What to do with old NY license plates?

Yes, people usually keep old license plates for decoration, sentimental value, or collection, but you should only do so if the state does not require you to return them.

Reasons to Keep Old Plates

• Decoration: Many people mount old plates on walls in garages, bars, or workshops for a vintage look.
• Sentimental Value: A plate can serve as a memory of a specific vehicle you once owned.
• Collection or Resale: Vintage or rare personalized vanity plates can sometimes be sold to collectors.
• Plate Transfer: Some states allow you to transfer a personalized or special plate to a brand-new vehicle.

Risks and Rules to Know

• Legal Requirements: Rules vary by location. Some states, like Pennsylvania, strictly require you to surrender old plates when you sell a car or cancel insurance.
• Theft and Fraud Liability: Leaving old plates unsecured in a garage or throwing them in the trash is risky. If a thief steals an old plate and puts it on a getaway car or runs tolls, the traffic tickets and toll violations can trace back to you.
• Safe Disposal: If your state does not require a return and you choose not to keep a plate as a safe keepsake, you should destroy it permanently with tin snips or a permanent marker before throwing it away, or drop it off at your local DMV for recycling. Always check Official State Guidelines or your local Department of Motor Vehicles for your specific area's rules.

A ghost license plate is a modified or specialty vehicle registration plate designed to look normal to the human eye while remaining difficult or impossible for traffic and surveillance cameras to read.

How Ghost Plates Work

• Optical Disruption: They use specialized reflective coatings, films, tinted acrylics, or angled covers that manipulate infrared or regular light.
• Camera Blinding: When scanned by Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems or speed cameras, the plate characters appear washed out, blacked out, or completely blank.
• Normal Appearance: To a police officer or person looking at the vehicle directly, the numbers and letters appear completely legitimate and correctly spaced.

Uses and Legality

• Evasion: Drivers use them illegally to bypass toll booths, avoid speeding tickets, dodge low-emission zone charges, or hide from criminal investigations.
• Privacy/Shows: Some specialty covers (like the Ghostplate 2.0) are marketed for private property, track use, or auto exhibitions to block overhead view angles while remaining visible from the street, though public road use is heavily restricted or banned.
• Penalties: Using unauthorized or altered plates on public roads is illegal in most jurisdictions, carrying heavy fines, vehicle seizures, penalty points, or criminal charges for fraud.

What you should do with your old New York license plates depends entirely on whether you are canceling your registration, moving out of state, or simply replacing damaged/peeling plates.

When You MUST Surrender Your Plates to the DMV

You are legally required to surrender your plates and registration to the NYS DMV before you cancel your liability insurance or if you register your vehicle in another state. Failing to surrender them can lead to the suspension of your driver license and vehicle registration.

• In-Person: Remove frames and fasteners, destroy windshield stickers, and bring your plates and completed Form PD-7 to a DMV office (county offices may charge a $1 fee). Request a receipt to give to your insurance company.
• By Mail: Complete Form PD-7, remove frames and fasteners, and mail the items to the NYS DMV in Albany. The postmark date counts as your official surrender date.

When You MUST Destroy and Recycle Your Plates

The NYS DMV explicitly advises not to return your old plates if you are just getting replacements (such as for peeling or damaged plates) or new standard/excelsior plates. Returning them in these instances can cause inaccurate cancellations.

• Destroy Them: Deface the plates immediately to prevent fraud or illegal use (if someone else uses your old plates, you can be held liable for traffic tickets and fines). Mark through the numbers completely with a permanent marker or cut the plates into pieces.
• Recycle Them: Once destroyed, they are scrap metal. Drop them off at a local scrap metal yard or recycling station. If putting them in household recycling or trash, the DMV recommends separating the plates or following local rules so they do not jam automated sorting equipment.

Surrendering your license plates in New York takes less than 10 minutes if done in person, but about 2 to 3 weeks to receive your official proof of surrender if done by mail.

In-Person Surrender

• Time at the office: Usually under 10 minutes at a NYS DMV Office.
• Proof received: You get your FS-6T receipt immediately on the same day.
• Cost: Free at state-run offices, though some county-run DMV offices charge a small $1 processing fee.

Mail-In Surrender

• Official surrender date: The postmark date on your mail envelope counts as the official day your plates are considered surrendered.
• Time to get proof: It typically takes 2 to 3 weeks for the DMV to process the package and mail your FS-6T receipt back to you.

Important Steps

1. Remove any plate frames, fasteners, or stickers before turning them in.
2. Fill out form PD-7 (Plate Surrender Application).
3. Always keep your FS-6T receipt safe before you cancel your vehicle liability insurance to prevent fines or license suspensions.

Failing to return your unused license plates to the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (NJ MVC) can lead to administrative complications, including vehicle insurance cancellation issues, potential registration suspensions, or liability for tolls and tickets.

Potential Consequences

• Insurance Problems: If you cancel your auto insurance before surrendering your plates, the MVC may automatically flag your vehicle and issue an erroneous insurance suspension notice.
• License Suspension: On Quora, opinions on enforcement are mixed. Some drivers report no issues, but failing to surrender plates after selling or disposing of a car can officially lead to a driver's license or vehicle registration suspension until resolved.
• Liability Risks: If someone finds or uses your old unreturned plates illegally, or if they remain attached to a vehicle in your name, you could be held liable for parking tickets, toll violations, or other legal infractions.

How to Surrender Your Plates

You must return your plates if you sold the vehicle, canceled insurance, or moved out of state. You can do this through the NJ MVC Plates Page:

• In-Person: Drop them off in an outdoor drop box or hand them to staff at any NJ MVC agency (do not go to inspection stations). Always request or keep a surrender receipt.
• By Mail: Mail the plates to the designated MVC address along with a self-addressed stamped envelope so they can mail you a receipt.