Replacement License Plates in California: How to Get New Plates (2026)

1. When You Need Replacement Plates

Four situations trigger a replacement, and the DMV treats them as one rule: lost, stolen, damaged, or made illegible in any way — replace immediately. That covers the obvious cases (a plate falls off on the freeway, a thief takes both plates overnight, a fender-bender bends a plate beyond reading) and the slow ones (a plate so sun-faded, peeling, or mud-caked that the characters cannot be read). A plate you cannot read is a plate you must replace, not a plate you can repaint: repainting a plate yourself turns a replacement job into an altered-plate problem, and altering a plate with intent to defraud is a felony under Vehicle Code §4463.

Two more situations belong on the same list because readers keep missing them. First, plates that never arrived in the mail: if the DMV mailed your plates and they never showed up, you reapply on form REG 156 — but wait 30 days from the issue date before reapplying, and the replacements come at no additional charge (see section 10). Second, plates on a vehicle whose registration has lapsed: the DMV will not issue replacement plates or stickers for a vehicle that is not currently registered. Renew first; the replacements come at renewal time.

What does not count as a replacement case? A plate you simply do not like, a plate whose characters you want to change, and a plate on a car you just bought from a dealer that never arrived — that last one is a dealer problem, not a replacement problem, and our dealer-has-not-given-me-plates guide owns it. A temporary paper plate that expired is also a different lane: see our expired temporary plates guide.

2. Substitute vs Replacement: the One Distinction That Decides Everything

The DMV uses two words that sound interchangeable and are not. Getting this distinction right answers the question every reader actually asks — will I keep my number? — before they fill in a single box.

The DMV states the rule in one sentence on its own replacement page: “If your plates were lost or stolen, you need to get substitute license plates with a new configuration. Otherwise, you can order replacement plates if you have special plates.” The reason is enforcement: a stolen standard plate number stays live in toll, red-light, and parking systems, and the only clean way to cut it off is to retire the number. That is also why the police report matters so much for stolen plates — the report is the document that separates your record from whatever the thief does with the old number.

One honest limit: the DMV’s published pages do not promise that a damaged standard plate keeps its number. The form covers “destroyed/mutilated” as a reason, the remnants must be surrendered, and the outcome is substitute plates through the same REG 156 process. This guide therefore does not claim a same-number outcome for damaged standard plates — if keeping the number matters to you, ask at the counter before you surrender the damaged plate, because surrender is final.

3. The Three Ways to Apply: Online vs In Person vs By Mail

Pick the channel first, because the channel decides the form, the documents, and whether your application can stall. The table is the whole decision; the sections after it give the steps.

The DMV’s own funnel is worth copying: its replacement page lists the online option first, then in person, then by mail — and it routes every excluded online case back to the paper forms. If you are unsure whether you qualify online, skip to section 4 first; it takes thirty seconds to check and saves a rejected application.

4. Online Replacement: Who Can and Cannot Use It

The online service is genuinely new — the DMV’s guide page flags it “(New!)” — and it is the fastest route when it applies. It covers standard plates and non-personalized special plates, and it cannot be used to request replacement personalized plates. Before you begin you need the vehicle’s plate number, the last 3 digits of the VIN, and you must be the registered owner on record. Payment is by bank account (routing number and account number) or by credit or debit card, with a 2.3% service fee on card payments. You cannot change your address using this form — if you moved, update your address first through the DMV’s change-of-address system and confirm it has processed before you apply.

Now the exclusion list, in full, from the DMV’s own portal page. If any line applies to your vehicle, do not start the online form — go straight to REG 156 (or REG 17) in person or by mail:

• All personalized license plates
• Disabled Person plates
• Motorcycles with sequential special plates (only Legacy motorcycle plates are eligible)
• Sequential Collegiate plates and sequential Veteran’s plates
• Vehicles with 2 stolen plates, or a motorcycle with a stolen plate
• Vessels, off-highway vehicles, special-equipment plated vehicles, farm equipment
• Vehicles with registration due within the next 30 calendar days
• Vehicles with an expired or suspended registration
• Vehicles on Planned Non-Operation (PNO)
• Junked vehicles, vehicles with a salvage certificate issued, and non-repairable vehicles
• Vehicles with titles surrendered to another state
• Vehicles with an open collections action with the Department
• Vehicles with an active Notice of Release of Liability on record
• Vehicles with a hold due to transaction processing, titling, outstanding citations, or vehicle theft issues
• Vehicles registered under the Permanent Fleet Registration program
• Commercial vehicles registered under the International Registration Plan or Partial Year Registration program
• All trailers, including trailers registered under the Permanent Trailer Identification program

Two exclusions deserve emphasis because readers trip on them. First, registration due within 30 days: if your renewal is that close, the portal refuses you — renew the registration and the replacement comes with it. Second, two stolen plates: the portal cannot handle the case that most needs a police report, because that case must go through the paper process with the report attached. A single stolen plate on a car is also a police-report case on paper if you choose the in-person or mail route; online handles it only within the eligibility rules above.

