Overview

• Vehicles bought before July 1 have a 60-day grace period to use existing paper tags before fines or penalties apply.
• TxDOT has pre-issued about 67,000 metal plates and rolled out a color-coded system for new, dealer, out-of-state, provisional, and temporary registrations.
• Law enforcement units warn criminals are likely to shift to stealing hard metal plates to disguise vehicle identities.
• Drivers are urged to use tamper-resistant screws and regularly check their plates to prevent theft or unauthorized swaps.
• Dealers must stock an array of metal tags, install them at sale, and transfer or return plates from trade-ins within ten days