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Subaru GL-10 Classic Car Licensing


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1 hour ago, FerGloyale said:

does that limit the mileage or uses at all?

Very much so if you want to stay within the law:

Quote

May be driven:

  • To and from auto shows, circuses, parades, displays, special excursions, and antique car club meetings.
  • For testing purposes.
  • For the pleasure of others without compensation.

May not be used for:

  • Regular transportation in the manner of a fully licensed vehicle.
  • Commercial purposes or to carry a load.

 

 

https://www.dol.wa.gov/vehicleregistration/spcollector.html

I can get antique plates for the XT6, including allowing you to use plates from the year it was built (which is cool), but within the limits of the law they're useless for me.

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I have three cars currently registered as collector vehicles and just registered another two on Monday as collectors.  In Washington state, there is no specific mention of mileage limitations, but the restrictions on use will for sure curtail how fast you can accumulate mileage.

That said...  I have driven the same car to work five consecutive days and have not been pulled over. Even when I do get pulled over the officers have NEVER asked why I was driving the collector car. In the event that LEO did notice me, the easy reply is:  "I made some changes to the vehicle yesterday and this is a convenient way for me to test those changes."  (Falling under the "for testing purposes" exemption.)

Granted, you'll draw more eyes in a 40's bomber or a muscle car, so maybe I fly under the radar.

Edited by carfreak85
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2 hours ago, FerGloyale said:

does that limit the mileage or uses at all?

This will depend very much on the local laws. Typically the state has a vaguely-worded statement about when and where you can drive it, which pretty much completely leaves it to the local law enforcement's discretion. When I got collector plates for my Brat and 4Runner (probably 8-10 years ago), I definitely had to sign something stating limited use (similar to the WA list posted above), when my dad did it for his 300ZX (more like 15 years ago), there was mention of mileage (although no inspection or anything to enforce it), when I did it for my Celica last year, there wasn't even any mention of it. The only requirement now, is to have another car registered with standard plates in my name.

 

I kept standard plates on my Celica for years even though it was seasonal use, as I do daily drive it in the summer. I got pulled over one spring for expired tabs. When I told the officer that I bought them over the winter, but forgot to put them on when I got it out of storage, he suggested that I register it as a collector.

My old neighbor, before I moved a few years ago, daily drove 2 cars both with collector plates year round. He did have a car in his name with regular plates, but his wife drove it. Never had a problem.

I did get grief at the DMV/DNR office when I got an ORV sticker for my 4Runner. The lady at the counter, "You're going to take your collector bajaing through the woods? Your going to get caught!". I told her not to worry about it, and I've never had a problem.

 

Of course, it's not a large savings. My insurance didn't change (I already take coverage off them when I'm not driving them). Tabs on older vehicles are only like $35 a year, and I don't have to run a front plate....neat.

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Over here we have to be a member of an approved car club, and keep a log book of days driven. You can get a 45 or 90 day registration. After 90 days you can’t drive the vehicle any more. 

And if you crash without the log book filled in for that day your vehicle is effectively not registered - and thus, you’re not covered by the compulsory road authority insurance. 

I’m hoping to get my first car registered on these club plates later this year. Just need some shed time! 

Cheers 

Bennie

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Hello,

Here in Colorado i have my 84 DL with classic plates. I cant drive my car more than 4500 miles a year witch i dont anyway. I paid $80 for 5 year tags. And next time i have to renew my tags i will not have to do an emissions test on it since name on registration will not change. Basically i can shop up my engine and exhaust and not worry about passing emissions. Hope this helps. 

Edited by Jmpjose
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16 hours ago, el_freddo said:

Over here we have to be a member of an approved car club, and keep a log book of days driven. You can get a 45 or 90 day registration. After 90 days you can’t drive the vehicle any more. 

And if you crash without the log book filled in for that day your vehicle is effectively not registered - and thus, you’re not covered by the compulsory road authority insurance.

Wow, Washington state's collector car license plate law is sounding sweeter and sweeter as more comparisons come in!  Our plates never need to be renewed, I didn't have to sign any special documents regarding mileage, no car club requirements, no log books, no special insurance, no second car.  Every drive just needs to be to a car show, for someone's pleasure, or for testing and tuning.  Easy, just like it should be...

