If the DMV was a business, they'd be OUT of business!

[JohnD]

Okay, get this... I ordered my "SKY2007" plate from the DMV about a month ago. It's in. The car to mount it on is in, too. So I get the little notice in the mail, with a number to call which is 1-800-0133. That's missing three digits, but they got it 70% right, so that's good enough for the government, right? Anyway, like the good little taxpayer I am I go and look up the number myself and call and say "I'd like to set up an appointment to pick up my plate that you have for the car that I have." Should be easy, right? Well, noooooooooo...

They say, "You will have to turn in your old plates..." to which I reply "You haven't sent me the old plates yet. Can we cancel those and just put this new plate on the car?"

They reply, "Nope. Gotta turn in the old plate to get the new personalized plates."

"But I don't have the 'old plates.' You haven't made them yet," I cleverly protest. "You could save a lot of time and money if you just cancel those and just give me these instead. Presto!"

"Our policy is that you will have to wait until we send you the old plates, so you can turn those back in to us," is the less than helpful reply.

"So what is the current wait time for plates for a new vehicle?" I ask ever-so-politely but not optimistically.

I get the answer, "Currently 90-120 days," from my ever-so-helpful public servant.

So, I have to wait up to FOUR MONTHS to get the plate that they haven't made that I am not going to put on the car before I can pick up the plate that they HAVE already made and have in their possession and that I AM going to put on the car... And the government has to go through the expense of stamping, packaging and shipping the plate to me, just so that I can take it and give it back to them so that I can get the other plate that I paid extra for?



Okay, okay, okay. I know some of you are wating for your CARS and I'm whining about not getting my PLATE. I understand. And to quote a former government official, "I feel yer pain." (not really, but I'm humoring you here - just like that former government official always did.)

But imagine if your neighborhood Saturn dealer said to you, "Yeah, your car is here. But you can't have it until the Ion that you don't want arrives three to four months from now. Once you take delivery on that you can bring it back and trade it in on the Sky that you really want that is just sitting right here, made to your specifications and waiting for you. "

I waited for the car - but that was waiting for it to be built. NOW I have to wait for the plate I am going to put on it because I have to wait for ANOTHER plate to be delivered just so I can hand it back in and they can throw it away. What's THAT about? Oh yeah, I remember. It's called "the Government" and we have the best that money can buy here in California...

[rick112]

Call back and ask for a supervisor. Explain the situation to them. BTW have they given you a temp. plate so you can drive?

[bigdog]

jdigiant :

Thanks for the description of our CA DMV process. I was wondering how it was gonna work. I too ordered personalized plates, on the DMV web site, and there was no mention or option on how new personal plates for a new car works other than once you get notified your plates are in you need to make an appointment.

Now I know.

[qwack]

Having worked in City Government for 10 years (many years ago),

There's no problem...it all makes perfect sense...to a bureaucrat...

[Rick Tinley Park]

Sounds similar to my experience.
I requested a plate with my name on it and really did not notice how close I was to expiration. 2 weeks later I get a notice that says they will send me a temp plate until the new plate is finished. The temp plate will have an Orange T sticker on it instead of the normal mo/yr sticker.
About 10 days later here come my new plates! But they have the temp sticker. So I put the plates on with the sticker - figuring they'll send the new sticker.
A month later I get -- New plates with the right stickers!!! I ended up with two sets of plates!

[Luke Sky Watcher]

Wow! Great stories. I thought I had it bad but now I feel a lot better. To start with here in Florida you cannot get a personalized plate until you have the vehicle to register. OK first delay. In my case I had an old personalized plate that I wanted to change so they told me they would need to first issue me a regular plate now and I could immediately apply for the new personalized plate. So they gave me the regular plate on the spot - That's a good move. Then they processed my application for the new personalized SKY plate but, get this, because it was replacing another personal plate they had to first issue it to the vehicle I no longer have. So it shows my SKY 007 plate being issued to a 1987 Chevy I sold last year. Figure that one out? They told me when it arrives at the bureau they will then transfer it to the SKY and mail the entire package to me. The entire transfer and new application only cost me a total of $65 so thats not too bad
But, I have two registrations; one for the temporary regular plate and one for a plate to be initially issued to a car I dont have????? I cant wait to see what I get in the mail in about 6 to 8 weeks.

[ggccg]

It will, no doubt, get worse. They will probably send your custom tag back when you don't pick it up promptly.

[usmc]

hehehe, I had a feeling they were gonna pull that crap. I haven't ordered my plate yet cause I had heard that they require the old plates be returned first and I didn't want to make it any more confusing.
I haven't really figured out what I want yet anyway.

CA dmv sux

[SunneySky]

At least you have the car!

[SkyHope]

Originally Posted by usmc

hehehe, I had a feeling they were gonna pull that crap. I haven't ordered my plate yet cause I had heard that they require the old plates be returned first and I didn't want to make it any more confusing.
I haven't really figured out what I want yet anyway.

CA dmv sux

We have our plates waiting at Sac DMV. They know our new car is close to arriving. They suggested ideal if we could take plates off another car we own, then transfer them once we get SKY. Until then, they are holding them 90 days while we investigate our options. We made an appt. and went in and spoke to them in person and had a very pleasant DMV encounter. Try face-to-face. Good luck!