South Carolina allows drivers to customize their vehicle’s license plate with a unique combination of letters and numbers. Securing a personalized plate—often called a vanity plate—requires understanding the state’s character limits, paying an additional fee, and submitting a mail-in application to the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (SCDMV).
Rules and Character Limits for SC Vanity Plates
To qualify for a personalized plate, your vehicle must have an empty weight of 9,000 pounds or less and a gross vehicle weight of 11,000 pounds or less.
When creating your custom message, you must adhere to strict formatting rules:
- Passenger Cars and Trucks: Limited to a maximum of 7 characters.
- Motorcycles and Specialty Plates: Limited to a maximum of 6 characters.
- Allowed Characters: You may only use letters, numbers, and the ampersand (“&”) symbol. Blank spaces count toward your total character limit.
The SCDMV reviews all applications and will reject combinations deemed offensive, inappropriate, or already in use.
How to Apply for a Personalized License Plate
Currently, South Carolina processes personalized plate requests primarily by mail through their Blythewood headquarters.
- Check Your Tax Status: Ensure your vehicle property taxes are up to date. If your current registration expires within three months, you must pay your county property taxes and renew your standard plate before applying for a personalized one.
- Complete the Form: Download and fill out the SCDMV Application Form MV-96 for Personalized License Plate. You must provide the exact meaning or relevance of your requested text on this form to ensure it passes the state’s review process.
- Submit Payment: Write a check or money order for the $30 fee (plus any applicable specialty or registration fees) made payable to the SCDMV. Do not mail cash.
- Mail the Packet: Send the completed form and payment to: South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles 10311 Wilson Blvd., Building C Blythewood, S.C. 29016-0038
How Much Does a Personalized Plate Cost in SC?
A personalized license plate in South Carolina requires a $30 non-refundable fee. This fee is charged in addition to your standard vehicle registration fee, which is typically $40 for a standard passenger car. If you choose to personalize a specialty plate (such as a university, military, or wildlife plate), you must pay the $30 vanity fee plus the specific specialty plate fee and your standard registration.
Frequently Asked Questions
Form MV-96 allows you to submit up to three different personalized plate choices in order of preference. If your first choice is unavailable or rejected, the SCDMV will automatically review your second or third choice.
No. You should keep your current valid license plate on your vehicle until your new personalized plate arrives in the mail. Once you install the new plate, you can turn in the old plate to a local SCDMV branch or destroy and recycle it.
Yes, but you will need a Power of Attorney from the leasing company (the lessor) authorizing you to register the vehicle and request the specialized plate on their behalf.
Conclusion:
Before submitting your application, verify that your desired plate combination adheres to the state’s strict character limits and that your vehicle property taxes are current with your local county auditor. Your next step is to brainstorm your top three character combinations and download Form MV-96 from the SCDMV website to begin the mail-in process.
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