# Car in Hawaii photographed with Pennsylvania license plate **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 5, 2019, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-hawaii-photographed-with-pennsylvania-license-plate/844392 "2019-12-05T04:25:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-hawaii-photographed-with-pennsylvania-license-plate/844392/1 "2019-12-05T04:25:30Z")
This photo related to the Pearl Harbour shooting has raised some eyebrows on Facebook, especially here in PA: [https://www.wfmz.com/news/ap/ap-national/military-sailor-shoots-at-pearl-harbor-takes-own-life/article\_9d6eb7c5-3e89-5ccc-ab4f-0e4c244bad48.html](https://www.wfmz.com/news/ap/ap-national/military-sailor-shoots-at-pearl-harbor-takes-own-life/article_9d6eb7c5-3e89-5ccc-ab4f-0e4c244bad48.html) I suggested that maybe there are a lot of military families that live in Hawaii that pay to have their cars shipped there. If so would the military arrange for this? Or would it make more sense to just buy a new car in Hawaii? I’m wondering because it’s a Honda, it’s not like it’s a $75,000 SUV you don’t want to replace. Or am I totally off? Are there any other theories as to why a car with Mainland plates being driven on an island 3000 miles from California? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-hawaii-photographed-with-pennsylvania-license-plate/844392/2 "2019-12-05T04:29:56Z")
The military will ship cars for people transferred to Hawaii. I believe that they do it for free. > **[How to Ship a Car if Youre in the Military](https://www.a1autotransport.com/how-to-ship-a-car-if-youre-in-the-military/)** > > If youre an active duty military service member and have received your permanent change of station (PCS) orders, you should know that youre allowed to ship your ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-hawaii-photographed-with-pennsylvania-license-plate/844392/3 "2019-12-05T04:39:40Z")
I’ve seen cars with Hawaii plates in San Diego and a car with Guam plates in Jacksonville. They’re all big military cities so I assume it’s easy for the military to ship them. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-hawaii-photographed-with-pennsylvania-license-plate/844392/4 "2019-12-05T04:48:49Z")
We don’t know if the car was shipped. It’s possible somebody moving from Pennsylvania to Hawaii sold their car in Pennsylvania, bought a new car in Hawaii, and registered the new car in Pennsylvania (with the plates being transferred) before making the move. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-hawaii-photographed-with-pennsylvania-license-plate/844392/5 "2019-12-05T04:54:17Z")
I’m on Kansas, I once was surprised to see a car with plates from American Samoa. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-hawaii-photographed-with-pennsylvania-license-plate/844392/6 "2019-12-05T05:08:37Z")
I don’t believe Hawaii has any automobile factories. If that is so, every car on the island was shipped over. You are going to pay for shipping if it is your own car, or if you buy one there. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-hawaii-photographed-with-pennsylvania-license-plate/844392/7 "2019-12-05T05:21:58Z")
I’ve seen a Mexico license plate in Canada, but the weirdest was a plate from Nunavut. There are no roads from Nunavut to the rest of Canada AFAIK. Our French teacher in high school had his Citroen (Citron?) shipped when he came from France back in the early 70’s. Similarly, my dad had his car shipped to Europe when he was over there for a year. Cars get around. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-hawaii-photographed-with-pennsylvania-license-plate/844392/8 "2019-12-05T05:26:10Z")
If it’s only for 1-2 years, it certainly doesn’t make sense to buy a different car, especially if the military or employer will pay for the shipping. People even bring their cars to Europe, even if they are too big for most parking spaces (common complaint) and then ship them back when they leave. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-hawaii-photographed-with-pennsylvania-license-plate/844392/9 "2019-12-05T05:30:18Z")
There’s a lot of out of state cars in Hawaii, especially because of the large military presence. Everything is expensive here. If it costs $1000 to ship a car here, the savings realized may be eaten up by local prices. Also, wear and tear on a car is way different here than in the mainland, lots of stop and go traffic, especially at rush hour. 120 miles may be a one way commute on the mainland, but it will take you completely the around the island of Oahu! ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-hawaii-photographed-with-pennsylvania-license-plate/844392/10 "2019-12-05T05:34:50Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > I don’t believe Hawaii has any automobile factories. If that is so, every car on the island was shipped over. You are going to pay for shipping if it is your own car, or if you buy one there. Definitely no auto factories and AFAIK no vehicle factory whatsoever. If if there is one, all the parts would have to be shipped in anyway. No fabrication factories either. I’d guess there’s some at Pearl Harbor and the possibly other military bases, but they’re not for creating regular car parts. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-hawaii-photographed-with-pennsylvania-license-plate/844392/11 "2019-12-05T09:30:03Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > I suggested that maybe there are a lot of military families that live in Hawaii that pay to have their cars shipped there. If so would the military arrange for this? Or would it make more sense to just buy a new car in Hawaii? The military will arrange shipment of one vehicle to an overseas duty location or two vehicles to a CONUS location at government expense. It is extremely common for military bases all over the country, to include Hawaii, to be full of vehicles with out of state plates. Military personnel are not required to change their registration or drivers license when they move. Someone whose home of record is PA can keep his/her plates the entire time they are stationed at Pearl Harbor. So, a PA plate in Hawaii would not even raise an eyebrow to me. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-hawaii-photographed-with-pennsylvania-license-plate/844392/12 "2019-12-05T13:33:22Z")
