Are cars locally plated at origin location?
Nov 23, 2019, 7:41 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Lexington KY/Coronado, CA
Posts: 950
Are cars locally plated at origin location?
I was always under the assumption that Hertz cars always received a local license plate based on the location where they were infleeted. However, I just picked up a 2020 Toyota Corolla out of Gold section at DTW with TN plates, less than 200 miles on the odometer, which is odd given that DTW is more than 200 miles from any location in Tennessee. To the best of my knowledge, TN is not one of the states where Hertz recycles license plates.
For added fun, the car is set to km's... which you'd think would have been reset when it was returned at DTW.
Curious if anyone knows the ins and outs of how Hertz registers their vehicles..
For added fun, the car is set to km's... which you'd think would have been reset when it was returned at DTW.
Curious if anyone knows the ins and outs of how Hertz registers their vehicles..
Nov 24, 2019, 5:33 am
#2
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 3,705
I remember reading that there's a particular county in Tennessee that has very cheap registration fees and they don't require the car to be present in state to register it. I remember reading that one of the rental companies paid the county to hire an employee just to process rental registrations. I think AutoSlash did a blog post on it but I couldn't find it.
Nov 24, 2019, 5:54 am
#3
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,413
Congrats to the OP on getting such a nice new low mileage car from Hertz. They're very rare.
Nov 24, 2019, 9:16 am
#4
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: PDX
Programs: DL Plat, UA Plat 1MM, AS MVP, Hyatt Discoverist, Avis Presidents Club, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 3,938
TN seems to be one of those places that Hertz plates cars that are never there; I've also had new Hertz vehicles in BOS that had Tennessee plates and clearly were never in Tennessee.
I don't think this practice is limited to Tennessee as I've also received cars with Nevada tags in Texas that had 1000 miles so extremely unlikely (though possible) it was driven straight from Vegas to DFW.
I have always wondered how cars are tagged, and if the tag on the car has any bearing to where the car eventually ends up. My suspicion is that no, it doesn't matter at all -- some cars start their lives in one area and spend their whole fleet lives there and others entirely randomly end up in another part of the country and never return to that region.
I don't think this practice is limited to Tennessee as I've also received cars with Nevada tags in Texas that had 1000 miles so extremely unlikely (though possible) it was driven straight from Vegas to DFW.
I have always wondered how cars are tagged, and if the tag on the car has any bearing to where the car eventually ends up. My suspicion is that no, it doesn't matter at all -- some cars start their lives in one area and spend their whole fleet lives there and others entirely randomly end up in another part of the country and never return to that region.
Nov 24, 2019, 10:00 am
#5
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Tampa, FL
Programs: Hilton Honors Diamond, Hertz PC, Hyatt Colleague, Avis Preferred/Budget FB, National Exeuctive
Posts: 63
On a similar note, I've always wondered what warrants a plate change.
I recently rented a Land Rover with New Hampshire tags but still had a Louisiana emissions inspection sticker in the windshield (now in FL). I also had a Fiesta with N. Carolina tags (rented in PA) but had official state vehicle-related documents from the State of Massachusetts along with a front license plate holder. Any ideas? Are locations only able to have a certain number of vehicles registered to them?
I recently rented a Land Rover with New Hampshire tags but still had a Louisiana emissions inspection sticker in the windshield (now in FL). I also had a Fiesta with N. Carolina tags (rented in PA) but had official state vehicle-related documents from the State of Massachusetts along with a front license plate holder. Any ideas? Are locations only able to have a certain number of vehicles registered to them?
Nov 24, 2019, 2:43 pm
#6
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: NYC
Programs: DL PM, Marriott Gold, Hertz PC, National Exec
Posts: 6,736
I remember reading that there's a particular county in Tennessee that has very cheap registration fees and they don't require the car to be present in state to register it. I remember reading that one of the rental companies paid the county to hire an employee just to process rental registrations. I think AutoSlash did a blog post on it but I couldn't find it.
Nov 24, 2019, 2:51 pm
#7
Moderator: Hawaii-based airlines & Hawai'i forums
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Ka ʻĀpala Nui, Nuioka
Programs: NEXUS/Global Entry, Delta, United, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott, and Hertz
Posts: 18,039
Here's a rather old thread on this topic; I think most of the information is still current: Hertz cars with Tennessee plates
Nov 25, 2019, 11:40 am
#9
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: PDX
Programs: DL Plat, UA Plat 1MM, AS MVP, Hyatt Discoverist, Avis Presidents Club, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 3,938
Here's a rather old thread on this topic; I think most of the information is still current: Hertz cars with Tennessee plates
observation: https://kentuckyfansinmiami.blogspot...se-plates.html
"We have noticed the same thing at every shopping mall, on the highways here in South Florida...it is epidemic. Our neighbor, who doesn't speak a word of English, has a Blount County tag. I find it hard to believe that they once resided in a predominantly white American city, such as Maryville, in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains. I believe there might be a correlation to the situation in Mecklenberg, NC. Does anyone have any insight on this? It's driving me nuts!"
Last edited by noah; Nov 25, 2019 at 11:45 am
Nov 25, 2019, 2:17 pm
#10
Company Representative - AutoSlash and HotelSlash
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: autoslash.com | hotelslash.com
Posts: 5,666
I remember reading that there's a particular county in Tennessee that has very cheap registration fees and they don't require the car to be present in state to register it. I remember reading that one of the rental companies paid the county to hire an employee just to process rental registrations. I think AutoSlash did a blog post on it but I couldn't find it.
https://countytrip.wordpress.com/201...county-plates/
Dec 28, 2019, 1:12 pm
#11
Join Date: Apr 2006
Programs: AA, AS, TZ, UA, Clipper, EZ-Link, Hop, Navigo, Octopus, Oyster
Posts: 417
Picked up a minivan at PDX this week with 112 miles on the odometer that has Knox county Tennessee plates. In a bit of serendipity I arrived from TYS which is in the adjacent county.
Dec 28, 2019, 1:55 pm
#12
Join Date: May 2017
Programs: National EE, Hertz PC
Posts: 231
Also received a Ford Mustang GT Convertible at PHX with Knox County TN plates, 800 miles on it, also would have been impossible to have been driven from there.
Jun 6, 2020, 2:45 am
#13
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 6,338
Regular rentals in the US have shown no real pattern... but certainly some weirdness...Massachusetts plates in Louisiana and so on...What I remember best however was after I picked up a car in Billings MT... I was putting gas in it a week later and a gent at the gas station greeted me, then asked "How is the weather up in Kalispell?" I had to reply that I had no idea..... and when he heard my accent he apologised and explained that the first 2 (?) letters on the plates on the car indicated it had been first registered IN that town. Which was certainly interesting.
Jun 6, 2020, 12:00 pm
#14
Join Date: Jun 2020
Posts: 5
Yeah, recently I've seen more Knox county at my neighborhood Hertz than Blount. A Sonata we rented in RI around November last year with <500 miles had Knox county plates. I wonder if Knox county has the same wheel tax and registration requirements that Blount does?