I managed to register my 4Runner yesterday. The third time at the “DMV” turned out to me the charm. The first time I went I found out that I didn’t have all the proper documents translated into polish. The second, I found out I hadn’t paid a “recycling fee” that I can only pay at a bank or a post office, and that I also needed to turn in my California license plates.

But the third time I had everything ready, everything paid, and license plates in hand. I kindly asked if I could keep my license plates as a souvenir and was quickly denied. She said “I cannot let you keep your plates just to hang ’em on the wall, but do you have another reason…maybe you need to send them back to the states to cancel your registration there?” The smile on the lady’s face had a big “work with me here” written all over it… so I quickly said that of course that is exactly why I need the plates back, and she handed them back to me. Love this country.

I also had a little dilemma as to what kind of plates to get. The usual wide rectangular ones barely fit and the square ones they have for most american cars are straight out ugly. I borrowed a wide plate and tried to see how it would fit, took some photos, and even compared it with a 4Runner I found online in Poland with a square plate. Below is what each would look like, but in the end I went with the square one simply cause it just fits better.