As a lot of you know, cars over 30 years old that are not daily drivers can be registered with Collector Vehicle (CV) plates in Washington. The advantages of CV plates: 1. Only a rear plate is needed. 2. Single one time cost, no annual renewal. 3. No RTA tax (I don't know about the monorail as I'm outside of Seattle). Restrictions: 1. Antique/Collector vehicles may be driven: To and from auto shows, circuses, parades, displays, special excursions, antique car club meetings, and For testing purposes, and, For pleasure of others without compensation. 2. Antique/Collector vehicles may not be used for: Commercial purposes or to carry a load, or Regular transportation in the manner of a fully licensed vehicle. The DOL rules and restrictions are on http://www.dol.wa.gov/vs/specialtyplates/reqantique.htm. There are two types of plates: Collector Vehicle Restored Plate I've just been through the process of obtaining both types of plates on my older Ferraris. Getting the Collector Vehicle plate was pretty simple. I just went to my local license bureau with the renewal notice and a filled-out form (http://www.dol.wa.gov/forms/420499.pdf). The cost was $43.75. They made out a temporary paper plate with the assigned CV number and gave me a new registration. The plate came in the mail a few days later. Getting a Restored plate is more difficult. 1. You have to have a plate that was issued by the state in the year the vehicle is titled. See http://staff.washington.edu/bbirt for some background and pictures of old WA plates. You can search the web for people who buy and sell old plates. The plates also come up regularly on eBay. 2. You take the plate, the filled out form and your title to the license place. 3. You will probably get a clerk that doesn't know how to do this, so be persistent. At first I was told that I couldn't use a restored plate but had to have a CV plate. However the next clerk overheard the conversation and got everything straightened out. 4. The cost was $55 and you leave with a new registration and your restored plate. A new title will be issued and mailed from Olympia. So the next time you see my 330, it will have a '67 green on white WA plate on it. Now I'm trying to figure out how to get a Italian plastic plate made for the front with the original registration number on it (my car was delivered in Italy). Then in '08, I can get a restored plate for the 308 and remove the one in front! BTW, I specifically asked if you needed two restored plates for the car as I've heard both that you do and don't. The clerk that knew about these said that only one plate on the rear was needed. I've also talked to several club members who do have just one restored plate on their cars and they haven't had a problem. Regards, Kerry Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I did this last week for the Dino and the girl at the licensing agent on Ravenna was well informed about this. It cost $54.00 (my tabs had just been paid under 2 months ago) for registering "Restored plates on a Collector Car" and about 10 minutes. The first thing I did was make 3 photocopies of the registration - since it is permanent, you won't be getting yearly copies and that paper looks like it will fade fast. Here is a link on the WA State website with a link for the application. I printed both these out in case there was any confusion with the Licensing Agent, but all went smoothly http://www.dol.wa.gov/vs/specialtyplates/reqantique.htm
PS - I'm also carrying a copy of the website printout with me in the car in case I go to other states (i.e. enroute to Monterey) and am stopped by an officer who is not familiar with WA State laws on Collector Vehicles or Restored License Plates.
Don't get me wrong, it is great info. Just won't apply to me for another 15 years, that's all I guess I can try to look on the bright side, I only have got 10 more years to go before my car can skip emission testing.
I'd love to put a restored collector plate on my Boxer. But, I probably won't even own it in "2014" when it turns 30. They really should change it to 25 years, which is the same as the emission test exemption.
Good idea, I'll make copies of the new registrations and the website page. I'm sure that there are police in WA that aren't familiar either. It would be a pain to have to go to court because the officer didn't know the law. With the web page printout, you should be able to convince him to not give you a ticket in the first place. Regards, Kerry
Right, the counter person at the Ravenna licensing sub-agent actually had to go ask another person, the manager, to help her do this. While this was painless and quick, if the licensing sub agent only had one person in the office who knew about this, what are the odds that the officerrs in the field all are informed on this? Mark N had said he had to return twice to the licensing subagent in Bellevue to get his Restored plate registered as a Collector car.
Now that the 308 is old enough for restored plates, I picked up one on eBay with 1978 stickers. It turn about 15 minutes at the Crossroads licensing office but the clerk had a good cheat sheet. The price is down to $55 (from $58 a couple of years ago when I did my 240Z) but since both my wife and I are on the title, she had to be there too. One good thing was that I realized that I didn't have my driver's license. It had been left in my Canadian wallet after my last trip to Whistler. However, they only wanted photo id, so my Costco card worked. I don't think that have worked if I had been stopped by the constabulary! I also removed the front plate as only a rear plate is required with collector vehicle or restored plates. That'll make it a little harder for the police to play laser tag as there isn't a nice shiny flat surface in the front of a 308. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Boy didn't that turn out to be a prophetic statement!! My car is now eligible too, I'll have to look into it. By the way Kerry, no front plate won't stop them from getting a laser reading......ask me how I know!!?? It may make it a little harder for them but the trooper that got me didn't seem to have much trouble!
