The Saga of the Reserved Plate

I took my car in for inspection and they (it was actually my dealer, they have free inspections) told me they would reject the car because my green numbered plate was too cracked and not reflective enough. I knew the day would arrive where this would happen, so naturally I was disappointed that I would be losing the greenie. To console myself, and have something more distinctive than whatever the weird combination they're passing out at the registry for PAN plates, I wanted to get a reserved plate. I knew I needed an RMV-3 form, so I called up my insurance agent. The woman I spoke with was quite happy to generate a couple of RMV-3’s for me, but she was not too sure on how to actually get a reserved plate. I had searched the RMV website, but there was nothing there. Then I googled “Massachusetts reserved plate” and one of the hits was this post about ordering a specific reserved plate. Very interesting, but a four to twelve week wait wouldn’t do it. I had a couple of complications. First, my wife was out of town for a couple of weeks and I had promised her I’d get the van inspected while she was gone. I had put off getting it inspected until I had only two days left. Now, I was depending on the nice woman at my insurance agency and the US Postal Service to get the RMV-3 to me by Friday, my last day.

I also decided to get PARs for both cars. But the dealership where I got the other car, which had red numbered plates in the 1234AB format, had used steel round headed screws to attach the back plate and they had rusted on the plate and I couldn’t get them loose. So I had give up on it. On Friday, I had some good fortune. My mail carrier has been coming early and I got the RMV-3s in less than 24 hours. I read the RMV-3 and saw that both owners are required to sign it. Since my wife is a co-owner and she was out of the country, that posed a bit of a problem. I called the RMV, and the woman I spoke with said it was an absolute requirement that both sign. Well then, I thought, maybe I’ll win the low plate lottery next year and I can replace whatever screwy number I get. Then I though, when we did our wills 10 years ago, didn’t we also execute powers of attorney for each other? Why, yes, I think we did. After a few minutes combing though the file cabinet I found the packet from the lawyers. And , yes, there was the power of attorney. Off to the registry! By another minor stroke of luck, I was cleaning the garage a couple of weeks earlier and found the front mounting bracket for the van. So, armed with a pocket the RMV-3, the POA and a screwdriver I went to the RMV.

When I got to the RMV, I told the receptionist my predicament: I need to replace my green plate, I want a reserved plate, my wife’s out of town, but I have a POA. She wasn’t sure it would fly, but she said take a number and they’ll see what they can do. She even came over and asked me if I had an RMV-3 and apparently talked to some one behind the counter. When my number got called, I told the woman at the counter my story. She was OK with the power of attorney; in fact she didn’t even look at it. She also didn’t ask me to sign my part of the RMV-3 either. She asked if I had ordered a plate and I, of course said no. She said they weren’t sure if they even had a reserved plate in the office. I told them I would be interested in a 5 digit plate. After a few minutes of rummaging around the back offices, she came back with a 5 digit plate, held them up and asked it that was OK. I said it would be fine. I must say the people at the RMV were all quite helpful. Maybe they figured it was worth the $60 to them. I went back and re-read your post and I was inspired to put in a request for a plate for the other car. I found lots of possibilities in the A1234 and 1234A range (mostly showing up as not found, presumably never issued). I tried to find some four digit ones in the A123 and 123A format which were much rarer. I tried both initials and various 3 digit numbers: birthday, anniversary, fraternity scroll number, digits from my old green plate. One interesting one I found was 206R, registered to a 1929 Ford Model A. I finally found two good possibilities: one is cancelled and the other cancelled/returned. As a third option I put in my anniversary date, which is also cancelled/returned. It’s only been two weeks since I sent the letter, and I will post an update if I hear anything back.

UPDATE (12/30/2010):
I got a call on November 16 (at 6:00 pm no less) to say that my plate was ready for pick up. After much struggling to get the rusted screws of the back of the Toyota, I finally had my mechanic try to get them off. I picked up the plates on December 20, and they look great.