I have started to receive junk mail (actual junk mail) for a car I do not own.
I do not know what state it is registered in, but do know the make, model, and year of the car.
How do I check if there really is an unknown car registered to me? I assume it could be in any of the 50 states.
Bring it to your local tag office.
They can run all of the details, and most of the time get you sorted out.
Good idea, thank you
I’d call your insurance company, they should be able to figure it out.
I won’t have thought they would know anything about it. Thank you
I was going to say the nrma would likely tell you to contact the RTA equivalent and the police, then I saw “50 states”… You yanks tend to have a lot less regulation than us, whether it is lack of necessary indicators or lack of a need to put number plates at each end of your car.
However, if it isn’t the state you are in (easily checked), won’t that make it a criminal travelling interstate to commit a crime, and that be a federal matter? Perhaps check with your own state regulator, then go federal?
Thank you, good ideas.
(I will be using my made-up terms, which may be confusing.) The USA is an “after the fact” cleanup place. I have heard Germany is a “before the fact”. Which may explain a lot.
OP just needs to visit their local tag office. Will take around 5-10 minutes depending on the line, and everything will/can be solved.
Nothing more is needed.
won’t that make it a criminal travelling interstate to commit a crime, and that be a federal matter?
Unless they are committing federal crimes, motor-vehicle related infractions are regulated by the individual states.
You yanks tend to have a lot less regulation than us, whether it is lack of necessary indicators
All vehicles are required by law to have functional front, and rear turning indicators. (And, a horn. And lights. And seat belts.)
or lack of a need to put number plates at each end of your car.
All vehicles are required to have a rear-mounted license plate. Some states, also requires a front-mounted license plate.
I’ve driven a car through and within about half of the mainland states so far, the number of cars I saw that had flashing tail lights instead of any indicators (we call them blinkers, the orange lights on the corners of cars) was surprising. All of them weren’t registered and were illegally on the road? Seems unlikely. Yet you say they were illegal? Fascinating. It didn’t look that way at all.
And yeah, plates were indeed only on the back, but that is a different weirdness, especially that they had other things on the front. Odd “vanity” plates on the front which did not match their back plates; Some humorous, others more along the lines of scatalogical. Seemed a good way to make sure people wouldn’t know who committed a crime if they only got a shot of the front of the car. (And don’t get me started on lack of speed regulation in the US…)
Yup, vanity plates are pretty commonplace. Most cars still have a dealer’s vanity plate on the front because they never removed it, or put something else there.
Front plates are only required in a few states.
flashing tail lights instead of any indicators (we call them blinkers, the orange lights on the corners of cars) was surprising
We don’t require dedicated turning signals in the rear of the vehicle. As long as you have a flashing red or amber indicator at the REAR, and amber at the FRONT, that meets the requirements.
Basically- as long as the car behind you can easily, visually determine that you intend to turn.
All of them weren’t registered
All cars MUST have a displayed license plate at the rear of the vehicle. The only exceptions to this- are temporary dealer plates (which are only good for a month), while you get your permanent plates.
Failure to properly display the license plate is a ticketable offence. Not, serious enough to send you to jail, but, you will pay a fine over it. And- enough tickets, and you lose your license.
