Nope. The clerk usually tells you what the rules are. You just nod and agree. I worked with a guy who tagged a 95ish Buick Regal historic. No questions asked. They also changed it to 20 years a few years back. My 2000 Jetta TDI is "historic".
Subsidy gone wrong
- Thread starter glhs837
- Start date
Hijinx
Well-Known Member
Have you bought a regular old fashioned battery lately?
Wow have they gone up. I paid $145 dollars for a motorcycle battery this year that i purchased for $60 bucks 4 years ago.
glhs837
Power with Control
Yes, and that's sort of the point behind the submarine thing. Let acid batteries have topped out. There's really no way to get more performance out of them. We don't mind for let anymore so all the lead and all the batteries is from recycling. Well as we increase our need for let acid batteries, the lead becomes more precious and they can charge more for it
Hijinx
Well-Known Member
I believe the age requirement a few years back was 25 years.
Back when that was the requirement, not many cars made it to 25 years old. Most were shot when they had 100,000 miles on them . Todays cars will last way past 200,000 miles if taken care of, the bodies don't rust as badly and the upholstery holds up better.
Years ago a 25 year old car on the road was fairly rare , today a 20 year old car still on the road is not nearly so rare. Maybe they should move it up to 30 years instead of 20.
In 2025 my Motorcycle will be eligible for Historic tags it will be 20 years old and is in perfect shape. Well I will have to get a back tire in the spring, but otherwise perfect.
Back when that was the requirement, not many cars made it to 25 years old. Most were shot when they had 100,000 miles on them . Todays cars will last way past 200,000 miles if taken care of, the bodies don't rust as badly and the upholstery holds up better.
Years ago a 25 year old car on the road was fairly rare , today a 20 year old car still on the road is not nearly so rare. Maybe they should move it up to 30 years instead of 20.
In 2025 my Motorcycle will be eligible for Historic tags it will be 20 years old and is in perfect shape. Well I will have to get a back tire in the spring, but otherwise perfect.
OccamsRazor
Well-Known Member
So essentially, nothing to do with an "inspection."
From MVA website:
"To be registered as a historic vehicle (class L), your vehicle must be a passenger vehicle, motorcycle or truck (with a GVWR of 10,000 pounds or less): be 20 calendar years old or older and must not have been substantially altered, remodeled or remanufactured from the manufacturers original design.
A vehicle registered as historic cannot be used for general daily transportation, or primarily for the transportation of passengers or property on highways. It can only be used in exhibitions, club activities, parades, tours, occasional transportation and similar uses. A trailer does not qualify for historic registration. They will not be used for employment, transportation to and from employment or school, or for commercial purposes."
After owning and registering over 50 vehicles in Md, including at least 30 that would qualify for historic tags, I think I know how it works. ;-)
The number one reason people get historic tags is to avoid the need for that initial inspection and the often HUGE costs associated with passing it.
OccamsRazor
Well-Known Member
So you are saying people are tagging recently purchased, 20 year old + vehicles to avoid the inspection? And that not a lot of people are just tagging historic after their already owned vehicle passes the 20 year mark? Is that correct??
OccamsRazor
Well-Known Member
Problem is... people ARE using them as daily transport. Hell, I see 3 of them turning onto the navy base every morning.
Hijinx
Well-Known Member
You too have a right to your opinion ------------------------the same as I do, we just don't agree.
I have never met or known of anyone that changed their existing regular registration to "historic" category. Maybe some have. I've known plenty that used the historic registration path to avoid the inspection required to get tags and registration for a newly acquired or never previously registered in their name vehicle.
glhs837
Power with Control
So what qualifies is occasional transportation? once twice three or four times a month?
Facts are one thing...opinions are something else.
Very subjective. A LEO friend of mine said he'd only busted people for violating the historic tag use restrictions if he observed the same vehicle operating the same route numerous times in any given week. That's exactly how my friend with the E-250 van was popped...daily drove it to his Pax River job.
Which is interesting because the base po po were some of the first to get aggressive after historic tag violators after Md made the "we gonna start cracking down" announcement.
I still see them often as well. But heck...enforcement of vehicle laws in MD has always been hit and miss. Buddy of mine sold me an F-250 with 9" suspension lift dirt cheap because he was issued a citation for having too much lift. I've never been so much as pulled over for running similar. I had to spend $400 on custom fender flares to get my '91 Toyota pickup to pass inspection because my tires stuck out past the fender roughly an inch...but I routnely see those clown trucks running around here with the tires so far offset that half the damned tire is outside the fender.
It was news at the time.....
https://www.wboc.com/archive/maryla...cle_942cda52-2d58-54af-8d6e-325cb012a1b1.html
https://www.wboc.com/archive/maryla...cle_942cda52-2d58-54af-8d6e-325cb012a1b1.html
glhs837
Power with Control
Right and at the time it was pretty clear to me that they were looking more for the older work trucks and such. I find it funny that your friend was riding a e250 van, which is exactly the sort of vehicle I said they would be looking for.
He didn't stand a chance...LOL
OccamsRazor
Well-Known Member
More miss than hit
I still see people driving onto the base with months-old expired tags. Saw one about 2-3 weeks ago expired September 2022.