What license plates did you see this week? (Houston, Austin: rental car, rentals)

[Moonlady]

I'm always amazed at the variety of out of state plates I see while I'm driving around town. My husband and I joke "they're coming from everywhere"! Yesterday I was following a car with plates from Alaska! Kind of reminded me of the license plate game we'd play growing up while on long road trips.

So, I just thought I'd throw this out there to see what other states everyone else has observed.

[centralaustinite]

Pretty much the same ones I see every week: New York, California, Missouri, Iowa, Michigan, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma. Definitely noticed more Illinois plates this year than 5 years ago.

I live in a neighborhood with many vacation rentals, so I see a diversity of plates all the time.

[sojourner77]

I've seen Hawaii plates (on POS cars, too). Why someone would ship a $3000 car to the mainland is beyond me.

[ATX Wahine]

Originally Posted by sojourner77

I've seen Hawaii plates (on POS cars, too). Why someone would ship a $3000 car to the mainland is beyond me.

Most likely an enlisted soldier's car.

[Paulmmm]

It was really weird, but on my walk with the dogs yesterday morning, I saw a Hawaii plate parked in my neighborhood, then 4 houses later, saw an Alaska plate.

[Moonlady]

Originally Posted by Paulmmm

It was really weird, but on my walk with the dogs yesterday morning, I saw a Hawaii plate parked in my neighborhood, then 4 house later, saw an Alaska plate.

Yeah that is really weird to see both within such a short distance.

Last week I saw Montana, Oregon, and Tennessee.

[ATX Wahine]

Soldiers don't make much money, and the military ships their car for free, so if a soldier went from a post on the Islands to say - Fort Hood, they're most likely going to bring their car with them, POS or not.

Y'all recognize that people who don't live in Austin may come here to visit, jah? Especially around the holidays. So while most of the out-of-state plates are most likely from new residents, quite a few could just be visitors, too.

[Trainwreck20]

Minnesota and Pennsylvania this afternoon - although the Pennsylvania was on a rental car.

[Moonlady]

Originally Posted by Nor Cal Wahine

Soldiers don't make much money, and the military ships their car for free, so if a soldier went from a post on the Islands to say - Fort Hood, they're most likely going to bring their car with them, POS or not.

Y'all recognize that people who don't live in Austin may come here to visit, jah? Especially around the holidays. So while most of the out-of-state plates are most likely from new residents, quite a few could just be visitors, too.

Good point. I'm sure some of the out of staters are visiting, but I wonder what percentage. Last place I lived that I saw this many out of state plates on a regular basis was Houston in 1977!

[Paulmmm]

Originally Posted by Nor Cal Wahine

Soldiers don't make much money, and the military ships their car for free, so if a soldier went from a post on the Islands to say - Fort Hood, they're most likely going to bring their car with them, POS or not.

I didn't know about the free shipping, NCW, but that must be exactly what happened. I stopped and talked to the guy who was at the house with the HI plates and he said that his daughter was in the service and had just transferred to Killeen. So she must have shipped the car over for free.