5. In Person: What to Bring

In person is the only channel that handles everything, and it is the channel the DMV’s own manual describes in the most detail (Manual §20.005). Walk in with the completed form — REG 156 is required when the registered owner applies in person, showing the owner’s name, address, and signature — and the following:

What happens next depends on your situation. If your name and address match the vehicle record, straightforward cases are issued over the counter. Exception paths get a 60-day temporary operating permit and mailed plates instead: a company or business owner paying with a check that does not match the owner on the record; an out-of-state license with an unacceptable secondary ID (the application goes to DMV headquarters for verification with the home state); an applicant who is not the registered owner or a registration service (the plates are mailed to the owner); or any questionable application the clerk forwards to headquarters with a REG 256 explanation. Auto clubs can also issue plates when the registered owner applies in person and there is no change of address — a useful shortcut if your local auto-club office is closer than the DMV.

Three more rules from the manual that readers never hear about: a REG 156 may be completed by a dealer or a dealer’s agent, such as a registration service, even outside a dealer transfer — and a registration service must include a notarized REG 5065 when the owner’s name or address does not match the vehicle record. A REG 156 is not required when the request is made in a signed letter from the owner of record with no changes being made. And telephone requests for replacement or substitute plates are never processed — do not waste a call trying; the phone line can give you the fee and the form, not the plates. If the vehicle record shows the owner as a trust, the trustee counts as the registered owner for ID and issuance purposes, and no trust documents are required.

Special plates in person follow their own forms: REG 17 for special-interest plates, REG 17A for special-recognition plates, REG 88 for special-equipment ID plates, and REG 230 for moped plates. REG 156 covers disabled person and veteran plates, exempt plates, foreign-organization plates, off-highway vehicle plates, and two-dolly plates. In the special-plate paths a 60-day TOP is issued — and the TOP does not carry the privileges of the special plate, so a Disabled Veteran plate holder on a TOP does not get DV parking privileges from the permit (Manual §20.075).

6. By Mail: the Same-Address Rule

By mail is the quiet trap in this whole process, because it looks like the easiest option and it fails silently when your address is wrong. The DMV’s mail rules are absolute: you must be the registered owner, and you must have the same address that appears in DMV records. Submit the completed application, surrender the remaining plate(s), pay the fee, and mail everything to the address on the form. For REG 156 that address is: Department of Motor Vehicles, PO Box 942869, Sacramento, CA 94269-0001.

If the name or address on the application differs from the vehicle record or the driver-license record, the DMV does not fix it by mail — it returns the application (on a report of deposit of fees) for the registered owner to appear in person, and issues a 60-day TOP in the meantime. Plates are never mailed to an address different from the address of record. That sentence is worth reading twice, because it is the exact failure mode of every “I mailed it three weeks ago and nothing came” story: the application was not lost, it was returned for an in-person visit, and the owner never saw the return.

The mail route has one genuine convenience: if nothing has changed — same owner, same address, no stolen-plate report needed beyond the attached copy — a signed letter from the owner of record can substitute for the REG 156 entirely (Manual §20.005). And for plates that were mailed to you and never arrived, the mail route is the remedy: wait 30 days from the issue date, send REG 156, and the replacements come at no additional charge (section 10).

7. What It Costs: the Fee Table From the DMV’s Own Fee Schedule

Every fee below comes from one document: the DMV’s fee schedule, Appendix 1F of the Vehicle Industry Registration Procedures Manual, read in full on November 5, 2026. The replacement and substitute fees sit under Vehicle Code §9265. Where a fee differs from what you will see elsewhere on the internet — and it will — section 7’s conflict box explains why.

