Examples of coating delamination: 

Replace Plates and Keep Plate Number

To replace your plates and keep your plate number, complete the Application for Replacement Plates - Keep Same Plate Number (PDF) (PP-7). Mail the completed application, a photograph of the peeling plates, and a $20 check or money order (made payable to ‘Commissioner of Motor Vehicles’) to the Custom Plates Unit.

Allow 4 to 6 weeks for your new plates to arrive in the mail. DMV mails your registration/windshield sticker separately from the plates.

Replace Plates and Get New Plate Number

If you want the next available standard plate number free of charge, email [email protected]. Put your plate number in the subject line and supply the following

• name as it appears on the registration
• address (if your address is not current, update your address before you send your email)
• city, state and ZIP code
• daytime telephone number
• peeling plate number
• a photograph of the peeling plates as an email attachment

DMV will send your new registration/windshield sticker with the new license plates.

Please note: Once you submit your request through email, your request is final. You cannot request changes.

To request a new set of IRP Apportioned plates, complete Schedule A&C (PDF) (IRP-6). Select the "Replacement Plates"  option in Part 1 of the application and include a photograph of the peeling plate. Send the completed form by mail to the International Registration Bureau (IRB), by fax to (518) 486-6579, or by email to [email protected].

If you have any questions about the replacement of an apportioned license plate, contact IRB at (518) 473-5834.

Examples of aging or damage:

If your plate shows damage from use, fading or cracking, and not delamination, you must order new license plates. The DMV will issue you a new registration and new Excelsior replacement plates.

You must pay $25 for the new plates and a fee of $3.75 for a new registration, plus an additional $20 if you want your new plates to have your old plate number. 

order new plates

Do not return your old plates to DMV. Instead, destroy your old plates to protect against fraudulent use. If you do not destroy the plates and someone else uses them, you could be held responsible for any traffic tickets written against the plates and for any fines resulting from the tickets. When you dispose of the old plates, mark each plate with a permanent mark or cut each plate into pieces. 

Your old plates are considered scrap metal. You can recycle them at your local scrap metal yard or follow the recycling guidelines for the area where you live. Do not put both plates in the recycle bin at the same time. Put only one plate in the recycle bin for one collection and put the second plate in the bin for a later collection.

For more information, visit Recycle Right New York.