I bought a heavy duty magnet tape roll at Ace Hardware - the kind you use to stick a wrench to the side of your workbench - and covered the back of the stickers with it so that it became a large solid magnet with no gaps. Then I trimmed off the excess. Those puppies aren't going anywhere. Unfortunately I can only put them on the side of my Prius. Lots of plastic on the back and front. They are always in my glovebox when not in use, but I never put more than one or two on my vehicle so it's not that big of a hassle.

A few weeks ago I put all four in a "star" pattern on the door just for kicks. It got some great looks from other hybrid owners, like "why the **** did you do that to your car?!?!" kind of looks.

I agree with the previous poster. I don't think officers are going to care if you have four on your car in the precise designated areas. They just want it to be highly visible. The putrid sticker design takes care of that all by itself. I can spot those things a mile away.

I would highly recommend doing this, especially since we might have to take them off in a few years anyway when the law expires.

One last thing. Here's another idea a friend of mine came up with. I haven't tried it yet, but it might work well if the cops become stringent on the sticker placement:
-Buy a heavy magnet block and mount it on the inside of your bumpers. That way you can put the magnet stickers on the plastic surfaces.

Anyone know how to check exactly how many CA HOV stickers remain? Who has the most recent seriel #? I want to take delivery 1-01-06 to get the tax credit but don't want to miss out on the HOV stickers.
Thanks!

I have the same concern but I'm not too worried. I've seen no solid info since August.

I've been looking closely at every hybrid to see how many have stickers in the Bay Area. To my surprise, not more than 1 in 10 has the new stickers. I'm talking mostly about Priuses because they are easiest to spot. If only one in ten, or even one in five, hybrid owners in the Bay Area are going through the trouble of getting HOV stickers then I would guess they're going to be available long after the first of the year.

If I hear they're running out I'll go to Plan B - buy a Civic GX. Those will be eligible for the HOV lane regardless, and they don't have to pay the bridge tolls either during rush hour.

2006 HCH Alabaster Silver w/Navi
2003 Honda Accord LX

Not a bad idea on the CNG Civic. I looked into that and also a used CNG Crown Victoria which would be very comfy ride! However, I decided against it since I regularly would exceed the range of those and although there are quite a number or refueling stations, it just may be more of a pain than it's worth. It may be a good viable plan "B" though.


Please post if anyone has good intel on the HOV stickers (carpool lane, passes, access, HOV access,).

Bump

Got my stickers on 10/24 and my number was about 34100.

I feel like it's taking forever to get my transponder. Sent in the request several weeks ago and I'm an existing Fasktrak user. Ugh.
On a different note, are we suppose to stick these stickers as crooked as possible? Seems like every hybrid I've seen, the owners must have placed these stickers on their cars while in the dark or something. Must be me.... compulsive disorder.....

On August 20th the SF Chronicle wrote:
"The Department of Motor Vehicles estimates that about 65,670 hybrids are eligible in California, although some may not be registered in the state any longer, and not all hybrid owners are expected to apply for the permit. The state law allows up to 75,000 permits to be issued."

So it sounds like about half the hybrids in the state have gotten stickers so far. Does anyone know how many hybrids are sold in CA each month?

2006 HCH Alabaster Silver w/Navi
2003 Honda Accord LX

I called the ARB today and the rep said that the DMV told them that they (DMV) are at about 40,000 on the permits.

So Jan delivery may be cutting it close. She also told me that according to the DMV you need the license plate number although some here have said you can get by with just the VIN. I hope that is the case as I won't be able to take delivery until late, late Dec or earily Jan 2006.

On another note, as I was writing this 2 Honda dealers called at the same time to tell me they got VINs for Hybrids coming in for late November delivery.