At least in California my damn paperwork was still sitting at the dealer after 5 days. I guess the dealer sensed my irritation (I told him I was nervous about the state running out of green stickers) and told me he could expedite the service and got my registration and plate number (real ones mailed later) same day. Insist on this service.
I paid $25 for this at dealer...but have not heard back a thing and its been nearly 2 weeks now. Time to call the dealer!
I'm not sure of the exact mechanism the dealer used, but I bought my PiP on a Thursday night, and on the next Tuesday morning, my dealer handed me the actual plates. No additional fee.
I swung by Carson Toyota to see Dianne and to pay for my car on Tuesday 2/28 ~12:30PM. On Thursday 3/1 at 10:50AM (about 46 hours later), Dianne emailed me with my plate number and to let me know she had my actual plates ready.
Definitely don't worry about the green HOV stickers running out. I just got mine, and they are number 1700 (or so, the car's out in the garage) out of 40,000!
I'm glad Larry mentioned this. I picked up my PiP on Thursday; asked them to expedite. Called Friday morning and they were just about to call me to say they had the plates in hand! I drove over and they installed them for me. Mailed my HOV sticker application yesterday. Rebate paperwork to be completed shortly.
Is this kind of next-day turnaround to get the actual plates specific to certain dealerships in Northern California who apparently have some sort of special connection with the DMV? My dealer also did this, with no mention of any "expedite fee".
When I originally read the thread, I understood it to be saying that dealers can go online on the Internet, file the registration, and receive the license plate number online, with the plates to follow in the mail. So I was surprised that my dealer actually procured the plates and had them in hand in less than 24 hours after my request. I didn't ask "how," but my suspicion is that they may have gone to AAA which is less than a mile straight up the street; AAA is an authorized registration agent for the CA DMV; not sure, but AAA may be required to accept registration from any member of the public--not just members.
My dealer (Capital Toyota in San Jose) says that their normal policy is that they don't issue plates for the car for 2 weeks until "my check clears". Once they are convinced that my check has cleared then THEY apparently issue the plate ... THEY have a stack of them and simply tell DMV electronically which vehicle they assigned one too, then give the plates to me. I gave them proof from my credit union that the check for the car has been cashed ... so they say I can pick up the plates tomorrow.
