# Do any other states require periodic replacement of license plates? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 10, 2011, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-states-require-periodic-replacement-of-license-plates/570899 "2011-02-10T15:38:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![The\_Vorlon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-states-require-periodic-replacement-of-license-plates/570899/41 "2011-02-12T19:59:41Z")
I have had my MA plates for 5 cars. I change cars at 300K miles. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-states-require-periodic-replacement-of-license-plates/570899/42 "2011-02-13T17:00:32Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > Did you notice that, not only did you pay the extra $20, but $2 more for a “reflectivity charge” ? If the point of the new plates is to preserve the reflectivity, why we are we paying for it twice? > > As far as the cost of renewal goes, before the evil Iman started his campaign for $30 dollar registration ours was $575 for the Corvette and $350 for the F150. While the law didn’t keep the tabs at $30, they made them more reasonable. Good God, where is that? Annual license and registration has never (NEVER!) cost me more than about 70 dollars, and any difference is due to the county portion, not the state portion. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-states-require-periodic-replacement-of-license-plates/570899/43 "2011-02-13T21:33:02Z")
> [@bump](#): > > > [@picunurse](#): > > > > Did you notice that, not only did you pay the extra $20, but $2 more for a “reflectivity charge” ? If the point of the new plates is to preserve the reflectivity, why we are we paying for it twice? > > > > As far as the cost of renewal goes, before the evil Iman started his campaign for $30 dollar registration ours was $575 for the Corvette and $350 for the F150. While the law didn’t keep the tabs at $30, they made them more reasonable. > > Good God, where is that? Annual license and registration has never (NEVER!) cost me more than about 70 dollars, and any difference is due to the county portion, not the state portion. Before 1999 the licensing fee in the SoW included an excise tax (pretty near the closest thing we had to a personal property tax). IIRC the rate itself wasn’t particularly onerous, but the amount was based on a value table that originated in some alternate universe where cars are worth magnitudes more than they are here. Any number of people (including yours truly) protested, but the Legislature did nothing. Enter [Tim Eyman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Eyman) (or “I”-man, as he is less charitably known). He filed an initiative to eliminate the excise tax and set vehicle registration at a flat $30. The initiative passed overwhelmingly, but was ruled unconstitutional on a number of grounds. The Legislature, however, became aware of the heat and eliminated the excise tax. A side effect was that Eyman found that he liked being a public hero, and that there was more money to be made as a professional initiative filer than as a fraternity watch salesman (his previous profession)\*. Nearly every year since then we’ve been subjected to one or more “starve the beast” proposals, with occasional forays into social conservatism. I haven’t kept a running total, but my recollection is that relatively few succeed (they fail to get enough signatures to qualify, fail at election, or get thrown out afterward); still, he has enough success to keep him in business. \*A few years back he was accused of skimming contributions to his PAC for personal use. He first denied it, then admitted it, then claimed it was a non-issue that the “liberal establishment” was attempting to use to derail his righteous crusade. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-states-require-periodic-replacement-of-license-plates/570899/44 "2011-02-13T21:40:34Z")
In South Carolina it’s a new plate every other year. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-states-require-periodic-replacement-of-license-plates/570899/45 "2011-02-13T22:56:19Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > Before 1999 the licensing fee in the SoW included an excise tax (pretty near the closest thing we had to a personal property tax). IIRC the rate itself wasn’t particularly onerous, but the amount was based on a value table that originated in some alternate universe where cars are worth magnitudes more than they are here. Any number of people (including yours truly) protested, but the Legislature did nothing. > > Enter [Tim Eyman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Eyman) (or “I”-man, as he is less charitably known). He filed an initiative to eliminate the excise tax and set vehicle registration at a flat $30. The initiative passed overwhelmingly, but was ruled unconstitutional on a number of grounds. The Legislature, however, became aware of the heat and eliminated the excise tax. One big downside, though, was the effect on car owners in lower income brackets. Specifically, people who aren’t set up to be replacing their car with a brand new one every 3-5 years, or people who simply can’t afford to do more than buy an old, used beater. Under the old system, the excise tax/registration fee went _down_ every year to a certain minimum, so poorer people could look forward to paying a lower fee each year. IIRC, this “floor” was something like $12. Eyman’s flat $30 fee basically more than doubled what some lower-income people were paying previously. Then factor in the additional fees and surcharges the state added on top of the $30 to make up for the revenue lost when the excise tax was eliminated, and these people are paying even more. Eyman basically got a progressive tax replaced by a regressive tax. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-states-require-periodic-replacement-of-license-plates/570899/46 "2011-02-13T23:46:49Z")
