License plate renewal check

[nobbie48]

If in doubt, Google the above and it's a quick clicky clicky to find out when your vehicle plate is due for renewal.

You can also sign up for reminders.

A friend was in a crash, not his fault, and got a $300 ticket because he hadn't renewed.

I don't know the details but he's also being sued by another victim in the crash caused by a third party. The two innocent vehicles never touched. It's probably a "sue everyone" move to see if someone blinks but it's another aggravation on top of getting a new vehicle during the tariff wars.

The guy suing could argue the buddy shouldn't have been on the road.

 

[POWERMAN]

I signed up for the email and text reminders available for health card & drivers license. Wonder if they have a similar feature available for license plates as well.

 

[justride]

Not %100 certain. License plate will not renewal (automatic) if you have unpaid fines. ie parking tickets, 407 tolls. Aslo what happens when your in middle of fighting your ticket?

 

[GreyGhost]

Not %100 certain. License plate will not renewal (automatic) if you have unpaid fines. ie parking tickets, 407 tolls. Aslo what happens when your in middle of fighting your ticket?

If a ticket is contested, it shouldn't be a conviction and therefore shouldn't count as an unpaid fine. I expect 407 outstanding (even if false/lies) will screw you as allowing the government to be the enforcement arm of a private corporation that has no effective oversight was a terrible idea.

 

[nobbie48]

If a ticket is contested, it shouldn't be a conviction and therefore shouldn't count as an unpaid fine. I expect 407 outstanding (even if false/lies) will screw you as allowing the government to be the enforcement arm of a private corporation that has no effective oversight was a terrible idea.

Can you still buy copycat plates from China?

Copy a plate from a vehicle the same model and colour as yours and run the 407 fees into the sky. The owner of the original plate gets the bills.

I was discussing this with the Mrs. the other day and thought of putting a unique bumper sticker on the car so I would have some evidence to refute the photo billing. Photo radar and redlight tickets also are affected.

 

[GreyGhost]

Can you still buy copycat plates from China?

Copy a plate from a vehicle the same model and colour as yours and run the 407 fees into the sky. The owner of the original plate gets the bills.

I was discussing this with the Mrs. the other day and thought of putting a unique bumper sticker on the car so I would have some evidence to refute the photo billing. Photo radar and redlight tickets also are affected.

Novelty plates aren't hard to find. IIRC, you didn't even need to go to china, you could buy them from etsy or amazon. I don't think there's a charge for making fake plates, just using them. Sell them as homage/novelty/show plates and the seller should be in the clear.

Also parking tickets (although I would hope the parking agent would be observant enough to notice the fake plate and call for an immediate tow).

Bumper sticker barely helps as the enforcement authority has no reason to believe when the sticker was or was not on the vehicle. Even if you were on their cameras with the sticker, an enterprising crook could cover the sticker to cut their 407 bill by 80% while remaining safe from plate charges if they talked to the police.

 

[TwistedKestrel]

I sold a car for parts last year. I kept the plates, I'm pretty sure the guy who bought it didn't register it. The MTO (or whomever) sent me a letter warning me that the plates would not automatically renew - I did not take any action, haven't had trouble with any of my other vehicles, so I wonder what the issue was with that car specifically. Maybe the system noticed that I dropped insurance on it?

 

[GreyGhost]

I sold a car for parts last year. I kept the plates, I'm pretty sure the guy who bought it didn't register it. The MTO (or whomever) sent me a letter warning me that the plates would not automatically renew - I did not take any action, haven't had trouble with any of my other vehicles, so I wonder what the issue was with that car specifically. Maybe the system noticed that I dropped insurance on it?

If they transferred the ownership, your plates should be unattached. Parting out a car that you don't own on paper is a mine field. Even at the end when you take the remainder to the scrap yard, they want you to have ownership for the scrap. Tell MTO you bought a heap for $1, pay the $0.13 tax (or tell them you bought it for $1.92 so you can pay with a quarter and avoid change). That cleans up the paper trail for essentially no cost.

 

[nobbie48]

I sold a car for parts last year. I kept the plates, I'm pretty sure the guy who bought it didn't register it. The MTO (or whomever) sent me a letter warning me that the plates would not automatically renew - I did not take any action, haven't had trouble with any of my other vehicles, so I wonder what the issue was with that car specifically. Maybe the system noticed that I dropped insurance on it?

Call me paranoid but I refuse to have anything registered in my name in the hands of someone I don't know and trust.

