Random Survey -- Renewing License Plates?

[LeeAndra]

My nerd is definitely showing here as I have been SERIOUSLY wondering this since I had to renew my registration last week!

How does your state (or country) handle renewing your car registration/plates every year?

For instance, Indiana does it by last name so my husband's & my plates expire every April as our last name is towards the beginning of the alphabet. Wyoming, on the other hand, just does it (as far as I can tell!) by whenever you purchased the vehicle so our plates for our second vehicle will expire this August.

[chastml]

Ours renew annually by the date you bought your vehicle. So, I renew mine in December and my husband's in March.

[KingsQueen82]

I've only purchased vehicles in WI and CO. We renew both based on the purchase date...at least I think? Lol..

[4noisyboys]

California does it by your purchase date.

[Libby Pritchett]

Kansas is by Last Name.

[luckyme]

Ontario is by the birthday of the first person listed on the ownership/registration papers.

BUT, a common misconception is that it is by expires by the end of that person's birth month because the renewal sticker says MONTH YEAR on it. Technically though it expires on the actual birth day of that person.

[MamaBee]

interesting... I always thought everyone had it when they bought the vehicle, since that is what I always had in Wisconsin... didn't now it was different in other states/providences...

Now the real question is, where do you put the renewal sticker on it? I always put it over the last sticker.... but I see way too many people put it above, next too, etc... talk about a pet peeve that doesn't affect me in anyway except make me roll my eyes when I see it... haha

[Keely~B]

Purchase date.

I take the old sticker off and then put the new one on. I could never stack them and I don't know I've ever seen a car with multiple stickers. Ours are a little hinky though since we had state inspection and registration stickers and have recently gone to just one.

[scrappingram]

ours is by the month you bought the vehicle
ugh-- bought 2 vehicles the same month {dumb}

[Sweeet]

In New Mexico is also by purchase date of the vehicle. Speaking of which we got our notice on our truck and need to renew before the 17th. We renew online so it gets here within 3 days. It's nice and convenient. As far as sticker placement, lower right hand corner of the plate and my fiance will take the old one off and uses his knife to scratch up where the sticker goes so it stays put. hmmmm k

[britaneejean]

Originally Posted by luckyme

Ontario is by the birthday of the first person listed on the ownership/registration papers.

BUT, a common misconception is that it is by expires by the end of that person's birth month because the renewal sticker says MONTH YEAR on it. Technically though it expires on the actual birth day of that person.

Sounds like a fun way to celebrate your birthday. :-/

[britaneejean]

Originally Posted by LeeAndra

For instance, Indiana does it by last name so my husband's & my plates expire every April as our last name is towards the beginning of the alphabet. Wyoming, on the other hand, just does it (as far as I can tell!) by whenever you purchased the vehicle so our plates for our second vehicle will expire this August.

I'm overly curious about this. If it's April, what happens when you buy a car in October? Do you just pay 1/2 the registration costs to make it to April? Did I over complicate this?

Utah is the month it was purchased. My car is March and Brian's is in September. For placement we just put them right over the other sticker or take that one off and out the new one on. I can't ever remember.

[mariewilcox]

Maine is month you purchased the vehicle, unless you are transferring your plates from another care when you buy it; i.e. I bought my current car in July but my registration is February because I transferred my plates from the vehicle I traded.

[LeeAndra]

I haven't bought a car in Indiana since 2007 and my husband hasn't had the other car transferred over yet so I don't remember & don't know for sure, Britanee!

I would assume that you would pay for the extra + 1 year vs. only the extra until the official 1 year but I couldn't find anything on the BMV website for 'proof.'

You pay less and less every year with the aging of the vehicle + different counties have different taxes on things (like I paid almost double what I was supposed to pay when I registered last week as they have a $6.25/wheel tax in this county that they don't in the other county we lived in last year) so even looking at my past registrations doesn't help.

If I find out for sure, I will let you know!

[lovely1m]

Ours is by when you buy your vehicle, the month before. I bought mine in July, so mine expire in June.

[Sasha]

I just bought a used car in California and it already had license plates and they are due in December...so im guessing its by the date purchased..

