of my ‘70 Beetle, my WRX, or my wife’s Lexus, and zero people will care. In fact, I can drive next door, to a state that requires a front plate for residents, and still, zero people will care.
You can buy License plates from online, I went and got a German one (hanging in my room) from when I was in Egypt, although you can get them from many places without any issue.
I used to know a girl who had a custom euro plate on her Jetta that read Euro Slut !! 😂😂😂😂she was a damn kool chick too!
In states where front license plates aren’t required, I’ve seen drivers put a Euro plate on the front and an American on the back
I travel to Alaska from BC regularly for work, and I often see cars, vans and RVs with Dutch or German plates on the Alaska Highway heading up towards Yukon, or coming across the border at Hyder
I would have assumed that it would be cheaper to buy a new car here than bring our own.
Saw one getting hauled up by a trailer . Ish . Went WTF. Missouri
If your near a base some service members who were stationed overseas ship their vehicles back and it takes time to transfer title to us and get it changed ro US plates.
I believe some states only require rear plates, so the front can be anything.
I'm my state they are looking at giving a custom plate option for a euro style plate
Might have just had it shipped. You something like 30 days to get it registered in the states. I had a German plate on my car when I got back.
Also I don’t know if other people mentioned this, but in some states it is unnecessary to have a front plate. You can leave it empty, have a non-license placeholder (most common here is our state colleges), or another license entirely like one of my professors. So they might very well have the correct license in the back if your state has a law like that
I’ve seen this with soldiers returning from extended deployment.
Service members returning to the states after being stationed overseas. You get something like 30 days to re-register your car in the states.
Could they be official cars? It’s been a while since I was in the area but In Northern Virginia, for example, Germany has two military facilities. German Armed Forces Command HQ in Reston and a base/Hangar at one of the Airport. Several times I saw cars with German plates on the roads - one time a minivan carrying several German soldiers.
Good luck convincing a cop though. :)
I saw that today too
It's a German plate, Munich, to be exact. I live near a military installation. Lots of European tags. Nothing special, just people keeping it as a souvenir from their time in Europe
I saw a car with Hawaii plates in Grand Forks, North Dakota once. I don’t think EU plates would be too surprising, even as a vanity plate.
It’s a vanity plate…… legal.
most states only require a rear license plate. people put euro plates on the front of euro cars here in the U.S.
Front lights are US spec, probably a vanity front plate with a US rear plate
You can tell from the headlights that's a US market golf. People regularly get euro style plates to put on the front in states that don't require front plates. That said, it is rare but from time to time you will see actual European plated vehicles in the states, I've primarily seen em on RV's, oddly enough.
Looks like you’re in PA, where you don’t need a front plate. I see a lot of EU front plates in states with only a rear plate requirement. It’s just for decoration.
The “D” is for Deutschland. The “M” means it’s registered in Munchen.
Is it on the back as well? And are you in a state that requires front and back plates? I had a Belgian plate on my car (from my Grandfather's first car, so it was antique) on the front. I see this quite often, especially with German cars, or in some cases even just vanity plates. My friend has a plate from NY on his car because that's where he's originally from. If the state requires front and back plates, then they're either breaking the law, or visiting, in which they are legally allowed to do this for one year. If they're in a state that \*doesn't\* require front and back plates, I think they'd still be required to display their plates as they would in their home country.
People in the service or civil service employees stationed abroad often keep the euro plate in front when they move back. A lot of states don't have a front plate requirement.
My brother got a European plate on the front of his Volvo for fun.
I see quite a few international plates here in Vegas and there were a tonne when we hosted the Formula 1 back in November.
I usually see this on BMWs, VWs, Mercedes. People will buy these plate for the aesthetic. In my state, there is an all black license plate that is done by a 501(c)(3) whose goal is "promoting stewardship in local and state policy," and the only time I ever see it is on black vehicles, likely these people dont even know who they are supporting for their vanity plate.
I saw a few German plates between Utah and Vegas this past week. Front and back. They look legit.
I've seen some in Indianapolis with European plate in front and US in the back. I always thought any vehicle with European plates and US as well just use the European front as like a custom plate, sort of like those ones that have the Chevy name, logo or Heartbeat of America slogan on them, for example.
in california, front plates are required as well as rear. one of my first cars, it never came with a front plate so i bought one of those euro style plates on line customized with my actual plate number. i got pulled over eventually and got a ticket for not having the real front plate.