If that car or boat registered, in my name, creates a liability the police or a lawyer may come knocking on my door. Presenting a bill of sale may get you off the hook but it's another piece of paper you have to keep track of. An aggressive lawyer or LEO can force you to hire a lawyer. I don't even want the knock on the door.

You can go to Service Ontario and ask for a list of what's in your name and have them delete stuff you have sold.

 

[nobbie48]

Novelty plates aren't hard to find. IIRC, you didn't even need to go to china, you could buy them from etsy or amazon. I don't think there's a charge for making fake plates, just using them. Sell them as homage/novelty/show plates and the seller should be in the clear.

Also parking tickets (although I would hope the parking agent would be observant enough to notice the fake plate and call for an immediate tow).

Bumper sticker barely helps as the enforcement authority has no reason to believe when the sticker was or was not on the vehicle. Even if you were on their cameras with the sticker, an enterprising crook could cover the sticker to cut their 407 bill by 80% while remaining safe from plate charges if they talked to the police.

1) Put a unique GTAM sticker on your vehicle near the plate.

2) Run through the 407 camera and request a photo with the bill, establishing when the sticker was in place. Any charges without the sticker after that date are bogus. True, a person could remove and replace the sticker at will, but they'd be going through a lot of work.

In my case there is some bumper cover damage that might show and the date of the damage is established.

The problem is that finding the SOB with your cloned plate is hard and with it being a minor, non-violent crime don't expect quick action from anyone. I don't think ALPR helps if the plate matches the colour / model of vehicle. Another beige Hyundai.

 

[GreyGhost]

1) Put a unique GTAM sticker on your vehicle near the plate.

2) Run through the 407 camera and request a photo with the bill, establishing when the sticker was in place. Any charges without the sticker after that date are bogus. True, a person could remove and replace the sticker at will, but they'd be going through a lot of work.

In my case there is some bumper cover damage that might show and the date of the damage is established.

The problem is that finding the SOB with your cloned plate is hard and with it being a minor, non-violent crime don't expect quick action from anyone. I don't think ALPR helps if the plate matches the colour / model of vehicle. Another beige Hyundai.

If you file a police report that plate is cloned, alpr may help. It may also get you some courtesy stops. If plate is cloned, I would file the police report and then get a new plate. That leaves the dirtbag as the only one with the old plate.

 

[nobbie48]

If you file a police report that plate is cloned, alpr may help. It may also get you some courtesy stops. If plate is cloned, I would file the police report and then get a new plate. That leaves the dirtbag as the only one with the old plate.

The sad part is that the return on investment for the plates is pretty good considering the 407 fees. Which robber do you want in jail?

 

[PrivatePilot]

Fake plates that are virtually indistinguishable from the real thing are readily available – there was actually a booth at the motorcycle show with all sorts of them for sale openly, and I’m pretty sure they made custom to order as well if you wanted a specific number combo. I strongly suspect that a few of the motorcycle plates they had available there have found their way into the dirty crowd even though they’re officially “novelty” items.

 

[TwistedKestrel]

Call me paranoid but I refuse to have anything registered in my name in the hands of someone I don't know and trust.

If that car or boat registered, in my name, creates a liability the police or a lawyer may come knocking on my door. Presenting a bill of sale may get you off the hook but it's another piece of paper you have to keep track of. An aggressive lawyer or LEO can force you to hire a lawyer. I don't even want the knock on the door.

You can go to Service Ontario and ask for a list of what's in your name and have them delete stuff you have sold.

I hear that. I'm not worried about that in this case - the buyer paid me well for the parts car, and I don't want to do anything that triggers the province asking them for HST.

I have gone through the trouble of disavowing ownership of a vehicle once, when I sold a bike to someone who IMMEDIATELY displayed poor judgement. I couldn't get to the MTO fast enough lol

 

[PrivatePilot]

have gone through the trouble of disavowing ownership of a vehicle once, when I sold a bike to someone who IMMEDIATELY displayed poor judgement. I couldn't get to the MTO fast enough lol

They make you wait 7 days before doing this now apparently in order to “give the buyer time to change the registration”. My daughter bought a new car and I helped her sell her old one and it was a similarly dodgy situation - dude showed up, paid cash, slapped Nova Scotia licence plates with an expired sticker on it and drove away. No insurance I suspect.

We went to service Ontario the next day to get it out of her name asap given the level of sketch and they refused, saying 7 days minimum.

FWIW we checked 7 days later and it was indeed out of her name. A few days later she saw it for sale again using her exact photos, for $1000 more than we sold it for, with a claimed odometer reading that was over 100,000km less than it actually had on it.