DMV made me give up my Black plates

well after an hour an half at the DMV with a stack of papers. they said the truck had been off the system to long and that i had to give up my black plates. they haven't taken them yet. they gave me a couple of months to get all papers in order. i also have to have my truck weighed. i thought if the pink slip had the same #'s that i could keep them.

then i had to have the truck verfied by a DMV employee. he checked it all out and was looking for the frame #'s. he couldn't find them. he also tells me that the serial # tag is not in the original location. the tag was stamped to the inside of the glove box. he was talking about someone did a good job of putting the tag in there. making it seem like the truck had been tagged. so then he gives me a slip to go to the Highway Patrol.

now i will have to get a new VIN put on. i don't sweat the new VIN but now i will have to have those chessy white license plates. oh well at least i'm on the road now.

is there any away for me to keep my black plates?

 

I have know idea, but that sucks bro



L

 

Alot of times the DMV dorks dont know what they are talking about. I always bring in a book that will say where the vin# is supposed to be.
Their book sucks and if he didnt have one at all, he didnt know where to look.
Its easier to send you to CHP.
When you call them, I recommend the Lancaster station, the guy there knows the old cars, and will most likeley overturn their decision.
The DMV likes to see 2 locations with numbers. The officer there knows there werent 2 vin tags on older cars. Yes its on the frame, and he knows where it is.
He tells me the DMV wastes alot of their time because of this.
Typically if you have NO papers and are starting over, you will need new plates.
If you have a title you dont need to. Just the DMV trying to get more $$ out of you.
If you have AAA you shoulda started there. I think once you start at DMV you have to finish there.
Good luck man!

 

Sorry 'bout the plates dude. I had a similar DMV experience when I lived in CA. I really hate the whole "turn in your plates deal". It sucks enough to have the lipstick (why?) license plates, but to take your old one so they can "recycle" them...please.

 

If you show them a registration with the black plate number then you can use em. Find a registration service that understands the law Most DMV employees are 'Under such pressure' they don't get it.

 

You can go on to the DMV website and see if the number on your black plates is available as a personalized plate. If so, you can grab that, tell them the blacks are lost, get your ugly new whites and run the cool old blacks instead.

It costs a couple extra bucks but it works. I would try the "go to another DMV office and try again" thing first though. Here in SLO they will title just about anything with very little hassle.

True

 

spray paint

 

The way I understood it, even if you had plates that weren't registered to your car, you could pay extra to use them if they were available during or after the date of manufacture of the vehicle - like having a Vanity Tag. Both plates have to be cherry though - if they're chipped, faded or peeling, they're going to want you to replace them.

Go see the CHP, and restore your plates so they look reeeeeal purdy - like a brand new set of snow tires.

 

Definetly don't give them back. Say they were stolen or something. At least you'll have them to slap on when you want (assuming you can't get the decisioin overturned).

 

NEVER, EVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, DON"T EVEN THINK OF GOING INTO A DMV FOR REGISTRATION WITHOUT CONSULTING SOMEONE!!!!!

it can take twice as much to undo the cluster a kno-nothing dmv dork can create.

i am a AAA member. i know the law cause i have a book. i made friends with some cops. i suggest everyone else do the same!

with AAA you get a cop to do the vin verification (yes any local cop can do it) then you take the paperwork into the local office and show them the book. usually skates right through. either way, i'd rather deal with the nice ladies at AAA than the disgruntled underworked DMV.

it may well be you have to use the new plates, but dont just take it lying down.

Good Luck! and dont surrender your plates until your last breath.

 

Don't mean to hijack, but have a similiar problem. I'll hopefully be getting my 56 on the road this summer and am kinda dreading it. I have a pair of black plates on it that I assume are what it was last registered with. But I dont have any paper work with it. What would be the best way to go about the whole process? I do belong to AAA. I'm in Ca too.

 

First go into AAA with a vin# and see if its on record. If it was non opped it will be on the computer for a long time.
You can pull off the plates and try the YOM (year of manufacture) registration,
but yours would have yellow and black for that.
Besides that, find 2 vin locations on it. Vin tags, frame stamps, etc. If you have a book, like alot of restoration guides or factory repair books, you can show it to the person and get away.
I had a 58 Merc that had a door tag (Which say not for registration purposes) and an under hood tag, but the only thing the same on both were the sequential production #.
With a book in hand, I convinced her that was good enough, which it was. Also, write the vin on your hand or somewhere, and offer to climb up on the trailer to read the "Engine #" or "ID tag" off to them. They are all prettied up, and in the case of DMV, too fat and lazy to get up there to look.
That works too.
But to answer your ? you will probably need to get new plates..

 

don't give them your plates.
go to the AAA or another dmv office.
you ran into a dick and what they are doing is wrong.

 

the last time my truck was regestired was 10 years ago.

my brother went thru something like this a few years ago. DMV wouldn't let him use his black plates on his 64 Galaxie. he fought it, but for months he couldn't use his car. until the DMV said it was alright. he even went as far to write letters to the main office in Sacramento. after 4 months they gave him the okay.

my plates are still in good condition. no chips, cracks or dents. i would like to keep them. if i have to give them up. they will mysteriously disappear on to my garage wall.

i'll try going to another DMV.

