Steve Jobs car has no license plates
Mar 28, 2010 - 27 Comments
Here’s a random fact of the day: Steve Jobs drives a Mercedes SL55 AMG, with no license plates. Instead there’s just a plate frame with a little barcode in the middle (apparently the bar code is standard on Mercedes). I guess Steve really doesn’t like the look of the license plate, his car has been spotted frequently around the Silicon Valley and for at least two years now it has been missing the front and rear plates. Failure to display license plates is a $250 fine in California, which makes you wonder how often he gets pulled over and ticketed for the infraction.
Steve Jobs, R.I.P.
19 states do not require a license plate on the front of a registered vehicle. Is your state one of them? If not, maybe you should contact your governor or local representative about it.
Steve (or someone close to him) spotted a loophole in the California vehicle laws. Anyone with a brand new car had a maximum of six months to affix the issued number plate to the vehicle.
So Jobs made an arrangement with the leasing company; he would always change cars during the sixth month of the lease, exchanging one silver Mercedes SL55 AMG for another identical one. At no time would he ever be in a car as old as six months; and thus there was no legal requirement to have the number plates fitted.
One might also assume that the leasing company was happy – they had an endless supply of luxury cars to on-sell with the previous driver being none-other that Steve Jobs.
That would be a win-win-win situation for Steve, the leasing company and for the subsequent buyer.
http://www.itwire.com/it-people-news/enterprise/50649-the-truth-about-steve-jobs-number-plate
I think his dad was a car dealer (not sure)…
RIP Jobs….So sad!!!!
So long as he shows up to court with the certificate of origin (which means the car has never been registered) from the manufacture and a good lawyer that knows the constitution then he can prove the state has no ownership rights to the car therefore the state can not tax his car. When you register a new car you have to give that certificate of origin to the DMV, they process it and give you a certificate of title, the state then has partial ownership of your car. It’s similar to a birth certificate which gives the state ownership of your kids, thus giving the state the “right” to “protect” them from you, aka: take them away.
This is the correct answer. Absolutely positively. He doesnt put them on his car cuz YOU DONT HAVE TOO! Only if you are using it as a motor vehicle do you have to put plates on it.
[…] can the one with such self-importance be a good man after […]
I am wondering how I can meet Steve Jobs and take a photograph with him. I’m a tourist currently staying around Palo Alto.
Why worry about it?
He is driving a car with no number plate, so what!
If you envy it, why not copy, there is nothing stopping you, but you don’t have as much money or influence as he does (probably) so just live with it.
Heard the real story from an Apple employee. He gets a new SL55 every 3 months to get around it (can drive 90 days with permit only in CA). Would be cheaper to just pay the damn ticket!
He could always just put the liscence plate in the rear window…
I have seen people do that…
[…] he does: https://osxdaily.com/2010/03/28/steve…icense-plates/ Probably had someone else take care of the iPhone setup, […]
Why? Photo red-light cameras. I’ve been driving for 3 years without plates (I carry them, but do not display them). I have never been pulled over.
This is just a fix it ticket. I paid $25 a couple yrs ago for not having a front plate & $50 again more recently. I doubt it jumped up to $250? Really? I don’t like how the front plate looks on my car & I figured $25 wasn’t a high price to pay but the hastle of having to get the infraction signed off at a police station then sending the proof in w/ a payment can be a pain in the rear. =/
You “don’t like how your license plate looks”? How about getting over “how things look” and just abide by the law? How hard is it?
No front plate is a fix-it, no rear is not.
“Steve Jobs drives a Mercedes S55 AMG”
Should be a Merc SL55 AMG ;-)
whoopee shit!
Yeah, nice going “Someone”. You fail. ;)
Actually someone took the VIN displayed above the barcode and looked it up in some Merc database: http://www.benzworld.org/forums/r230-sl-class/1398129-apple-fans-steve-jobs-sl55-amg.html
(1) Congrats on reviving an 5 years old discussion:
http://digg.com/apple/Steve_Jobs:_No_License_Plates_
It was alternately reported years ago that (a) Jobs and his wife are apparently permitted under a California security-related program for high-profile people who have been stalked to have no plates on their cars, or (b) Steve’s plate was stolen so often that he came to an agreement with the city of palo alto and the CA DMV…
+1
Actually, it is the mercedes bar code. So I now have to ask the question to the previous commentor… research much? :)
http://www.iphonesavior.com/2008/09/steve-jobs-barc.html
Actually, this was addressed in 2008. The barcode is actually the VIN and has been placed there by the manufacturer.
http://www.iphonesavior.com/2008/09/steve-jobs-barc.html
There is no evidence that I can find that Steve Jobs – or any other public figure for that matter – is exempt from displaying license plates.
http://www.defend-me.com/california-vehicle-code/california-vehicle-code-section-5200-5206.asp
Some speculate that his tags kept getting stolen so he keeps them in the trunk. Others think he just doesn’t like to play by the rules.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/02/news/companies/elkind_jobs.fortune/index2.htm
Whatever the reason, he would pay a fine like anyone else if pulled over and cannot display proper registration.
With his money, he could pay the fine every day and not miss it.
Actually, California has special provisions for celebrities / public figures that allow them to have a barcode instead of a license plate. Great research?
What a pompous ass! I like Apple products, but who the heck did he think he was being a law-breaker because he wanted privacy?
I guess it goes to show: “he who has the gold makes the rules”
Typical “do as I say but not as I do” attitude.