[eranslow]

Iowa is birth month of one of the registrants. So for us - both hubby and I are listed on the registration for both cars. When we moved here I was asked which month I'd like to have the registration renewed - and I chose October (for my birthday) for both cars.

We stack the stickers on top of each other - but hubby always scratches it so it can't be removed.

[rach3975]

Virginia is month you first registered the car, either purchase or moving in state. (I had no idea that some states did it differently. The by last name is boggling my mind, for some reason. )

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[JMC1988]

Georgia is like Iowa -- You have to have said tag by registers birthday. I.E., my birthday is Feb 6th so as long as you have it by your birthday then it's a ok. If you do not have it by your birthday they charge you an extra $10.

[Suzs]

Saskatchewan is the registered owners birth month. We don't have stickers for the plates here anymore as most people are on continuous plans. Once a year you log onto the site (or go into the store) and fill in a form that says you are still in the province and you are good to go.

Same for drivers licenses except they are good for 5 years at a time.

[MamaBee]

Originally Posted by LeeAndra

You pay less and less every year with the aging of the vehicle + different counties have different taxes on things (like I paid almost double what I was supposed to pay when I registered last week as they have a $6.25/wheel tax in this county that they don't in the other county we lived in last year) so even looking at my past registrations doesn't help.

Wow - you pay less because of aging vehicle??

Now I'm curious as what people pay for registration... Here in Wisconsin we pay $75 per car... then in my county, we have a wheel tax, so add on another $20. I have personalized plates from my university... so that is another $35/year ($15 for the plate and $20 donation to the university)... man, it's expensive to own a car!

ETA - not county... city... hubby corrected me one that... if we moved two blocks, we could save $20 just on this...

[JMC1988]

We also pay less and less depending on car's age / how long you have have had the car here in GA as well

[LeeAndra]

Rebecca, I have a 2007 sedan and my registration this year was $33 + the $25 wheel tax for this county. It bottoms out after 7 years so I'll continue to pay $58 every year from now on until I get another car.

I had to change my license to my new address so that I could vote in the primary Tuesday, and that was an additional $10.50 just in case y'all are curious abt that, too.

[eranslow]

In Iowa we also pay less every year as the vehicle ages.

[britaneejean]

Ours changes per year the vehicle was made...or goes down the longer you have it. And some can skip safety and emissions, or have then checked every other year. It all varies.


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[LeeAndra]

We don't have any safety or emissions checks here... except in the two counties closest to Chicago. Those are also the counties that are on Central time vs. the rest of Indiana which is on Eastern time.

[Julie Billingsley]

We register every two years on the month that the vehicle was purchased. So... bad choice that we bought our new vehicle in December. Every other Christmas that will be a un-fun extra bill.

[SeattleSheri]

WA is by purchase date too. If you acquire a used vehicle, you can wait until the tabs expire to renew, but if the tabs are expired at the time of purchase the month of acquisition becomes the new renewal month. Vehicles > 7 years old require bi-annual emissions checks in order to renew your tabs.

[MamaBee]

So, those that have registrations that get less as the car ages... does your state have toll roads?

I'm sorry, I'm just fascinated with this topic! haha

[JennNtheBoys]

In Nova Scotia it's by the end of the month of the date you purchased your plates and it's good for 2 years. Safety inspection sticker is the same, it's good for 2 years from the day you get your vehicle inspected until the end of that month. Registration of the vehicle is done when it is purchased and that is a one time thing. Age of vehicle doesn't matter.... Plates and Safety Sticker are still the same.... since registration is basically just the "taxes" on the vehicle it varies depending on what you paid for the car.

[misfitinmn]

Registration here is based on when you purchased the vehicle - 12 months, so it ends up being the month before you bought it that it's due. (because if you went to the same month, that would actually be 13 months, not 12. I used to work for the license bureau in high schoo/college so I had to answer that question a lot.) I've not purchased our tabs in a long time (Jon takes care of that), but I think we're back to paying based on the value of the vehicle - so it does go down as the vehicle ages. And no, we don't have toll roads. Back in the days when Jesse Ventura was our governor, we paid $99 flat for registration, if I remember correctly. Years ago, I could have given you super detailed info about registering your vehicle in Minnesota but my kids have taken those memories away, I think.

