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NY AV owners: Commercial or Passenger Plates?

AlphaTea

SM 2005
Full Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2005
Messages
91
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right behind you. LOOK!
I thought the AV was a truck. The lady at DMV says no, its a Suburban, you get passenger plates. I have seen other AV's with both kinds of plates. What do you have on yours?
FYI non NYer's: In NY all pickups had Commercial Plates until last year. Then it was decided that if it was under 5500lbs you could get Passenger car plates. Yea, I know, my AV is 5700lbs. Anyway this came about because P/U drivers were being ticketed for driving in "No Commercial Vehicle's" zones in NYC. Not the intent of the poorly written law, but non the less it was the law.
So if you are not a business and your truck weighs less than 5500lbs, you can get Passenger plates and drive where you like.
 
I have never had commercial plates on my pickups in NY.  I have regular plates on my Av.  If you are not using the truck for business put regular plates on it. 

Ed
 
Almost 2 years ago I got two tickets on the Wantagh parkway from a state trooper. One for being on the parkway and one for improper registration for having passenger plates. He did not want to hear that the AV is not a truck. The door jam decal says MPV and the certificate of origin says Suburban. I still have not received a court date in the mail so I hope they just tossed them out. The tropper gave me a copy of the law talking about the 5000 limit. A buddy with a Silvberado SS toke his rear bumper off and whatever else he could remove and got a weight slip from garbage dumps and then they gave him pass plates.
 
Where I work, there are 4 AV's including mine (the newest). Two have pass. plates, two with comm. plates. One of the Commercial plates AV's was purchased in Feb. None of these are for business use. It doesnt sound like there is any consistancy on this.
 
I have passenger plates on mine, but if the law states that over 5500lbs needs comm plates, I may have to get them. My AV easily weighs in excess of 6000lbs now with the SOR, lift and tires.

-James.
 
NYDMV is retarded-you can register it however you like-I have commercial plates on my EXT because with commercial plates, signs/address on the doors and no back seat(hidden from view) you can park in truck loading zones in NYC. ?I am theoretically not suppose to drive on the parkway now though. ?Most of the laws regarding pick-up registration are antiquated and retarted-no one knows(including some police) what the actual regulations are, and they are not likely to be changed because most polititians don't drive pick-ups! :E:
 
This is from NY DMV page. The law is preety clear, the only question is how they view the AV, as a pickup or SUV. If they view it as a pickup we would all need comm plates so I doubt thats the case. That being said my 2 tickets are bogus :8:




Can I get a passenger class registration for my pick-up truck and drive the truck on parkways?

You can get passenger class plates for a light-duty pick-up truck that has an unladen weight of 5,500 lbs. or less.

See form MV-114 (Information For Pick-Up Truck Owners) to get more information.

The agency that controls a parkway decides if pick-up trucks with passenger class plates are allowed on the parkway. To make sure you can drive your pick-up truck on a parkway, contact the agency that manages the parkway. Some parking regulations and traffic regulations in New York City depend on the type of vehicle plates on your vehicle. Passenger class plates on your pick-up truck can change how NYC regulations affect you. Contact New York City about their regulations.

What pick-up trucks qualify for passenger class plates?

A pick up truck that is not changed and has an open bed can qualify for passenger class plates if the truck:

is used only for non-commercial purposes, and
has an unladen weight of 5,500 lbs. or less (the unladen weight of your pick-up truck is listed on the title certificate and on the door sticker), and
does not have any business advertisements on the truck.
How to apply

You are not required to apply for passenger class plates for your pick-up truck. You can continue to use commercial plates on your pick-up truck.

The unladen weight of your pick-up truck is stamped on a metal plate and located on the door of your vehicle. The unladen weight is also listed on your title certificate. The unladen weight is different from the maximum gross weight (MGW) listed on your registration documents. Before you apply, make sure that the unladen weight of the truck is 5,500 lbs. or less.

Passenger class plates on a pick-up truck do not change the MGW listed on the registration documents or the unladen weight listed on the title certificate. Passenger class plates on a pick-up truck do not change the registration fees. The DMV requests the unladen weight to verify that your pick-up truck is eligible for passenger class plates. The DMV does not change the unladen weight or the MGW.

