If I trade in my old car, what happens to my plate?
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In Pennsylvania, the plate is the property of the owner. Get a new car? The old plate goes on the new car and is registered that way with the DMV. The plate is renewed annually.
Yep, 50 states, 51 regulation.
In WA I either sold cars without custom LP as it's mine as I pay for it or, if I donated cars, I kept plates. I had a collection of them on garage wall.
Otherwise, as I actually PURCHASED the plate when I registered a car in my name, I had choice - keep plate when sold or sell with plate and disregard letter DMV sends me to extend LP for another year.
Technically, when you register a vehicle in your name, License Department sells you a LP. You paid for it, it's yours.
I also transferred or changed LPs. I had Ridgeline that had habit of getting into minmor accidents and I changed LP on it as it had 3 x 6 in it, something like ABC 61664.
Of course they have dsifferent LPs for pass and truck vehicles, so you can not interchange them.
Location: Stuck on the East Coast, hoping to head West
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In my area, the plate can transfer to the new vehicle.
Our dealerships can issue new plates (not temp) if you don't have one.
If you buy a vehicle from a private party, you would go to the DMV, get a new plate, remove the seller's plate and give it back to him. Interestingly, most sellers won't let you leave with their plate and you can't drive a car without a plate so.....either seller goes with you to the DMV (if you're driving that car there) or you have to find your own way to the dmv.
If you turn in a plate, you must turn in the plate (and get a receipt) BEFORE you cancel insurance on the vehicle or you get hit with a fine for having an uninsured vehicle. In other words, if you sell a car, you would never cancel insurance on that car before either transferring the plate to a new car or turning it in to the DMV.
As an aside, it gets really tricky if you sell a car that has an emergency repair order (ERO) and then transfer the plates. I did this. The state police reported to the DMV that I had an ERO that I hadn't resolved so registration was to be suspended. However, rather than fix the car, I sold it to a junk dealer. Then I transferred registration to a new car. You have no idea the nightmare this created. It was so much fun! Not.
In my area, the plate can transfer to the new vehicle.
Our dealerships can issue new plates (not temp) if you don't have one.
If you buy a vehicle from a private party, you would go to the DMV, get a new plate, remove the seller's plate and give it back to him. Interestingly, most sellers won't let you leave with their plate and you can't drive a car without a plate so.....either seller goes with you to the DMV (if you're driving that car there) or you have to find your own way to the dmv.
If you turn in a plate, you must turn in the plate (and get a receipt) BEFORE you cancel insurance on the vehicle or you get hit with a fine for having an uninsured vehicle. In other words, if you sell a car, you would never cancel insurance on that car before either transferring the plate to a new car or turning it in to the DMV.
As an aside, it gets really tricky if you sell a car that has an emergency repair order (ERO) and then transfer the plates. I did this. The state police reported to the DMV that I had an ERO that I hadn't resolved so registration was to be suspended. However, rather than fix the car, I sold it to a junk dealer. Then I transferred registration to a new car. You have no idea the nightmare this created. It was so much fun! Not.
I know what state you're in.
I had a car totaled (registered in Bande's state) and the front plate was lost in the accident. I turned in the remaining plate and got letters from MVA for two years demanding the second one. I finally had to go to MVA with the accident report and insurance determination before they believed me that the car had been wrecked. They apparently thought I had put it on an off the books vehicle or something
In Alaska the old plates stay with the car. If the tag on the plate and registration still have enough days or months left, the new owner can register the car to cover the rest of the time left. In this case the new registration does not cost as much because it will only be good for a short duration (a few weeks or months). If the old plates and registration only have under a month left, then the new owner has to pay for a full registration. One can also choose to get new plates when registering a car that has been purchased from another person. The new plates come with the new registration if that's what one wants, and the DMV keeps the old plates.
A caveat to this post. If you have personalized Alaska plates, you need to keep them and pay a $5 transfer fee to put them on your new vehicle. If the plates are vehicle specific (07F150) and you don't want them anymore, you can sign a waiver to allow the new owner to keep them.
Here they are all over the place. Every time I have used Carmax they have given my me plates back. Any other dealer in the city they have stayed on the car I have traded in. I am not sure what they have done with them.
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