UPDATE 9-20-08 if you get new license plates and you already have a North Texas Toll Tag, don't forget to go to www.ntta.org and update your license plate info. I just remembered to do that today! Luckily I haven't been on any tollways since June.
I needed to get that 2008 registration sticker for my car plates renewed by the end of last month. I went to Tom Thumb yesterday knowing that I needed new plates, but hoping they "New Plates Required". Well hell I guess this woman was on the ball, she barely opened my registration form and told me I had to go to the Tax Collector office to get new tags. I didn't want to go to another Tom Thumb and try again so at lunch I went to the Tax Collectors office in Richardson. Zipped in and got my new tags/sticker and got to ask some questions right to the horse's mouth. They weren't busy on a Friday at lunch before a holiday.
1. It is still a state law that you have to have a front and back license plate on your car. Some newer cars don't even have the holes for the front plate. Well you better drill some the lady said.
2. Back in February of this year the TDOT (Texas Dept of Transportation) had a contest where we could vote for the next plate design. While on the TDOT website to vote I was digging and saw something that said you could keep your plates with you instead of them going with the car you just sold/traded. So here was my chance to ask someone in person.
Now in the state of Texas when you get a new (or new for you car), your current car plates can stay with you and get transferred to your new car. "For a $5 fee, you can also transfer your plates to a new vehicle and receive a new registration sticker. Be sure to remove and destroy the registration sticker on your old vehicle when you take off the plates."
I guess it's one of those things you need to know to ask. One of the benefits is say your plates go with the car you sold to an individual, and that car runs a red light and gets mailed a ticket. Guess who gets the ticket in the mail? Until it's changed, it's your name that's associated on the plates of a car you no longer own. Then I guess you have to prove you sold the car to get out of the ticket....I remember when Talana and Ron moved to FL, she said get a load of this, your car plates stay with you. What a concept!
Another interesting tidbit of information. I had my car plates 9.5 years. I wondered why you had to get new ones in 7 years because mine still look great. Well it has nothing to do with how they look. After 7 years the reflective coating on your plates is diminished. "Reflectivity allows the plate to be seen from long distances at night and is helpful in locating vehicles at night or off roads."
3. Well I asked and you can take your old/outdated plates back to the Tax Collector's office. They will destroy/recycle them. The website below recommends you mark them with a marker to make them unusable. So I will get my black Sharpie, since I don't have any spray paint, after my old plates before I take them to the Tax Collector's office.
Go to this link and look for headings, "Transferring Your Plates" and "License Plates": http://www.txdot.gov/frequently_asked_questions/vtr.htm
11 years ago
