Ok, this is way off topic, but can anyone please explain to me why there are so many Blount County, Tennessee license plates in Miami and South Florida? At first I thought it was a coincidence, but now it's just too much. Blount County has only 121,000 people, yet 99.9% of the TN plates I see here are Blount. I literally see 5 a day, all of which a Blount. Different cars too.
Does Blount County have a monopoly on license plates in the state? As Kentucky fans, I know we all say that people in TN are ignorant, but they do know what county they live in right? (Ok, that last sentence was a little harsh, but seriously, something is going on here.) If you have any insight on this topic, please fill me in. Educated guesses are welcome. Hell, at this point, wild guesses are welcome. If you live in the SoFlo area--which you probably do since you're on this site--then take a look at the TN plates you see and prepare to have your mind blown.
Update: From the amount of evidence we have, it's fairly clear that the vast majority of the Blounty County, TN vehicles are rental cars. Generally GM vehicles and a lot of sources indicate that they are from the Orlando airport. Now, the next logical question is "WHY do the rental vehicles all have Blount County tags?"
I live in South Florida and for months I have been saying the same. I remember when it used to be Mecklenberg Cty NC because illegals were not checked properly for tags and licenses so the word spread fast and everyone was getting their tags and drivers licenses there. Hmmmmm wonder if the same applies??? Great Observation !!!!
ReplyDeleteWow, that's an interesting guess. I wonder if it has anything to do with Illegal immigrants? That would be crazy. It's odd that most of the cars I'm seeing are Chevy's. My initial guess was that people were renting cars from Blount County and driving them down, like maybe it's cheaper for Rental Agencies up North to register their cars there or something.
ReplyDeleteWe have noticed the same thing at every shopping mall, on the highways here in South Florida...it is epidemic. Our neighbor, who doesn't speak a word of English, has a Blount County tag. I find it hard to believe that they once resided in a predominantly white American city, such as Maryville, in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains. I believe there might be a correlation to the situation in Mecklenberg, NC. Does anyone have any insight on this? It's driving me nuts!
ReplyDeleteI found this blog so I'm seeing the same. I Googled Blount figuring it was probably Nashville and was shocked to see how small the county was. It's not even Knoxville, I think they outnumber the Canadians coming to Hollywood.
ReplyDeleteThis is not Rocky Top it's "Sandy Top" country full of Gators and Hurricanes.
Update: I saw a Blount County plate on another Chevy at a gast station here in Miami. I asked the driver where he got the car/plate. At first, he said "hello" when I came up to his car, then when I asked about the plate he said "no hable ingles." A typical response here, but still a little fishy.
ReplyDeleteWeird facts include:
1. Most of the cars are Chevy's
2. Of the two drivers that have been approached on this post, neither spoke English.
3. Also, a lot of the cars have that bar code on the front dash by the windshield, which makes me think the cars are rentals.
Hey "December 4 Anonymous" - Do us a favor and ask your neighbor where they got the plate.
I would say his Chevy with the Blount County plates was a rental, but he has had it for the last 4 months, since he has been my neighbor. Do they let you keep rentals that long? I had originally thought maybe a construction company (since construction is the biggest industry in Blount County according to the demographics website) had relocated some of their employees down here to work on the upgrading project for I-595. Seeing as how the $1.8 billion project is to be financed, built and maintained by a private Spanish conglomerate. Thus far, those approached with these Blount tags only speak....Spanish. Also, I live near the 595 and the closest hotel to here has an oddly large amount of Blount County plates parked in its lot. I have done a great deal of research on this, as you can see. I am beyond puzzled. I would take the simple route and walk over and ask my neighbor, but he doesn't speak a word of English. All I can say is that if people are googling this topic, and probably even more have had the thought cross their mind, there has got to be some explanation for all these TN plates!
