Wait time for California DMV carpool stickers?

mwalsh said:

^ I do wonder how many of the 36,000+ currently issued are actually with new vehicles that aren't sold yet, but dealers have registered them via the recent process allowing for such.

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The article mentions that of the 40k quota, 12k were issued just in the last 4 months alone. I believe that's roughly the total *US* sales in that same time period of the biggest selling PHEVs (PiP, Volt, Energi series).

I would bet that California dealers reserving them for unsold cars is a big reason behind the sudden surge in the number of issued green stickers.

For the folks that leased their Leaf: what do you put on the in Current Registered Owner section? Just got plates yesterday and am eager to send in my REG 1000 form.

Do you just put your name as it appears on your license, or did you include the leinholder (nissan) as well? Just want to make sure my application doesn't get rejected



thanks

You say you just got your plates so you should of received a perm registration with the plates you need to put whats on your registration and it must match, Nissan is not the Registered Owner.

vsaphill said:

You say you just got your plates so you should of received a perm registration with the plates you need to put whats on your registration and it must match, Nissan is not the Registered Owner.

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I have read in some forums that you can apply for HOV white sticker while waiting for registration plates to come through. People have used two methods to achieve this:

1. Leave the license plate entry blank, and the DMV will figure it out from the VIN number.
2. Call up the DMV and get your license plate number.

Have folks in this forum succeeded in any of these methods recently. If yes, then which DMV phone number is the best one to get the plate numbers.

FYI, I saw a Tesla pulled out of the HOV lane today for apparently not displaying decals. It could have been for something else, I suppose, but there was really no other reason immediately obvious - we certainly weren't going fast enough for it to be speeding.

I think we all knew that this was a possibility, but it's the first time I've actually seen it happen. So bear this in mind if you're waiting for decals on a new purchase and are tempted to cruise the HOV lane!

Any one know what the waiting time is now?

I can let you know fairly soon - colleague took delivery of a Fiat 500e about 2 weeks ago.

So I guess I can actually say that it's a minimum of two weeks.

chuhouse2003 said:

Any one know what the waiting time is now?

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I got my plate number on 9/24, mailed in my application 9/25, check cleared 10/15, received a few days later (was out of town so unsure when it exactly came) by 10/18.

Got the Spark 8-12. Took until 10-18 to get the stickers. Of course the dealer* added a couple of weeks by getting the motive power code wrong, they put down Q rather than E, so I had to get them to correct that, which added about 2 weeks.

*(GM dealer that sells lots of Volts, which are classed as Q on the MP box.)

The good news is, I finally got the Volt back from the SO, she has a commuter lane she can save a half hour using, and our '11 does not qualify...

mgs333 said:

chuhouse2003 said:

Any one know what the waiting time is now?

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I got my plate number on 9/24, mailed in my application 9/25, check cleared 10/15, received a few days later (was out of town so unsure when it exactly came) by 10/18.

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Mailed application with check around the same time and am still waiting for the check to clear. Something must be wrong, grrrrrr.

I'm glad I noticed and read (the end of) this thread though, as I've been wondering...

mwalsh said:

I can let you know fairly soon - colleague took delivery of a Fiat 500e about 2 weeks ago.

So I guess I can actually say that it's a minimum of two weeks.

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Colleague got his decals this last Saturday. So exactly 6 weeks from purchasing his 500e on 9/27.

I got a short three week turnaround from mailing my application about Oct 18 to receiving stickers Nov 10. This was for my 2013 LEAF that had been registered for 16 months already but I hadn't applied for stickers yet.

mbender said:

mgs333 said:

chuhouse2003 said:

Any one know what the waiting time is now?

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I got my plate number on 9/24, mailed in my application 9/25, check cleared 10/15, received a few days later (was out of town so unsure when it exactly came) by 10/18.

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Mailed application with check around the same time and am still waiting for the check to clear. Something must be wrong, grrrrrr.

