CA Clean Air Vehicle Stickers- Tips to get quickly

There are numerous threads with numerous messages on getting California Clean Air stickers. This is an attempt to summarize the information. Thank you to all who have taken the time to post their experiences; I hope this summary will help those seeking the stickers, especially as the 75,000 limit is approached.

The application for the stickers requests your license plate number, which is issued by DMV after they receive information from your car dealer.

WHEN WILL THE STICKERS RUN OUT?
Currently about 57,000 of the 75,000 stickers have been issued. DMV appears to be issuing about 1,000 a week (actually somewhat less, but this is a conservative working number.). At this rate they would run out at the end of August/early September. I would suspect there are a fair number of people who are procrastinating or ambivalent; as the number issued approaches 75,000 there will probably be a slight surge in applications. My (uneducated) guess: Last sticker will be issued August 29.

YOUR DEALER
My read is that the single biggest variable affecting the time it takes to get stickers is your friendly car dealer. There are three ways the dealer will affect your application.
1. Amount of time it takes for the dealer to send the information to DMV.
2. Whether the information is sent manually (paper) or electronically.
3. Whether the dealer is willing to check DMV database to determine if the plate number has been issued.

The most important variable appears to be the electronic filing. If sent electronically there is less chance of error and the information is in the DMV system faster (like the day it is transmitted). Sending paper requires a second round of data entry (initial preparation of paperwork at dealer, data entry at DMV) with associated risk of error, the chance you application will be lost/â€misplacedâ€, time required to be delivered, etc. Although this is an irritant now, there will be people who do not get stickers because their dealers sent paper to DMV rather than sending electronically.

If your dealer expedites processing of Prius information and sends the data daily it will get there faster than if the dealer processes the DMV data weekly, bi-weekly, or worse. The dealer has a fixed length of time to send the data to DMV; when I called DMV they said the dealer had 30 days; my dealer stated they had 20 days (which they took), and other posts indicate there is only a 10 day grace period. I don’t know what the truth is. Although this is an irritant now, there will be people who do not get stickers because their dealers were slow in getting data to DMV.

If you want to be sure your application is processed, the safest thing to do is to include the plate information on the application. (more on this below). Some dealers will check the DMV database for you, others refuse. You can call DMV direct at 800-777-0133 (option 0) or 916-657-8035 to request directly from DMV; getting the info from the dealer saves hassle and may be more reliable.

SHOULD I SEND THE APPLICATION WITHOUT THE LICENSE PLATE NUMBER
The posts have a menagerie of responses; some people sent an application without plate numbers immediately after purchase and then received their stickers; others sent an application without plate numbers and then received a request to resend the application. DMV has taken a bashing in the posts as a result, but I suspect the difference is successful people had customer focused dealers who quickly transmitted info (electronically) to DMV, which the rejects had slugs for dealers who eventually sent paper to DMV.

Some posters believe the DMV is getting more stringent and consistent on requiring the plate number on the application. I am holding my application until I know the plate number has been issued, largely because my dealer is sending paper and has no sense of urgency.

That said, the mood/motivation/competence of the person processing your application probably will impact your chances of success. This is true whether your application includes the plate number or not.

Doug’s April 20 post raised a good point: “The people who are processing this <at DMV> are most likely people who make a lot less money than most of us hybrid car owners. You NEED their cooperation. If like me, you are having a difficult time remaining calm, do what I did have someone else make the calls for you.â€

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO GET STICKERS AFTER MY CHECK IS CASHED
Some people get the stickers in a couple of weeks, others a couple of months. I have been unable to correlate this difference with anything.

Good luck!

 

Received stickers, elapsed time from car purchase ~7 weeks.

~2 weeks: Time for dealer to get paper out the door
~2.5 weeks: Time for DMV to do data entry, generate plate #.
~3 weeks: Time for postal service to send application, DMV issues stickers, Postal Service delivers.

If you are counting, the first 4.5 weeks could drop to 1 week or less by using a dealer who efficiently gets the DMV information transmitted electronically.

I had very good experience calling the 800 number to get license plate info from DMV.

It was about a week from time check cashed to receiving stickers.

Good luck to all still awaiting their stickers (or their car!)....