[JmuRiz]

Anyone else out there with antique tags on their car in VA?
I got a letter yesterday from the man saying we owe a $50 fee and have to get a notary to stamp a form to send back to them to 'prove' our car is w/in the safety regs for when the car was made.

WTF is up with this? Is this what we get when we have a bunch of Dems in office and they need to fund their precious(ly ugly) elevated metro to Dulles?

Wasn't part of the reason we paid a premium for antique tags so we wouldn't have to deal with paying yearly fees?

How do you guys feel about this?

Nathan

[Mike W]

Doubt this has much to do with party affiliation of those people in power.

I did think the idea behind antique plates was that you used your car on a limited "" basis and didn't have to go through the safety/emissions process.

I would call the DMV and ask what is going on.

And yes, the idea of an elevated metro through Tysons is a stupid idea that will cause more problems than the extra money for a tunnel would be.

[JmuRiz]

Yeah my guess is that they are trying to crack down on people that use the tags on their daily driver...but for someone like me that takes my car out only a handful of times, it sucks. Hell I don't even drive to work period much less use my old cars to get there.

[pookie]

Tmdatk on here runs them on his 911. I plan on doing it on mine here in WV when they are due.

From what I know you are only supposed to use your car XXXX # of miles a year. And you are only supposed to drive it for events or testing purposes. They way I've heard you get around that is to always carry tools in the car and say you are just testing out _______. If you are ever stopped.

I seriously doubt there is ever going to be a checkpoint to catch those guys driving around with antique tags when they aren't supposed to though.

[Mike W]

I have heard of people getting caught... but its only those who repeatedly sit in traffic and the cop sees them a few days in a row. It happened to a friend of mine in a 65 corvette, but he drove it during rush hour to an office in a neighboring state. Kind of obvious.

[KFJ]

In VA there is no yearly limit on miles and the "occasional pleasure" driving is within the limits (so no need to bring your tools).

Here's the wording straight from the DMV site:

Registering your vehicle either of these ways limits your use of the vehicle to:

1. Participation in antique car club activities, exhibits, tours, parades, and similar events.
2. Testing its operation, obtaining repairs or maintenance, selling the vehicle or trailer, transportation to and from events as described in number 1 above and for the occasional pleasure driving not to exceed 250 miles from your residence.
3. Carrying or transporting passengers, personal effects or other antique motor vehicles being transported for show purposes.

As was stated (and it says on the DMV site) the new "rules" are intended to discourage people from registering their daily driver as an antique. Personally I think it's BS and just another tax to raise funds. How does sending in another $50 prevent this behavior?

[Jazzbass]

Good lord, I used to think MD was teh suck on taxes. VA is trying its best to win back the "high taxes, police state laws" crown from MD, huh?

[vascott99]

My car has antique tags...and I did not show anything and have not had to do anything in over a year....unless the BS is in the mail and I have yet to receive anything...

[KFJ]

I haven't received the letter yet either, but here's the BS from the DMV site:

Antique License Plates and Special Plates
Virginia motorists who own antique vehicles should be aware of several changes governing the use of antique license plates.

* Applicants for antique license plates must show evidence of ownership or regular use of another passenger car or motorcycle.
* Applicants must submit notarized certification that their antique vehicle meets safety equipment requirements for the model year in which it was manufactured.
* Fees charged for registration and plate purchase changes from $10 annually to a one-time fee of $50.

Antique plates are available from DMV for vehicles with a model year that is more than 25 years old. New guidelines for these cars were prompted by concerns that many owners were registering older cars as antiques to avoid registration and safety inspection requirements.

Under the new law, if an antique vehicle owner is convicted of operating an antique vehicle determined to be unsafe or not properly equipped, DMV will suspend the owner's registration of the vehicle involved for five years.

[Trak Ratt]

Don't have antique plates even on the 356. IIRC these came out for older cars that didn't meet "modern" safety standards like head rests, seat belts, and hydraulic brakes. Seen a lot of abuse myself of late. I like not having emissions but don't like the limitation imposed by APs. Like them even less now that VA and others seem to be cracking down. The "no emission" thing after 25 years is automatic, the once yearly safety inspection seems like only a minor inconvenience to me compared to the new crap.