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FYI, something was wrong (my address on the form didn't match exactly with their records). I corrected it, sent it back, and got the stickers in about a month from mailing. It might have been expedited somehow because it had already been there once, but I don't see how. Unless I sent it back to a special address the second time, which I don't think I did.

Bay Area drivers note: in order to get half-price on bridge tolls, you have to drive through the carpool lane. I obliviously forgot to do this several times with the 2012 -- e.g., when cruising in the right lanes when HOV was no big advantage.

I got my registration from CA DMV in a quick 3 weeks. I immediately sent in my request or carpool stickers. Its been about a week and will report back when I get mine.
UPDATE. I mailed application and $8 on 1-27-15. Check cashed on 2-20-15 and got stickers on 2-23-15.

Just wanted to add this, since either incorrect information was given up thread, or the rules have changed since that post was made.

The Metro Express Lanes (I10 and 110 around LA) do allow you with the white sticker to use the lanes as if you were a 3+ (you still need a transponder with switch).

Effective February 24, 2014, vehicles displaying a DMV issued White or Green Clean Air Vehicle Decal http://www.dmv.ca.gov/vr/decal.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; will be toll-free. All vehicles, including Clean Air Vehicles, are required to have a FasTrak® transponder while traveling on the ExpressLanes. To ensure toll-free travel, set your transponder to switch position 3 (3+ person carpool) prior to starting your trip. Clean energy vehicles that do not have a Clean Air Vehicle Decal must drive with their transponder set according to their vehicle occupancy.
https://www.metroexpresslanes.net/en/faq/driving.shtml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Same for the 91 Express Lanes. Motorcycles and vehicles with a white sticker can use the 3+ lane, which is free, except from 4-6pm M-F while heading east. At those times, it is 50% of the current toll. Still need a transponder. If you are only going to use the transponder with a white stickered EV or motorcycle, you can set up a special account that doesn't get charged the minimum monthly fee of a normal account or the setup fee, but you don't have to have the special account. I have one transponder that I use between my motorcycle and regular cars, and will also use with my Leaf once I get the white stickers in the mail. I have it on the standard plan since I do use it on occasion in my ICE cars.

If you're talking about my post, keep in mind that it was nearly 2 years ago since I posted that and yes things have changed since then.

Another thing that has changed since then is the Metro Express Lanes transponders are no longer free except for low-income users. Before, if you made a minimum of 4(?) trips a month in the Metro HOT lanes, you are only charged the toll itself, and no additional fees for the Metro FasTrak. Now there is a $1/month "maintenance fee" regardless of amount of usage.

There are maintenance-fee-free transponders available from other FasTrak agencies, but if you use these in the Metro HOT lanes, you will be charged the solo-driver toll regardless of the number of passengers you have or what kind of car you are driving.

More changes since the last post: 91 Express Lanes now have a switchable (1/2/3+ occupant) transponder for use with the Metro HOT lanes in LA County. The advantage of the 91 Express Lanes transponder over the Metro one is that the former has a "Convenience Plan" which does not require a monthly maintenance fee, currently $1/month with Metro regardless of usage. The disadvantage is you do have to buy the transponder outright at $75, but it will pay for itself after 76 months, faster if Metro decides to increase the maintenance fee.

The new transponder is not yet shown on the 91 Express Lanes website, but I found out about via an email I got.

Applied for stickesrs in week of July 10, yet to receive the carpool stickers. Any idea how much longer to wait?

I got mine a month or 2 ago. I think in total, it took around 3 weeks, 4 at the most.

Here's how mine went, just to keep this current.

The lease on my 2012 Nissan Leaf was ending 9/14/15, so here is what I did:

Leased 2016 Kia Soul EV 8/5/15
Continued to drive 2012 Leaf...
Received License Plates: 8/27/15
Continued to drive 2012 Leaf...
Mailed White Sticker App: 8/28/15
Continued to drive 2012 Leaf...
Turned in Leaf: 9/12/15 :-(
Drive Kia in traffic...
Check Cleared: 9/22/15
Drive Kia in traffic...
Received White Stickers: 9/26/15


7 weeks and 3 days after lease of new Kia.