Who's mailed it? Clean Air Vehicle Sticker applications

Mine went out Friday morning from the post office. Geez, I rarely need to use the carpool lane, but I felt like I should sign up "just in case"! I also feel like I should take advantage of every benefit this little gem has to offer!

 

Well, there aren't that many HOV lanes on the freeway and I don't drive them that often.

What we *do* have is HOV onramp lanes. There are lights limiting access to the freeway to one or two cars per greenlight. They are always backed up. But the HOV lane is always clear or the wait is very short.

I'm going to assume that with this sticker I can also use the HOV access lanes.

That's what *I'm* really looking forward to.

 

Well, this for Bay Area people who opened an FasTrak online for a transponder and now don't know what to do?
My advice is
- check your account online. If the transponder info is blank, then your transponder has not be assigned, meaning not sent out to you YET. If so, go to SF office (bring your registeration - a copy is OK), and ask them to reassign your transponder to the hybrid one. They will give you one ON THE SPOT. No waiting. They also give you a computer printout receipt for you to send to DMV.

I was in the same situation, and I got it resolve this way. I sent in my new application yesterday. My old application shall be rejected and the checked returned.

 

I second this, Godiva. This is the immediate benefit for me since there are no carpool lanes on the freeways I use. The wait can sometimes exceed 5 or 6 minutes to get onto the stupid freeway where I live and there is NEVER anyone in the carpool lane half.

 

Ya know, I didn't even think about that, now that IS a good reason to get the stickers!

 

I put my application in the mail Thurs. am on my way out of town. I won't need the stickers very often - okay - rarely. I fear that my hubby will be taking over the car fairly often as he does on occasion drive during commute hours. I guess we can share. I guess I'm mellowing a bit if I'm willing to share my car. Well, with gas prices the way they are, it would be stupid not to - except with my kids, that is!

Yesterday's MN article speculated that since the $40 to open the account is actually a deposit for the transponder, after we receive the stickers, if we don't need it, we can return it and get the deposit back. I'll have to think about it. We'll probably just keep the generic transponder and not exchange for the hybrid one.

 

Hi All,

Knowledgeseeker, I learned about the "Q" here on Prius Chat. The designation was changed last year/early this year because they realized that not all hybrids would be easy to identify. Yes, your vin should help, but I took my window sticker in to the DMV when I went to fight my battle and showed them.

After a confab between the person that I was talking with at the counter and her superior it was decided that an inspection would be necessary to verify that I did not have the only non-hybrid Prius in the world.

You might need to cruise to another larger DMV station where they have someone on duty just for inspections. You could also see if you could get an appointment for this so that you don't wind up wasting gobs more of your time.

I did not need a "title" on my car to have the change made as it is a coding on the registration that needs to be changed and I don't have the title to my car (the Credit Union we borrowed from does). Unless you paid in full for your vehicle, I am assuming that you have a lienholder as well and that you don't have a title to your car either.

Sounds to me like your DMV reps were not interested, willing or informed enough to help you. After the inspection on my car it took them all of 2 minutes to print out a duplicate corrected registration for me and I was on my merry way.

The change in coding came about because the registration certificate only says Toyota not Prius and, as such, it could be a lot of different non-hybrid cars.

Bottom line, either go back to your local DMV or go to a larger, better equipped office, bring your current registration and your Prius, plus any other supporting documentation you have for your specific car (the window sticker is great because it is specific to the car that it was placed in and identifies the vehicle by VIN as well as make and model) and be prepared to stay put until they fix it and then you should be able to mail in your application for the HOV sticker.

Here in Southern California (Claremont in Los Angeles County) they will take the application and payment in our local DMV in person but still only issue a receipt for the payment and tell you that the sticker will be mailed out.

Good luck and if you need additional info, I will be happy to try to help you chase it down.

