Best and Worst U.S. License Plates

[Alex]

This is true.  The gold on blue plate must be in the vehicle.  Also, not all plates are eligible for this option.  Only plates numbers below 87000 for passenger and I believe C9999 for commercial are eligible.

I've seen six-digit plates, so I dispute that.

Below 87000 is still required for a stainless steel tag (and below C9999, etc.). But other black and white tags, including those with PC are eligible for black stainless steel tags.

You're talking about the white on black porcelain replicas, right?  If so, a six digit plate was made in error.  Porcelains were only made up to 87000, therefore only plates that were originally made as porcelains are eligible to be remade to look like the old plates.
If you're talking about the gold on black limited edition centennial plates, then a six digit plate is possible.  Any plate number could be remade on those.

The Delaware Historic Plate Co. expanded the selection to include stainless steel plates, which ups the numbers available to 200000:

In order to display a stainless steel plate, your number needs to be less than:
200000 (with no letters in front: eligible example - 145300)
PC9999 (eligible example - PC8290)
C50000 (for example, your number is C40590)
D9999 (for example, your number is D7490)
FT9999 (for example, your number is FT7390)
T9999 (for example, your number is T8293)
Stainless steel tags are from a slightly later era, and therefore more numbers are eligible, including PC plates. If your number is, for example, 2134, you are eligible for both porcelain and stainless. You get to pick which you prefer!

[Scott5114]

yeah, second biggest reason I hate Oklahoma.  Very sad.

Don't be fooled–the tribes run the show nowadays. Pretty impressive what you can do with casino money.

[PHLBOS]

Worst ever right now are some of the few remaining green-on-silver Massachusetts plates, which were first issued in 1977.  The law is that if your plate is illegible you are supposed to get it replaced, you can be stopped and cited by police and your vehicle will supposedly fail the state inspection.  In spite of that, I repeatedly see plates from that series that don't even come close to being legible at 100 feet, the standard according to law.

Funny thing is, some other plates from that series look like they're almost new.



They claim they don't have the money to get the rest of these plates replaced with "Spirit of America" plates, but at this point in time I can't imagine there are more than maybe 2000-3000 vehicles left on the road with the old ones.

Following my parents' divorce in 1992, my mother had to get the license plate changed on her car (the old plate was of the '77 style rear-plate only); low and behold, her new plate (note the single) was still of the old green-on-white (not silver) style.

As far as getting your plate replaced if isn't legible's concerned neither I nor any of the rest of my family that still resides in Massachusetts has ever heard of such law.

A couple years ago, I saw a green-on-white plate that was likely from 1985 still around.  The reason why I know the vintage was because plate number was one digit off my Mass plate (got in 1985, retired in 1991 when I changed everything over to PA).  The number of the plate was 334-506 whereas my old plate was 334-406.  So in addtion to being of the same vintage, it was probably picked up from the same RMV office (Beverly at the time).

For some reason, only the green-on-white plates were rear-only (for standard registrations).  The current Spirit of America plates and the embossed red-on-white plates before them and its predecessors (MA used to replace their plates every 4 years) all required front-and-rear plates.



The mid-70s vintage red-on-white plates (with the state name and registration sticker located on the bottom rather than the top, see above-image) actually lasted into the mid-80s.  Initially, only new registrations were given the single green-on-white plates in 1977.  The plate number on my father's '77 Monte Carlo at the time was 404-AHN.

One MA plate he should have held onto (for its number) was the one on his '83 Escort that he totalled in 1987 (when he fell asleep at the wheel); the number was 300-NHL.

Personally, I think the Spirit of America slogan should be dropped.  It's too much of a reminder of the Dukakis Administration.

I rather like PA's current, though I could do with them getting rid of the damn website and returning to "Keystone State"...full embossing would be nice too, like Alaska.

Edit:// I'd also add debossed spots for the stickers.

Amen.  BTW, PA's current plates (which I have for my 2007 Mustang) already have a debossed spot (upper-left corner) for the sticker.

I've said this before in one of these license plate threads, but the new NY plates annoy me.

Guess on my part but one reason why NY likely went Back to the Future with their plate color scheme was because the former blue-on-white scheme, from a distance could be accidentally mistaken for either a CT plate or an early 2000s PA plate.  Since no adjacent state currently uses the blue-on-gold scheme (that I'm aware of); the new NY plate stands out, even at a distance.

[Scott5114]

Personally, I think the Spirit of America slogan should be dropped.  It's too much of a reminder of the Dukakis Administration.

There's a substantial amount of people who don't even remember who Dukakis was, much less what slogans he liked. (Dukakis ran for President before I was born.)

[spooky]

As far as getting your plate replaced if isn't eligible's concerned neither I nor any of the rest of my family that still resides in Massachusetts has ever heard of such law.

