Cali HOV Stickers

...I hear you, but I went to the author of the legislation to see what gives. Need a ruling on this matter. If no response I will bump it up a notch.

 

This is very messed up. Imagine same time this year (2018), someone bought a used 2015 preowned car without green sticker (Previous owner did not apply nor interest)...and then applying and get the new red sticker issued....while I bought a freaking brand new 0 mile with Pre-Applied green sticker by dealer issued on December 31st 2016 and I can’t get to renew this to red sticker nor after 2019... you guys see how unfair it is ? The previous car is a 3 year old vs mine is brand new.

 

Just called dmv today and they said all vehicles stickers issued before Jan 1 2017 will not be able to renew. Very sucky. . I should have known ahead. Too late to return my vehicle.

 

Unfortunate, seems odd that the legislators can't fix that.
Must be a lot of California Primes in this situation, they just do not know it yet?

 

Yes, people do buy used cars out of state in order to obtain the sticker without issues. I do not consider it unfair. And while I understand how you feel, California does not have to offer HOV passes to our vehicles. California does this voluntarily and while you did miss the arbitrary deadline, if you bought the car for the HOV pass, you should have done more research. However, with all that said, I do agree that it does suck for you.

 

I don't deny that laws are influenced by money and lobbying. That's not the point though. When you bought the car, you should have seen that all stickers expire by a certain date (it was Jan 1, 2019). If you bought the car expecting/hoping/praying then yea... If you bought the car after you saw that the law changed, then you could have made sure that your passes were issued after Jan 1, 2017. Again, it doesn't matter why California or its legislatures did what it did, whether its based on money, lobbying, or anything else.

 

I'll say what has shocked me, is that there was just about zero (0) discussion on PriusChat about the ramafications of the new HOV laws in Ca. I was following closely as an outsider, but no one here - correct me if wrong - was bringing this issue up in the prior months.

Even Green Car Reports who has a recent article, has it wrong.

It apparently makes no difference the Model Year of the car, nor when you bought. it. The only thing matters is HOV sticker date, and that is complicated by the fact that the dealers can pre-order those ahead of the sale. So you can easily have a 2017 Prime purchased in 2017 with a 2016 HOV sticker - and you are out of luck on HOV (pending any legislative fixes to this).

Take our OP Hill for instance, a dyed-in-the-wool, Ca. plug-in advocate...he is just now realizing what the new law did to him and a I suspect a bunch of other unsuspecting plug-in owners. 1-Jan-2019 is going to wild over there.

So far - to my knowledge - we only have one Prime owner on PriusChat - @Tradesuperstocks who has recently mentioned he has this issue. Up to now, complete silence.

 

A lot of people don't even know the new law changes. Most assume their stickers are good forever .. Including me prior the purchase. I had no idea that it has to be renew with term limit and expiring in Jan 2019. It would be a completely different story if I did more research..

 

You have to consider if some political action could help. When we had the hybrid fee in Virginia, one thing was obvious the Gov had not asked the VADA (Virginia Auto Dealers Assoc) if this made sense. In this new CA. case, if the legislators had talked to the CNCDA, the dealers could have advised that they were putting *old* HOV stickers on the cars, and that would necessitate a "purchase date" not a "sticker date" basis. When we had the hybrid fee problem, I spoke to major a Virginia Toyota dealer (Koons) and the assist manager who was the VADA rep promised to work thru VADA to remove the fee.

 

I wonder how this happened to you?....,perhaps fairly rare. Recall the green stickers had hit the limit, until the limit was expanded around Oct_2016, right when Prime came out. But the dealers did not really have time to pre-order stickers until maybe early December. Looking back at her posts, Dianne Whitmire (our Prime sales person here) was not able to get HOV stickers for her vehicles sold in 2016 (DMV delayed acting at her applications until mid-Feb_2017). Maybe DMV issued a few green stickers to Prime buyers or dealers in Dec_2016?

When I get a chance I will search the posts here to see who reported the earliest Prime HOV stickers (poor souls).

EDIT: Well we do have some poor souls, per this Prime thread:
California License Plates + HOV Sticker | PriusChat

When you read the above thread, there are several PriusChat participant Prime owners, who may not know it yet, but they got HOV stickers in late 2016 and hence cannot renew to 2022 (unless some law changes are made). In most cases I see so far, it looks like the dealer had pre-applied for the HOV stickers.

 

My car had green sticker already when I purchased it. The date of issue was Dec 30. The dealer didn't even know it will be expiring January 2019. I didn't know either until later a friend told me new law passed last year.

 

That really sucks. I purchased my Prime in 12/16, but had to apply for the stickers. Who knew that my dealership, being not as proactive as yours, and having to apply and wait a couple of months for my stickers was an advantage?

 

Yes I now see some dealers were "successful" in getting HOV stickers for the early Primes (below). Let me know your dealer if possible, so we can alert buyers.

Here is my unofficial count so far I see from archive posts here:

2 x 2017 Primes bought in 2016 w/ dealer pre-applied 2016 sticker
1 x 2017 Primes bought in 2017 w/ dealer pre-applied 2016 sticker (probable case)
1 x 2017 Primes bought in 2018 w/ dealer pre-applied 2016 sticker
0 x 2017 Primes bought in 2016 w/ owner applied for 2016 sticker (so far I see long 2-month waits for stickers)

Dealerships that sold the Primes with pre-applied 2016 stickers*
Tustin Toyota
Toyota of Orange

*Of course in 2016, no one knew the as-yet unwritten new HOV laws...these are apparently good dealers that did their Prime purchasers a favor by getting the HOV stickers for them ASAP at dealership expense.

 

Well unlucky me, I fall into the category of purchasing my Prime in November 2016, and the dealer applied (I just looked at my certificate, and it was actually South Coast Toyota that applied, but I purchased the vehicle from Toyota of Orange, so it was a car swap by the dealers) for the stickers at the same time (issued Nov 30, 2016). So it looks like mine expire at the end of this year, with no chance to renew unless they change the law or someone with higher powers can help out. If you ask me, it should be the model year of the car to ensure each car gets at least 3 years in the lane (which is what it looks like they want to achieve)...my car only gets 2 years and 1 month.

Obviously would like to extend my access, but even as it is, I only use the carpool lane for about 5 miles in the afternoon, which saves me on average 5 minutes. I remember when I received the stickers with my plate I even contemplated applying them. Still, I think I'll still try and apply and see what happens...

 

@pricoaster yes I had seen your earlier post...just helped to show, yes some Primes did get caught in this situation. Maybe the dealers can help ask for relief for the early buyers through their legislators or CNCDA as a lobby group. Although 2016 purchases might be in trouble even with a fix. But definitely give it a shot.

 

Wait, I mentioned it. I was an early adopter. I replaced my 2010 ATP. I lost Lane Keep Assist, and, I guess, an early expiration date of my HOV sticker. No good deed goes unpunishd.

 

Yes, only those who obtained a sticker after Jan. 1, 2017 will be eligible. Anyone who was issued an HOV sticker earlier than that date is SOL.

I can only thank my lucky (fill in the blank) that I procrastinated on my purchase until March 2017.