Take care,

Tisza

 

I mailed my application and $8 fee last night (Friday the 12th). It'll take approximately two weeks to receive. They're apparently yellow. We'll be receiving four decals and are supposed to place them on the front bumper, rear bumper, and left & right rear quarter panels. Ugggh. I'm not looking forward to sticking these on the rear quarter panels. My Prius is black. Talk about sticking out like a sore thumb. Maybe I can stick them further to the bottom so my Prius doesn't look like some type of commercial vehicle.

It appears that the Honda Insight ('04 and below) and the Toyota Prius are the only commercially-sold hybrid vehicles that qualify for this HOV exception. I'm sure that'll upset the rest of the hybrid drivers out there(Sorry guys...).

 

I read that about the '04 and below Honda Insight's as well. Does anyone know what about the '05 changed so drastically as to kick it off of the list of qualifying vehicles?

 

T1H1X38,
Also, Honda Civic Hybrids...
Honda sold only 68 Insights in July, and 2329 Civic Hybrids.
Toyota sold 9622 Priuses in June.

 

Oh, I also read that there are 57,000 qualifying registered hybrids here in CA. So, it looks like we'll all be getting our stickers and some for a short time to come.

 

No, there are 57,000 registered hybrids. Not all of them qualify.

 

You're right, here's the quote from the LA Times article on 8.12.05:

"Despite the strict rules, most of the 57,000 currently registered hybrid cars in the state will be allowed in the diamond lanes, Paauwe said."

 

That would be the only reason for me to get this. I drive North on 15 in San Diego during my commute when the reversible HOV lanes are going South so it would be useless for me most of the time.

 

Does anyone know if the 57,000 registered hybirds includes government cars? If it doesn't, how Hybrid government cars are in the state that will suck up stickers. It really doesn't seem fair that those cars count towards the 75,000 limit.

 

Not a problem. Here is Schwarzenegger response to that concern from his press release:

"Because of a limited supply of the stickers at this point, Gov. Schwarzenegger has agreed that citizen-owned vehicles will get the stickers first, with state-owned vehicles getting them as they become available."

 

Thanks. I heard that also that the public gets the stickers first, but I am thinking of people over the six months who get a new Prius like I did last week and will be cheated out of getting a sticker because government cars get them instead of the public. My point is and question is do the Government car stickers count towards the 75K.

 

Quetions I have that I haven't found any answers to are
- what happen to the stickers when the vehicles are sold or totaled? When sold, should the owner report it back (peer it off?). My guess is that it stays with the vehicle. What if it is damaged?(broken windshield? repaired body panels where the stickers are on?) If the owner buy a new Prius, does he or she get to keep his/her sticker? Or the quota is lost? Does the state keep a waiting list?....What if the vehicles are stolen?


I hope they tell me the answers when I get my stickers. I seriously think the government is cooking up regulations as they go. While I support the policy, in general, the details are poorly executed so far. (especially for Bay Area owners)

 

The decals are for the car. If it is sold, the decals go with it.

If it were totaled you could report it to the DMV when you applied for your new decals for your new Prius.

If it is damaged due to repairs, then you apply for a replacement and pay another $8.

If you buy a new Prius, you have to apply for more decals for that car. You apply with the car's license plate and VIN number, so they go with the car, not the owner.

A Prius is really hard to steal. If someone steals your decals, you apply for replacements...and pay another $8.

Remember they are only good from now until Dec. 31, 2007. But I wouldn't be surprised if that was extended. And the quota may even be increased, especially if the other hybrid owners lobby to get the restrictions loosened so they can qualify too.

 

Mailed August 10th at the exact post office here in Sacramento which sorts State mail. That plus having a shorter distance for the return mail, I would imagine that I am in the lead in the Great PriusChat California Hybrid “Clean Air†Sticker Race.

But then one must also take into account that we are dealing with state workers here . . . and not only that . . . the DMV subspecies of state workers. [I’m sure hoping none of that subspecies reads PriusChat ]