Leased an Audi A3 etron in mid-January 2017 for 36 months. Got the green stickers then, now just applied for the red and dmv says car is not eligible. Looks like the dealer registered the car in December 2016, so now I have a car for one more year that does not suit it’s purpose for me, I need the carpool access. Anyone have experience fighting to get the red sticker approved? Are dealerships allowed to do this?
Any EV leases/purchases before January 2018 isn’t eligible for the red sticker, so not sure why you think your A3 etron from Dec2016/Jan2017 should be eligible for one?
Edit: Just read https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/fact-sheets/clean-air-vehicle-decals.
I guess if it was purchased in Jan 2017, it should be eligible. Did the dealer apply for the stickers in Dec 2016? If so, then you might be out of luck.
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I have a 2017 Fiat 500e I leased in Feb 2017 and I got my red sticker back in December.
Same here. My eGolf leased in Sept ‘16 had white stickers that got renewed to red recently. I think I qualified for renewal only because i was lazy and didn’t apply for them until Dec ‘16. Too bad I don’t really use them.
Did you get a renewal letter for DMV?
That’s what it seems like. Wish there was more info on how to go about this. It doesn’t seem fair that the car got issued stickers by the dealer before it was even sold or leased out.
Did it have white stickers when you got it in 2016? There is a list of vin numbers of all cars issued before Jan 1, 2017 and mine is on it. Even though I didn’t lease to mid Jan 2017. Sucks!
No, I applied myself for it and got it in Dec ‘16. It is possible that the green sticker was excluded since both mine and the above 500e had the white one. Maybe they made a mistake on mine…
From what I’ve heard if you transfer ownership the new owner could apply. Basically lease transfer to someone in the household.
Haven’t looked into it much to confirm but our BMW store said it would work. They were more looking into new owners rights to stickers. In the past that wasn’t the case.
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When you got the car 2 years ago the green stickers were set to expire dec 31, 2018. Red stickers were not announced nor was allowing some green to get replaced with red. So you are now where you should have expected to be if that helps.
My understanding is that the date of issue of the green sticker is what determines the red eligibility. If your green were issued in 2016 you are sol.
From that link posted above: Vehicles issued a White or Green decal prior to January 1, 2017
If your vehicle was originally issued White or Green decals prior to 2017, your vehicle is no longer eligible for Clean Air vehicle decals and can no longer use high-occupancy vehicle lanes without the full required number of passengers.
Supposedly, “issued” is when the application was submitted, not when you received the stickers.
Sadly, the website also says your sticker should be active for 3 years, but I guess that’s not always true.
my car was purchased and issued a white sticker in 2017, got my red sticker.
Did the dealer apply for sticker in dec 2016? If so, you are SOL