In 2017, my wife and I purchased a new car. The dealer gave us a new license plate. Within the next year, we noticed that the plate was starting to peel in strips. In August, the service manager at the dealer told us the car did not pass the yearly state inspection due to state regulations regarding the license plate.
We went to the Department of Motor Vehicles in Greensburg, where we were told that they could not give us a new plate and that we could go to AAA for one. It cost us $11 for a new plate at AAA, even though the lessened condition of the plate was of no fault of our own. To add insult to injury, we had to pay a $25 processing fee to AAA — but if we were AAA members, the fee would only be $10. Because the state farmed out this service to AAA, we had to pay an additional fee.
When PennDOT was contacted about this situation, a representative stated that the dealer was in error, and that a faulty license plate is not cause for a failed state inspection. We were also told the dealer could have given us an MV-46 form or an MV-44 application to send in to PennDOT for a free replacement plate by mail.
Dealers and AAA should be required to tell customers about the state’s free license plate reissuance program.
To note, I left a message with the Service Manager at Kenny Ross a week ago about what had transpired. We are still waiting for then to return our call.
Daniel Bernstein
Greensburg