Three rows deserve a footnote because readers will look for them and not find a fee. Livery plates are no longer available at all — they cannot be ordered as originals or replacements; existing plates stay valid and can only be renewed. Olympic Games plates are no longer issued as originals, and Appendix 1F lists no replacement row for them. Year of Manufacture (YOM) plates list an original ($45), renewal ($10), reassignment ($12), and retention ($20) — but no substitute row. Press Photographer plates likewise have no replacement row. If your plate family has no replacement row, the DMV’s answer is the substitute route or a new plate family — ask at the counter rather than assuming a fee.

One more payment note: online card payments carry a 2.3% service fee. On a $28 replacement that is about 64 cents — small, but it is the reason the card total will not match the table exactly, and it is not a second DMV fee.

8. What You Keep: Same Number or New?

This is the section to read before you surrender anything, because surrender is final. The matrix below combines the DMV replacement page, the REG 156 form, and Manual §§20.005 and 20.075.

9. Special Plates: the Both-Lost Rule and the 4-Year Lock

This is the rule that costs people their custom plate text, and it is stated plainly in the DMV’s own manual (Manual §20.075, under Vehicle Code §4457) — which makes it strange that so many guides get it wrong. Replacement plates can be issued for personalized special-interest plates, Environmental plates, Disabled Veteran plates, Ex-POW plates, and the other types listed in the manual. But replacement plates cannot be issued when the application is for two lost or stolen personalized special-interest plates for a passenger or commercial vehicle, or one plate for a motorcycle or trailer — unless the vehicle is registered to an exempt agency (exempt vehicles are always issued duplicates).

When replacement cannot be issued, the DMV’s Special Processing Unit places a “plates lost or stolen” status on the record, and the configuration cannot be reissued for four years from the date it was reported lost or stolen. The owner must then select a new configuration and pay the duplicate fee, or be issued regular-series plates. The paper path is specific: a REG 17 with “Substitute ELP” written in bold letters at the top, the duplicate fee, a reservation made as an original request, a 60-day TOP, and a REG 256 forwarded to the Special Processing Unit. And the owner cannot select a new configuration for the replacement fee when replacement issuance would have been acceptable — the cheap path is only for cases where replacement is genuinely impossible.

Two corrections this page makes against our own earlier writing. First, our plate-types hub says that when both personalized plates are lost, “the configuration is gone forever.” That is shorthand, and it overstates the rule: the lock is four years, not forever. Second, several competitor guides imply that any lost personalized plate can simply be reordered. It cannot — the both-lost case is the exception that swallows the promise, and it is the first thing a personalized-plate owner should check before assuming their text is safe.

One related special case, also from the manual: amateur radio (HAM) plates are now issued without spaces, and existing spaced plates remain valid. If you want your HAM plates reissued without spaces, the replacement fee is waived on a REG 17A with a REG 256 stating you will keep the current plates until the new ones arrive and then destroy them.

10. Stickers and Registration Cards in the Same Transaction

Most replacement visits are not about plates alone. The same REG 156 covers stickers and documents, and the same transaction rules apply — but the fees and the online rules differ in ways worth knowing before you file.

• Year sticker lost, stolen, damaged, or illegible: request a replacement sticker and pay the substitute sticker fee of $28. The DMV’s online sticker and registration-card service covers this, and a replacement sticker order includes a new registration card.
• Month sticker lost: free. Obtain a replacement month sticker at no cost from a local DMV office, or by calling 1-800-777-0133 if eligible.
• Registration card lost, stolen, or damaged: replacement card $28 on REG 156, or free inside an online sticker order.
• Online sticker and card orders: you need the plate number, registration information, and the last 5 digits of the VIN (note: last 5, not last 3 as for plates). The replacement item is mailed within 14 days to the registered owner’s address on record. You cannot change your address on this application — update the address first and confirm it processed.
• Online sticker and card exclusions mirror the plate exclusions: vessels, off-highway vehicles, special-equipment and farm vehicles, registration due within 30 days, expired or suspended registration, PNO, junked or salvage or non-repairable vehicles, titles surrendered to another state, open collections, active release of liability, holds, Permanent Fleet, IRP or Partial Year commercial vehicles, and PTI trailers. If any line applies, file REG 156 by mail or in person.
• Plates mailed but never received: wait 30 days from the issue date before reapplying (REG 156 §3), and the replacements come at no additional charge. While you wait, Vehicle Code §4606 lets you legally operate the vehicle until the new stickers and registration arrive, and law enforcement provides a grace period for receipt of mailed stickers, plates, and registration. Keep the DMV receipt with you.

