I got a "NO LICENSE PLATE / REGISTRATION" ticket today.

[reddy]

So in Texas if you buy a new (non Tesla) car, you drive it off the lot with plates? I see a lot of new US cars with no plates or some temporary cardboard placard instead of plates quite frequently. I believe it was like this in CA when my brother bought his last new car. I imagine it varies from state to state.

In Texas the dealer will give you a temporary paper license plate with a unique number on it.

The dealer will then, for an additional fee, take your paperwork to the local tax assessor/collector office and pay the taxes for you, register the car, and get your plates. Some dealers do this in a few days, others could take 2 weeks if they are waiting for your check to 'not bounce'.

Alternatively, you could tell the dealer you want to handle the registration yourself. Most dealers hate this, because the additional fee is huge profit for them. But they will give you the paper tag when you drive the car off the lot, and you can pick up the manufacturers title and bill of sale from the dealer after your check clears.

With Tesla, they had FedEx'd the dealer title and bill of sale before the car arrived. I had it inspected, and had Texas plates on it within 3 hours of delivery.

 

[Danal]

Texas changed a few years ago to prevent faking the paper plates that dealers issue. For many years, TX, like quite a few other states, used a universal dealer-issued paper plate with a Date filled in by black marker blocks in large enough letters to see. There was a dealer number and individual car number, but that could only be validated or invalidated via a call or visit to the dealer. You might get caught faking one, but the odds were really pretty good that you'd get away with it, even during a stop or whatever. It took a lot of work to validate/invalidate an individual paper in that system.

In the new system, the paper plate has a unique plate number in big letters, just like a metal plate. The dealers have a computer system that they MUST use to issue this paper plate*. It pulls the number from a State of TX central DB at the moment the plate is issued. During a traffic stop, or even just by seeing a paper plate, the officers (with in car terminals or their dispatcher if not), can see if that individual paper plate is valid, is it supposed to be on a new blue nissan or an old brown ford, or whatever. Just like a metal plate.

And... almost all toll authorities in Texas no longer have any form of barricade or stop. You cruise through the sensor at full speed (70MPH limit in the DFW area and everybody does 80+). If you have a TollTag and account, they bill that. If you don't, they camera read your rear license plate and send a Toll bill to the registered owner of the car on a monthly basis. No difference for a metal vs. paper plated car, with the new database.

Texas has worked very hard to have EVERY car display a valid plate that is in a known database with registered, legally responsible, owner info. At the same time, they do legally support reciprocity, and the California technique of the back-window small paper with the serial number is, therefore, perfectly legal. The cop in the OP's story did not correctly enforce the law as written.






*Extract from the "Know the Law" given with your Auto Dealers Permit in TX:

E-TAGS
With the advent of Vision 21 (V21), dealersand converters are required by law to haveInternet access at their place of business inorder to issue temporary tags. Specificnumbers for temporary tags are obtainedfrom V21 and tags are issued by the licenseeeither by printing out images from V21 orcopying the number and forms from theimages on the computer screen. All tags willhave a unique number assigned to them bythe V21 database. When the licensee logs onto V21 and receives the number after filling inthe vehicle and buyer information, thenumber will be logged or recorded on V21 ina manner that will allow a licensee to locatethe tag at any given time. Licensees have theability to void tags, reprint tags if necessaryand to manage tags by running reports fromV21 on their own tag activity. All dealers mustuse the electronic tag feature and all salesmust have an e-tag produced.

BUYER’STEMPORARYTAG
The temporary buyer’s tag is only used onvehicles that are sold to a retail purchaser andis good for 21 calendar days. The vehiclemust have a current inspection. Unlike themetal plate and dealer temporary tags, a retailconsumer can display signs and carry a load ina vehicle with a buyer’s tag.

INTERNETDOWNTAGS
These are special tag numbers that dealers areallowed to print out in advance and hold foremergency situations such as the Internetgoing down. These tags must be kept secured until used. They expire in 12 months if notused but can be replaced as they are used orexpire.When Internet tags are used dealers mustenter the sale information into the V21database within 24 hours in order to obtainadditional Internet Down tags.

