Michigan changed their classic licence plate rules. Good or bad?

[TJ Hopland]

Short version:
Michigan just apparently passed a change in their (or one of their) classic licence plate / registration regulations.  Till now their classic plates came with restrictions that were apparently often enforced as to when and where you could operate a car with this style of registration. I don't know the specifics but it was weekends and official car shows sort of thing.  The change is now memorial day to labor day is allowed unrestricted. 

Sounds good but did the people that got this change 'shoot themselves in the foot' so to speak?  The theoretical advantage to the special plates is they generally have a one time fee vs the usual yearly fee and due to the restricted use you can usually get favorable insurance rates.  You still don't have to renew every year but what about the insurance rates??

Longer version:       

This week I had to help a friend prep a car for pickup to a person from Michigan.  They have been working on the deal since last summer but for various reasons were not able to complete the deal till this week.  I was chatting with the buyer and showing him what I knew about the car since I had been its primary care giver the last several years and he mentioned that his insurance quote had more than doubled since last year.  I was curious why,  assuming accident, teen driver, DUI sort of thing and that was when he told be about this change to the law and that is what his insurance company told him when he went to insure the car before he drove it home.

The insurance thing seems totally plausible to me since I hear overall the insurance industry is in trouble from too many payouts due to rising costs and various disasters.  Makes sense that any slight excuse they can find to raise premiums or even cancel people they will take and in this case I don't think I can really blame them. 

I know one of the lines in my policies is something to the effect of the car has to be legally registered and operated within the requirements of said registration.  So if you are in a state where there is some sort of classic registration that has use restrictions that limits when you can use the car that in theory limits your exposure so the insurance company can be comfortable with lower rates.  If you are operating outside of those restrictions they are off the hook because of the line where it said you have to operate within the registration.

I have always had regular registration on my car because didn't want to have any restriction when and where I could drive it.  After many years I switched to classic insurance and expected I would have to change to a classic registration but when I talked to the big players and told them I was in Minnesota they all said it doesn't matter because no one in my state seems to know what restrictions are on the various options therefore its almost never enforced. 

Michigan sounds like they did enforce whatever the restrictions were and after getting 'busted' a few times some people spent several years getting those restrictions reduced which has just recently taken effect.  Based on what this guy said the insurance companies were also paying attention and have hiked up the rates.  I wonder what the people that got this changed think now?  Could be a bummer for someone that owns one car but an even bigger problem for people that own several because presumably all rates will go up. 

Seems like maybe if a few people wanted to drive all summer (or year) unrestricted they should have just got regular plates for the car they wanted to drive but now they may have sort of ruined it for both themselves and the rest of the people that were fine with the restrictions if they could save money on insurance. 

Just something to look into and pay attention to in your state. Could really change the costs of owning and operating a classic car.


I had sort of forgot about the whole thing and thought maybe it was just this guy for some reason but then this popped up in my YouTube feed yesterday.   Steve Lehto's channel for those that don't like clicking on links.  He didn't specifically say his rates when up but does mention the insurance issue.       

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCg5oi5SbeA

[Clewisiii]

Michigan insurance sucks anyway. We have recently changed the no fault catastrophic claims rule. Each car had to pay $180 a year in addition to the normal insurance to pay for catastrophic claims. Michigan law required unlimited medical benefits on car insurance. I believe even the seldom used cars had to cover this.

[TJ Hopland]

Ahh someone from Michigan.  Does Michigan have different options for classic plates or is there just one?  And do you know what the restrictions are/were?  You ever had them enforced on you or know of it being enforced?  Have any of your policies come up for renewal yet this year?   

Like I was saying MN has a few options the most common being 'collector' and over the years I have asked local, county, and state police and none of them had any idea what the rules actually were and at least back when I was concerned about it was unable to find anything online or by calling DMV DOT sort of people.  I quit caring when I found out the classic insurance companies didn't care either which further proves that it doesn't matter to the state either.

Curious to hear from others if there has been any recent changes where they live.

[Clewisiii]

If you had a historic vehicle plate you could get one from the state that said that. Or you could use a vintage plate from the past.

One of the problems was the vintage plate numbers did not come up in the cops system if they pulled you over.

If you only paid for historic registration you could only drive to and from a show or event, or a test drive. If you are caught driving to the store or work during the week with a historic plate you could get in trouble.

Now you could always register your car normally and drive whenever. Insurance permitting.

[Clewisiii]

[TJ Hopland]

Yup that was the video I linked to and that made me think the guy I met was legit.

I do watch most of his videos probably because he is a car guy so often talks about car related subjects and he happens to be in Michigan so likely easier for him to check out legal facts.

[Clewisiii]

Funny story. Michigan did not make a plate for 1961, my car. They made a plate in 59 and 1960 and 61 you would just get a new number corner to go under the screw. They did make a 1962 plate and I have a rough condition one of those.

[TJ Hopland]

Michigan must have put too many people in jail in 1960 so they could not buy new cars but could make a lot of 1960 plates that went unused?  Ya know the ole prison licence plate factory thing? 

