By John Matonich
I remember learning about planned obsolescence while in school. The premise was certain items would be built with an age in mind when they would fall apart and a new one would have to be purchased. I was never a fan of this and even more disappointed today.
I remember growing up when cars in Michigan had two license plates. One plate was positioned in the front and the other in the rear of the vehicle. Many states still do 
that including our neighbor across the pond, Wisconsin. On top of the two plates, it seemed that each year, new plates were issued and the old ones discarded. I know there are still thousands of barns across the state with the history of license plates hung up on one of the barn walls. I think it is cool today to see older vehicles with their front license plate with the year the vehicle was made on it.
I guess this was too cool, so some brilliant state budget person years ago convinced the state legislature that having two plates was totally unnecessary. In fact, not only were two plates a waste of a prisoner’s time in the cross bar hotel, we should be able to re-use the one plate we will be given for umpteen years and only have to print a sticker once a year. Obviously, this saved enough money to give someone a raise, but to me this system has been a joke ever since especially with what I had to go through recently.
It is the month of the year when I have to add the new sticker issued by our great state. It is added to the upper right hand corner of the plate I was given when my truck was purchased in late 2013. If I do my math right (and believe me I excelled in math), this plate is slightly more than 4 years old. Unless you are a mosquito, this isn’t ancient in my book. Imagine my surprise when I went to clean off the plate and discovered the entire surface was peeling away from the metal backing.
What! How can this be? Aren’t these plates stamped out of metal and painted with the appropriate letters and numbers? They sure aren’t. They truly are some type of plastic overlaid on a stamped metal plate. I guess hoping otherwise is my payback for leaving a tooth under my pillow and cookies and milk out on Christmas Eve.
After I took the plate off and had to hold the film covering on it so it didn’t blow away, I headed to my local Secretary of State office. The lady there was very nice, but didn’t look surprised when I showed her the collection which once was a license plate. She simply said, “That’s too bad” and “Would you like a duck plate for an extra $5”? “What do you mean an extra $5,” I asked?
She went on to explain there was a $5 charge to replace the original plate even though it simply fell apart without any evil doing on my part. Well she kind of had me. I couldn’t really fix the original plate although if duct tape came in a clear version, it would have been a serious consideration. I shelled out the $5 bucks and turned to leave. “Excuse me”, the lady behind the counter said. “You will need to dispose of the old plate and separated cover”. I guess throwing it in their dumpster would eat into the $5 I had just paid. I took the plate and the separated cover and left.
When I got back to my shop, I was going to toss it in my garbage can, but stopped. It isn’t that I can’t afford the space it would take up in a garbage bag. I just thought it was time to start a new tradition. I am going to hang it up on the wall in the storage area of my woodshop. Given how short the life is on our Michigan license plates, I should have the wall full well before I head to the Promised Land.
And that’s the situation as I survey it …
Image credit: randychiu
I hear you John,
Two months ago I got pulled over because the paint was peeling off one of the numbers on my five year old license plate. The deputy was nice and didn’t give me a ticket, but he told me I needed to get it replaced as soon as possible. I was glad it was only $5.00, but I can think of better things to do with my time than sitting in a Secretary of State office lobby waiting for them to call my number. This is Michigan, our plates need to be able to hold up to the elements. Cheap materials and shoddy workmanship isn’t going to cut it.
I agree, Fred. The Secretary of State should be embarrassed that our plates are made more for folks from Arizona rather than 4 season Michigan…
I don’t think it’s right to have to pay for a new plate because of faulty craftsmanship. I have seen plates that are barely readable at all. Maybe the citizen refused to pay for a new one. It’s little things like this that we forget to bring up when it’s time to vote in our state.
P.S. I love the ” Cross Bar Hotel”. Hilarious!
I agree Linda Ann. I thought about not paying, but my guess is I would have been without a plate. Since it is an election year, I expect to make an issue out of it for Secretary of State candidates. they never get asked anything anyway, so why not shake ’em up a little. I am glad you liked the cross bar hotel reference…
What’s helping causing the film to come off the license plates is the overuse of salt on our roads. If you don’t wash your car that often in the winter time to get the salt off, the rusting and film coming off the plates happen.
BTW – SOS finally decided 2-3 years back that all Michigan license plates expire after 10 years from the time you get them
Pretty hard to wash your car up here, Bill when it has been 10 to 20 below zero for the last month. Along with that my license plate isn’t seen from December through March as the back of all vehicles are covered with snow. This should have been taken into account when the idiots that be…er… I mean powers that be decided on this. I would be ok with the 10 years if the plates held up, but they don’t!!!
Be thankful your plates last five years. I can remember when our cars didn’t last that long.
I do to, Al. But it was pressure from the consumer that changed that. we need to repeat that pressure and have these plates better made…
Has probably changed but many years ago in Texas the plates stayed with the car not the owner. You could buy your sticker for the plate at Tom Thumb (grocery store). Every 5th year you had to go in to a Secretary of State office. They handed you a screwdriver and you went out and took the plates off your car, went back in and you got 2 new ones. I don’t miss living there at all but thought they had the right idea on this.
I agree, Lynn….
This is so weird. My plate was put on my car in 2004 and still looks new. I read about the 10 year replacement plan but received another sticker this year as usual. Guess they haven’t figured out how long I’ve had this plate. Shhhhhhh.
Good for BrookieB… I hope it stays looking new for many years.
Same here. One of my plates was purchased in 2004 (personalized & MTU alumni) and have yet to hear that it’s over 10 years old. Another plate is even older and (coff coff) is showing some flaking and that one hasn’t been flagged either.
Here is a good video describing how Michigan license plates are manufactured by Level 1 prisoners. The culprit is poorly designed adhesive stickers over an aluminum plate. The materials and manufacturing method need to be changed in order to increase plate life.
https://youtu.be/ggF2erIvtH4
There needs to be some better materials choice and manufacturing methods to accommodate temperature ranges, road salt chemicals, sun load and wind induced surface erosion. Just look into methods used for automotive exteriors. These regularly last for decades.
The republicans always try to cheapen anything they can and stash the money in their pockets. You get what you pay for.
Obsess much?
No more than you! Hahahaha
You have it nailed… poor design for sure
Honestly – For maybe +$0.50/piece I could make license plates that last decades. The extra $0.50 could be passed on to the buyer and they likely would never even notice.
Additionally aluminum has a high scrap value which is one reason plates get stolen.
Aluminum at best on the high end might be 25 to 50 cents a pound. Takes quite a few plates to make a pound. Plate are stolen to put on stolen cars not for scrap.
I was at the SOS last month for a few items and there were two gentleman in line near me who had to replace unreadable plates. I suspect this issue is wide spread.