What's the deal with licence plates? I've never quite understood the whole process.
In Britain (and most of Europe i think), you buy a car. It has a number plate. The car keeps this plate for it's lifetime. If the car is sold then it just gets registered in the new owner's name. The plate stays the same.
Do you need to get new plates periodically even if you keep the same car? And what's the reason for this?
In the U.S. it varies by state. Where I live new license plates are required every seven years. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with extra tax revenue, but there is a practical side in that you don't run out of letter/number combinations. The format AAA 000 gets switched to 000 AAA and then back again.
I've been to California where the same plate is kept for the life of the vehicle. They started with the AAA 000 through ZZZ 999 format and ran out of combinations decades ago. You will see at least three different types of plates on the cars there. At some time they added an extra numeral at the beginning of the sequence. Being the most populous state, they will eventually run out of combinations. I don't know what they will do then. There's only so much room on the plate.
just reuse scrapped ones.
I'm sure the amount of combinations of aaa000 , and 000aaa far exceeds the amount of vehicles registered in CA
it was same system in uk at one time , but with one additional letter which would mean 26x more combos.
Christ's license plate
GGGGGGG
Probably because we have a lot more cars than Britain and would run out of number/letter combos quickly. The 3 letter and 3 number format is easier to remember than those long combos on British cars. Imagine if you witness a hit and run accident, the ABC 123 combo is easy for a witness to recall.
shareIn Minnesota, you need to get new plates every 7 years. I'm not sure why and I always forget until the day I go to renew my annual license tabs and they tell me I need new plates. However, I also understand that your plate number is forever tied to your car in the computer systems. I've never had a reason to think about this, though. Well, except to trace a catalytic converter theft. Supposedly, if you etch your converter with your plate number, it can be traced to you if it's stolen. Cat converter thefts are a thing around here these days.
shareThose thieves were just trying to make a time machine.
shareOh, is that what it's all about?? 😉
On NextDoor I see a lot of folks complaining about cat thefts. It sounds a bit mean, but maybe if they'd just clean out their garage they could park inside and avoid the problem. I see too many folks with double garages who still park their cars outside, including on the street. I'm not sure if it's a convenience thing or that their garage is full of junk...er, stuff.
Our double garage is full of cars - we put all our junk outside (I'm kidding, we don't have any junk).
shareWhen I bought my house the people hadn't moved out yet. We were doing a tour and looked into the garage and ...
the one thing that stood out among the "stuff" was a modest but nice drum kit. DKs take up space but are inherently pleasant to see, at least for me. I guess this family were musicians so they had a kit - but no cars - in the gay-raahje.
Excellent! I’m going to buy my daughter a drum kit for her birthday, as she’s expressed an interest (she already has guitar and piano lessons, so she seems to want to pursue that path at the moment).
shareDo you own a DeLorean?
shareIn Australia, I believe it's the same but if you like your particular never plate, or you've purchased a particular plate (personalised) you can take that with you when you sell the car.
It will be sold "without plates".
In most of Europe, a car doesn't automatically come with a license plate. You get them at the end of the registration process.
When the car changes ownership, new license plates get made.
Under some conditions, you can register more than one car with the same plates, when not using the vehicles at the same time (saves taxes). But this kind of swapping is more common for motorcycles.
Some countries offer vanity numbers for a periodical extra fee.
Ah thanks for correcting me on that. It's crazy that two cars can have the same plate though !
shareJames Bond had three plates on his Aston Martin DB5. He could rotate them to change the numbers. 😊
shareJames Bond had three plates on his Aston Martin DB5. He could rotate them to change the numbers.
😄
share[deleted]
^This. We don't have a national license plate system as exists in the UK (the DVLA). Every U.S. State has its own Department of Motor Vehicles that issues driver's licenses and license plates. If you decide to move and live in another State, you will be required to exchange your driver's license and plates within a certain number of days, typically 30 days.
shareThis would apply to European car sales too, technically. In practice, no one (besides collectors) on the mainland wants the steering wheel on the right side.
shareAhh I didn't think about the cross -state sale. Makes sense.
shareI still dont get the "renewing plates" periodically ,
whats the point/benefit/ purpose of that?
