CA Legacy Vintage License Plate Program

[cuyeda]

FYI CA Legacy Plate Program order submission, but not guaranteed it will be implemented. Not sure how it will pertain to trailers. It seems these plates can be registered to any year, model, or make of car ( I could be wrong). IMHO this will make the YOM plates confusing. IMHO it should only be implemented on the proper year car matching the plate colors for the proper year. Somebody at the DMV dropped the ball on this one IMHO.


http://www.dmv.ca.gov/legacyplates/index.htm

[angib]

Somebody at the DMV dropped the ball on this one IMHO.

Or else they saw how much money the British licensing office make from a similar scheme and got jealous....

[Bogo]

Somebody at the DMV dropped the ball on this one IMHO.

Or else they saw how much money the British licensing office make from a similar scheme and got jealous....

Wouldn't surprise me... My state has all sorts of specialized plates at $60 extra a year...

[eamarquardt]

Somebody at the DMV dropped the ball on this one IMHO.

Or else they saw how much money the British licensing office make from a similar scheme and got jealous....

Wouldn't surprise me... My state has all sorts of specialized plates at $60 extra a year...

Creating a "special" license plate is a one time expense. The fact that charge an extra fee each year to retain the plate says it all: REVENUE GENERATION

And this revenue (just as all the other revenue from vehicle registrations and fees) goes into the general fund versus being funneled into roads and other transportation infrastructure. A friend, a retired DMV office manager, says the DMV makes tons of money while cutting back on hours because of "lack of fund". Just ain't right.

Gus

[legojenn]

You guys are lucky. Here in Quebec, we cannot get personalised licence plates. If you're a veteran, you can get a poppy on the centre of the plate and if you have an electric vehicle, you can get a plate with green lettering instead of the navy blue the politburo issues.

Putting old-style plates on our cars would be nifty, they were far more colourful from the 50s to mid 70s.

[Rhino Ray]

This is a great idea, vanity plates that are able to help cars look more authentic. Of all the crazy types and designs of plates in California, this one finally makes sense. Now if they can only make the lines at the DMV shorter....

[Shadow Catcher]

In Ohio as well as many other states you can have plates from the year of manufacture of your historical (more than 25 years old) car. I have a set for my 72 Saab Sonett, I would assume the same holds true for historic trailers. There are folks on the internet and ebay that sell restored plates by state and date. There are however restrictions.

[cuyeda]

It's nice to have the plates available, but the guidelines are vague. There is no mention about attaching it to a trailer, although I read an article in the newspaper that the program included trailers that the license plate could be attached. Does that mean you will get two plates, or one. Some original YOM trailer plates had a certain sequence designation ie. 2 letters, 4 numbers. I guess these types of sequence all goes out the window for this special program.

Another FAQ they missed is, how much will it cost for the change of registration to these plates? Will there be a recurring additional fee each year for having these plates? The information page leads me to believe that it would only cost $50.00 to order the plates, then go to the DMV to get the plates assigned to a designated vehicle. No mention of what these costs will be.

What I find as the biggest drawback of the program is:

Q9: Can the Legacy Plates be assigned to any year model of vehicle?
A: Yes.

IF the program goes becomes enacted, then CA will have all year and make of cars running around with vintage looking plates. IMHO this just cheapens the whole purpose of having original and correct YOM plates for an old vehicle. YOM registration has to go through various hoops to get it authenticated. This Legacy program is laughable IMHO.

[eamarquardt]

............................ This Legacy program is laughable IMHO.

Actually I find most of the government programs in California quite the opposite. Sad and heartbreaking as our elected officials squander so much of what they get in taxes.

-Gus-

[Rhino Ray]

It is the same program as the vanity plates. 50 per year. I suppose it will work on trailers but IMHO why? A plate that has no renewal fee is better than paying 50 bucks a year. The money goes for the highway patrol. And yes, California needs to better manage its spending, it's gotten out of hand but what does that have to do with TTT?

[dano]

Now The State of Ca. only needs 7,499 to start making them. I just sent my 50.00 into the DMV.
I know its a way for the state to make money but so what. Id love to have a retro plate on my tear. "There is no mention about attaching it to a trailer" Yes the DMV web states you can have them for cars,trailers and motorcycles.
I dont want mine personalized so it will be a one time fee of 50.00. I can handle that. I will let ya know when I hear something from Jerry !!

Dano

[cuyeda]

It is the same program as the vanity plates. 50 per year. I suppose it will work on trailers but IMHO why? A plate that has no renewal fee is better than paying 50 bucks a year. The money goes for the highway patrol. And yes, California needs to better manage its spending, it's gotten out of hand but what does that have to do with TTT?

Is the renewal fee for the Legacy plates the same as the vanity plates? I don't see that as a given fact anywhere in the guidelines. Not that the statement isn't true, I just don't see it anywhere in print that it will cost $50/year renewal, on top of the $50 for the actual plate order.

If you have a 1947 Kit, similar vintage teardrop or trailer, even a replica, it would be nice to have plates that match the vintage year. The alternative is to have YOM (Year of Manufacture) license fee ($40 for application, cost of a vintage plate from the public market place abt. $100, Regular CCH (coach) registration (abt. $80-$90/ year)

For my previous trailer, I was able to get a YOM plate assigned to my 1957 TTT as a PTI (Permanent Trailer Identification $10/5yr renewal fee) designation. Most people, including many DMV staff told me it couldn't be done.

So begs the question... Can the Legacy plates once received, if the program is enacted, be applied to a PTI ($10/5 years renewal) be applied?

[dano]

The way I read it on DMV questions and answer was like this.
If you buy the Legacy plate and take what ever numbers they give just like any other plate its a one time fee of 50.00
If you buy the Legacy plate and make it personal it is 50.00 for the plate and 50.00 a year for the personal.
I could be wrong and they could change the game at any time but that's how I read it.

I guess we will see.

[cuyeda]

Called the DMV special services today to try and clarify the program. Unfortunately, the program is new, and only the information on the website is the FAQ used for reference. Further questioning by the DMV agent to supervisors provided a bunch of "assumed" answers ie. comparisons to the vanity plate program. Nothing is set in stone was my reply.

Then... I questioned whether or not PTI registration for trailers could be applied to the Legacy Plate Program.

Like dano said... I guess we will see!

[Gage]

Remember this. If you get one of the new plates, it'll be numbered the same as todays plates are. Not the the they were back when.