ReplyDeleteI'm from Knoxville, and live in Miami. It befuddles me, too. All the cars are new, so I think rental companies have figured out how to save tons of $$ getting their cars registered there.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I just stumbled upon this and I think I have the answer...I'm from Louisiana and we see Blount County plates all the time and I have always wondered this as well. I rented a car in Orlando recently, and when I was riding through the rental car garage I realized ALL the cars had Blount County plates. It was a Hertz garage. Even my car had a Blount County Plate. I think they must all be rental cars. Not sure why, but its the biggest piece of the puzzle i have found so far.
ReplyDeleteI found this blog because I've been wondering the same thing lol. But I've only seen older white people driving these new Chevys with Blout Co plates. I was thinking they were here to buy pills? But it's SO obvious if so...you'd think Highway Patrol would pick up on this and be pulling them over left and right.
ReplyDeleteHuman trafficking would be the most obvious. Saw another Chevy tonight on Biscayne FULL of passengers, dark dark window tinting. My fear would be child sex trafficking knowing how prevalent it is on the Biscayne corridor.
ReplyDeleteIf it had dark, dark window tinting how could you tell it was FULL of passengers? And at night no less.
DeleteOk, hopefully that last one was a joke. I think December 19 may be on to something. I may give Hertz in Orlando a call. If he's right, that begs the question, why would rental cars register in Blount County, TN? Cheaper maybe?
ReplyDeleteT Davis,
DeleteDid you call Hertz? This is driving me crazy too. I live between Tennessee and Miami. I see more Blount county plates than those of all other counties in Tennessee combined.
It's for prescription pain killers. They drive down here purchase them from the cash only pill mills and go up there and sell them for considerable mark up. They have nice cars because they are making tons of cash doing it. They can go to 10-15 pill mills in a week and leave with 100's of pain meds that they sell to junkies in the Tn, Ky, Sc, Nc and other areas where it is major problem
DeleteI called the Orlando airport Hertz, they said most all of their cars are registered in Florida and if any have out of state plates, it is simply because that is where the car was dropped off from. Hmm. I may try to call a few more Hertz locations, but it seems like that would be something a person in the rental business would know.
ReplyDeleteI found this blog searching for the same question. It has nothing to do with illegals. Both persons that I know have Cadillacs (one a CTS coupe and another a SRX). They are white Americans and live here in Miami.
ReplyDeleteI think is probably some related to short-term leasing/renting. Basically renting for longer than a weekend or week but less than a full 24/36/48 month lease. I will search further.
It has nothing to do with illegal aliens, pill mills, hispanic construction workers, or human trafficking. If its a GM car, Hertz has them registered in Tennessee because it is much cheaper to register fleet cars there. Why Blount County? Because they most likely purchase a lot of their cars from a GM dealer located in Alcoa or some other township in Blount County. Rental Car companies purchase their cars from auto dealers just like you and me they just get special fleet rates wherein the dealer sells them the cars for cost plus dealer fee (the dealership makes their money on the volume of cars sold in the deal times dealer fee).
ReplyDeleteSource: I am in the auto industry and consult to dealerships. Posting this here because i'm a Florida native who happens to be a diehard UK basketball fan. Please don't sound ignorant talking about illegal aliens and forged pain med prescriptions and the like. Its just a matter of pure economics and logistics. Its not fair to Tennesseans, any more than when equally ignorant city slickers or northerners talk about all Kentuckians being hillbillies.
Sincerely,
A diehard Cats fan in Fort Lauderdale.
GO BIG BLUE!
Nice bit of information there, but still doesn't explain why Blount County. There are GM Dealers all over the country, what makes Blount County dealers so appealing to purchase the vehicle?
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DeleteI live in Blount County and I know that we don't have a "wheel tax" and that is why a lot of people get there tags in Blount county. This tax charges you $60 every year to renew your tags. Many of the car dealers up here by their used cars from Florida because it's close and you don't get cold enough to have to salt your roads to prevent icing. This will eat the paint and ruin the underside of the car. I think there is probably a dirty car dealer up here giving the illegals good deals, or perhaps stealing Blount County stickers. I saw a large amount of Blount County stickers while I was in Orlando this past December as well, not just in Southern Florida.
ReplyDeleteMountbyke - The first part of this makes a lot of sense. A tax benefit would explain why Florida dealers/rental agencies register in Blount County.