Me neither tbh. As you would still need enough numbers to cover the current car population whether they are renewed or not. I'm clearly being a dumbass regarding this 💩.
shareTax revenue from the renewal fees.
shareis that the sceptics answer or is it just a plain out and out tax? (like we have in the uk!)
We have the "road tax" in the uk
in theory to pay for upkeep of the roads, but now it varies depending on your cars emissions.
like electric cars dont wear the roads out!
its about $300 per year
How much/often is this number plate charge thing?
I'm not sure how the collected fee money is allocated, and all states are different. In my state the renewal fee includes a tax based upon a percentage of the value of the vehicle.
In the U.S. license renewal is annual. As far as I know this requirement is the same in all 50 states. The amount varies by state: https://www.ncsl.org/research/transportation/registration-and-title-fees-by-state.aspx
I would add for our non-USA friends that this annual fee is not for new plates but a new "tag" good for a year, it is typically a small sticker affixed to the plate.
shareSo it is basically a road tax ?
shareIn theory, you're supposed to confirm that you still own the vehicle and still live at the address every year and mandatory renewal helps catch people who forgot to submit the paperwork.
In practice, yeah it's just a road tax.
In my state you are also required to verify that you have auto insurance. There is a section on the renewal form where you enter the name of the insurance company, the policy number and the expiration date. The insurance companies supply you with a proof-of-insurance card or paper when you pay your premium. By law you must keep this in your vehicle; if you are ever pulled over for a traffic stop, the officer will ask to see this.
sharewe got all all that automated in the UK , theres a national database all the insurance companies put the data in - and anyone can check it, not just for thier own car but for anyone elses.
So when buying the road tax they already know if you're insured.
Exact same for MOT (annual roadworty test) too.
Anyone can check any car is roadworthy , and also the history of all its annual checks
Pretty handy when looking at a used car!
As jonathan_k80 indicated above, it is sometimes unclear whether the money goes specifically to infrastructure. Californians, I believe, have the highest gas [petrol] tax in the nation, which is supposedly earmarked for roads, yet somehow many roads are in a state of disrepair.
shareIn the UK, road tax has nothing to do with upkeeping the roads. It's just another way to make money by the government. I was actually shocked when I found this out. Explains why the pot holes seem to get worse every year 🙄
shareI think its the same with all the gubbermint income streams , they just toss it all in a big pot and use it for whatever crisis they need to get out of next.
I hate road tax , i have 2 cars , i only drive one at a time (and hardly ever too) yet i have to pay twice. They should just add it to the already extortionate tax on the petrol - that way people using their cars a lot would pay more road tax.
I guess they already have - theyve done both.
Petrol has shot up in price lately! I paid £1.18 then the following week it was 1.27 for petrol. ☹
shareya hear that Americans! thats per litre! in pounds!
1 US gal = 3.78541 litres
£1.27 * 3.78541
= £4.80 per us gal
= $6.67 / gal
Are you sure about the currency exchange rate? The current U.S. national average cost (as of March 12, 2021) is $2.84 per gallon, which would be £2.04 rather than £4.80, according to this site: https://www.exchange-rates.org/converter/USD/GBP/2.84
Price varies by state: https://gasprices.aaa.com/state-gas-price-averages/
All this math is giving me a headache, so you might want to check my figures, if you want.
i think you missed the direction of flow of my thinking the £4.80 is the UK price for a US gallon , not that we'd be buying us gallons.
but yes, if we bought one of your gallons , with our £ in the US it would cost about £2.4
buy the same here £4.80
moral - it costs about 2.5 times more here! :(
I now see what you're trying to say. Sorry, math isn't one of my strong points.
2.5 times more. Wow!