Okay, I went out of town for three days and now the back license plate is missing from my car. Reported it to city police.
I bought the car, used, in 2009. Before leaving town I ordered via the Internet the yearly renewal sticker required in Texas – for me due the last day of this month.
My questions are: How often are new plates provided? Is it a secret or can I know when this will happen? Will they just be mailed to me and will there be a charge?
I went to the DMV here in my town and was told I need to go to one of the hard-to-reach County Tax Offices in Dallas to get these questions answered, but people here on the SDMB are so knowledgeable and experienced in these things I thought I’d try here first. Even the police officer who took my report suggested it might be time for replacements anyway. I don’t know how long the car had these plates before I bought it.
I’m not trying to get away with anything other than perhaps avoiding a hairy drive into Dallas, paying more than is necessary for plates, and spending what could be quality time in the infamous DMV waiting room instead.
Not from Texas but that page makes it pretty clear. And in Ohio at least, nothing is automatically sent to you even if you automatically need it done. Stickers, plates, licenses, everything - you need to go to the office. (Ok I lied, in Ohio you can do it all online. But you still have to do it yourself - it’s not automatic.)
my tags were stolen in Georgia a couple of years ago and I had to take the police report to the county tax office (where we get out plates) to get new ones. The only thing that happens automatically here is the annual notice of renewal.
Here in California, where driving on our freeways are pretty much our official state religion, it’s dead easy. DMV office, fill out a small form, plates mailed out, easy as cake.
If you’re a member of the Auto Club, it’s even easier: shorter waiting lines, and they can do it all for you. When someone peeled off my plate’s expiration stickers, they issued replacements right on the spot: they have a little stock of them, pre-issued by the DMV.
In California, we largely take the view that driving isn’t a privilege, it’s a right. (And a necessity… My supermarket is four miles away…)