DeleteI don't think TN dealers buying Florida cars would have anything to do with why there are TN plates in FL (since the cars would presumably be in TN at that point), but the "Wheel Tax" bit was definitely helpful.
Naples Florida same thing Blount County Tennessee plates everywhere. I think it's a financial decision for fleet purchases as described above. FYI North Carolina Hwy. laws are strict. A North Carolina Highway Patrol will hook you up in a heartbeat. Most are former Marines.
ReplyDeleteIt's all about economics. If you notice most u-haul rental trucks have Arizona plates. It has to do with how much these companies can save per vehicle and hopefully pass the savings to the public.
ReplyDeleteSame thing here in Tampa. It has to be that it is cheaper for the rental companies to register their cars with Blount county tags. Why can't we get a county in KY to do something like this? Nevermind...the renters would think I'm crazy for yelling GO BIG BLUE at them on I-275.
ReplyDeleteOk, based on all of the comments we have, here is a summary of the best reasons:
ReplyDelete1. Blount County, TN does not have a "wheel tax," which is an expensive yearly fee to register your vehicle.
2. Blount County has a number of GM dealers. Most of the cars in FL with Blount County tags are Chevy/GM cars.
3. The cars are probably mostly rentals (although this has not been confirmed and I called Hertz and they said they registered in FL).
So, the best conclusion here is that rental companies likely purchase their cars in bulk from a dealer in Blount County, or at least register them all in Blount County, in order to take advantage of a favorable tax break and generally lower tax structure.
I wouldn't say the mystery is solved, but that seems to be a good start.
Based on some recent (and deleted due to vulgarity) comments, to reiterate what we already know, yes, the majority of the Blount County tagged cars are rental cars. Now we're on to the next question: Why Blount County?
ReplyDeleteIm back...I was the one with the neighbor with the Blount County tag who spoke no English. I finally couldn't take it anymore and I had a friend translate who asked the neighbor and he gave me the number to the man who owns the house. An interesting twist to this whole situation is that I noticed new Blount County plates/cars revolving every few weeks at this particular house. And ***every single couple that came to stay in the house was expecting (a child)!!!*** I called the owner and straight up asked him what the deal was. I gave him once chance to tell me before I called the police. He told me that he is a halfway house for Venezuelans who want their children born in America so that they can establish citizenship here. I didn't know what to say then, nor do I even know what to say right now. I just thought I would let you know that MY end of the Blount County mystery has been solved. I wouldn't rule trafficking, pill mills or any of that out now that I heard it is used for this purpose as well.
ReplyDeleteI apologize if my comment from directly above makes me sound ignorant. I have a Master's Degree from University of Florida, so I feel like my statement comes from research and awareness. I am just an angry homeowner who worked very hard in her 20's to be able to live in one of the more affluent areas in Broward County so I would not surround myself or my family with things like this.
DeleteGlad I'm not the only one puzzled by Blount County tags. I see them all over Boca and West Palm. If they are legitimate Hertz/Fleet cars, how do so many people afford long-term rentals, much less out of state in this economy. I also wonder if some people purposely claim TN for residency as a tax break, maybe own property in Blount County, but they reside in Florida and catch a break. Also, don't be puzzled by strangers in Fla who don't speak English. Today I saw a Blount tag with a West Palm dealer tag holder, so go figure. I think there has to be an underlying secret to half the tags we see, and I also have seen plenty of obscure Georgia counties down here as well. Maybe one day all of us gringos will be let in on the secret. Maybe we'll have more Venezuelan-descended baseball players raised in Blount County 20 years from now.
ReplyDeleteEither way, let's make a documentary.
