Can anybody tell me what the straight dope is on “dealer” license plates? I always assumed that these were for the convenience of car dealers who were letting people test-drive new vehicles, so they didn’t have to go out and get every single car on their lot registered prior to letting customers take them for a spin.
But lately here in Missouri it seems like I’ve seen them more and more on cars that are clearly NOT straight off the lot, and seem to be driven by people who clearly own them and are using them for day-to-day life. For example: dealer plates on older cars, out-of-state dealer plates, etc.
Probably the most egregious example of this was the woman I saw today at the store, loading groceries into her mid-90s sedan that was crusted with months of mud and road grime.
Are the rules a lot more lax than I though, or are these people just buddies and relatives of the dealer taking advantage of a loophole that lets them (presumably) save $$$ over legitimately registering their car?
[Not that I can point any fingers, says the guy who registered his car in another state through 2002 to save on the fees…]
Dealer plates in Missouri go to people who work as automobile dealers, and go on their personal cars. Theoretically, they use their cars to show to potential customers, though no dealer I ever bought a car from let me look at his/her car. They don’t cost as much either. It’s either a means of encouraging commerce in the state, or the result of a strong Automobile Dealer Association lobby in Jefferson City. I lean to the latter.
Often times, a “demo” is given to managers and salespeople of high seniority or as a reward for performance. In Virginia, long-term demos were readily available for evaluative purposes, as well as for show.
At my dealership, all department managers got a demo as part of the position, usually a pretty sweet 300E or an Audi 5000, often slightly used. My particular department, used cars, was ultra slack because there were only about four of us (and I was just a grunt) with about thirty-five cars to choose from, all kinds of makes and models. Our department also had four dealer tags. Salespeople were highly encouraged to get to know the cars they were unfamiliar with, which pretty much meant, “take it home with you.” Some only brought their own cars in on the weekends.
Since I had absolutely no excuse whatsoever to be bombing around in nice cars that weren’t mine, I had to be rather discreet. Like on Friday evenings, if I had a date lined up, I’d nudge an elbow into the boss’ ribs and say, “maybe I ought to drop by the BMW dealership tomorrow morning and match some touch-up paint.”
“Sure,” winks the boss. “Why don’t you take the 850 CSI home tonight so you can go straight there on your way into work?”
Honestly, though, I didn’t do this often. Having to drive around like a grandmother in a car worth three times your annual pay, sober, just wasn’t that appealing to me. Guess it’s a good thing I walk now.
Here in Massachusetts, registrations stay with the owner. There is a restriction on the number of times a registration can transfer to another car. After that, the state requires one to have dealer plates. But that is probably not what the OP was wondering.
If you’re a dealer and you want your wife to drive a tax-deductible company car, you give her a car with dealer plates. They may cost a bit more, but, after all, Uncle Sam is footing part of the bill.
they also have manufacturers plates, which are like dealer’s plates except they belong to the manufacturer or importer. My father in law worked to Toyota for years, and his NJ plate read “DTM,” which indicated the car belonged to the importer. There were insurance and bonding requirements, but the idea was that Toyota or whoever could drive individual cars to dealers for product introduction, training sessions, warranty/maintenance resolutions, and to balance out individual dealer requirements without using a transporter.
I have a friend who had dealer plates. He was, in fact, a used car dealer, although not the kind with a showroom, etc. Customers would tell him what sort of car they wanted ( model,year, mileage, color, etc) and how much they wanted to spend, and he would then look for it at dealer-only auctions. Sometimes he would buy a car without already having a customer, or a deal would fall through, and he used those cars day-to-day until he sold them. I don’t think it saved him any money ( in fact, the insurance was more expensive) but it eliminated the hassle of constantly registering cars.