Personalized plates
COVID-19 closures are affecting the production of our license plates, tabs, and decals. This is causing significant delays in our ability to issue them to you.
You may want to consider waiting to apply for a personalized or specialty plate.
If you have a temporary permit expiring soon, you can visit a vehicle licensing office to get a new one.
We don't have a timeline for when production delays will return to normal. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this causes.
Overview
- Decide what you'd like to have on your plate.
- Find out the initial cost for a plate.
- Submit your application and payment.
- Update your Good-to-Go! account.
- Renew your tabs and plates every year.
1. Decide what you'd like to have on your plate
The characters you can use are letters, numbers, hyphens, or spaces:
- For standard-size plates: 1-7 characters.
- For motorcycle and small trailer plates: 1-6 characters.
You can't use:
- Unusual characters: (#, %, &, @, +, !) etc.
- Invalid letter and number combinations.
- Vulgar, racial, ethnic, or indecent messages.
Use these tools to help you plan your plates:
- See which letter and number combinations are allowed:
- Go to Look up personalized plates
- Under "Questions?" select "Click here for Personalized plate requirements"
- Check to see if your plate is available, look up personalized plates.
- Chose between personalized plates with:
- standard mountain background.
- or
- special design background.
2. Find out the initial cost for a plate
| Vehicle type | Fee |
|---|---|
| Passenger vehicle | $89.25 |
| Truck | $88.50 |
| Trailer | $77.25 |
| Motorcycle | $71.25 |
| Vehicle type | Fee |
|---|---|
| Passenger vehicle | $129.25 |
| Truck | $128.50 |
| Trailer | $117.25 |
| Motorcycle | $111.25 |
| Keep Kids Safe plate | Add $5 to above |
Save money when renewing your tabs early and getting new personalized or specialty plates
If your tabs expire in 6 months or less, you can save money by getting your new plates and tabs at the same time. By renewing early, you won't have to pay the following plate renewal fees the first year:
- $30 for specialty plates
- $42 for personalized plates
Contact a vehicle licensing office to find out the total cost of your plates.
Your personalized plate will be canceled and available for another vehicle owner to use if you don't:
- Renew your personalized plate within 45 days after the renewal date.
- Transfer your personalized plate to a new vehicle within 30 days of the sale of your previous vehicle.
3. Submit your payment and application
To find out the total cost of your plates, contact a vehicle licensing office.
Mail your payment and Specialty License Plate Application to the address on the form.
4. Update your Good To Go! account, if needed
If you have a Good To Go! electronic tolling pass, be sure to update the contact information on your account with the Department of Transportation:
- Online: www.wsdot.wa.gov/goodtogo/
- By phone: 866.936.8246
5. Renew your plates yearly
You must renew your plates every year.