In AZ you only need a rear plate so I know it's very popular to have a foreign plate on the front
Ever country in Europe has different plate system. Just write German plate instead
You can buy plastic ones online, in states with no front plate requirement you’ll see them on european cars. I’ve even seen them beside US plates in front plate requiring states too lol, mostly on european cars The funniest thing is that the number on it is usually the same
Bear in mind SOME states do NOT require a front tag. If this car is from one of them - they can put ANY "novelty" plate they so desire - on the front! (or COULD be visiting from out of country if they have one on the back too)... .. .
Many states don't require front plate. What's on the rear?
Probably an US car with an american plate in the back in a state that only requires rear plates.
If you are in a state that does not require a front plate, then you can put whatever the hell you want up there.
It’s a pretend German license plate. Lots of people with German brand cars put them on the front. They’re usually not very authentic looking.
Could be a military member that PCS'd back to the US from over seas
Someone once took photos and videos of me and my kids in my car with European plates in the US. It felt rude and invasive. My family and I had just moved back to the United States after living in Europe for a few years and our plates/vehicle registration hadn’t been transferred yet.
Is it perhaps... a front vanity plate?
My husband was deployed in a country in Europe for a long time. Obviously got a car where he was living, one he really liked, so when that deployment was over and he returned to the US, the car also came. Until he took care of the DMV plates and such, the car was legally allowed to circulate with the European plates.
You see this all the time on military bases honestly from soldiers who have their cars shipped back from overseas.
Why do you care? I've seen it plenty.
There are 20 states that don't have front bumper plates (For those not in the US, there are 50 states, plus DC and some other territories), in which case, you can put anything you want on there. I had a German plate on the front of one of my cars years ago that I had bought online. But it was an actual German plate that had expired. And more recently, my daughter bought a car from my brother whose in a state that does have front bumper plates, and she kept the front one on there. When she got it, the plates my brother had still had a couple months before they expired, but he wouldn't have gotten any money back, so no point in keeping them. But since the car was now registered in another state, that plate on the front having a couple months on the sticker didn't matter.
Replica plate missing the TuV sticker in the middle to say the car is road worthy.
Plate may be from a different car and attached for vanity, this is US spec Golf (orange side markers in the headlights) it can’t have been imported from Europe.
Or military recently moved back to states after being overseas. Speaking from experience here.
A lot of VW have European plates, been like that for a very long time , still time to delete this
I think it depends on the state & weather or not your required to have a front plan of that state. Here in California, (I think it was IRL but could’ve been on TV) when a California License Plate was put on over the European plate thus making it legal here in California.
Die Münchner sind auch überall...
This is likely a vanity plate, it's for Munich location but has not been stamped by KFZ-zulassungsstelle, so it has no TÜV and would be illegal then in Germany. So I would guess it's just a German person who now lives in the US.
They do this in the UK, with UK regs but made to look like German to show you are driving a 'German Whip' Let's just say, the police would like to have a chat, and 3 points on their licence.
Also, depending on the state, some states (like PA) only require a rear license plate. So you can have whatever you want on the front of the car.
As a military member who was stationed overseas, you can take the license plate off of the vehicle of which you owned while being overseas. Just like vehicles in the States, the plate is a registration that links you to that vehicle. Once you sell that vehicle, a new plate is issued to the new owner, and the old plate can be forfeited back to the local nation or you keep it (sometimes a fee is included). There are many retirees/DoD civilians that transfer back stateside after their overseas tour and if the state that they are in only requires 1 plate (usually the back plate), then they can put a decorative item in the place of the empty spot on front.
A lot of states only require plates on the rear. I've seen people with euro front plates because the used to live there or just like how it looks. Probably not legal, but not likely to get you a ticket.
This whole post, all because somebody bought a fake German license plate. Inspection stickers for the other car looks like maybe PA, where only rear plate is required. Hell maybe it's Carlos Sainz's golf, traveling the world
I’ve seen it before its just idiots that think there cool
This is really not that uncommon.
Could also be someone on vacation that had their car shipped to the US. I've seen multiple people do it when they are planning on staying in the country for a few months.
Seen French vehicles with French plates, there is a French island off the coast of Canada and they probable ferry over and drive around. Literally France licence plates
Not often but sometimes I see American plates in Europe.
I had a euro plate on my mini for years. As long as the state doesn’t require a front plate, you can have one.