I have several friends who have either the collector plates or the YOM plates and the only rub might be if you drive the vehicle to work every day and some gung ho law enforcement officer decides that you are driving it more than just for pleasure or shows. But then every time you drive that car is a "special occasion" I would think.
Yes, I have!! If you have a vintage plate of the year of the car, ie. 1978 for example, it shows up in the Vehicle Equipment section of the registration, not sure if the collector plate does. So when the Police run your plate it does not come up as a valid plate. No record of it. Also you must have your title when you apply, if the bank has it on a loan you can't apply. At least a couple of years ago it was that way if you wanted a vintage plate. I had a 67 Mercedes Fin Back with the Vintage plate for 1967 and was selling it. The law states in the city of Marysville, you can not have a for sale sign in your Vehicle on the public road right of way, it must be private property. I got a ticket down town and one by my house. Part of the ticket was "invalid/expired license plate". There is a little old lady in Lake Stevens Frontier Village, Hwy 9, that owns Village License Agency and has several collector cars. She is on a mission to educate the law enforcement on this issue and loves the challenge of Police officers trying to hassle people with collector/vintage plates. I went to her because she issued the title and registration for this Benz to start with. She armed me with all the documentation and regulations I needed to go to court. With this info I went to court and challenged both tickets and own, they both were tossed out with a casual comment from the judge to the admin assistant, "We need to talk with this officer". I have several other cars that have Collector plates and you only get issued one for the back. I would like to register my 78 308 but I have a cool eagle collector plate 000078 and don't want to part with it, which I would because it will have to go to a WA 1978 vintage plate or a Collector car plate. Hope this helps.
I have the CV plate on mine. I had the Dino out the other day and I was stopped at an intersection, wouldn't ya know it a patrol car was perpendicular to me, I could see him looking the car over with no front plate and was thinking this will be the time I'm pulled over. As I went thru the intersection he pulled in right behind me. I'm sure he called it in and found out I was ok. I sure thought I was going to have to explain everything to him, but not this time I guess! Cheers!
Congratulations! I thought I paid $38 three years ago for my PERM registration...but either are still a small price for the freedom One club member was pulled over after an officer who was following randomly ran the plate and it resulted in the plate not showing up in their system. I had a similar experience with the DMV when I changed addresses; I changed my WDL and each car's registration and it took quite a bit of time for them to locate the collector's car plates in the system.
Finally got my 1973 WA collector plate registered today, wahoo!! On my registration I noticed that the Lic/Plt field is actually some random number, and the actual restored plate # is listed under Equip. Is that true with others? It correct lists my "last" plate that I had for less than a month. Total fee was $55 ($4 filing, $10 subagent, and $41 other).
Congratulations! Did you notice the registraion expiration field stated "PERM" as in permanent? No front plate, never another registration fee, no emissions tests! You gotta love this! PS - I always carry at LEAST one printout of the WDL website on collectors plates/restored plates to show LE in our great State or other States that I am obeying the law (and don't need the front plate)>
Mine doesn't say PERM in Reg-Exp field, and the Lic/Plt field is actually some other number (starts w/ a +). I noticed under the COMMENT field it states "TITLE PURPOSE ONLY" which doesn't smell right either since the car has been registered/licensed. I need to go back to the DOL office just to check (won't be until I get back from the rallye). The woman entering was a bit unclear how to enter Collector Plates the info but followed some form another DOL worker gave her to follow. Maybe I will call the DOL office tomorrow.
According to the WA DOL Resource Guide of DOL Information and Services for Law Enforcement Personnel (http://www.dol.wa.gov/driverslicense/LEAManual.pdf) page IV-24: "Also, a registration for a vehicle with restored plates and use class shows a TPO number as the license plate number and the restored license plate number is shown as the equipment number with no fleet number shown. You must inquire by TPO number (which would appear in the license plate section on the registration) to obtain vehicle information. However you may inquire by the collector vehicle plate issued by DOL if it is shown in the license plate field." So I think the only thing wrong with my registration is the "Use" class should be marked "RES" instead of "PAS" which would fix the Reg-Exp expiration to PERM. RES - Antique vehicles more than 30 years old displaying collector or restored license plates Since this is the Law Enforcement Personnel's reference manual it might be worth folks w/ collector plates to print out the pages cover page, IV 9-10, and IV-24 of the above doc as additional documentation if you get pulled over.
I have YOM plates on all of my old muscle cars. Each one purchased at "Old License Farm" http://www.oldlicensefarm.com/ Completes the look, IMHO.
Hi - does anyone know what the process is to switch back from a collector vehicle (CV) plate to normal plate? Thinking about switching to a CV plate, but want to know what happens if I want to switch back to a normal plate a few years from now (to drive the car more regularly). Thx!
I'll bet you only have to show up at a licensing office and write a big check for current tab fee (based on what THEY think the car is worth) PLUS the RTA fee....
