What have you done with old license plates - besides hanging them in your garage? I’m trying to clean out the garage and despite the fast we have had fewer cars than average , because of lots of moves we have a big stack of old license plates.
Can we just trash/ recycle/send them to Etsy?
ETA - we have already given to our kids the state’s plates for the years of their birth, etc.
So I hope we don’t get into trouble.
We returned old plates to the DMV.
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This is what our DOL says:
https://dol.wa.gov/vehicles-and-boats/license-plates/dispose-old-plates
I put mine in the recycling bin with the metal cans.
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We’re supposed to turn ours in as well. Sometimes you get a little money back for the registration fee depending on how much time you had left on them.
My brother collects them. Eventually, he got one from every state and metal-worked a U.S. map (just missing NM and TX when he sent me this):
We recycle them.
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In NY, you have to send old plates back to the DMV if you are changing for new ones.
I have my mom’s old plates from a different state. I have no idea what to do with them. I was concerned about a black market selling old plates for criminal activity, so I just moved them to my new house with me. I thought about snipping them into pieces and putting them in different recycling containers.
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In VA you can mail them back to the DMV. I’m sure they can take care of them. You have to pay postage, I’m sure, but I think that would be easier than trying to cut them up into tiny pieces?
Our DMV says to remove the registration stickers and then toss into recycling. They have recycling bins on site for old plates too.
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Here in NJ you are supposed to turn them in at the MVC, most have bins but sometimes they are locked and you have to go in.
Same here. I actually went to the DMV in CT to return a set from a third car, and they politely told me they don’t take them…just put in the metal recycling. So…we did. My husband cut ours in half so no one would just slap them onto a car, but I think that wasn’t necessary once they were tossed into the metal recycling.
Thank you all. I will call the office where we get our tags. I did send each kid the plate that was on the car when (and where) each of them was born.
In our state (NJ) you have to return them pretty quickly. Not allowed to keep them or throw them away.
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I honestly had no idea that other states don’t make you turn them in, we had a pile that gave me agita whenever I saw it.
As referenced above, some people collect them.
So you could maybe sell them on ebay, facebook, etc.
I sold some really old ones on FB Marketplace to a woman who turns them into plant containers.
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NJ requires that you turn them in, part of that is in NJ, there is no registration sticker on the plate, so the plate is legal by itself. The reason actually makes sense, if you just tossed the plates since there is no year on them, they can be used by criminals and others , and there wouldn’t be anything to indicate they weren’t legal.
There are people who collect plates. if you don’t want them, and you can out them in recycling (in my town, they wouldn’t accept them for pickup, but you could drop them off at the recycling center with other bulk metal recycling).
No dates or registration markings in CT either. But the DMV does not want these old plates. But what you wrote is why DH cut them apart.
I will say…we never have had a pile of these. We get rid of old plates or transfer to our new cars. So, I think I’ve gotten rid of maybe 2 sets of plates in my life.
We have made 8 interstate moves over the years. Three different stints in TX, 2 in Co, one each in LA, OK and WA. Two cars for most of that time.
I finally figured out to look on the tax assessor’s website and found that the state doesn’t want them back but encourages you to mark over the numbers so they can’t be reused. Sounds like I’m headed to the back of the yard with some spray paint.
Interesting how different states handle this.
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Lol we wouldn’t have piles if we could throw them out. Seven drivers here, plus hang my IL’s plates, I only go to MVC if I have to, it’s unpleasant, I think I can get my next license renewal online, so I’ll be back in there in 5 1/2 years. Last time I had to go in person, 3 hours with an appointment.
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