listerone

Just found out that my state will reissue your plates,same plate number (I like mine),for an outrageous fee.I went to the DMV today and paid the fee..delivery will be in a few weeks.I'm doing it because my plates are a mess.No dents,just dirty and discolored.Apart from attaching those thick plexiglass shields (which I won't do) are there any tricks to keeping plates "pristine"?

Hey,eveyone has their strange obsessions!

DC-IT

Just wondering...
Have you ask your local auto body shop to quote for refinishing the places?
Maybe after that have a 3M clear bra material applied to the plates!
How much is the DMV asking for a replacement set?

DC-IT

Just wondering...
Have you ask your local auto body shop to quote for refinishing the plates?
Maybe after that have a 3M clear bra material applied to the plates!
How much is the DMV asking for a replacement set?

mleskovar

Yea, but license plates? If they're "No dents,just dirty and discolored" why don't you detail them like the rest of your car? OK, I get it, this is a punk'd post isn't it?

CEB

Virtually all states, including CT, have laws restricting the use of "plate covers," so those plexiglass covers are out.

You can, however, use a paint sealant and wax on the plates. One of the major problems is paint peeling and corrosion forming at the edges of the plate. You can seal those on a new plate with clear paint and I've even used a bead of silicone which not only keeps the peeling and corrosion at bay but it also reduces plate rattling.

If you will be doing a long distance trip in "buggy" country, then you can spray the plate with WD-40.

I understand where you are coming from. I just wish the inmates would take more care making the plates in the first place.

listerone

If only I knew what "punk'd" means I could respond to that comment.Keep in mind that I'm an old geezer who doesn't have the first clue what "Lady Gaga" is famous for.

The plates are discolored in a way that suggests to me that they were exposed to something unusual or were manufactured in a faulty way.The discoloration looks more like rust than anything else.

listerone

Nope,that never occurred to me.I didn't even know it was possible.


I'll have to look that up,never heard of it.However,I wonder if that might confuse those transponder setups you see on toll roads here (don't know if you have them in the Great White North).Those setups read the transponder *and* take a photo of the plates.If it can't get a clear picture,or if the plates don't match the record,you're fined...$50,IIRC.


Twenty dollars..which,because I live in the most heavily taxed state in the nation,I consider to be outrageous.

listerone

That never occurred to me either.However,I wonder if the concern that I expresses to "DC-IT" might apply there as well.

Yes,I've done a lot of driving in "buggy" areas,at 70mph at that.I suspect that partially explains my front plate but not the back.

WD-40? I thought that was oil/grease.

CEB

Most states have a reflective paint on the plates and a proprietary color can't can't be readily matched. The result would most likely be a plate that looked counterfeit and would cause lots of problems.

When I was in the UK (as a member of the US forces) it was legal to drive for 6 months with whatever plates were on the car when it entered the country - in my case 30 day temporary paper plates on my shiny new 'vette. I was smart enough to make a handful of photocopies to replace them as they wore out. That was in the '80's, you could never do that now.

CEB

$20 every couple of years is pretty cheap.

Here is the CT state plate law. Very odd and different from most other states.

Sec. 14-18. Display of number plates and stickers. Issuance of sample number plates. Return of number plates to commissioner. (a)(1) Each motor vehicle for which one number plate has been issued shall, while in use or operation upon any public highway, display in a conspicuous place at the rear of such vehicle the number plate. The commissioner may issue a sticker denoting the expiration date of the registration. Such sticker shall be displayed in such place on the vehicle as the commissioner may direct. Such sticker may contain the corresponding letters and numbers of the registration and number plate issued by the commissioner.

(2) Each motor vehicle for which two number plates have been issued shall, while in use or operation upon any public highway, display in a conspicuous place at the front and the rear of such vehicle the number plates. The commissioner may issue a sticker denoting the expiration date of the registration. Such sticker shall be displayed in such place on the vehicle as the commissioner may direct. Such sticker may contain the corresponding letters and numbers of the number plate issued by the commissioner.

(b) Repealed by 1969, P.A. 247, S. 1.

(c) Official number plates when displayed upon motor vehicles shall be entirely unobscured and the numerals and letters thereon shall be plainly legible at all times. Such number plates shall be horizontal, and shall be fastened so as not to swing and, during the time when a motor vehicle is required to display lights, the rear number plate shall be so illuminated as to be legible at a distance of fifty feet. Nothing may be affixed to a motor vehicle or to the official number plates displayed on such vehicle that obscures or impairs the visibility of any information on such number plates. Not more than one number plate shall be displayed on the front or rear of any motor vehicle in operation upon the public highways of the state; provided any motor vehicle may, upon permission of the commissioner, display more than one number plate in front or rear, subject to such conditions as the commissioner prescribes. If any number plate supplied by the commissioner is lost, or if the registered number thereon becomes mutilated or illegible, the owner of or the person in control of the motor vehicle for which such number plate was furnished shall immediately place a temporary number plate bearing said registration number upon such motor vehicle, which temporary number plate shall conform to the regular number plate and shall be displayed as nearly as possible as herein provided for such regular number plate; and such owner shall, within forty-eight hours after such loss or mutilation of the number plate, give notice thereof to the commissioner and apply for a new number plate. The commissioner may issue a permit to operate with such temporary plate and shall supply new number plates upon payment of the fee therefor as provided in section 14-50a. Upon receipt of such new number plates and new certificate, the remaining old number plate, if any, and certificate shall be surrendered to the commissioner.

(d) All number plates shall be the property of the state and no title therein shall pass to any person registering a motor vehicle under the provisions of this chapter. The owner of any registered motor vehicle which is not reregistered at the end of a registration period shall, within ten days, return the number plates thereof to the commissioner. Any person who sells a motor vehicle pursuant to section 14-150 or 49-61 shall, within ten days of such sale, return to the commissioner any number plates displayed on the vehicle or which come into such person's possession in connection with such sale. When the commissioner issues a new type of number plate for use by all persons registering motor vehicles, the obsolete number plates shall become the property of the registrant upon the expiration date.

CEB

Yep - WD-40 is an oil used to retard rust formation and oil hinges. It is also very slick so bugs slide right off. It won't harm license plate paint.

listerone

Athough it's completely off topic I must comment on this.In the 1970's the US Supreme Court took a case concerning this very point.Their ruling was that a driver is allowed to obscure anything that resembles a political statement that appears on a state's plates.So,a driver can obscure New Hampshire's "Live Free Or Die"....Massachusetts's "The Spirit Of America" or even Connecticut's "Constitution State".I deliberately obscure *just* "Constitution State" on my plates...on general principle.

Florida's "Sunshine State" or Idaho's "Famous Potatos",OTOH,may be a different story.

CEB

Not off topic at all. This is where the CT law is a bit odd. One one hand it says that the letters and numbers not be obscured and then it lets you make your own number plate using a crayon.

mleskovar

Well from one old geezer to another it means you were playing a trick on us. But evidently you aren't. There's actually people who specialize in restoring plates.... http://www.restoreatag.com/?gclid=CL...FQSCQgoduD8ADw

CEB

Right - but they only sell antique restored tags - not current ones.

samkimg

... and I thought CA had odd laws ...