California YOM Plates and the DMV

In November 2013, I followed the advice given on a page at Ebay [ http://www.ebay.com/gds/DMV-Clear-California-License-Plates-1951-1956-1963-YOM-/10000000000961771/g.html ] to get YOM plates for Old Blue.

The basic sequence seemed to be:

1. Determine correct color and format of plates for Year of Manufacture of vehicle.For me that meant the 1963 commercial plates (In 1963 the form: L NN NNN was used) colored Yellow Numbers on Black field. Even though the truck was just a pickup, in California these require commercial plates.
2. Buy License Plates
3. Find a Registration Sticker for the year of manufacture of the vehicle and stick to the top right hand corner of plate.
4. Fill out the California DMV form 352  (YOM Application)
5. Take Plates, Sticker, Form to DMV office with check for $45
6. Wait for DMV to send current registration and new stickers with little metal mounts.
7. Put plates on Truck

First I determined that the correct plates for a 1966 FORD F-250 would be the 1963 series plates which are YELLOW letter/numbers on BLACK field. I verified with Uncle Ken what the original license plate number was and it was in the form L NN NNN as well.

I started watching the auctions at EBAY for a while getting an idea what the current market was like and how much people were paying. I was a bit shocked to see matching 1963 series California commercial plates going for between $100 and $500 dollars depending on condition. Many people sell refurbished plates that looked brand new and there is lots of advice on YouTube and other websites about how to refurbish them yourself including what paint colors to use and many processes to get that 'institutional look'. I decided to get an acceptable pair at the cheapest price I could and, buy a reproduced 1966 registration sticker being offered on EBAY for $20.

My budget for the license plates for Ole Blue detailed out as follows:

1.	Plates					$150	(shipping ~$10)
2.	Registration Sticker (I needed a yellow 1966)					$20
3.	DMV Fees					$45
						============
						$215

Compared to the alternatives that would get me yellow on black plates this seemed the least cost option calculated over the first 6 years of ownership. I used 6 years just to keep it simple yet still realizing YOM plates cost $10 a year to register, whereas California's proposed legacy plates would cost $40 a year and I still was not sure the program would be implemented since it required a set pre-sold number of plates and this number hadn't been reached yet.

After watching auctions over the course of a few weeks I found a pair that were starting at a low price, were NOT 'Buy It Now' and were in reasonable condition. I decided to try and get these for Old Blue. Before I made any bid on this pair, I called DMV at (1-800-777-0133) and asked  'Do you have a record of these plates?' and gave her the number on the plates at auction. After a few seconds the clerk said NO RECORD OF THIS NUMBER IN COMPUTER so I proceeded to bid. The plates were a little dinged up but did not have a ton of rust or looked to be bent or twisted.

I won the Auction by putting in a bid early in the action for $120 - knowing others would bid but EBAY would increment my bid to keep me at high bidder up to the $120 budget I had set for the plates. Maybe that week was full of distractions or maybe the alternative license plates available at other auctions were so compelling, whatever the reason, I won the Auction paying about half of my budgeted amount ($66 Total with shipping)  for the pair of 1963 California commercial plates. When I received the plates I noticed the sticker on the top right of the plate was for the year 1967 (ohhhh soo close!) and also saw that it was peeling and cracked and that underneath the 1967 label was a yellow tag though I could not tell what year that hidden tag was for.

I decided to try and scrape the 1967 tag off the plate and take a look. I figured that if I messed it up I would have to cover these tags with the new, reproduced 1966 tag I was going to buy so I got out my magnifying glasses and a razor blade and started picking at the edges of the 1967 sticker. As I worked at the edges of the sticker, little chunks of 50 year old sticker popped off the plate revealing the desired yellow 1966 sticker placed on the plate so many years ago. The sticker was chipped around the edges and parts of the black typeface had chipped off but all in all I could still read the letters spelling out CALIFORNIA, the year 1966, the Great Seal of the State of California and the little sequence of numbers and letters at the bottom.

WOOHOO - Just saved myself $20 AND any concerns about using a 'fake' reproduction sticker floated away. I had an original 1966 sticker on the plates ... let's see what DMV says :)