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eljefino t1_ja0qb0x wrote

Reply to comment by MaineGal2022 in Switching license plates between cars by MaineGal2022

It's normal and happens all the time. You have to have permanently stopped driving the "old" car the plates are coming off of, eg, you sold it.

The registration fee is $35, and agent fee $4, but this isn't the lion's share of what you pay. You can see the fee breakdown on your yellow registration paper.

Excise tax is the lion's share of most registrations. If you have a lot of time on your plates before they expire, it'll be worth it. If you try "shenanigans" like moving some plates with a few months left on them to cover ones that expired, the town's demand for an excise tax will thwart you.

It's not a nuisance-- they're paid to do this, and the agent fee is the payment. You can save the $4 by doing it at the DMV but you'd have to be mad to wait in line.

What exactly are you trying to do?

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MaineGal2022 OP t1_ja18w3p wrote

We own both cars. There isn’t an “old” car. I want to switch the plates between the two cars—eg, get my vanity plates (with my initials) on “my” car (the car I drive 99% of the time) and put the Loon (conservation) plates on my husband’s car.

I have used “old” plates on new cars—I know about that. This is a little bit different and I was wondering what the process is. Thanks!

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eljefino t1_ja1be42 wrote

This should be pretty easy, since you won't be paying any additional excise tax. Town hall or DMV can handle it.

Only funny things will be the premium surcharges for vanity and or conservation, how that'll get handled.

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