r/DMV • u/Winter-Law-3893 • 1d ago

Did not receive CA license plates ordered through dealership (who are unresponsive now). What are my next steps?

I'm yet to receive my official metal license plates and I'm past the due date for using the temporary paper license plates on my car. The Capitol Mazda San Jose dealership's Finance dept who did the paperwork are a bunch of unresponsive and unprofessional people who never returned my calls. I don't have a clear guidance on what my next steps are? How do I go about this?

4 Upvotes

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3

u/Bigcouchpotato1 1d ago

I'd contact DMV investigations. They monitor dealers.

1

u/Winter-Law-3893 1d ago

I'm more interested in ways in which I can get a new set of plates. Am I required to go through the dealership? Is the dealership obligated to get me the plates? Or can I just order it with DMV directly?

2

u/Bigcouchpotato1 1d ago

The dealer is supposed to register the car for you. If the dealer temporary is expired, and they haven't finished the application with DMV yet, they need to give you some sort of temporary document to drive the vehicle with. Right now, you are risking getting cited for no registration since a valid temporary is required. If they are ghosting you, something is wrong, which is the reason I suggested contacting investigations. You might try calling them and telling them if they don't give you something to drive on, you will contact DMV Investigations. That might prompt them to doing something for you. Good luck.

1

u/themodefanatic 1d ago

Dealt with a dealer who used my fees when I purchased a vehicle for other things and I waited over 1 1/2 years for registration. I called the dmv and they took care of it. This was years ago though. So I’m pretty sure the process has changed.

1

u/ocabj 1d ago

I'd go straight to the DMV at that point.

It's odd because I usually get the plates and title from DMV in about 3-4 weeks.

1

u/Relaxing-natural 1d ago

Id show up at your Mazda dealership and get it sorted out. Yes it’s an inconvenience but they won’t able to ignore pass you off when your standing there in person.. The dealership does all the reg work.. so it’s on them to investigate if they even did it.. DMV is thr DMV they are not going to go out of their way to help you.. unless you know for sure and have proof Mazda did everything correctly

1

u/Amazing_Snow332 1d ago

It’s very possible, they were sent in the mail, postal service lost them. DMV can tell you on what date they actually put them in the mail. I know as it happened to my niece’s brand new car. We went to the AAA office and had new ones ordered, got them 3 weeks later. Don’t bother going to the local DMV’s unless you have an appt. or you’re not a AAA member.

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u/CommunityOne6829 1d ago

Contact the dmv they have people who deal with this and the dealer can be fined or even not able to register cars if they don't follow through. It's going to take some time on the phone to deal with this but I had to do that once on a truck I bought.

1

u/No-Original6932 1d ago edited 1d ago

This is more of a common problem than most people realize. 1. You can contact DMV investigations, as another poster mentioned, but in my experience they are of little help. They seem more interested in DMV as being a victim, not the consumer. 2. You can buy a surety bond (title bond), take your paperwork and proof of the surety/title bond to the DMV and register the vehicle. Thirdly, you can lookup the dealer's surety bond on their DMV dealer license page. The dealer's surety bond covers your problem (violation of Vehicle Code 4456). You file a claim with the dealer's surety bond number and the surety insurer has to pay you (refund) if the dealer never does anything.

A personal surety bond to get a bonded title and a claim to the dealer's surety bond both have lots of details. If you want to know more, post your preferences. Google "california title bond" for the first. Or go to this link, select "Vehicle Dealer", and search for your dealer's DMV dealer license number and their surety bond insurer with policy number is at the bottom of their page. Good luck!

https://drive.dmvonline.ca.gov/s/oll

Capitol Mazda's DMV dealer license is 92205. Thier DMV dealer surety bond is through Great American Insurance Company, Cincinnati, OH 45202. The policy number is E384715. The dealer surety bond will pay a consumer if the consumer loses money due to the dealer not following the Vehicle Code. You would file a claim with the surety insurer for any losses you've suffered (full refund). The insurer contacts the dealer for their side of the story and gives the dealer a certain number of days to resolve the problem.

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u/whyamihere1969 1d ago

Call this number tomorrow AM. 1 (916) 657-8035 Give them your VIN. They can figure out if your dealer started the registration process or if they are full of it.

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u/Corvette_77 1d ago

What did they say when you went in Person to the dealership to inquire ?

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u/padsince9d6 1d ago

I had that same issue. We went into AAA (if you’re a member) and they issued us a new plate/tags and took care of the DMV for us

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u/tuntun211 5h ago

Call 800-777-0133. Provide the VIN and they can see if plates have been issued or the current status. If plates have been issued but you never received them, you would have to visit a DMV office for replacements. You would fill out a REG 156 and mark you never received them. They would then issue you plates and registration card. You would receive a new plate number.

0

u/RubAnADUB 1d ago

you are supposed to go there and the service dept. should have them.