I read this three times and couldn't figure it out until I substituted "legible" for "eligible".

There was definitely a campaign 2-3 years back that pushed replacement of the old green and white plates. I think it was pushed through the state inspection shops; several co-workers failed their inspection because they had the old green and white plates. The same thing happened to me, except I had a "Spirit of Massachusetts" plate from when I moved to MA in 1998.

Personally, I think the Spirit of America slogan should be dropped.  It's too much of a reminder of the Dukakis Administration.

There's a substantial amount of people who don't even remember who Dukakis was, much less what slogans he liked. (Dukakis ran for President before I was born.)

I grew up in RI in the 70s and 80s, so to me "the Spirit of Massachusetts" recalls the jingle from the tourism ads of the era.

[PHLBOS]

I read this three times and couldn't figure it out until I substituted "legible" for "eligible".

Oops, missed that typo.  I indeed intended to say legible in my previous post and have since corrected it.  Thanks for pointing that out.

There was definitely a campaign 2-3 years back that pushed replacement of the old green and white plates. I think it was pushed through the state inspection shops; several co-workers failed their inspection because they had the old green and white plates. The same thing happened to me, except I had a "Spirit of Massachusetts" plate from when I moved to MA in 1998.

Now, I'm a bit confused with your post here.  First of all, as long as I can remember, all state inspections are handled by private sector garages with the Commonwealth setting the inspection rates/fees.  Your above-post implies (maybe unintentionally) that there are now state garages/inspection stations performing such services.

Again, my mother's green-and-white plate (issued in 1992) has never been rejected for that reason.  As a matter of fact, she just got her new plate 15 sticker a couple of months ago.  Surely, the RMV must know which registration plates are of the older style and which ones aren't in their databases.  If such an inspection rejection clause indeed exists (personally, I don't think it does), the RMV would've informed her of such at the time of registration renewal and sent her new plates (possibly for an extra fee).

Trust me, if the Bay State was indeed serious in getting the old style plates out of circulation, they either would've done what they used to do up through the early 70s and simply issue new plates (they used to do this every 4 years back in a day).  PA did similar in 2000-2001 (when they first introduced the faded blue-white-yellow plate with the original url to replace all of the older standard-issue designs) without any problems and they're a much larger state than MA.

If the RMV makes a style change of its standard-issue plates and wants to purge the old style, it is their responsibilty to do so and issue the new plates when the old plates expire.

Personally, I think the Spirit of America slogan should be dropped.  It's too much of a reminder of the Dukakis Administration.

There's a substantial amount of people who don't even remember who Dukakis was, much less what slogans he liked. (Dukakis ran for President before I was born.)

The ratio of older people to younger people has been increasing for quite some time nationwide so there's still a sizable (read majority) percentage of the population that either remember Dukakis or were around when he was governor (1975-1979, 1983-1991).

I grew up in RI in the 70s and 80s, so to me "the Spirit of Massachusetts" recalls the jingle from the tourism ads of the era.

That was spearheaded by then-Gov. Dukakis.  He wanted to purge the Commonwealth of its last tourism slogan of the early 80s King Administration Make it in Massachusetts.

[spooky]

There was definitely a campaign 2-3 years back that pushed replacement of the old green and white plates. I think it was pushed through the state inspection shops; several co-workers failed their inspection because they had the old green and white plates. The same thing happened to me, except I had a "Spirit of Massachusetts" plate from when I moved to MA in 1998.

Now, I'm a bit confused with your post here.  First of all, as long as I can remember, all state inspections are handled by private sector garages with the Commonwealth setting the inspection rates/fees.  Your above-post implies (maybe unintentionally) that there are now state garages/inspection stations performing such services.

Again, my mother's green-and-white plate (issued in 1992) has never been rejected for that reason.  As a matter of fact, she just got her new plate 15 sticker a couple of months ago.  Surely, the RMV must know which registration plates are of the older style and which ones aren't in their databases.  If such an inspection rejection clause indeed exists (personally, I don't think it does), the RMV would've informed her of such at the time of registration renewal and sent her new plates (possibly for an extra fee).

By state inspection stations I meant facilities that perform state inspections. I did not mean to imply that they are state-run.

Also I did not mean to imply that a green and white plate meant automatic failure, only that inspection facilities were instructed to take a closer look at license plates and fail those that were faded. As with most things that require judgment on the part of the inspector, your mileage will greatly vary depending upon the inspection station. This would explain why your mother's green and white plate hasn't been rejected (or perhaps it is one of the better looking remnants). As I mentioned, I know several people (myself included) who failed because of a faded plate during that time.

Here's a link I found from a state publication. http://www.vehicletest.state.ma.us/newsletters/08FEB.pdf

I also remember seeing a poster at a repair shop about the policy.