[Carfreak]

Sec. 20a. "Historic vehicle" means a vehicle that is over 25 years old and that is owned solely as a collector's item and for participation in club activities, exhibitions, tours, parades, and similar uses, including mechanical testing, but is not used for general transportation. For purposes of this section, use of the vehicle during the period from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day each year is considered an exhibition.

Good article by Hgerty which explains the recent changes: https://www.hagerty.com/media/news/michigan-relaxes-driving-restrictions-for-vintage-cars/

Woodward Dream Cruise is the 3rd Saturday of August every year and cruisers were out there every weekend, often during the week throughout the summer but particularly August. Perhaps some good pressure caused this recent loosening of the rules? 

FWIW, previously historic registered vehicles could be driven anywhere, anytime, even as a commuter vehicle, to the grocery store, etc. during the entire month of August. This was changed about 10 years ago in large part because City of Royal Oak (Woodward runs through it) was issuing a lot of tickets & people were NOT happy. 

1. Michigan allows you to register an 'Authentic' aka Year of Manufacture license plate to your vehicle for $35. This registration never expires. Unlike states like Taxachusetts & Virginia, no annual personal property tax on vehicles either.

2. You can also register for a 'Historic' license plate which is supplied by the state.  Cost is $30 for 10 years. 

3. Every car / truck in Michigan (daily driver) pays an annual Michigan Catastrophic Claims Assessment (MCCA) with their insurance. This crazy cost has been as high as $180/car/year but is currently around $85/car/year.

4. Either option #1 or #2 historic or authentic registration above allows you to qualify for a reduced cost MCCA. Per last year's Hagerty renewal, cost was $24/car/year. Previously it has been as high as $80!

5. In years past we were able to register Dealer, Manufacturer, Municipal, Personalized, Ham Radio, Fleet (school bus) & other specialty plates as Authentic / Year of Manufacture if the year matched your vehicle. When a Director for the Secretary of State (Michigan's license plate / vehicle registration dept) retired around 15 years ago, his parting 'gift' was to disallow the specialty vintage license plates going forward.  Those persons who already have one of these specialty plates registered to their vintage vehicles were 'grandfathered' and allowed to continue to use them. We have a variety of the specialty Year of Manufacture (YOM) registered to our vehicles.   

6. Another Michigan quirk, military vehicles are required to have a license plate registered to the vehicle but not required to display the license plate when driving. You can throw the plate in your trunk, under the seat, laying down in the back window, anywhere in the car.  Our 1942 General's Staff car has run with 4-stars on the rear for over 20 years with nary a question - we have gotten several salutes (from cops) though. 

7. Similarly I've only once been pulled over for a question about my historic / vintage license plate.  Was driving my 1966 Toro back in the early 1990s with a registered 1966 Michigan ham radio license plate. At that time a cop 'ran' my plate and it came back as expired, previously registered to a 1983 Chrysler. Yeah, because the Ham was still alive, still using his call sign on his daily driver. Had to explain to the cop vintage license plates were not in their computer system but rather had to call to Lansing and have them pull registration information from the file cabinet. In the past couple years, Authentic YOM license plates ARE now searchable by cops (LEIN system?) and I think the state issued Historic license plate has been that way for a while. 

8. What else - - yep, some years Michigan issued those little metal tabs such as 1960 but they also offered a lot of weird different options for regular license plates back in the day. Half year plates, In Transit Repair, truck plates by weight and more.  According to current Michigan historic / vintage registration guidelines, none of these are supposed to be registered to vintage vehicles. For 1972, passenger vehicles were provided a sticker (instead of a metal tab) to be placed on the corner of the 1971 license plate but Manufacturer ('M plates'), Dealer, etc were issued in 1972. We have a 72 M-plate registered on one of our cars (grandfathered). 

9. In the late 1970s, Michigan changed the law which required only one license plate on the rear allowing for no plate or a vanity plate on the front. Mailed our daughter a drill & bit plus screws & plastic nuts when she moved to the east coast and needed to install a front plate on her Michigan car. 

Yeah, our insurance SUCKS in a lot of ways vintage registrations aren't so bad. At least we never had soybean license plates like Illinois during the war years. Cows, goats and other animals were known to have eaten them. 

One other interesting item, the one-family-owned-since-new 1906 Cadillac donated to the CLC Museum a few years ago was always registered with the same license number. When new in 1906, you were assigned a number by the State then had to make your own license plate. A variety of the plates issued to the car over the past 118 years were also donated to the CLC Museum. They are not yet on display with the car but hopefully soon. 

[Carfreak]

Ya know the ole prison licence plate factory thing? 

Married to a license plate collector, I recall hearing a story think that happened in Michigan in late 1940s or early 1950 - how some of the prisoners making plates did something 'wrong' and a quantity of those plates were issued. Of course, now worth $$$

[Carfreak]

Funny story. Michigan did not make a plate for 1961, my car. They made a plate in 59 and 1960 and 61 you would just get a new number corner to go under the screw.

1960 & 1964 were also metal tabs

[Clewisiii]

Ya I did not put a punctuation after 59 when I should have

[TJ Hopland]

Soy plates?