I can shed at least a little light for you. There is not a ton of industy in Tennessee but some of the majors are in the Blount county area. Rubbermaid, Nippondenso, Alcoa Aluminum all right here, local land is inexpensive in relation to the same property down the road in Knoxville so its attractive to business. That being the case, there is a decent ammt of $$ in the area. The "Knoxville" Airport also happens to be in blount county..not actually in Knoxville. The largest collection of Car dealers and rental vehicles in the area are centered around the airport and right off of I-140 and Alcoa Highway (129) both of which connect directly to Interstate 40 in Knoxville. These Dealers and rentals are all within minutes of Alcoa, Rubbermaid, Denso etc means quick easy access to rentals and Fleet purchase vehicles for the corporations. Which when the leases are up get traded back in or auctioned localy and resold.. sold in blount county, tagged in blount county.. etc. Population wise its semi small but in landmass its a good sized, very pretty area in the foothills of the smokey mountains. There is also a sizeable hispanic population in the very local area. All things considered the combination of those two influences alone could account for a good deal of what you are seeing.
ReplyDeleteIf you say that blounts county are working in just Miami or Florida then its little true but they are working all over the world its a problem you can say for whole world I last year when I needed an auto license for my business and I visited for this purpose then I noticed blounts county around me then I made a decision that had a seat aside and see what they are doing and how .I noticed that they had contact direct the persons who were in the office to help the people but sorry to say this then I came home and searched through net and got a website of auto license contact them direct they made my all processes simply easy and that was my auto license click there if need more info my auto license
ReplyDeleteI find that about 90% of Tennessee plates i see in Miami are hertz rentals. I have personally rented a car from hertz here with a Blount county plate. When looking at all the cars in the rental lot, a bit of them had those plates. The question is... Why Blount county Tennessee? I have seen some good theories on here, but I wonder what the actual reason is.
ReplyDeleteJust came upon this, because I was googling, "why so many Blount Co plates."
ReplyDeleteI am a random guy in New York City, no connection to UK whatsoever, but I see Blount plates all over the place - or at least disproportionate to the county's size.
I think the Hertz angle is probably accurate.
Many of you have weighed in on the activities of all of these cars. No one has given even a shred of evidence as to WHY Blount County is the place of choice for so many drivers in Florida.
ReplyDeleteThe theories on "car dealer relationships" and geography hold no water since they are irrelevant in regard to the specific, relatively small, county of Blount. The pill mill idea is also stupid because they could get cars from anywhere in the midwest to do this.
The only thing I can come up with, based on nothing, is that something illegal is going on in Blount County. I would guess that you can get a car with legal tags for some cash, no questions asked. This doesn't explain all the rental cars though so it has as many holes as any other theory.
Seriously, my wife and I are going crazy trying to figure this out. Help!
I live in the Bradenton-Sarasota area of Florida & have also noticed this phenomenon . My original thought was many Floridians have Mountain homes to reside at during the summer where it is much cooler.A friend of mine flew into Sarasota & rented a car ,sure enough there was the Blount County Tn tag.I don't recall the rental co.but the car was a Honda.For all the Smoky Mtn. tourist who fly in, Knoxville would be the most convenient airport.This still does not explain the puzzle but I think it fills in another piece.I am in agreement with the folks who think that their must be a big tax advantage to register all those rental cars there.
DeleteWell it's safe to say one thing... UK fans in Miami are on the look out for license plates from states surrounding KY.
ReplyDeleteThe Knoxville airport, although situated on property owned by the City of Knoxville (which is located in Knox County), is actually located in Blount County. Knox County has a wheel tax (a personal property tax) of $36 per vehicle annually, but Blount County does not have a wheel tax, and all the rental car companies purchase their tags in Blount County for that reason.
DeleteJust to clear this up a bit... many Blount county TN-plated cars (at least with Hertz) actually originate in New York.
ReplyDeleteLet me add to this mix: I noticed several months ago that about 90% of the cars with TN tags in this area were from Blount County. This has been driving me nuts for months. Originally I thought Blount County was full of gypsies who were always on the road travelling. Now I am convinced that these cars tagged with Blount County plates are rental vehicles. Many of the rental cars at the airport have Blount County tags. It makes sense that the county must offer no wheel tax and/or lower tax rates than anywhere else in the region and rental car companies have discovered this.
ReplyDeletepeople in philadelphia,pa also see a lot of blount tenn, plates and mainly all the drug boys have them
ReplyDelete