How can I keep my old license plate as a keepsake?

Submitted by Miami199 t3_118eexj in Pennsylvania

I recently sold my car and planned to transfer my plate to my new car but that didn’t really end up working out so I’m getting a new plate for that car. I’d like to keep my old plate as it was from my first car.

According to this: https://www.dot.state.pa.us/public/dvspubsforms/BMV/BMV%20Fact%20Sheets/License_Plate_Re_Issuance.pdf

“It should be destroyed or returned to PennDOT to be recycled. “

Does this mean I can keep it? The only concern I’ve seen is for someone to take it and use it fraudulently.

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SucksToYourAssmar3 t1_j9gmwxj wrote

I kept all mine. It's destroyed - it's hanging up on the wall of my garage.

I'm sure you'll be fine unless you put it on another vehicle. They really have no way of knowing if it's hanging on your wall or shredded.

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9ntech t1_j9i3n68 wrote

Same, although i knew a guy who had a personalized plate that was out of use for several years that he was able to have reregistered to another vehicle down the line.

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jlomba1 t1_j9gpe6l wrote

I’ve kept all of my old plates - slowly covering the inside of my garage.

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HomicidalHushPuppy t1_j9gobso wrote

I have my old plate and several of my parents' old plates. Just never returned them and nobody ever asked for them. They're on display along the I-beam in the garage.

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user-flynn2 t1_j9hzp1o wrote

I'm actually shocked when I find people that surrender them.

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Aggravating_Foot_528 t1_j9mxotj wrote

I did. It cost about $1.50 to mail in and I figure why not. They take the car off the registration rolls immediately instead of waiting until the next renewal period.

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Kythera35723 t1_jaekor0 wrote

I did once when I cancelled insurance and registration but kept the car it was attached to. Everything I read from PennDOT at the time was unclear, but it seemed like they didn't really care what you did with the plate, unless you were cancelling insurance or registration, in which case they really wanted the plate back. Post office said it would only cost me a couple bucks and some change to send it in, I figured why not, only a couple bucks to prevent potential headaches.

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nayls142 t1_j9goo5g wrote

I don't think there's any legal problem with you keeping a plate from your old car.

I don't think the linked document applies to your case. PennDot will allow you to return old plates so they can't be used fraudulently, but there's not many cases where plate return is required. I believed it was only for revocation of registration, or if you choose to cancel car insurance.

Other states are neurotic about returning plates. Don't let stories from outside the commonwealth spook you.

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BFreeFranklin t1_j9gox2u wrote

Just keep it. I have all my old license plates.

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STLLC2019 t1_j9hip4h wrote

The only plates PennDOT gets bitchy about are the commercial Apportioned plates used by the bigger commercial trucks. They don't give a single furry fuck about the plate on the back of your parent's Buick or your F-150. Do whatever you want with that plate. Wallpaper your garage with old plates. Hell, use old plates to wipe your ass if you are brave.

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IamChantus t1_j9i3a6i wrote

This is how the three seashells gets started.

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Jef_Wheaton t1_j9ka2hs wrote

When we had to replace 30+ school bus plates because they changed the designation prefix (from BA "BUS" to SB "SCHOOL BUS"), I donated them to a community art group that made birdhouses out of them. (Wooden house, plate is bent to make the roof.)

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delcodick t1_j9hvbki wrote

Destroy is a flexible word

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citsonga_cixelsyd t1_j9hvnkp wrote

I'm 65 and I have every license plate for every car that I've ever owned. It's a lot of plates

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Hazel1928 t1_j9i59wg wrote

If they aren’t vanity plates, why do you want them? I think I would only want a vanity plate or a cool European plate. My son does have a few street signs and stuff like that.

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citsonga_cixelsyd t1_j9ibe3r wrote

Nostalgia I suppose. They're on the rafters in my workshop. I can look up and see the first car I ever bought (A '64 Ford Fairlane), the last car I've sold as of yet (a 2005 Chevy) and all the cars in between. I like the feeling of attachment to my past.

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Yes. I still have all of my drivers licenses too; including the paper one that I was issued before we switched to photo licensing.

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heili t1_j9joqn3 wrote

Just don't send it in. I never have and nobody's banging my door down looking for my historical license plate decoration keepsakes.

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[deleted] t1_j9keddz wrote

I’ve kept my old plates

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No-Setting9690 t1_j9laqtp wrote

I paid for my plates. They can suck it. They want them back, there's going to be a cost.

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Curious-Hand9259 t1_j9ilj9d wrote

They work well to scrape snow off your windshield

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