Ohio BMV to Require Replacement of Old License Plates (2015, to buy)

[mshultz]

https://www.dispatch.com/story/lifes...ew/6299568001/

The plates that have to be replaced are the 'Ohio Gold' plates which were issued from 1997 through 2001. The replacement cost is $12 for one plate, $13.25 for 2 plates. If for some reason you want to keep your old license plate number, there is an additional $10 fee.

I still see plates that are even older on the road, many of which are in poor shape. I have no objection to people being required to replace plates that are at least 20 years old. Whenever I buy a new vehicle, I buy new plates at the next registration. That's about every 6 years. The Ohio road salt is really hard on license plates. I was prepared to paint the back of my new plates when I bought them. To my surprise, the new plates were once again aluminum instead of galvanized steel. I ended up painting them anyway. I also removed the license plate frames from the dealer, as these frames trap water and increase corrosion.

[Nomomo07]

Originally Posted by mshultz

https://www.dispatch.com/story/lifes...ew/6299568001/

The plates that have to be replaced are the 'Ohio Gold' plates which were issued from 1997 through 2001. The replacement cost is $12 for one plate, $13.25 for 2 plates. If for some reason you want to keep your old license plate number, there is an additional $10 fee.

I still see plates that are even older on the road, many of which are in poor shape. I have no objection to people being required to replace plates that are at least 20 years old. Whenever I buy a new vehicle, I buy new plates at the next registration. That's about every 6 years. The Ohio road salt is really hard on license plates. I was prepared to paint the back of my new plates when I bought them. To my surprise, the new plates were once again aluminum instead of galvanized steel. I ended up painting them anyway. I also removed the license plate frames from the dealer, as these frames trap water and increase corrosion.

I think this is a very sensible requirement. I just wish the new plates where less hideous.

[on3]

This is the only plate Ohio ever needed. The first Ohio plate that didn't have the year on it next to Ohio. No need to make it complicated. It's a car, not a museum wall where you need to hang a pretty picture on it.

https://www.15q.net/us4/oh78a.jpg

[mshultz]

Originally Posted by on3

This is the only plate Ohio ever needed. The first Ohio plate that didn't have the year on it next to Ohio. No need to make it complicated. It's a car, not a museum wall where you need to hang a pretty picture on it.

https://www.15q.net/us4/oh78a.jpg

I went and looked at my license plate collection. The one I have from that era has blue text on a white background and is aluminum. My plate would have been from late 1979. Sometime after that, Ohio changed to galvanized steel in order to support its steel industry. My plate with a 1991 expiration sticker is galvanized steel. According to one website, Ohio changed back to aluminum in 2015, and was the last state to do so. I bought a 2014 Toyota Tacoma in fall 2013, and would have bought its plates in early 2014. That's why I did not notice the change back to aluminum until early 2020 when I bought new plates for the 2019 Buick Encore.

After I graduated from college in 1979, I was hired and immediately sent to Ann Arbor. I had to quickly buy a used car. My very first plates are the Michigan white text on black plates, and were aluminum. These plates became well-known as Michigan residents moved to other states in search of jobs.

If Ohio were to go back to the plate shown in the jpg, they would still need to convert from 6 digits to 7. Back when you had to buy new plates each year, Ohio used plain steel, which would barely last out the year. Especially problematic were the plates that said "Seat Belts Fastened?". This slogan was added as an afterthought, and damaged the plate finish.

[woxyroxme]

I remember the old “seatbelts fastened?” plates, close to 50 years ago.