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Yeah it sounds like WA is pretty relaxed about it compared to other states. I daily drive my Loyale so I'm not worried about taking the GL-10 on random trips. Cool to hear that other people have done this with their subies!

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13 hours ago, carfreak85 said:

Wow, Washington state's collector car license plate law is sounding sweeter and sweeter as more comparisons come in!  Our plates never need to be renewed, I didn't have to sign any special documents regarding mileage, no car club requirements, no log books, no special insurance, no second car.  Every drive just needs to be to a car show, for someone's pleasure, or for testing and tuning.  Easy, just like it should be...

I should add this is for the state of Victoria. Other states differ. 

I believe ours used to be very strict - to/from mechanics or club events. It was very difficult to take a Sunday drive for yourself from what I understand. 

But that’s all changed now and for the better. 

Over here in all states our plates don’t change. We used to have windscreen stickers but now we just pay our rego and it’s done. Police can check rego on their systems now rather than relying on the sticker - but it’s easy to miss your rego payment. 

Club rego is good because regular use rego is over $700 per vehicle annually. Club rego I think is about $70 a year!  But your vehicle has to be a minimum of 25 years old. Dad argues with me all the time that my subi’s aren’t a true classic... 

Anyway, I can’t wait to get my subi on club rego. My other ones need to be engineered to transfer to club rego. 

Cheers 

Bennie

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On 6/6/2019 at 3:37 PM, carfreak85 said:

I have three cars currently registered as collector vehicles and just registered another two on Monday as collectors.  In Washington state, there is no specific mention of mileage limitations, but the restrictions on use will for sure curtail how fast you can accumulate mileage.

That said...  I have driven the same car to work five consecutive days and have not been pulled over. Even when I do get pulled over the officers have NEVER asked why I was driving the collector car. In the event that LEO did notice me, the easy reply is:  "I made some changes to the vehicle yesterday and this is a convenient way for me to test those changes."  (Falling under the "for testing purposes" exemption.)

Granted, you'll draw more eyes in a 40's bomber or a muscle car, so maybe I fly under the radar.

Flying under the radar is certainly a factor. A lot of people just drive them anyway but I think it’s rare to do so with an actual daily driver which is what mine is 

I don’t care about police, but liability. If there’s a wreck with 6 or 7 figure lawsuits and lawyers involved I don’t want the legality of the car to be in question no matter who’s at fault. That happened to a close friend and someone who I think is member of this forum and known by quite a few members. A hundred dollars or a night in jail is no big deal compared to that.

Granted this is all uncertain -  I don’t know what would happen or if insurance would actually deny. But insurance policies often include language which requires compliance with the law. And with 6+ figures on the table it’s just not worth my time. Maybe I’ll google it one day this week and see if  there’s any info out there. 

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Now that I think about it, for those that don't care about tickets, would insurance deny a  6 figure claim based on registration status?  Probably not.  Insurance and registration are largely separate and probably aren't conflated too often but with 6 figure+ claims, the only ones I really care about, I still wonder. 

The only direct implications I can see are if the vehicle is absolved from inspections due to the registration status. thereby the user could be construed as circumventing public safety by avoiding inspections...but I assume they'd still have to prove that it was caused due to a specific safety issue for that to hold.  so if we don't have wheels falling off and causing accidents maybe we're okay...so the rust belt owners better beware. LOL

Edited by idosubaru
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14 hours ago, idosubaru said:

Now that I think about it, for those that don't care about tickets, would insurance deny a  6 figure claim based on registration status? 

Are you kidding?   Yes, absolutely, they would deny that spoob like a catholic priest caught at a NAMBLA convention.

Insurance validity is contingent on a legal vehicle.

You would be totally boned if you caused an accident in an unregistered, or improperly registered car.  read your CONTRACT.

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Nice! Do you have pics of the car? I had an 87 GL-10 wagon. Loved the car, but we parted ways because I didn't have the time or $$$ to get it into the condition I would have liked. Look up Murphy in the search bar and you'll find a number of my posts.

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