Do I have to get a vehicle inspection after obtaining specialty/vanity plates?

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

If you are street parking at a meter, it might be worth the $35 just to avoid the hassle of a parking enforcement officer writing you a ticket and having to argue your side in front of a magistrate.

I agree. If you park on the street in Boston with any frequency tben I would just get a new sticker. You may be able to get a more definitive answer from someone who does the inspections about whether you need a new sticker or not but it's $35 to get one. So in the end, it's probably worth the peace of mind.

Originally Posted by BosYuppie

How is a meterperson or LEO to know that the sticker with a valid date doesn't "match" the license plate?

I would be shocked if the information systems they are using are actually intelligent enough to say that someone's sticker doesn't match the license plate.

Based on personal experience and anectdotes, where people have gone literally years with an expired sticker, this seems to be extremely low priority for enforcement.

Boston meter enforcement officers are pretty vicious with writing tickets for inspection stickers. I was quite surprised when I got one when parking downtown one day. First, because I obviously didn't realize that my sticker was expired and second because I had no idea that a parking enforcement officer could write such a ticket. FYI, my understanding is that insurance companies consider this a "moving violation" so your rate could go up from such a ticket.

I wouldn't be surprised if given all of the free parking local municipalities have been giving out over the last year that local officials are pushing parking enforcement and police officers to write more tickets for other violations to make up for lost revenue from meters and meter violations.

I have no idea what kind of tech parking enforcement has but it hardly seems worth the risk that they could write you a violation like this. Much easier just to spend the $35 and know it's not going to be a problem.

Originally Posted by fabfan84

Yes, anyone who gets a vanity plate should get a head inspection.

Personally, I don't have a problem with someone getting a vanity plate. The only vanity plate I take issue with is when someone identifies the kind of car they have on the license plate. I can see you drive a BMW do you really need a license plate that says "BMW" too??? I regularly see a MB CLA250 around town and the plate is CLA250. I knew a guy that owned a Testarossa for a while and the plate was "FERARI" or something like that. I just really don't get the point of such a plate.

[GeoffD]

There's "get out of jail free" at the moment for inspection stickers due to the state system (Applus Technologies) being hacked. All the highway sign boards have been displaying the notice. You have until May 31. I believe the computer system is back operational as of last weekend. Doesn't mean a Boston meter maid won't ticket you, though.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by BosYuppie

How is a meterperson or LEO to know that the sticker with a valid date doesn't "match" the license plate?

I would be shocked if the information systems they are using are actually intelligent enough to say that someone's sticker doesn't match the license plate.

Based on personal experience and anectdotes, where people have gone literally years with an expired sticker, this seems to be extremely low priority for enforcement.

Stickers have the plate number printed on them as well as the VIN.

I have off-street parking, but I do park at meters or street spots in the area a few times a month. I doubt that most meter maids are going to look deeper than the date on the sticker, but they could. I don't think I'd run into an issue since there's not much literature on it and the VIN matches (plus the car is not a new purchase) and could probably successfully appeal the ticket if I got one. But I'd rather just go get a new $35 sticker and leave no room for tickets. I have a new resident parking permit with the new plate number on the way. When it comes, I'll slap that on there along with the new plates and get the inspection. I was hoping that someone would be able to give me a definitive yes or no by citing something I missed in my search, but it's ambiguous enough that I just don't want to chance it to put off spending $35 for another 5 months.

Re expired sticker enforcement: it depends on the location. I had a 6 month expired one on my car on the South Coast before a coworker pointed it out. I probably could have gone 2 years without a ticket. On the other hand, I got a ticket 5 days after expiration in Somerville, and my neighbor in Eastie said he got one on the 1st of the following month. They're on it like hawks.

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

Personally, I don't have a problem with someone getting a vanity plate. The only vanity plate I take issue with is when someone identifies the kind of car they have on the license plate. I can see you drive a BMW do you really need a license plate that says "BMW" too??? I regularly see a MB CLA250 around town and the plate is CLA250. I knew a guy that owned a Testarossa for a while and the plate was "FERARI" or something like that. I just really don't get the point of such a plate.

This doesn't apply to everyone with a car-specific plate, but it's a badge of honor among some of the enthusiast groups. Of course it all depends on what the vehicle is and what the plate is. If you are in a BMW enthusiast's club, there's a handful of vanity plates that immediately come to mind and people want to be the holder of that plate. BMW would be one of the top ones to choose from. Yes, i know it makes no sense to label the car you drive, but from an enthusiast standpoint, it's the ultimate accessory. Of course, some are better than others.

With license plate collectors, such plates also are very collectable once they hit the market when the registration is cancelled and such owner decides to sell such plates. Yes, collecting plates is a thing.

My only gripes with vanity plates are when most people can spend a few mins looking at the plate and can't figure it out. I've come across a few of those where i still won't know what it meant after thinking about it for some time.

I like when vanity plates make me laugh. The best one i ever saw...

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by lrfox

Re expired sticker enforcement: it depends on the location. I had a 6 month expired one on my car on the South Coast before a coworker pointed it out. I probably could have gone 2 years without a ticket. On the other hand, I got a ticket 5 days after expiration in Somerville, and my neighbor in Eastie said he got one on the 1st of the following month. They're on it like hawks.

I don't park on the street frequently when I'm out in the burb's, but I did let my sticker lapse once by accident for a couple of months and the one day I met a friend downtown for lunch during that time I came back to a ticket. I appealed it and they were nice enough to overturn it. I didn't really have a case. I just said "oops! Sorry about that. I already got a new sticker after I saw the ticket" and they rescinded the ticket.

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

This doesn't apply to everyone with a car-specific plate, but it's a badge of honor among some of the enthusiast groups. Of course it all depends on what the vehicle is and what the plate is. If you are in a BMW enthusiast's club, there's a handful of vanity plates that immediately come to mind and people want to be the holder of that plate. BMW would be one of the top ones to choose from. Yes, i know it makes no sense to label the car you drive, but from an enthusiast standpoint, it's the ultimate accessory. Of course, some are better than others.

With license plate collectors, such plates also are very collectable once they hit the market when the registration is cancelled and such owner decides to sell such plates. Yes, collecting plates is a thing.

My only gripes with vanity plates are when most people can spend a few mins looking at the plate and can't figure it out. I've come across a few of those where i still won't know what it meant after thinking about it for some time.

I like when vanity plates make me laugh. The best one i ever saw...

Yeah. I used to have a Honda S2000 and i was mildly active in the local owner's club. One of the guys had a plate that said S2K. I'm still not on board with that being a desirable thing though. For most of my life I had a very low number 4 digit license plate, but when I started leasing my cars I gave it up to make swapping cars simpler. My whole family thought I was nuts but I really didn't care. My only attachment to the plate was that i had the same one my whole driving career.