It was absolutely intended to root out the remaining green and white plates without doing the obvious solution that you propose below. I'm guessing that the state doesn't want the all-at-once cost and the PR backlash from people irrationally attached to their faded plates.

Trust me, if the Bay State was indeed serious in getting the old style plates out of circulation, they either would've done what they used to do up through the early 70s and simply issue new plates (they used to do this every 4 years back in a day).  PA did similar in 2000-2001 (when they first introduced the faded blue-white-yellow plate with the original url to replace all of the older standard-issue designs) without any problems and they're a much larger state than MA.

[PHLBOS]

Here's a link I found from a state publication. http://www.vehicletest.state.ma.us/newsletters/08FEB.pdf

I also remember seeing a poster at a repair shop about the policy.

One of the first listed problems/concerns regarding old/worn/faded plates from your posted PDF (bold emphasis added):

"On the Massachusetts Turnpike, for instance, more motorists are successfully evading tolls because photos taken by tollbooth cameras cannot be used to identify vehicles with worn-out plates,"

Truth's out... first reason is due to money.

Another except that IMHO should be (or have been) better communicated (bold emphasis added):

The owner of a passenger vehicle with one of the older green-lettered-and-numbered plates may obtain a free set of the newer red plates at any RMV branch office during normal business hours. All the motorist has to do is show up with the old plate and he or she will be given red replacement plates at no cost. In these instances, however, the letters and/or numbers on the replacement plates will not be the same as on the old plates.  It's important to note that this policy applies to green passenger normal plates only.  Motorists with illegible and/or damaged red plates that need to be replaced on any vehicle may order a replacement plate at any RMV branch office for a fee of $10. For a replacement set of plates, motorists are charged $20.  RMV does not charge for replacing green plates because the agency has put a priority on replacing as many of them as possible.

Another excerpt/tid-bit:

An estimated 600,000 Massachusetts-registered vehicles are still sporting green plates.

When RMV introduced the red "Spirit of America"  plates in January, 1987, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was planning to have all the owners of vehicles with single green plates switch to two red plates by the end of 1989. But a lack of funding put that plan on hold.

If memory serves, when the single green plates first rolled out in 1977; Mass' reasoning for not unilaterally replacing the old red plates (shown in one of my previous posts) as they did in previous years was because they had a surplus of such.  When the registration of my mother's '71 LTD plate (E25-984, registered in my father's name) expired in either '77 or '78; she got a new set of the old-style red plates (D95-306).  Those plates were on that car, until the ownership of it was officially transferred from my father to my brother in 1982.  The new plate my brother received then was a single green plate (178-EOX).

To date, the current plate on my Mother's 2001 Escort (since the registration's still active & current, I will not reveal the number) is the only green-on-white plate still on active duty among Mass. vehicles in my family.

[Android]

Anyone catch this recent license plate poll?

http://www.carinsurance.com/Articles/favorite-license-plates.aspx

1   Wyoming
2   Hawaii
3   Utah
4   Alabama
5   Oregon
6   Maine
7   South Carolina
8   Florida
9   Georgia
10   Oklahoma
11   Arizona
12   Idaho
13   North Dakota
14   Maryland
15   Washington
16   Colorado
17   New Hampshire
18   Nevada
19   Nebraska
20   Louisiana
21   Tennessee
22   South Dakota
23   Mississippi
24   North Carolina
25   Minnesota
26   Iowa
27   Kentucky
28   Rhode Island
29   New Mexico
30   Kansas
31   Connecticut
32   Illinois
33   Pennsylvania
34   West Virginia
35   Ohio
36   Wisconsin
37   Texas
38   Missouri
39   New Jersey
40   Indiana
41   California
42   Vermont
43   Massachusetts
44   District of Columbia
45   Montana
46   New York
47   Virginia
48   Alaska
49   Michigan
50   Arkansas
51   Delaware

[hotdogPi]

Anyone catch this recent license plate poll?

http://www.carinsurance.com/Articles/favorite-license-plates.aspx

1   Wyoming
2   Hawaii
3   Utah
4   Alabama
5   Oregon
6   Maine
7   South Carolina
8   Florida
9   Georgia
10 Oklahoma
...

Some states (e. g. New York) have more than one license plate in use. Which did they use for those states?

[corco]

I'm amazed that Idaho ranks that high after the switch to direct print- it was a beautiful plate with blue embossed text, but the switch to direct printed black generic font destroyed it.

[Takumi]

Texas' black on white plate is, by far, my favorite plate right now.

[signalman]

Texas' black on white plate is, by far, my favorite plate right now.

Definitely not my favorite.  They look fake to me.  Every time I see one, it reminds me of a movie prop plate.  I have to keep reminding myself that it is indeed a real Texas plate.

[Doctor Whom]

Some states (e. g. New York) have more than one license plate in use. Which did they use for those states?