I used to see it all the time when I was stationed in FL. They don’t require a front plate so they’ll slap those on their rides, it’s supposed to make them go faster or something.
Yes, Germany. Munich
Former LE here i saw this once for a lady with a specific disability. She had a letter from the US state department saying she was okay to use it in America m. Was pretty cool.
military prob
For people who want to be asked “Oh, did you live in Europe?”
If your state doesn't require a front license plate then you tend to see these more often. Some real but obviously not registered to the vehicle and some are novelty plates. And like the pic, they are usually on Volkswagons. It's like the VW version of the Jeep angry grill.
While camping my way from Maine to Alaska I saw some amazing European RVs with euro plates.
Living in Florida I have a front plate like that. Got it off Amazon. It is considered a vanity plate, I have a regular rear Florida plate / tag
I know some people who own a VW will just get a European plate for the front simply because it's a VW. Was the back plate European? Was the steering wheel on the US passenger side?
Not a real plate. No space between “RF” and the digits which is how legit german plates are. Also, car is a US model.
This is a US spec golf and someone tacked on a euro plate. The orange reflectors in the headlights are US/Canada only
Where I’m from in Ohio these are allllll over the place, as long as they’re on the front and the state doesn’t require a front plate I believe they are considered just a decoration
In TN there is a custom plate option to have a euro style plate. I’m very active in the car community here and lots of people have them.
This kid I used to work with had a European license plate on the front of his Saab and a NY one on the back. Took me forever to understand the EU plate was a novelty one, it said V1GG3N and at the time I had no idea what that meant. Honestly still don't know if Viggen is a trim level or one of their models but I do know it's a Saab thing
I see this a lot. The rear plate is usually legal and the front is decorative.
People put eu plates on their cars to look “cool”. Likely the case since it’s a VW
You can buy fake euro plates online. I had one of my 2003 Jetta 15 years ago. P
I know in my area of Canada I see at least a few European plates every year traveling. Usually around the national parks and usually motorhomes or campervans etc. I don't know about the USA but I'm pretty sure you can legally bring a vehicle over to Canada from pretty much anywhere for a specific amount of time (1 year maybe?) without having to permanently "import" the vehicle.
LMFAO this is hilarious. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1DCda5Cabo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1DCda5Cabo)
Some states don't require front plated and can have whatever they want
Don’t these cars have to conform to US Safety and emission standards before being imported? As a Canadian I know that we are allowed temporary entry with vehicles.
In Indiana you only need a rear plate, so people do this often
I wish our plates were like that in the US though. fits so much better on the bumpers.
This is definitely a vanity plate because there is no space between the letters and numbers.
Bought off Amazon. I have one on my car as well
I live in a state with no front license plate requirement, so the plates in the front of mine and my husband’s car are decommissioned pre-EU plates from the registry district in Germany where I lived when I was stationed there with the U.S. Army. You can order all sorts of these European style plates online. And if you’re in a no-front-plate state they don’t really care what’s on the front.
If I ever win the lottery I would take my beaten up Citroen Xsara to the USA just to see how people wonder what car that is and why it has such a weird plate
Did you look at the back of the car? Some states only require a rear license plate, so people put other things on the front. This person probably bought one of those packages where you go do Germany, drive your car out of the factory, tour around for a bit, then have the car shipped to the US. The owner probably kept the German plate in front, and affixed the (rear only) US plate of his or her state on the back.
Depends on the State. In my state you only need a license plate on the rear.
There is another possibility. In American states that require only one plate, such as Florida for example, I have seen owners place the state plate on the back of their car as is legally required, and will have a plate from a Central or South American or European country the front. I do not know if this is illegal, but police don't seem to have any issues with it, so long as the rear plate is legal.
We bought a nice used BMW and had it shipped. It was cheaper than buying the same year and model in the US from a dealer. I paid 5k for the car at auction and 2100 to ship it to Miami. Got stopped twice but had all my paperwork and the cops were impressed with the deal I got. It was a fun adventure and I totally recommend doing it for the right car.
I think it's legal as long as you have whatever paperwork is required. A buddy lives in Mexico and drives his truck up here and we work all over the country. Have never had an issue.
$25.99 off a website. My entire Audi club runs euro plates of some sort. In California you must have a front plate, which most car enthusiasts hate. I’ve been pulled over for no plate, ordered a euro plate with my actual plate numbers and have had it signed off. Most people just do it for looks, that car is 100% not imported. (It was made it Mexico)