Vehicle Registration - Plates only last 9 months?? (2013, how much)

[Secarah]

Hello,

I'm a bit confused about the vehicle laws here. I've lived in NY and MA previously and here, dealing with the DMV is rather strange. First off, we have our vehicles inspected every year and our registrations (plates) last 2 years.

When I moved here several months ago, I went to get my IL plates. It was the end of June when I came to register the car. I had been living in MA previously and had gotten my emissions test and car inspection done there. Anyway I got my plates in June and my official vehicle registration was issued on July 11th. The point is this. I was given plates with a sticker that showed that my expiration date was March 2013. Why so early? I was living in MA in March. Also I got a whole bunch of work done on my exhaust system in April, while I was still in Boston. I'm fine with the fact that IL wants me to get an emissions test by March, I'm sure that I'll pass. But my question is, why in the heck did I have to pay full price to register my car in June of 2012 only to have my plates expire 9 months later?

Is that just how it works here? They just pick any month so that you can pay twice a year?

Thanks!

[rparz]

Originally Posted by Secarah

Hello,

I'm a bit confused about the vehicle laws here. I've lived in NY and MA previously and here, dealing with the DMV is rather strange. First off, we have our vehicles inspected every year and our registrations (plates) last 2 years.

When I moved here several months ago, I went to get my IL plates. It was the end of June when I came to register the car. I had been living in MA previously and had gotten my emissions test and car inspection done there. Anyway I got my plates in June and my official vehicle registration was issued on July 11th. The point is this. I was given plates with a sticker that showed that my expiration date was March 2013. Why so early? I was living in MA in March. Also I got a whole bunch of work done on my exhaust system in April, while I was still in Boston. I'm fine with the fact that IL wants me to get an emissions test by March, I'm sure that I'll pass. But my question is, why in the heck did I have to pay full price to register my car in June of 2012 only to have my plates expire 9 months later?

Is that just how it works here? They just pick any month so that you can pay twice a year?

Thanks!

Seems odd, but going forward it should only be once a year, in your case March is your month.
How much did they charge you? The full hundred for the year, or was it closer to 75 for 9 months?

[Secarah]

Originally Posted by rparz

Seems odd, but going forward it should only be once a year, in your case March is your month.
How much did they charge you? The full hundred for the year, or was it closer to 75 for 9 months?

Yes they charged the full price. I paid $194.00 that day. $95 for title and $99 for plates.

[makinthemagic]

Do the plates expire 12 months after the date you moved here? My guess is that they are using that data as the "start" of your illinois registration to prevent you from waiting as long as possible before paying. The state is basically bankrupt so a scheme like that would not surprise me.