ALLTEMPORARYTAGS
Licensees have many options as to how theycan issue a temporary tag with the specificnumber obtained from V21. 1) A licensee may manually copy theinformation provided by V21 to pre-printedcardboard tags with the information drawnwith a permanent thick black marking pen. (2) A licensee may print the image ofthe V21 tag on paper or other material. If thematerial is not weather-resistant then the tagmust be placed in a sealable 2 mil poly bag.ALL temporary tags are now required to beplaced in the area of the rear license plateholder. Rear window placement is no longerallowed.ALL temporary tags must be secured to thevehicle in such a manner as to preventflapping at high speeds.A licensee is responsible if an agent misusesany temporary tag or gives it to anotherindividual.

 

[Ryan Webb]

You can pay a $25 fee and print your own Texas temporary plate, valid for 30 days (which can be issued 3 times). This is what I'm doing with my S60 purchased 3rd party. I am still waiting on the DMV to send my plates, but the temporary plates have kept me from being pulled over, and allowed travel through the Tolltag system.

TXDMV.GOV - Temporary Permits

 

[Chris TX]

Yup. You can go buy a 30 day temp tag for $15 and drive around all you want. Within those 30 days, get the inspection done, enjoy running ALL THE TOLLS!, and avoid paying taxes. Then, before those 30 days is up, you walk into the tax office, pay your taxes and registration, and walk out with metal plates and a registration sticker.

Running around with the "Zero Emissions" plate and the little paper tag in the rear window won't cut it.

 

[Danal]

Running around with the "Zero Emissions" plate and the little paper tag in the rear window won't cut it.

Yes, it does. No TX Temp is needed. References:

Texas temporary plate page, which says the conditions wherein you can obtain a temp plate, one of which is "The vehicle is registered in a state that does not have a reciprocity agreement with Texas."

Texas DMV Summary of Texas License Plate Reciprocity Agreements, which says Texas does have a reciprocity agreement with California.


No temp TX plate needed (it might even be technically illegal to apply for one, not sure...); California's little paper tag in the rear window is perfectly legal to operate a motor vehicle in Texas (reciprocity agreement); the court will instantly dismiss OP's ticket; the patrol officer either did not know, or just wanted to be difficult that day, or both.

 

[S100D]

After reading that some police officers were giving tickets for not having a license plate / registration, I got creative. I did a Google search on California temporary license plates and created a temporary plate using Microsoft Word that looked identical. Since I was using plain bond paper, I put the temporary plate in a clear plastic sleeve and siliconed the sides to make it water tight. I did this because 2 days after getting my Model S, 06/02/15, I started a 3,300 mile trip from Texas to Florida to Georgia to Alabama to Tennessee and back to Texas. I did not want to be harassed by the police and I was not stopped on my trip.

Here is what the temporary license plate looks like:

I removed some of the numbers on the VIN and registration number that Tesla gave me to protect the innocent (me). The temporary plate stayed on the back of my car for almost 2 months before I went to the DMV and got my Texas plates.

 

[supersnoop]

After reading that some police officers were giving tickets for not having a license plate / registration, I got creative. I did a Google search on California temporary license plates and created a temporary plate using Microsoft Word that looked identical. Since I was using plain bond paper, I put the temporary plate in a clear plastic sleeve and siliconed the sides to make it water tight. I did this because 2 days after getting my Model S, 06/02/15, I started a 3,300 mile trip from Texas to Florida to Georgia to Alabama to Tennessee and back to Texas. I did not want to be harassed by the police and I was not stopped on my trip.

Here is what the temporary license plate looks like:

View attachment 88947

I removed some of the numbers on the VIN and registration number that Tesla gave me to protect the innocent (me). The temporary plate stayed on the back of my car for almost 2 months before I went to the DMV and got my Texas plates.

Is that really valid, or did you just create a fake, forged government document?

 

[S100D]

No it is a temporary plate that I created. The first posting said that the police officer did not care that the Tesla registration was on the back window. He said the car needed to have a license plate. The owner got a ticket. In in another posting an owner said that he got stopped 4 times due to no plate.

I was told by the Tesla service center that if the police ran my plate number off the sticker on the back window that they could not retrieve any data from the California DMV. I could have gotten a ticket either way so I chose to create my own plate using the exact Tesla registration information.

I do not recommend that anyone do this.