There's a link from the article to a list showing all of the plate designs used.  New York's is the blue-on-orange "Empire State" design.

I was shocked that Maryland ranked so highly.  If people had set out to design a plate that was both kitschy and hard to read, the result would likely resemble Maryland's.  Going to seven characters for the standard serial was appropriate, if not overdue, but simultaneously adopting a design that fit only six characters without stacking was not a stroke of genius.

[TEG24601]

I have really liked the Michigan Sunrise plate, and the Michigan BlueBar Plate, the Washington '89 plate (with the original font), the Indiana Grass Plate, the Oregon Evergreen Plate, the BC Flag Plate, and the Colorado 'green' plate.

[The High Plains Traveler]

Texas' black on white plate is, by far, my favorite plate right now.

Definitely not my favorite.  They look fake to me.  Every time I see one, it reminds me of a movie prop plate.  I have to keep reminding myself that it is indeed a real Texas plate.

I agree wholeheartedly. If Texas had gone back to the old style black on white embossed plate, I might think differently, but the flat process with the fugly 3M generic font is terrible.

[SidS1045]

As far as getting your plate replaced if isn't legible's concerned neither I nor any of the rest of my family that still resides in Massachusetts has ever heard of such law.

From http://www.massrmv.com/rmv/faq/inspection.htm#24 :

"By state law, Massachusetts license plates must be readable from 60 feet away. Any green or red passenger plate, which has lost its reflective coating or paint or has been damaged, must be replaced. You can also be cited by law enforcement for this violation. The RMV encourages vehicle owners to swap illegible plates for a set of red plates at no fee. Faded and illegible plates can be swapped at any of the RMV's full serivce branch locations. A red plate that is lost or damaged can also be ordered at any branch or by calling the RMV Telephone Center at 857-368-8000. The cost of replacing these plates is $10 a plate and will be mailed to the registered owner."

Now, as to whether the "legibility" rule is actually enforced:  I seriously doubt it, based on the number of green-lettered plates I've seen that can't be read unless you're six feet away, never mind sixty.

[Alex]

Anyone catch this recent license plate poll?

http://www.carinsurance.com/Articles/favorite-license-plates.aspx

<snip>
51   Delaware

It appears the survey results ruffled some feathers in the First State.

Website ranking fires up spirits on Delaware license plate design

A national survey in which half the respondents called Delaware's license plate the least attractive in the country is not sitting with many in the first state.

"Who cares what some guy in Texas says about Delaware,"  said Mike Williams, chief of communications for the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

The survey, commissioned by Carinsurance.com, polled 2,000 licensed drivers across the country last fall and asked them to choose the five most attractive, and five least attractive standard-issue license plates among all 50 states, plus Washington, D.C.

Delaware was chosen as the least favorite by nearly half of the respondents.

[Takumi]

I like the white-on-black alternate Delaware plate better than the standard one.

[1995hoo]

I like the white-on-black alternate Delaware plate better than the standard one.

I like Virginia's original Jamestown plate, the one with the sailing ship on the right side. Unlike many of the "specialty plate" designs we have, that one only had a one-time fee of $15 (unless you also got a personalized plate)–you didn't have to pay each year like you do with the sports team or university plates. Also, a portion of the fee went to historic preservation purposes. I have that Jamestown design on both of my cars. It appears they've discontinued it, however, probably because the 400th anniversary of the town's founding is now 7 years ago.

I think our standard white-on-blue is boring and I don't care for the look of the state name on the present design (I preferred the design they used in the 1980s).

[agentsteel53]

I'm okay with any plate that doesn't have that garish font that seems to be cropping up everywhere.

embossed numbers are always a good thing.

[thenetwork]

My fave:



This coming from a Coloradoan, of course. 

[Takumi]

I like the white-on-black alternate Delaware plate better than the standard one.

I like Virginia's original Jamestown plate, the one with the sailing ship on the right side. Unlike many of the "specialty plate" designs we have, that one only had a one-time fee of $15 (unless you also got a personalized plate)—you didn't have to pay each year like you do with the sports team or university plates. Also, a portion of the fee went to historic preservation purposes. I have that Jamestown design on both of my cars. It appears they've discontinued it, however, probably because the 400th anniversary of the town's founding is now 7 years ago.

One of my cars has it. I had to special order it in 2012, even with just the regular characters. My second car has the standard blue-on-white, while my third car, which I just bought yesterday and won't be on the road until much later this year, will probably have something else.

Edit: the Jamestown plate is still available.

[vdeane]

My fave:



This coming from a Coloradoan, of course. 

Is that a newer design?  The Colorado plates I've seen around NY are far less interesting.

[KEK Inc.]

I like California's default plate the most.  Simple, clean & professional.  I always thought states with colorful license plates are tacky and detract from the visuals of the car. 

When you see an exotic car, you don't want a tacky license plate to devalue that look.