"I'm telling the truth officer, I had a plate on there earlier today before I parked by that pasture"

Sort of a twist on the dog ate my homework.

[Carfreak]

Yeah, that was a problem.  And searching for an online pic, apparently Montana had the soybean license plates too.

https://www.greatfallshistorymuseum.org/blog/soy-license-plates


You do know Henry Ford made a car from soy bean, right? 

Now a days, soybeans are treated like Cadillacs.  https://www.farmprogress.com/soybean/the-cadillac-treatment-for-high-yield-dryland-soybeans

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

If the policy limits driving to x miles per year to begin with, I can't see why state rules expanding the number of days that an antique registered vehicle can be operated should make any difference. Only if the policy allowed unlimited mileage. And if the "legally operated" clause is a problem, there's nothing that says the vehicle can't be registered with regular plates. As far as I'm aware, classic car insurance carriers don't require classic/antique registration.

[J. Skelly]

Michigan issued the metal tags to be mounted in the upper right corner of the plate for 1960, 1961, 1963 and 1964.

[Carfreak]

I've never seen mention the past 20 years pertaining to mileage limits in our Hagerty Policy. 

In fact, Hagerty encourages clients to drive their cars hence their mottos: "Never Stop Driving", "Driving is who we are", "Lets Drive Together" and "Enjoy the Ride". 

[Carfreak]

If the policy limits driving to x miles per year

Somewhere I saw mentioned Penna laws limit historic vehicles to 2500 miles/year. Is that still in effect or not?
 If yes, is mileage reviewed during your annual vehicle inspection or an easily ignored rule? 

DEFINITION OF ANTIQUE AND CLASSIC MOTOR VEHICLES AND VINTAGE REGISTRATION PLATES

Antique Motor Vehicle - A motor vehicle, but not a reproduction thereof, manufactured more than 25 years prior to the current year which has been maintained in or restored to a condition which is substantially in conformance with manufacturer specifications.

Classic Motor Vehicle - A motor vehicle, but not a reproduction thereof, manufactured at least 15 years prior to the current year which has been maintained in or restored to a condition which is substantially in conformity with manufacturer specifications and appearance. 

Vintage Registration Plates - A vintage registration plate is a "period-issued" registration plate from 1906 to 1976 to be displayed on an antique or classic vehicle with the same corresponding model year. Vintage registration plates are not manufactured or issued by PennDOT. Applicants are required to provide the vintage registration plate they wish to display on their antique or classic vehicle.

USE OF ANTIQUE, CLASSIC AND VINTAGE REGISTRATION PLATES
The use of antique, classic and vintage registration plates is governed by Section 1340 of the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code, which states: "It is unlawful for any person to operate a motorcycle or vehicle with antique, classic, vintage, collectible or historic military vehicle registration plates for general daily transportation. Permitted use shall be limited to participation in club activities, exhibits, tours, parades, occasional transportation and similar uses." Occasional transportation and similar uses are defined as no more than one day a week.  Antique, Classic, and Vintage registration plates may not be displayed on a vehicle used to transport people or property.

INSPECTION
Classic vehicles are subject to an annual vehicle safety inspection. Antique vehicles operated exclusively between sunrise and sunset are exempt from the normal lighting requirements of the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code but must have their original lighting equipment. Antique vehicles are not subject to the annual vehicle safety inspection. Antique and classic vehicles are not subject to emissions inspection.

And how does the restriction for driving between sunrise & sunset work? Is that only for certain historic vehicles?

What is the cost for Annual Inspection? What do they inspect?  Lights, turn signals, wipers, etc? 
 

The fee for antique or classic registration is $96. This is in addition to the $96 application fee to display a vintage registration plate.

Are these one-time registration fees or annual?

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Somewhere I saw mentioned Penna laws limit historic vehicles to 2500 miles/year. Is that still in effect or not?
 If yes, is mileage reviewed during your annual vehicle inspection or an easily ignored rule? 


And how does the restriction for driving between sunrise & sunset work? Is that only for certain historic vehicles?

What is the cost for Annual Inspection? What do they inspect?  Lights, turn signals, wipers, etc? 
 
 

Are these one-time registration fees or annual?

There is no formal mileage limit for PA Antique/Classic registered vehicles. The restrictions are as you have stated above but are largely unenforced. The only thing likely to incur trouble is driving at night but if driving locally on the way back from a cruise night, it would be up to the officer's discretion. Even at that, I've never heard of someone being pulled over for driving at night with antique/classic plates.

Regular PA annual safety inspection for normally driven cars includes brakes, tires, suspension, exhaust, undercarriage components, brake hoses, lines, wipers, washers, horn exterior lights, signals and emissions check (depending on county).

There is a one time charge for antique/classic registration and the car is then exempt from annual inspections. 

Checking one of Hagerty's sites  they do state certain mileage limits, or at least imply it to be up to 3,500 miles annually with up to 7,500 "considered". Permitted mileage can vary from carrier to carrier.

https://www.hagertyagent.com/insurance/eligibility-guidelines

[TJ Hopland]

The point was that if your state was putting restrictions on when you could drive based on the type of registration you choose that then the insurance company didn't have to impose any restrictions because your state already did.