California DMV - Plates & HOV Stickers

[stopcrazypp]

i just got yet another EV and i think will be the 6th sticker that i've applied for. if i remember correctly, at some point, they were allowing you to send in the REG1000 with the license plate number blank and they would sit on it until they could look up the VIN and get the plate number. this was probably way back in the days of the yellow sticker for hybrids. but this did change at some point and i think they started bouncing forms that didn't have a license plate number entered by the submitter.

how did you find out you were clear to submit REG1000 since you already had the plates?

I don't think they were sitting on it. If you dig back bit in this thread, during the pandemic, they took months to process the paperwork due to work at home. That means you can submit the form before you got the plate and you would get the plate/registration well before they got to your form. Then by the time they got your form, your plate/registration would already be in the system (or you would have already submitted a correction form). Now you can see the processing time is only a week or two, so that goes out the window. By the time they process your form, there is a high likelihood your plate/registration isn't even in their system yet (thus they reject your application).

 

[mgs333]

I bought my car on 12/30/2022 and I haven't rec'd my plates yet.

How about other people who bought recently?

 

[4SUPER9]

I thought someone way up-thread said there is a way to find out your plates, even before they arrive. Maybe AAA can find that info for you?
Once you have the assigned plate number, you can apply for stickers.
If however, you want to transfer personalized plates over, you have 2 choices:
1) Transfer the plates over, then apply for HOV stickers. A longer wait for sure. If AAA transfers it, there is little delay.
2) Apply for the HOV stickers, then transfer the plates over after you get them. You do not need to reapply for HOV stickers. Yes, you are supposed to, but I see no need. Even though they are tied to your plate, they are also tied to your VIN. No CHP officer will ever give two s**ts about it. If I am wrong about that, no, I will not pay your fine

 

[astrorob]

I don't think they were sitting on it. If you dig back bit in this thread, during the pandemic, they took months to process the paperwork due to work at home. That means you can submit the form before you got the plate and you would get the plate/registration well before they got to your form. Then by the time they got your form, your plate/registration would already be in the system (or you would have already submitted a correction form). Now you can see the processing time is only a week or two, so that goes out the window. By the time they process your form, there is a high likelihood your plate/registration isn't even in their system yet (thus they reject your application).

i was talking about 2005/2006 but since that was the start of the sticker program the conditions inside the DMV could have very well been like the pandemic, that is, totally overwhelmed. i just know at some point they started kicking back forms with blank license plate numbers.

I bought my car on 12/30/2022 and I haven't rec'd my plates yet.

How about other people who bought recently?

i bought a car on 12/22/2022 and got the plates about 3 weeks ago. i applied for the stickers on the same day and received them yesterday. this was not a tesla, but for sure if you finance the car in some way the plates actually go to the dealer and they have to forward them to you. i don't know what happens if you pay cash. point being that the plates may have been generated and sent, but the dealer/tesla are sitting on them.

 

[stopcrazypp]

I bought my car on 12/30/2022 and I haven't rec'd my plates yet.

How about other people who bought recently?

Check with your SA or go directly to Tesla store to ask to make sure Tesla received and submitted your registration to the DMV. There have been cases where either the customer didn't sign and submit the forms back to Tesla or Tesla didn't receive or process it, so people end up waiting, when the forms have not been submitted to DMV.

When I did my delivery back in end of 2020, they had a prepaid FedEx envelope that had all the documents for me to sign which delivers them back to delivery center (or I could have handed it in then). I remember reading they have since changed to digital signing (in which you should see the documents in your online account by looking under the appropriate section in your online account).

Presumably you received your title already (or your lender did)?

You can also try calling DMV, but I remember there is a long wait.

 

[mgs333]

i bought a car on 12/22/2022 and got the plates about 3 weeks ago. i applied for the stickers on the same day and received them yesterday. this was not a tesla, but for sure if you finance the car in some way the plates actually go to the dealer and they have to forward them to you. i don't know what happens if you pay cash. point being that the plates may have been generated and sent, but the dealer/tesla are sitting on them.

Check with your SA or go directly to Tesla store to ask to make sure Tesla received and submitted your registration to the DMV. There have been cases where either the customer didn't sign and submit the forms back to Tesla or Tesla didn't receive or process it, so people end up waiting, when the forms have not been submitted to DMV.

When I did my delivery back in end of 2020, they had a prepaid FedEx envelope that had all the documents for me to sign which delivers them back to delivery center (or I could have handed it in then). I remember reading they have since changed to digital signing (in which you should see the documents in your online account by looking under the appropriate section in your online account).

Presumably you received your title already (or your lender did)?

You can also try calling DMV, but I remember there is a long wait.

I paid cash and have not received the title either. I signed everything in the app prior to delivery, I'll go back and check the records.

I guess I have to pick which is the less painful bureaucracy to deal with, the DMV or Tesla customer service.

 

[mgs333]

Update to my post above: managed to get a callback from the DMV within 9 minutes! While Tesla has not responded to my text (I replied to the number where I was getting delivery updates from) for a couple of hours now (not surprised)

The agent said he's seen 3-4 such cases just today for Teslas. What happened is the paperwork was received by the DMV mid-January but there were some items missing or incorrectly filled out so the DMV sent them back to Tesla to resubmit and they're waiting. He said he himself has seen 3-4 exact same thing just today so it seems like in the year end rush, someone screwed something up in the paperwork. I'm surprised it's not done automatically, electronically.