 

[andrewket]

So what was the outcome here? Were the tickets dismissed? Was the officer educated on the law?

 

[gizmoboy]

So what was the outcome here? Were the tickets dismissed? Was the officer educated on the law?

Seriously... inquiring minds want to know!

 

[Shaggy]

Keep in mind going forward as of April/May 2015 no inspection stickers are issued, just a database entry now that are linked to your plates and an officer gets notice of it being in/out date, with/out insurance, and registration now, but only thing(s) on your car are the plates and the annual (after initial 2 year) registration sticker.

 

[jerry33]

The Leaf we just bought came with the two year combination sticker, but then when we went back to get the plates, a two year traditional registration sticker was given to us. Somewhat confused.

 

[austintexas]

I just picked up my CPO from Tesla this week in Austin. Before we came in, they instructed us that they've heard of some people being pulled over with the California "tag". Although they say the California tag is legal, they suggested getting a Texas temp tag to avoid any issues.

You can literally order and print a Texas temp tag online in about 5 minutes. It costs $25. It may be "unfair", but to avoid the hassle of being pulled over or fighting in court, it's a small price to pay.

 

[jerry33]

I just picked up my CPO from Tesla this week in Austin. Before we came in, they instructed us that they've heard of some people being pulled over with the California "tag". Although they say the California tag is legal, they suggested getting a Texas temp tag to avoid any issues.

You can literally order and print a Texas temp tag online in about 5 minutes. It costs $25. It may be "unfair", but to avoid the hassle of being pulled over or fighting in court, it's a small price to pay.

Another question is how many folks does this really happen to. I drove with the CA tag for a couple of weeks and never got pulled over once--and that was over two years ago when I wouldn't have expected the police to be aware.

 

[Chris]

Well it did happen to me, albeit almost three years ago. Car was impounded on the spot despite CA temp registration. Didn't end well for the cop but I'd say get local plates asap.

 

[andrewket]

Well it did happen to me, albeit almost three years ago. Car was impounded on the spot despite CA temp registration. Didn't end well for the cop but I'd say get local plates asap.

Care to elaborate? I'm curious what happens in a situation where a law enforcement offer does not correctly enforce the law. Was the local jurisdiction/county/state ordered to pay you for your expenses and time?

 

[Chris]

Care to elaborate? I'm curious what happens in a situation where a law enforcement offer does not correctly enforce the law. Was the local jurisdiction/county/state ordered to pay you for your expenses and time?

Sorry for late follow-up. The officer who pulled me over on that fateful January early morning not only impounded my car but also left me standing in sub-freezing temperatures on a highway overpass (after writing me seven tickets). And after yelling profanities at me which I don't want to quote here. Needless to say it went to court where all the tickets were thrown out. I briefly considered legal action against the MCPD but my lawyer advised against it as I didn't have proof of this officer's conduct (wants me to get a dash cam myself). So I left it with an official complaint which, to my surprise, was followed-up on by internal affairs who apologized to me and reprimanded the officer who already had a history of inappropriate behavior. My hope is this saved someone else from another run-in with this loonatic. They also said to expect reimbursement for towing cost but I'm still waiting for that.

So in the end, at least I didn't get shot. In view of the complete loss of proportional police responses we are seeing these days that is a good thing.

 

[andrewket]

Thanks for the follow up. With a history of inappropriate behavior and formal complaints, I wonder how long the municipality will keep this officer employed.

I'm glad it mostly worked out for you.

 

[brkaus]

Thanks for the follow up. With a history of inappropriate behavior and formal complaints, I wonder how long the municipality will keep this officer employed.

I'm glad it mostly worked out for you.

From what I have observed, he will quickly get hired by another department that either will not check references, or will check them but the loosing department won't say anything bad so he just goes away...

 

[TSLA Pilot]

Have owned four Model S's in the DFW area, all without issue despite driving for weeks with the "Zero Emissions" paper tag and the small CA Temp Registration in the rear window.

Just another data point and YMMV, BUT reciprocity is a "thing" and they have to abide by it. For future TX buyers it may be valuable to print out the text above that spells it out for the cop on the beat--at least some of them, it appears, are not quite up to speed on the nuances of CA Temp Registration . . . .

Education is a wonderful thing and some might even be appreciative.