Oh, and we layer the stickers over one another. They reallllllly should not be artfully arranged around the outsides of the license plate. But I've seen it happen so many times.

[NeverendingJen]

Texas was by when you registered, and you had until the last day of the month for it to expire. There were no stickers to put on the plate, it is actually two separate window decals- one for inspection, one for registration.

Georgia is by the birth day of the person registered as the primary user and it expires on the birthday. They are a single plate state and the sticker goes on the plate and there is a tag that lists your county too.

In TX the rates were about the same every year, in GA we get an exemption as military and just pay the tag fee so we are at around $50 for two vehicles.

[mariewilcox]

Originally Posted by MamaBee

So, those that have registrations that get less as the car ages... does your state have toll roads?

I'm sorry, I'm just fascinated with this topic! haha

LOL - In Maine the amount you pay is based on the cost of your vehicle and it goes down every year until it bottoms out at 5 years. My car is 6 years old so I pay the same amount now every year until I get rid of it. I pay $105 now. That includes the "sticker/plate fee" of $35 and the rest is based on the original purchase price of the car.

[LeeAndra]

We have a toll road, Rebecca, and my husband takes it every day back and forth to work.

There was a HUGE to-do when it was sold (& then resold) to a private company:

IN Toll Road

I'm way too cheap to ever take the toll road even though it's obviously faster.

[MamaBee]

Originally Posted by LeeAndra

We have a toll road, Rebecca, and my husband takes it every day back and forth to work.

There was a HUGE to-do when it was sold (& then resold) to a private company:

IN Toll Road

I'm way too cheap to ever take the toll road even though it's obviously faster.

Haha - toll roads are a novelty for us since we don't have tolls in WI... Hubby does have an I-PASS and Sun-Pass, for places we travel to the most... my hubby loves being in the fast lane and paying cheaper tolls...

[britaneejean]

Originally Posted by MamaBee

So, those that have registrations that get less as the car ages... does your state have toll roads?

I'm sorry, I'm just fascinated with this topic! haha

No toll roads in Utah and I would honestly not know what to do if we came across one!

[Becca Bonneville]

In Illinois we pay from the month you bought it each year. It costs $101 for regular plates to be renewed. Illinois is terrible about nickle and diming us to death so I don't believe that amount changes with vehicle age. They are money hungry and broke, go figure.

[breakingbrie]

In Ohio we always did it by your birthdate. Our car now is registered in WA(goes by date you bought car), so it's weird to me to be doing it in October now! We just bought a new car here in MO, but we're keeping our WA plates, so not sure how MO does it.

[mariewilcox]

Forgot to say that Maine does have 1 toll highway - part of I-95, which runs north/south from Maine to Florida.

[mummytothree]

Ohio is birthdate (yes I've lived in Pennsylvania for over 10 years and still have Ohio plates) and I think the last time we renewed it was $34 bucks. I just stack the stickers. Ohio has toll roads.

For Pennsylvania (hubby's company car is registered in this state even though he lives in Ohio, hahaha) it's $36 bucks and they just recently did away with stickers. As for renewing, I'm actually not sure since his company does it but I'm pretty sure it's by birthday too. Pennsylvania also has toll roads.

[KingsQueen82]

Originally Posted by MamaBee

Now the real question is, where do you put the renewal sticker on it? I always put it over the last sticker.... but I see way too many people put it above, next too, etc... talk about a pet peeve that doesn't affect me in anyway except make me roll my eyes when I see it... haha

I HATE when people put their stickers ALL OVER THE PLACE! Big pet peeve!

But I'm such a rule follower that I actually scrape the old sticker off, clean it and put my new one on. I've seen where people put it right over the top and eventually it becomes a big thick stack of them and they fall off. I suppose you'd have to keep a vehicle for a long time in order for that to happen but I'd just as soon take the old one off and put the new one on so that doesn't happen.

[Sherri Tierney]

Originally Posted by Libby Pritchett

Kansas is by Last Name.

Yes. Ours is due in November because of our last name. Libby, yours is probably October with P coming a few letters before T??

I hate November, too close to holidays and family birthdays.