So my concern is given how Tesla is terrible at handling anything out of the norm this may get stuck for a really long time until I get a hold of a person at Tesla. My temp plates expire in March and I'm not confident Tesla (especially Tesla) and DMV can resolve this by then and I can forget about getting my HOV stickers anytime soon.

Edit: did speak to someone at Tesla (I called my local delivery center but seems like I got someone in a central call center) and they said everything was submitted and accepted correctly the day before delivery (since I signed everything the day before delivery) and there is no record of the DMV returning anything. She said it can take up to 90 days to get my plates. I really hope this isn't the beginning of a long struggle where the 2 parties keep blaming the other. I did request a callback from the local delivery center but not sure what they can do or tell me)

 

[OSFfan]

Bought my Model 3 LR on 12/4/2022 and haven't received my plates yet. When I called Tesla support today, they informed me Tesla only submitted my paperwork to DMV on 12/27/2022 (more than 3 weeks after I purchased and took delivery) and that DMV typically takes 60-90 days to get plates to people, but I should "hopefully" get them very soon. With my temp plates expiring on Mar 4, he better be right!

 

[mgs333]

I heard dealers can reissue temp plates but I don't know if Tesla can (or will) do that.

 

[jeremymc7]

I thought someone way up-thread said there is a way to find out your plates, even before they arrive. Maybe AAA can find that info for you?
Once you have the assigned plate number, you can apply for stickers.
If however, you want to transfer personalized plates over, you have 2 choices:
1) Transfer the plates over, then apply for HOV stickers. A longer wait for sure. If AAA transfers it, there is little delay.
2) Apply for the HOV stickers, then transfer the plates over after you get them. You do not need to reapply for HOV stickers. Yes, you are supposed to, but I see no need. Even though they are tied to your plate, they are also tied to your VIN. No CHP officer will ever give two s**ts about it. If I am wrong about that, no, I will not pay your fine

Yeah I just used the old letter and stickers. Knowing not only was it unlikely I would be pulled over from carpool, but that it was ever more unlikely they would check the stickers and letter with the plates matched but the VIN didn't. I took my time.

 

[jeremymc7]

I heard dealers can reissue temp plates but I don't know if Tesla can (or will) do that.

Tesla was supposed to transfer my plates. They said they would do it when I picked up the last car. At pickup it wasn't done. They spent more time trying to get it sorted while I was there than the rest of the process. But it was also a weekend and

 

[Rohhee]

I bought my car on 12/30/2022 and I haven't rec'd my plates yet.

How about other people who bought recently?

Bought 12/12/22 and got my plates last week. I then applied for the black/yellow plates. So I will be in dealership tags for a while. But, you should be getting yours soon. Also depends on your dealership.

 

[gaswalla]

With the Y and 3 being the top cars sold in California along with all the other EVs and plug-ins, there’s going to be so much more room in the regular lanes nowadays. Lol.

 

[OSFfan]

Bought my Model 3 LR on 12/4/2022 and haven't received my plates yet. When I called Tesla support today, they informed me Tesla only submitted my paperwork to DMV on 12/27/2022 (more than 3 weeks after I purchased and took delivery) and that DMV typically takes 60-90 days to get plates to people, but I should "hopefully" get them very soon. With my temp plates expiring on Mar 4, he better be right!

An update: my plates arrived today, 3/4, on the day the temp plates expired. Talk about just in time! (Still waiting for my $3750 credit though.)

 

[E46M3]

can some one please tell me if applying for HOV, you only need to submit REG 1000 form and a check and that's it?

 

[Rohhee]

can some one please tell me if applying for HOV, you only need to submit REG 1000 form and a check and that's it?

Correct. Form with a $22 check. That’s it.

 

[poser47]

As a data point

Picked up my MY on 2/17
Texted my SA to see if they could send over my plate number if they had it on 3/5
They responded on 3/6 saying they were still working on the paperwork and my paper plates will not expire for sometime.
I have a feeling they did not understand what I was asking so will follow up and if I strike out again, will head over to AAA to see if they can provide

 

[poser47]

As a data point

Picked up my MY on 2/17
Texted my SA to see if they could send over my plate number if they had it on 3/5
They responded on 3/6 saying they were still working on the paperwork and my paper plates will not expire for sometime.
I have a feeling they did not understand what I was asking so will follow up and if I strike out again, will head over to AAA to see if they can provide

Update:
Responded to SA and let them know what I wanted
They texted my plate number and emailed me my registration card on 3/13 unprompted
Legacy plate was ordered today

 

[RandyS]

I received new green stickers a few days ago with the same Sept 2025 expiration date as the previous colored stickers....Interesting...

 

[3sr+buyer]

I received new green stickers a few days ago with the same Sept 2025 expiration date as the previous colored stickers....Interesting...

If the program is extended, then it is likely that the new green stickers will have a later expiration date than the new yellow stickers.