I saw a Hawaii license plate here in Connecticut a few days ago. I live about ten minutes from a sub base, and I assumed the car probably belonged to a military person. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-hawaii-photographed-with-pennsylvania-license-plate/844392/13 "2019-12-05T14:11:43Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > Someone whose home of record is PA can keep his/her plates the entire time they are stationed at Pearl Harbor. So, a PA plate in Hawaii would not even raise an eyebrow to me. I can certainly see this as long as the plates are valid. They do eventually expire though. They just renew them through their “home” state rather than getting one from their local government offices? You may well be correct but that seems very odd to me. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-hawaii-photographed-with-pennsylvania-license-plate/844392/14 "2019-12-05T14:31:17Z")
> [@Alpha\_Twit](#): > > I can certainly see this as long as the plates are valid. They do eventually expire though. They just renew them through their “home” state rather than getting one from their local government offices? You may well be correct but that seems very odd to me. Yes, they are renewed through the home state offices. For example, while I was stationed in Georgia and Alaska, I maintained Florida registration and tags for both of my vehicles. I eventually bought a new truck in Alaska, and I could have titled and registered it through Florida. However, there is no sales tax in Anchorage, and the tag and title fees are a bit lower, so overall I saved a few thousand dollars by registering it through the Alaska DMV rather than Florida. So for the four years I lived in Alaska, I had one car with a Florida tag and another with an Alaska tag, all the while maintaining a Florida driver’s license. But that’s nothing compared to the confusing looks I got driving around England and through Western Europe with [_this_ tag!](https://ibb.co/DVq9bh0) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-hawaii-photographed-with-pennsylvania-license-plate/844392/15 "2019-12-05T14:34:54Z")
When my father was in the service, he bought a Volkswagen in Germany, drove it around a bit in Europe, and then arranged to have it shipped to the US, for less than it would have cost to buy it in the US. I think that was partly due to something about the import tax structure, but doubtless partly also from the military’s arrangements with vehicles. EDIT: **Bear\_Nenno** , what is that, a diplomatic license plate? ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-hawaii-photographed-with-pennsylvania-license-plate/844392/16 "2019-12-05T15:12:53Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > When my father was in the service, he bought a Volkswagen in Germany, drove it around a bit in Europe, and then arranged to have it shipped to the US, for less than it would have cost to buy it in the US. I think that was partly due to something about the import tax structure, but doubtless partly also from the military’s arrangements with vehicles. > > EDIT: **Bear\_Nenno** , what is that, a diplomatic license plate? It’s a temporary shipping plate issued to SOFA-registered vehicles _leaving_ Germany. 99% of the time, these vehicles are being shipped back to the United States where the shipping plate can act as a temporary license plate, and the owner has like 10 days after arrival to get it properly registered with a US state DMV. The newer versions are a little different and the “USA” letters are bigger; the same size as normal EU country code letters. [They look like this.](http://www.city-data.com/forum/automotive/2924109-what-kind-license-plate.html) Anyway, after my tour in Germany was up, my car was de-registered from the German SOFA vehicle database, and was re-plated with these temporary tags. However, my next duty assignment was Italy, so my vehicle was not leaving the continent! I took over a month of PCS Leave, where I drove from Germany to Italy with stops in The Netherlands, the UK, France, and Switzerland. You know… the scenic route. Once I arrived in Italy, the car was registered into the Italy SOFA (AFI) system. I was given Italian plates and kept these as a souvenir. ---
**Author:** ![dba\_Fred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c37758/32.png) [@dba\_Fred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dba_Fred)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-hawaii-photographed-with-pennsylvania-license-plate/844392/17 "2019-12-05T17:06:26Z")
The other military identifier is the base registration tag in the lower left corner of the windshield. So my Marine father could be driving a car with a license plate from New York state (where the car was registered/his home of record) with a base sticker from MCAS Cherry Point NC while at NAS North Island in California. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-hawaii-photographed-with-pennsylvania-license-plate/844392/18 "2019-12-05T17:20:01Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > I’ve seen a Mexico license plate in Canada, but **the weirdest was a plate from Nunavut**. There are no roads from Nunavut to the rest of Canada AFAIK. [Those polar-bear-shaped plates](https://www.google.com/search?q=nunavut+license+plate&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjbwqGAgp_mAhUE7awKHThYC8oQ_AUoAXoECBEQAw&biw=1280&bih=670) are cool! ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-hawaii-photographed-with-pennsylvania-license-plate/844392/19 "2019-12-05T17:21:31Z")
> [@dba\_Fred](#): > > The other military identifier is the base registration tag in the lower left corner of the windshield. So my Marine father could be driving a car with a license plate from New York state (where the car was registered/his home of record) with a base sticker from MCAS Cherry Point NC while at NAS North Island in California. Those stickers are no longer used by any branch of the military. But, yes, I used to have a Florida plated car with a Ft. Bragg, NC base registration sticker. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-hawaii-photographed-with-pennsylvania-license-plate/844392/20 "2019-12-05T17:44:21Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > When my father was in the service, he bought a Volkswagen in Germany, drove it around a bit in Europe, and then arranged to have it shipped to the US, for less than it would have cost to buy it in the US. I think that was partly due to something about the import tax structure, but doubtless partly also from the military’s arrangements with vehicles. Exchange rates could have something to do with it as well. I don’t know how long ago this was, but in the 1970s and 80s the Deutschmark was very strong in relation to the dollar. That made German cars (and other products) very expensive in the US. IIRC this was part of why Volkswagen’s market share plummeted in the US during that time. Do service members stationed overseas get paid in the local currency, or are they still paid in dollars? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-hawaii-photographed-with-pennsylvania-license-plate/844392.md?page=2)