 

I didnt have this problem at all when I registered my 66 Chrysler. I had the original black plates(old reg. to prove it), but the current reg. had the wrong plate number (2 numbers were transposed). I went to AAA, they said they cant do anything for me reguarding the plate, so they made me an appointment w/ the DMV. Go to the DMV, explain problem and tell her that I would like to keep the plates for HISTORIC VALUE! I even filled out a piece of paper explaining this. She looks at them for a while and takes the plates into the back for about 10 minutes and makes some photo copys of them. Then hands them back and says I should have a new Reg. in the mail with the correct plate number in a couple weeks. I say thank you and walk away with a smile. Maybe you just got a dumbass DMV person? Maybe the Historic Value thing was what saved my ass? Beats me.

 

Do it, it has worked for me before..

 

what year is the truck? if it's older then 1963 you can run the '56 plates. also next time your at the dmv pick up a vehicle code book (only like 3 or 4 bucs) and read up, you may find a law in there to help you keep your plates. i just looked at you profile, if it's the '58 ford then you can run '56 comm plates with a '58 tag. here's my '60 el camino

 

Sorry to hear of your trouble's Dante, the Plymouth has been off the road for 18 years now, and has black plates which I am gonna fight to keep.


On another subject...hows the truck looking? Got pic's?

Dave

 

Ca. has so many different types of plates, they are using the numbers from old Black plates no longer on the books. It's a good chance your plate number has been used. One example is there Arts plates, they use the old six digit Black plate number. If the car has been currently registered with the Black plates, or has a current non op, with the black plate number, you should be able to use them. If as you said, it's been off the books, it looks like your out of luck. Dean (ps) here's the link to some of the plates available in Ca. All the one's shown with SAM 123, use the old black plate numbers. It sucks big WEINERS http://www.dmv.ca.gov/online/elp/elp.htm

 

This is kind of a sidebar but I also say try a different DMV. I know a friend was having fits getting his A titled at our county seat, and went to the next county over, badda-bing, badda-boom and $75 he had a title. But make sure you have a friends address in the county you plan to try, most states they don't like to mail the title/reg. outside of the county.

 

Question for Cali guys: WHY is keeping the "blak plates" so important? Is it esthetics...or something else?

Living in ColoRODo, I guess I don't understand the significance of having a "blak plate"...ColoRODo has 55 different license plates...only one street rod and one collector series...does it have something to do with either of those categories?

Thanx,
R-

 

try another dmv...

it went to three before i found one who would transfer my title... DMV people are usually dummies but you'll eventually find one who will help you..

 

its because the newer california plates are gay looking...

california has had
-black/yellow
-blue/yellow
-white/red/black (with script)
-white/red/black (w/o script)
-couple really lame picture plates - one with a whale fin and another with tacky 80s graphics of a sunset between some palm trees.

wonder if i missed any...

 

Roger, the CA plates stay with the car not the individual. So a car that still has the original black plate is a big deal.

 

Danté,
I had to take a cycle to the CHP because the DMV couldn't clear my VIN. It was bogus as it was obvious it hadn't been messed with but only an old, dirty bike. CHP cleared it though.
An alternative to the new plate could be the historic plates I have on my 63. No one hardly has them so at least they are not common and look Kustom.

 

It's not wrong...dicks or not. If they (DMV) can't find a VIN number to correlate with the paperwork, then plates are no longer the truck's. If you are able to prove (find the stamped number on the chassis) that the truck is what the paperwork describes, that's the only way you can salvage the plates. Once you've gone to CHP and received an AVN (Assigned Vehicle Number), it won't matter anymore. As for YOM (Year of Manufacture) plates, the black ones wouldn't qualify anyway...last year acceptable YOMs are the yellow '56s, which must be used on a vehicle '62 and earlier (to '55).

It's confusing, and AAA can help...but not always. They can't authorize AVNs nor YOMs. They can, however, make shitty situations much easier to deal with. In this case, however, you've already submitted yourself to DMV...there's no turning back.

 

There's an 800 number I was given once for a guy in the main Sacremento office who deals with the old plates. Of course I lost it.

He told me that if the plate and truck are older than I think it was 67, and are of the same era, then you can use them. If you can prove that the plates were once on that particular vehicle, even if its had other plates since, you can register it to those old plates. I think you can do that with newer than 67 providing the plates had once belonged to that particular vehicle. Confusing I think...

I also heard that CA is trying to get everyone to give up they're old plates, and use the new reflective types.

 

Most of that isn't entirely true. Even proving a set of plates once "belonged" on a vehicle, it's near impossible to re-register with them. 1962 is the last year for era-specific plates. The number sequence of the older plates are now being used on MC plates, which is why you have to get DMV-certified YOM plates.

Visit www.licenseplates.tv when in a situation like this (and be imaginative).

 

57-60's had the vin on top of the passenger side frame-rail about 2 inches back from front shock mount. -the catholic