You must apply in person at a DMV office. You cannot apply by mail, by phone, over the Internet, or by e-mail. Complete form MV-82 (Vehicle Registration / Title Application). Make sure to complete section 6, question 4. You must bring your title certificate and proofs of identity and date of birth, and surrender your commercial plates.  The fee is $16.00.

The registrant of a pick-up truck that is leased or rented must submit a form provided by the leasing company or owner of the pick-up truck.  The form must certify that the vehicle will not be used for commercial purposes.

The DMV office will issue new registration documents and standard passenger plates with anew number.  If you had custom plates or personalized plates, your new registration documents will list the numbers from your custom plates or personalized plates and the standard series plates.  The DMV will send new passenger custom or personalized plates by mail.

If your registration will expire in less than 60 days, you can renew your registration at a DMV office and change to passenger class plates when you renew.

You can also get passenger plates with no additional fee when you register a pick-up truck for the first time.

Pick-up trucks that weigh more than 5,500 pounds:

If you have a pick-up truck that has an unladen weight of 5,501 lbs. or more, you cannot apply for passenger class plates through the process described above. You must modify the truck to qualify for a passenger class registration and passenger class plates. Learn more about  vehicle modifications for registration class changes.

 
:cool:? When I bought my Ave i traded in a 2000 Silverado LT 1500 which was registered as a Commercial Vehicle....so I expected they would simply transfer the registration/plates to the Ave....nope....had to turn in the old plates and pay for new Passenger plates......got the same claim as others have replied...it is a SUV and not a pickup.....even though it is heavier and is rated to tow more.....but yeah now I can take it on all highways.

It used to be a cost savings in registration fees and insurance rates when I was a kid but anymore it is pretty much a wash.....just my experience.....

So cadboy1.... I suspect it will be thrown out and the officer will get an education on your time/dime.....sorry to hear you have to waste your time on an officers incompetence.....Mike
 
In Illinois it can go either way truck or car. Seen both ways, but mostly trucks. The 2500's can get the commercial tags.
 
In Missouri they told me I could get either car or truck tags. I went with the truck tags don't know if it really matters.
 
I tried to keep my personalized car plates, but the DMV in High Ridge Missouri said NO !..... "It's a truck, and has to have truck plates" !!!
I argued & it didn't help.


Mike
 
Out here in CA when I bought my AV I was issued passenger plates, but when I personalized them at the DMV they reclassified it under commercial plates? ???

I don't get it.
 
FYI, Here in TX there is no difference in the Personalized plates for Car or Light-Duty Pickup. The Av is considered a Crew-Cab pickup. An SUV can be registered as either, but there is an advantage to going with car. After 6 yrs. the registration for Passenger Vehicle will drop to the minimum. Our Explorer went down $10. Trucks don't.
 
I think the NY tri-state area is one of the only areas where there are parkways or non-commercial highways.  In NY there are roads that no matter how big or small your vehicle is if you have commercial plates you cannot drive on them.
      If you have commercial plates and company signs on the truck you can park in the truck loading zones in NYC.  I use this when I go from job to job throughout the day(contracting).
      I use to have an explorer with commercial plates and could not use parkways-but a passenger plate explorer could?  It does not make sense.  My EXT with comercial plates is not suppose to be on the parkway either, but if I change to passenger plates it can be?
      I could see not allowing big dually trucks speed/safety reasons, but what difference does license plates make?  It should go by weight and maybe a restriction on carrying material.  If it was not for commercial restrictions/parking regs what does it matter what plates you have.  I believe these are only city regulations so it should not affect most people not in the city area.

Is there other areas that have commercial plate restrictions in the US.  What are the restrictions?
 
Mikes04Ave said:
:cool:?
So cadboy1.... I suspect it will be thrown out and the officer will get an education on your time/dime.....sorry to hear you have to waste your time on an officers incompetence.....Mike

Just got a letter in the mail telling me I am delinquent even though I never received a court date :8:
 
I finally found a supervisor at DMV find me the documents that state the AV and EXT gets passenger plates :love: One issued by DMV and the "p" report that the police get saying the same. I got copies of both to go fight my 2 bogus tickets :love:
 
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