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Steve Jobs' Lack of License Plate Explained
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You wouldn't have to be insanely wealthy to pull this off. A 24 month lease is 3k a month. He could've been paying less than 10k a month for his 6 month lease. It's a lot for most people, but not for someone with even 10M.
Just personal opinion but I hate the new car smell. Gives me a headache.
7 years ago, when I bought my car, I left it in the garage with the windows open for a couple of weeks just to air it out.
I like the smell of new leather in the car, volkswagen is one of the good ones in that.
New car smell is the result of a process called outgassing or offgassing. The chemicals involved are known to be toxic and are likely to be carcinogenic. But hey, why worry about silly things like cancer when you can focus on the important things like avoiding license plates.
Why is this news? There are many people that do this in California. You may not notice at first but if you make a mental note of when you saw a neighbor's car without a licence plate, you might notice that he never had a licence plate during the whole 2 year lease because he swapped out the car every 6 months. People do swaps to change the color of their car all the time, and in doing so also keep themselves licence plate free.
BTW, no licence plate attached doesn't mean the car doesn't have a licence plate or licence plate number. You will still get one about a month after you buy your car, but you do not have to attach it until 6 months is up.
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Consecutive 6 month leases aren't really much more expensive than a single long term lease. Any normal person can do this. Actually, getting four 6 months leases can be much cheaper than a single 2 year lease if the leases are assumption leases. The only problem is the hassle of going back to the dealer all the time.
BTW, no licence plate attached doesn't mean the car doesn't have a licence plate or licence plate number. You will still get one about a month after you buy your car, but you do not have to attach it until 6 months is up.
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Consecutive 6 month leases aren't really much more expensive than a single long term lease. Any normal person can do this. Actually, getting four 6 months leases can be much cheaper than a single 2 year lease if the leases are assumption leases. The only problem is the hassle of going back to the dealer all the time.
So in California you are given free reign to do hit and run's without be traceable? Just another stupid US regulation that makes NO sense what so ever.
Why would they ever want to let a car out of the showroom without a plate?
How do the police know the car is less than 6 months old. They must have been stopping Jobby all the time to check. Was that worth it?
Why would they ever want to let a car out of the showroom without a plate?
How do the police know the car is less than 6 months old. They must have been stopping Jobby all the time to check. Was that worth it?
A Merecedes in Cupertino, Palo Alto, and Woodside is a pretty regular occurrence. A Yaris would probably be more noticeable.
Very True.
You've got to have a sense of humor to drive one where I live in Newport Beach.
They are so common place they're called "Beverly Hills Chevrolets"
NOT a US regulation. A California regulation. Those of us in other states at least need to put up a temporary tag when we drive off the lot. I'm guessing that the cars never made it out of state, either, since normally a car without a plate or temporary tag will get pulled over in a New York minute.
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Don't plates stay with the car in California? So even if he affixed the plates, since they would change every six months with every new car, the paparazzi wouldn't necessarily know what his new plate number is, anyway.
My thought exactly... the only thing more tacky than those awful looking dealer license plate frames are the stickers that dealerships try and stick on the back of the cars they sell.
That's exactly what I thought too. You can't buy a brand new SL55 once it's discontinued and sold out.
But then again, look at the name of this website
Yep "macrumors" so take that with a grain of saltYeah, it's Smythe European, about 3 miles from Apple's HQ.
I still think this "new lease every six months" theory is hokey.
The simplest explanation is Steve purchased the car and never mounted the plates. If he ever got pulled over, he probably just told the officer that the plates were in the trunk and he had an appointment to have the dealer mount the plates. I doubt if any cop would write up Steve Jobs for a fix-it ticket.
Heck, he probably calculated the odds of getting pulled over for no tags versus the hassle/expense of having his plates periodically stolen.
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Only saw one photo of Jobs in the wild, that one where he was having lunch with the Google guy. Unbelievable. Surely there were more I never saw, but for an icon he sure wasn't followed around much.
I guess more people are interested in nekked and drunken starlets.
I guess more people are interested in nekked and drunken starlets.
TOTAL bull $h!t. Steve Jobs did not swap cars every 6 months. He had the EXACT same car for over 5 years (the one seen in the picture). How do I know? I live near Steve Jobs' house, regularly saw his car, and I have a very detailed eye and know for a fact that it was always the same car.
How did he get away with no license plate? He was Steve Freaking Jobs. What cop is going to pull him over and say "Mr. Jobs, you're going to have to put a license plate on your car or I'm going to write you a ticket." NO ONE. That's who. It's like giving a speeding ticket to Neil Armstrong. No cop in the universe is going to do that. Remember when Buzz Aldrin punched a guy (who deserved it after provoking him) and the dude wanted to press charges and have Buzz arrested? The chief of police told the guy who wanted to press charges "Sorry bro, Buzz is a national hero. We ain't arresting him."
How did he get away with no license plate? He was Steve Freaking Jobs. What cop is going to pull him over and say "Mr. Jobs, you're going to have to put a license plate on your car or I'm going to write you a ticket." NO ONE. That's who. It's like giving a speeding ticket to Neil Armstrong. No cop in the universe is going to do that. Remember when Buzz Aldrin punched a guy (who deserved it after provoking him) and the dude wanted to press charges and have Buzz arrested? The chief of police told the guy who wanted to press charges "Sorry bro, Buzz is a national hero. We ain't arresting him."
Ah, thanks! I had read once that he was given a barcode because people would steal his license plate. But that didn't mesh with this story.
And this is defensible behavior, in your way of thinking. Because he has more money than god, he can just ignore the law. Unlike the rest of us poor slobs, who have some sense of social responsibility. You find this admirable?
No, that's narcissistic entitlement. That's believing that the rules that apply to everyone else don't apply him - he's an ubermensch,
Carfax suggests Steve owned the car
http://blog.polk.com/blog/blog-posts-by-paula-skier/the-mystery-of-steve-jobs-plateless-car
http://blog.polk.com/blog/blog-posts-by-paula-skier/the-mystery-of-steve-jobs-plateless-car
I think this is complete ********, California law on plates is really relaxed, I didn't put my plates on for like 14 months without any problems, he would have been better of dealing with the fines/lawyer fees (if ever), then taking a complete bath with a 6 month lease on a car that expensive.
It was also hilarious when some other articles I read on this were saying things like he has a super secret barcode instead of a license plate, this is a factory sticker that BMW/Merc puts on all the cars they make.
It was also hilarious when some other articles I read on this were saying things like he has a super secret barcode instead of a license plate, this is a factory sticker that BMW/Merc puts on all the cars they make.