Maybe I'm OCD about this but I just saw it again and it drives me crazy. Brand spanking new Honda HRV, the thing is beautiful and like it just rolled off the truck. But the license plate looks like it's been through WWII...paint half peeled off, the rest faded and dirty and just beat to hell. It's like getting a brand new suit but then putting on old scuffed up dirty shoes.

Maybe the woman was in the process of having it replaced, but then again maybe she just doesn't give a rat's ass.

Now granted for some reason our license plates do get crappy looking fast here, I don't know if it's the weather or inferior paint or materials or what. Our state police also never seem interested in enforcing the law that says when your plate is too damaged or illegible it must be replaced.

Only advantage I can think of is if they're so disfigured and faded that toll cameras can't read them?

A new 2-year plate costs the same as just the sticker so I request a new plate every other time or 4 years.

Uuhhhh…
Mea culpa.
Brand new Jeep, old, rusty plates.

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:
Only advantage I can think of is if they're so disfigured and faded that toll cameras can't read them?

Mea culpa again

Same problem in Ohio but they are forcing people with the old rusty plates to get new ones now. They're phasing out the old style plates.

TX just recently went to a new rule that they tfr your plates off your trade in. I did this when I traded the Mini for the Fiesta. Made my toll tag tfr easier too.
If no trade & you need new plates, you get a metal temp tag until the new plates come in.

TX has/had a large fraud racket for paper temp tags. IIRC, millions/yr in lost revenues.

Arkansas has no control over temporary (drive-out) paper tags. Ain't nothing to see them expired over a year ago. You know darn well the expired paper tags = no insurance, suspended license.

quote:

Originally posted by Johnny 3eagles:
Arkansas has no control over temporary (drive-out) paper tags. Ain't nothing to see them expired over a year ago. You know darn well the expired paper tags = no insurance, suspended license.

Yup, told my wife if she sees a sketchy [or even nicer] car with paper tags, strong chance they're fake & no insurance. Give a wide berth.

Just renewed the plates on the RAV4. Usually just a year sticker but this year they issued all new plates.

No idea why. Now I need to memorize my new tag number to separate my Silver/Gray RAV4 from 397 other ones in the parking lot. Or the nearly identical Soobie next to it.

Spent a couple of minutes cussing my remote door lock before I realized it was the wrong car...

Some of our plates darken over time, some don't.

I managed to get one where the left side of the plate is fine, but most of it has faded dark.

It's not my plate, so I don't care if it looks like crap. I'd rather not have it at all.

It's Pennsylvania. The plates are the same as the roads, and run by the same outfits. Planned obsolescence = permanent jobs. Get them just good enough to last a couple of years and then they'll need replacing.

The old painted plates with reflective raised letters and numbers lasted pretty much forever. 3M, the maker of the film they now use successfully lobbied for the change and now a plate looks like crap after about 4-5 years.

We only have rear plates here in MI but when your order personalized, they send you two. So you can keep one for a back up when the one on your vehicle deteriorates.

I had the same problem and here's how I solved it- Free.

PA has a program where if your license plate is significantly aged or peeling/damaged/unreadable you can get a form signed by certified PA inspection mechanic or police and it will be replaced free.
(BTW, the police can also give you a $50 or so ticket if THEY decide your plate is unreadable and you keep driving around).

If you live in another state and have this same situation it is worth checking.

"If you think your current registration plate is illegible, print out Form MV-46 and fill out Section A. Then take it to the police or a certified inspection station to verify and complete section B. Then sign the form in Section C and send the form back to PennDOT for a free replacement"

Good luck!

quote:

Originally posted by .38supersig:
Some of our plates darken over time, some don't.

I managed to get one where the left side of the plate is fine, but most of it has faded dark.

I've heard of this happening sometimes, 'Somewhere'...

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:

Yup, told my wife if she sees a sketchy [or even nicer] car with paper tags, strong chance they're fake & no insurance. Give a wide berth.

Yeah, I see a junkyard car with paper dealer plates, to me it is an illegal or felons with warrants driving it.

In Ohio if a police officer can't read your plate, it's considered improper display and a violation. I just think that some people are too cheap to replace them. Or maybe the screws are so rusted they can't remove them??? I;m going with door #1 on this one...

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
separate my Silver/Gray RAV4 from 397 other ones in the parking lot..

I feel your pain.

Running my second consecutive silver RAV4. RAV4 is the most popular car model sold in NC, and silver, well you know how popular silver is. What a pain.

My response was to put something visible high up that can be seen from sides at a distance, which is to say the roof-racks.

The first one had silver roof-racks so I put black automotive trim tape on them for ID across the parking lot. The current one has black roof-racks so I put silver trim tape on them. While there are a lot of silver RAV4s (and close approximations thereof) none of them have the striped roof racks.

I recently purchased a new 2026 Honda HRV for my wife. The 25 year old license plates add character, and we don't have to memorize a new plate number.

When Colorado first started offering the Purple Heart license plates I had a 3-digit number, but those early plates were phased out years ago.

PASig, baby, you've got to take it easy. Find some joy, man.

quote:

Originally posted by MMSIG229:
Or maybe the screws are so rusted they can't remove them??? .

This happened on my last car. I got new plates and I couldn't get the old one out last year because two of the screws were rusted. I ended up having to cut off the plastic plate holder and order a new one. Of course it was expensive. Nothing bmw is cheap.

I have switched to plastic screws now and I actually wax my license plate. Both sides.