Getting the Red Sticker
Long rant'ish
So every year I go to the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to register the 50'. I do this for two reasons:
- My insurance company (Hagerty) does not report insurance information to the state of California. By going into a DMV office I can show them, that YES, I do have insurance. I have spoken to Hagerty about this and their reply was, "Oh ya, California. That probably won't happen."
- The aforementioned Partical Year Registration sticker.(PYR)
This year (2025) I made an appointment, gathered my paperwork, and then drove to the DMV office. I was then told that the local offices no longer perform annual registrations and that I would need to do this online. I tried to explain the need for the PYR sticker and that doing this online would not work. I was then told in a very direct way that this must be done online.
Here are the steps performed:
- Logged into the DMV site and paid the fee.
- Received the notification that I must show proof of insurance
- Put a copy of the insurance, which I already had waiting, in the return enveloope
- I also added a small note requesting the PYR
- Received the annual sticker (Red 2026 Sticker) but no PYR
- Scheduled an appointment to the same DMV office
And here is the exchange at the DMV:
- On the scheduled date I arrived 25 minutes early and got in line. Fifteen minutes later I was at the window and simply stated, "I need the Partial Year Sticker for this vehicle" as I handed over the registration.
- As the agent was looking up my record I added, "What the system probably does not say is this is a Year of Manufacture plate" and the agent agreed that it did not.
- I then passed a photo of last years stickers.
- The agent then turned to the same person that denied me two months earlier. (I kid you not) That person simply said, "Just give him the regular month sticker" which my agent then pulled from a drawer. I calmly said, "Here is the section of the Vehicle Registration Code that states YOM plates receive PYR stickers." and handed over section 10.195.
- The Agent then informed me that they will give me a ticket and there is a 90 minute wait. To this I stated that I had an appointment at 2:00. It was 1:51 at this moment. The agent asked my name and then gave me the appointment ticket.
- Four minutes later they called my ticket number and I was off to Window 8.
The agent at this window asked what I was in for and I again stated I need the PYR sticker for my YOM plate and handed the agent my registration AND the picture of last years stickers. The agent then shook their head yes and reached for the sticker. I was excited that progress had been made but the sticker they pulled out was not the Month sticker but where a pair of half sized stickers which I don't know that they are for. After a deep breath I said, "Oh no, I need the Month PYR sticker,"
The agent looked at the photo again and then reached for the box of Month stickers which are seperated by little month labels. The problem is that they are all the 2025 Yellow stickers. This seems correct as the PYR is usually for commercial vehicles that are getting actual partial year registration. I then meekly stated I needed the RED Month PYR sticker and the agent shook their head yes, went into the back office, and returned with the very item I was trying to get all along. The agent then added something like, "We thought you were trying to register partial year..." I thanked the agent and I was done.
The agent used the paper clip to attached the Month AND the other smaller stickers to my registration. I think they forgot I don't need them.
I repositioned the stickers to show all three together and, well, to hide my information...