Hawaii Vehicle Plates - Secrets to Decoding

[Todd H]

This is definitely a question for resident experts, so we mainlanders can sit back, read, and become savvy. Or maybe bored, if one is not interested[]

Here we go...

What are the general characteristics of the vehicle license plates in Hawaii? Are there any "quirks" of the system that are unlike the other 49 states?

Does the beginning letter(s) designate the specific island and, if so, does the third letter indicate the district (like Puna)?

Do rental/lease cars have their own set of letter sequences?

If a vehicle is purchased and shipped from, say, Oahu, does the car then get new plates when registered on the Big Island?

Do unmarked police cars have their own set of three letters?

Why do some cars have plates beginning with the letter "Z?"

Do Native Hawaiians get free or reduced-fee license plates?

I know, there are license plate collector sites on the internet, but sometimes it's interesting to hear from people who live in Hawaii and have, through storytelling, cracked the secret codes!

Aloha

Todd

[4antares]

No secret codes. Nothing more interesting than plates issued in alpha numerical order.
No
No
No
No
Because the plates were issued recently and the current system is running out of numbers
No
Really nothing remarkable.

life is short. enjoy it

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

In general plates issued on Hawaii Island begin with H, Maui with M, and Kauai with K. Oahu plates can start with any letter.

If you buy a used vehicle the plates stay with it. So if you buy a used car on Maui and ship it to Big Island, it will retain the plates that start with the letter M.

Vehicles owned by an individual have plates that start with 3 letters followed by 3 numbers, if the vehicle is owned by a business the plate begins with 3 numbers, then has 3 letters.

[bananahead]

I have a...

1999 truck relocated from CA that got its BI plates in 2006 and starts with an "H"

2000 used car (dont know when the plates were ordered) that starts with a "Z"

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save our indigenous and endemic Hawaiian Plants... learn about them, grow them, and plant them on your property, ....instead of all that invasive non-native garbage I see in most yards... aloha

[kalakoa]

First letter is per-island.

Big Island: E, F, G, H, recently Z.

I think Oahu is currently S.

The "owned by business" mentioned above is probably just "commercial", in most states that can be an individual.

[birchl]

Kalakoa you are an absolute mine of information.

#10048;

[leilanidude]

I think it is humorous that the current series of plates being handed out on Hawaii Island is ZAP...

[kalakoa]

One more: plates have the (approximate) issue-year watermarked in the reflective coating; it's visible when viewed from above. Look for circles in the gap between the 3 numbers/3 letters.

[missydog1]

Rental cars seem to end up with similar sequence, but I think it's because additions to the fleet are registered at the same time. If you're around a lot of rental cars and watch plates, you'll soon notice the current sequences for them. Generally it's the newest or nearly newest combo on the road.

Coming from California, I had to get Hawai'i plates fairly soon even though they honored my pre-paid registration period -- got new plates when I registered it here. As was said, with inter-island, not so. Is a good way to recognize cars from other islands.

[ericlp]

Amusing thread...

There is NO way One letter Like lets say H for Big Island or M for Maui is going to be enough letters for all the cars on the island. All the plates are for is assigned to said car. So when the cop runs the plate, they can see who the owner is, what kind of car, what kind of prior speeding tickets or even rap sheet the owner might have. Or worse, if the car is stolen or the plates don't match the vin/vehicle description. It's just an ID tag... And of course if you decide to hit someone and run they can record your plate number. No secrets here.

Altho, it might be true if Oahu issued a plate say HTE-199 and someone shipped X car to the big island, then that plate could be a duplicate plate as someone might have been issued that plate already.