11. While You Wait: Driving Legally Without Plates

There is no general permission to drive without plates while a replacement is pending. What exists instead is a set of specific mechanisms, and the right one depends on your path:

• Over-the-counter issuance: in a straightforward in-person case — matching name and address, valid ID, remaining plate surrendered, fee paid — the plates are issued at the counter. This is the fastest outcome in the whole system, and it is a reason to choose in person over mail when you need the car daily.
• The 60-day temporary operating permit (TOP): issued in the exception paths (company-check mismatch, unacceptable secondary ID, non-owner applicant, questionable application) and in the special-plate replacement paths. A TOP is not a plate: it does not carry special-plate privileges, so a Disabled Veteran plate holder on a TOP does not get DV parking privileges from the permit.
• One plate remaining: put the stickers (if issued) on the remaining plate and place that plate at the rear of the vehicle. The rear is where enforcement looks, and a single rear plate with current stickers is the manual’s own instruction for this case.
• No plates remaining: keep the stickers attached to the receipt until the new plates arrive, and keep that receipt in the vehicle. The receipt is your proof that a replacement is in process.
• Mailed originals in transit: Vehicle Code §4606 covers you — you may legally operate the vehicle until the new stickers and registration from the DMV arrive, with a law-enforcement grace period for mailed items.
• Tolls and tickets on a stolen plate: the police report is your shield. File it the same day the theft is discovered, keep the case number, and keep the DMV receipt. Disputes for tolls and tickets incurred after the theft are fought with those two documents — which is why the report should never wait for the DMV visit.

What never helps: driving on the found plate after reporting it lost (invalid — destroy or return it); repainting or touching up a damaged plate (an altered plate is a forgery risk under Vehicle Code §4463); borrowing another vehicle’s plates; or driving on a dealer paper plate that is not yours. And if the missing-plate stop turns into a fix-it citation, our front license plate guide owns the fix-it process — the citation is cleared by showing the corrected vehicle, not by arguing about the replacement.

12. What Format Will My Replacement Plates Be?

California’s standard plate changed format in 2026, from 1ABC123 (one number, three letters, three numbers) to 123ABC1 (three numbers, three letters, one number). The design did not change — same white background, blue characters, red “California” script, “dmv.ca.gov” at the bottom. The DMV has confirmed that the old sequence ended and the new series started, and that about 110,000 old-format plates remained in stock at DMV and auto-club offices. So a replacement plate issued now may arrive in either format depending on stock, and both are equally valid. Do not refuse an old-format replacement, and do not pay anyone who promises a new-format plate — the format is assigned by stock, not by request, and your old-format plate stays valid until it is replaced for some other reason. For the full format story, see our California license plates overview and our plate types hub.

13. Common Mistakes

• Assuming the fee is $27 because the DMV’s own portal page still shows it. The current fee schedule says $28. The portal page is stale.
• Assuming $25 is the consumer fee. It is the dealer Administrative Service Fee under Vehicle Code §4456.1 — a penalty charged to dealers, never to owners.
• Mailing REG 156 to a new address. Plates are never mailed to an address different from the address of record. Appear in person.
• Trying to change an address on the online replacement form. It cannot be done there. Update the address first, confirm it processed, then apply.
• Driving on a plate you reported lost and then found. It is invalid. Destroy it or return it to the DMV.
• Expecting both lost personalized plates to come back with the same characters. They cannot. A new configuration is required, and the old one is locked for four years.
• Assuming a replacement plate keeps the old number. Only special-plate replacements do. Lost or stolen standard plates always get a new number.
• Applying online with two stolen plates, a personalized plate, or registration due within 30 days. All three are excluded. Use REG 156 or REG 17 instead.
• Forgetting the police report for a stolen plate. It is required with the application (REG 156 §4).
• Forgetting the REG 31 CHP VIN verification when duplicates were issued within the last 90 days. The application stalls without it.
• Applying for replacement plates on an unregistered vehicle. Renew first — replacements come at renewal time.
• Paying a third-party service’s fee thinking it is the DMV fee. The DMV fee for a standard plate is $28. Anything above it is the vendor’s markup.
• Repainting a peeling or faded plate instead of replacing it. An altered plate is a forgery risk under Vehicle Code §4463.
• Waiting for plates without the receipt or a TOP in the car. Keep the DMV receipt — and any stickers issued — with you until the new plates arrive.
• Trusting a “same-day” promise from a vendor page. The DMV publishes no delivery-time promise for plates. The only published marker is the eight-week call rule.

