The in basket: Sharon Vancil of South Kitsap had the pleasure of replacing the license plates on her 1998 CRV in January, but was surprised to get only one plate. Knowing that the law requires front and back plates, she wondered what she should do.
The out basket: Before I even got an inquiry turned in to the state, Sharon had solved her own mystery, and the answer might save some of you readers the same puzzlement in the future.
She called the county auditor’s office where she’d gotten the plate and an employee said that today’s plates are so thin, they stick together and appear to be a single plate.
And, sure enough, when she looked closely, there were two plates after all.
It reminded me of the mess I made the first time I tried to stick a Good to Go! transponder to my windshield and I tried to peal the backing off the wrong side.
Anyway, when the state’s mandatory every-seven-year plate replacement hits you,
if you think you’ve gotten only one plate, look again.
The ‘new’ thinner plates described in the article have been around since about the ‘W’ series. The state went to a thinner aluminum when the cost of aluminum skyrocketed about 3 years ago. A closer look and you will notice new sharper looking dies (the letters/numbers) They started with the first of the new AAA plates.