KILLEEN, TX (KXXV) — Say goodbye to those temporary paper license plates come July, as a new law in Texas will require them to be replaced with metal tags. It's new technology designed to keep scammers at bay.
- The new law will take effect July 1, 2025.
- This is set to eliminate fraud that happens with paper license plates.
- A significant change is coming to Texas roads.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
A significant change is coming to Texas roads.
“July 1st, it’s coming down on us,” Joshua Smith said, Managing Partner for Killeen Auto Group.
Say goodbye to paper plates. Starting in July, a new state law requires replacing temporary paper tags with metal license plates.
“They want to prevent fraud, which they’re trying to do. Keep people from taking temporary tags, and they’re also trying to hold the dealers accountable for doing good deals out front,” Smith said.
Joshua Smith with Killeen Auto Group understands the change but knows it will not be easy for his dealership.
“It makes it very complicated because now we have to have a specific place designated for those tags, we have to protect them under lock and key, it’s going to burden the dealership more extensively,” Smith said.
“We are doing everything. We do everything through WebDealer, and then, with the hard tags, instead of being issued by a staff member who does the registrations, we have to do it here. It’s managing the inventory, we’re selling thousands of cars, you’re going to have to have thousands of plates, right,” he said.
The auto group averages 550-to-600 sold cars a month, so it has to ensure that every sale follows state law.
“Being gone and got at the time of sale, we have to issue them. We have to do all the labeling and the work of making that transaction happen so the state knows which plates are with which car,” Smith said.
Change is inevitable, but as the date of transition quickly approaches,
“You just gotta deal with it,” Smith said.
