[Engine Revving]
- Seeing a Supercar in person is rare
but have you ever noticed when you see one in the wild,
it always has either a Montana or Vermont plate?
Why are these cars registered in these states?
Are they tax havens?
Are they good driving states?
Are Vermont and Montana the only states like this?
Well join us as we figure out the reason
Supercars are registered in states the owner
probably doesn't live in
and how that benefits them in the first place.
I love license plates.
Here in the U.S.,
every state has their own
so it makes it super easy to spot out of state cars.
But what you might not have been aware of
is that some of these license plates you were spotting,
were not on the up and up.
In fact, most of the time when you see a Supercar
or RV with Montana plates,
it's actually a rich person from a different state.
Who does think they're better than you.
You see, when you're making a major purchase,
like a $3.3 million Bugatti Chiron Sport,
the sales tax can be quite a doozy.
For example, if you lived in L.A.,
you would have to pay about $315,000 in taxes and fees.
Now what if I told you that you could buy the same
$3.3 million Bugatti
and only pay a few thousand bucks in fees
as long as you bought it in Montana.
Is that something you'd be interested in?
Of course it is.
You could use that leftover $314,000
to buy more silk toilet paper
or whatever rich people spend money on.
If I was rich,
I'd buy flannel sheets.
The reason for this is because Montana has no sales tax.
Oregon, Alaska, Delaware, and New Hampshire
are also tax-free
but Montana is the best
because they are the only state that doesn't require
a physical inspection of the car.
Montana also doesn't require emissions testing
so you can roll coal without fear of government retribution.
And all this means you can literally
buy a car in Beverly Hills
and tag it 1,274 miles away billings
without the car setting tire outside of the 90210.
[Engine Revving]
This doesn't sound very legal,
does it?
But you'd be surprised.
While it is illegal to falsify the owner's address,
there is nothing illegal about
opening a shell company in Montana,
purchasing a car or RV through that shell company,
and operating it in another state.
In fact, there are a bunch of companies in Montana
that will help you do just that.
Simply create an awesome fake name like Nolan Syke's Cyclery
and come up with a kick ass slogan like
"we're psyched for syke's cikes"
and the service will take care of the rest of the stuff
like mailing address and what have you.
But just a word of warning,
while this is technically legal,
insurance companies are not fans of this method.
A traditional auto insurer may refuse to pay claim
if they can prove that a car resides in a different area
than that is listed on the auto policy.
Speaking of insurance,
sometimes people like to tag their cars in different states
to save on premium.
For example, if you live in New York,
you'll be paying and average of $1789
but if you tag your car in Vermont or New Hampshire,
you'll only be paying about $1100 for insurance.
Smart.
Another reason some people plate their cars in other states
has to with emission standards.
[Engine Revving]
Say you want to buy your Uncle Ronnie's used C7ZR1.
Now, Uncle Ronnie is the type of man who likes restaurants
that allow peanut shells on the floor
and the exhaust systems that sound kick-ass.
That's led him to delete a few things
from his exhaust system
which may cause the car to fail a California Emissions Test
so what do you do?
Simple.
Tag that biscuit in Vegas,
where the emissions standards are lower
and then drive it to California.
Disclaimer, I'm not a lawyer
so maybe don't do that.
I don't know.
And just so you know,
this isn't some California thing.
Someone in Pennsylvania can save money
and drive a less polar bear friendly car
if they tag it in Ohio.
Or if you live in New Mexico,
you can go to Texas.
Or if you live in Hawaii,
you actually, you're kind of screwed if you live in Hawaii
but at least the scenery is nice.
[Upbeat Music]
So far we've been focusing on out of state plates,
but what about out of territory plates, hmm?
While it's definitely not as common to see plates
from U.S. territories like the U.S. Virgin Islands,
some of the coolest cars come from U.S. territories.
That's because you can import cars into territories
that you can't import into the U.S.
and here's the kicker,
it's omega easier to import a vehicle
from a U.S. territory
than another country.
Mind blowing, right?
Right now the most common way to get a great market car
that doesn't meet U.S. standards
from crash tests, side marker lights, headlights,
safety chimes blah, blah, blah
is to wait 25 years.
We've done, I feel like 10 videos on that subject.
You could also modify that car to have all those things,
argue that it is similar to
an existing car in the U.S. market,
or apply for a "Show and Display" Exemption,
but all those options can be surprisingly
more difficult than they sound.
So what if you want to own an illegal car
like a, I don't know,
Land Rover Defender 110 in Oklahoma?
You can either buy one
that is over 25 years old
and costs about 125 grand
or you can buy a relatively new one
for 60 grand in the UK
then spend another 15 grand in shipping
and importing fees
to get that biscuit unicorn tagged
in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Not only do you save 50K,
you also get an upgraded vehicle.
Sounds like very specific example,
I'm not pointing fingers at anybody.
That's just an example.
No one has done this.
[Chiming]
At this juncture,
I just want to remind everyone that we here at Donut
do not condone any illegal registering
or insuring of vehicles.
As a matter of fact,
it should be pointed out that an attempt to skirt
taxes, insurance premiums and emission tests,
can really come back to haunt you.
[Engine Revving]
Imagine going through all the trouble
of buying that Defender 110
and getting caught.
Not only would you be facing some legal troubles,
there's also a good chance that Johnny Law
is going to crush that Land Rover
like it's a 94 Sunfire with terminal rust.
And that would be heartbreaking.
At the end of the day,
plating a car with out of state plates
or in extreme cases,
out of territory plates
may not be worth the risk or headache
but depending on the owner, the car,
and the state of residency
some delicious juices just might be worth the squeeze.
[Beep]
- Oh, did you miss the holiday shipping deadline?
Ugh, no problem.
Introducing Donut digital gift cards,
with numbers in the 'puter,
give it your lovey-dove
and hope you rock your donut by January.
[Chiming Music]
[Beep]
I'm going to say it right now,
if people paid their sales tax
on that $3.3 million Bugatti,
maybe our roads in L.A. wouldn't be so (beep).
How about that?
The one car that I would do that territory plate thing
is the Alpine 110,
the new one.
It's like a rear-engine French car.
Super sick.
Might have to do that actually.
Be nice, see you next time.