> [@thirdwarning](#): > > I’m pretty sure Illinois only requires new plates if the old ones are too badly damaged or rusted to read properly. Which means, I’d better remember to get new ones this year. I’ve had this set since 1991, IIRC. Illinois finally issued new plates to everyone (with a new design) in 2001, after the Secretary of State’s office (the Illinois version of the DMV) complained for years that they didn’t have the budget to issue new plates. At that point, it’d been 18 years since Illinois had issued new plates, and many people’s plates were at least a decade old (and, thus, were in pretty bad shape). I’m not sure if you **had** to switch to the new plates, though ISTR that the 2001 renewal was new plates (rather than stickers) to everyone. That said, I do occasionally still see plates with the old design on a car, so I may well be mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-states-require-periodic-replacement-of-license-plates/570899/47 "2011-02-13T23:57:19Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > One big downside, though, was the effect on car owners in lower income brackets. Specifically, people who aren’t set up to be replacing their car with a brand new one every 3-5 years, or people who simply can’t afford to do more than buy an old, used beater. Under the old system, the excise tax/registration fee went _down_ every year to a certain minimum, so poorer people could look forward to paying a lower fee each year. IIRC, this “floor” was something like $12. Eyman’s flat $30 fee basically more than doubled what some lower-income people were paying previously. Then factor in the additional fees and surcharges the state added on top of the $30 to make up for the revenue lost when the excise tax was eliminated, and these people are paying even more. Eyman basically got a progressive tax replaced by a regressive tax. And Eyman’s problem with this is . . . ? ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-states-require-periodic-replacement-of-license-plates/570899/48 "2011-02-14T00:24:14Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Illinois finally issued new plates to everyone (with a new design) in 2001, after the Secretary of State’s office (the Illinois version of the DMV) complained for years that they didn’t have the budget to issue new plates. At that point, it’d been 18 years since Illinois had issued new plates, and many people’s plates were at least a decade old (and, thus, were in pretty bad shape). > > I’m not sure if you **had** to switch to the new plates, though ISTR that the 2001 renewal was new plates (rather than stickers) to everyone. That said, I do occasionally still see plates with the old design on a car, so I may well be mistaken. Well, then I’ve had this number since 1991, and the plates themselves since 2001. Either way, I think this year they need to be replaced. This is the set/number we transfered from the old van to this one. And here I was thinking $99 was a lot of money for a yearly registration, but I guess we’re doing better than some places. ---
**Author:** ![velvetjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f9b8f/32.png) [@velvetjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velvetjones)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-states-require-periodic-replacement-of-license-plates/570899/49 "2011-02-14T00:32:58Z")
Florida did. I remember one year they sent me my new plate and the number was C10 FRT which looks a bit like see ten fart. For those 5 years I had a couple of friends who referred to my van as “the fart mobile”. No, they weren’t kids, they were adults, middle aged adults. :rolleyes: I was very happy when I got my new plate and it didn’t look like it spelled anything. Don’t know about NY, haven’t been here long enough. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-states-require-periodic-replacement-of-license-plates/570899/50 "2011-02-14T01:19:30Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > And Eyman’s problem with this is . . . ? I don’t understand the question. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-states-require-periodic-replacement-of-license-plates/570899/51 "2011-02-14T01:38:38Z")
Here in Pennsylvania I recall getting new plates once or twice. I seem to recall that everyone did it more or less at the same time (within a year or two) but I could be remembering wrong. I think it’s done irregularly when the state feels that it’s necessary rather than being done on a regular basis. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-states-require-periodic-replacement-of-license-plates/570899/52 "2011-02-14T03:31:46Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > > [@OttoDaFe](#): > > > > And Eyman’s problem with this is . . . ? > > I don’t understand the question. Sorry, I was trying to be somewhat humorous (and, as usual, failing miserably). Since Eyman isn’t among those being regressed, he doesn’t have any problem with the fact that the new system is slanted against lower-income vehicle owners. ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-states-require-periodic-replacement-of-license-plates/570899/53 "2011-02-14T13:29:42Z")
Florida: When you renew your registration, you get a sticker for your plate. Every fifth year they send you a new plate instead of a sticker. Also, the plates are registered to the owner, not the vehicle. When you get a new car, you put your old plate on it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-states-require-periodic-replacement-of-license-plates/570899.md?page=2)