14. What Competitors Get Wrong

Replacement-plate fees are the single most misquoted figure in the California DMV niche, because the figure changed and the old tables never updated. Here is the audit, with the verdict on each figure found live on November 5, 2026:

Beyond fees, the gaps are procedural. No competitor page found in this research prints the full online exclusion list, the 60-day TOP paths, the both-lost personalized rule with its four-year lock, or the 2026 format note. The DMV’s own page is accurate but thin — no fees on the page, three FAQs, no walkthrough. The strongest commercial page is a $49.95-service sales funnel. This page exists because none of them puts the fee schedule, the three channels, the scenario matrix, and the while-you-wait rules in one place.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

• California DMV, “Replacement License Plates and Stickers” — dmv.ca.gov — replacement guide (immediate-replacement rule, substitute-vs-replacement note, in-person / by-mail / online channels, 8-week call rule, CVC §4606 grace period — re-read live November 5, 2026)
• California DMV, “Replacement of Standard License Plates” (virtual office) — dmv.ca.gov — online replacement (eligibility, plate number + last 3 VIN digits, 2.3% card fee, full exclusion list, stale $27 / $22 table — re-read live November 5, 2026)
• California DMV, “Replace Your Registration Card or Sticker Online” — dmv.ca.gov — online sticker/card (last 5 VIN digits, 14-day mailing, free month sticker, exclusion list — re-read live November 5, 2026)
• California DMV, Appendix 1F — Fees (Vehicle Industry Registration Procedures Manual) — dmv.ca.gov — Appendix 1F (all replacement, substitute, and special-plate fees; VC §9265 heading; VC §4456.1 dealer ASF $25 — read in full live November 5, 2026)
• California DMV, form REG 156 (REV. 11/2024), Application for Replacement Plates, Stickers, Documents — dmv.ca.gov — REG 156 (mail address PO Box 942869, 30-day not-received rule, surrender rule, stolen-plate police-report rule in §4, REG 31 after a 90-day duplicate — re-read live November 5, 2026)
• California DMV, Manual §20.005 (REG 156 procedures, VC §§4457/4458/4466) — dmv.ca.gov — Manual §20.005 (counter items, address-mismatch charts, mail rules, no telephone requests, auto-club issuance, trust rule — re-read live November 5, 2026)
• California DMV, Manual §20.075 (Special License Plates—Replacements, VC §4457) — dmv.ca.gov — Manual §20.075 (replacement-eligible types, both-lost exception, 4-year configuration lock, 60-day TOP, HAM no-spaces rule — re-read live November 5, 2026)
• California Vehicle Code §4467 (victim re-plate statute: new and different plates immediately, in person, for victims of domestic violence, stalking, rape, or sexual battery, with victim documentation — special plates excluded) — verified via the Justia/OneCLE mirror (2017 text, last modified October 25, 2018) November 5, 2026; the leginfo page itself was blocked by a Cloudflare verification check. California Vehicle Code §9265 (replacement/substitute fee authority) — the leginfo display reads $15 (Stats. 2003, Ch. 719), while the DMV’s current fee schedule, Appendix 1F, lists $28 under the VC §9265 heading; the page prints the schedule figure, which is the amount the DMV charges
• California Vehicle Code §4463 (plate forgery as a felony) — Justia — CVC §4463
• California’s new plate sequence — Jalopnik, September 14, 2026 (DMV spokesperson on the end of the old sequence, ~110,000 old-format plates in stock)
• Research base: deep-california-license-plates.md (November 3, 13,295 words, 55-fact table), deep-license-plate-types.md (10,693 words), and serp-replacement-license-plates.md (7,586 words, this session — full SERP top-10, 18 real PAA questions, competitor fee audit; no Reddit or Quora quotes were retrievable and none are used)

Last verified against dmv.ca.gov: November 5, 2026. Rules, forms, and fees change — confirm current rules on dmv.ca.gov before you apply. This page prints no registration-fee line items and no digital-plate prices, because the first is a gated figure and the second is not published by the DMV. The DMV’s online replacement page still shows last year’s $27 figure while the current fee schedule lists $28 — both figures are named on this page so the discrepancy cannot mislead you. No SEMrush or RankyTools data was pulled for this page, and no search volume is claimed anywhere on it. No Reddit or Quora quotes are used, because none were retrievable for this intent on November 5, 2026.