I went down the rabbit hole of YOM plates as the PO of my car had put custom plates on it, but wanted to keep them. He still had the previous plates which he said were the originals that came with the car. Now I’m thinking I may not actually need to do the YOM thing if I can provide a copy of a prior registration with those plates registered, but I don’t have it.
After some research, there seem to be requirements to have a sticker matching YOM on the plate before the DMV will sign-off on it. There are various forums where people are confused by this, but I think I finally understand why.
- There is no DMV program that generally permits re-registering of existing plates onto a car.
- Understand that the YOM program was designed to permit attachment of existing plates onto a car to match the model year of the car. So DMV requires an appropriate sticker representing the model year. DMV then provides metal tags attached to include the month and year of actual registration expiry.
- The confusion comes since 1963-69 plates are still valid, so you may find plates that have recent year stickers placed on top of the YOM sticker. Those would need to be removed and the YOM sticker only in place
Read CVC 5004.1
Now the plates I have don’t have any stickers on them. It seems you can purchase stickers. I found http://www.oldplateguy.com/OldPlateGuyHomePage.html and ebay store https://www.ebay.com/sch/40fordsteve/m.html
I also came across this site that indicates the 1965 sticker goes on the right. http://1967beetle.com/registering-black-plates/
YOM Sticker
- I ordered a 1965 YOM Sticker from Old Plate Guy on Ebay https://www.ebay.com/usr/40fordsteve
- Its obviously a repro, the CA seal is pretty muddy
- I affixed it to the RHS well on the plates before heading to DMV
Visiting the DMV
I went to the DMV without an appointment because you have to transfer title within 10 days. Person at the DMV was pretty helpful. I was over 10 days so she recommended I adjusted the date. Also, the PO had filled out the mileage statement on the form which was unnecessary for a car over 10 years old. DMV person recommended not putting it into the system in case it was inaccurate and could cause a problem.
Things got a little complicated with the YOM plates because I was transferring the title without any plates on the car. The PO had custom plates that he elected to keep.
- I provided YOM form REG352
- They took photocopies of the plates and made sure I paid the $45 fee
- DMV told me they were clear
However, I wasn’t given permission to put them on the car yet. The person at the DMV thought the system would spit out some new plates since I didn’t have any plates going in, but it did not and I ended up getting a temporary operating permit that I put in the rear window. They told me I could drive without any plates attached.
Next Steps
- I’m waiting for the DMV to call me or let me know I can use the YOM plates
- My Temporary Operating Permit (TOP) is good for 3 months