§ 2109 — Period of registration; effective date

(a) Any vehicle described in § 2151 of this title may be registered for 24 months, 12 months or 6 months and the effective date of the registration shall be the date the vehicle is titled. Any used vehicle not more than 7 model years old may be registered from 6 to 72 months based on a model year and mileage formula established by the Division of Motor Vehicles. The Division of Motor Vehicles may require vehicles to be registered for less than 24 months as may be necessary to ensure a balanced monthly distribution of vehicle inspections and registrations; all fees shall be prorated. The registration of a vehicle shall expire at midnight on the last day of the period for which it is registered, and the vehicle shall not thereafter be operated upon the highways of this State until it has been reregistered according to law. This section shall not apply to the vehicles registered under the International Registration Plan or to vehicles registered under temporary or limited permits or certificates as otherwise provided by this title.

(b) The owner of any semitrailer or trailer who wishes to match that vehicle’s license plate expiration with the towing vehicle’s license plate expiration may register such semitrailer or trailer for a period of from 1 to 12 months. In addition to the registration fee, which shall be prorated for the number of months registered, there shall be a service fee of $3.00. This subsection shall not apply to those vehicles which are under a fleet account as specified in § 2143(c) of this title.

(c) Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (b) of this section, any newly-manufactured current model year motor vehicle or trailer with a gross registered weight of 10,000 pounds or less not previously registered or titled in any state or country may be initially registered by the owner for 7 years or less. Newly-manufactured previous model year motor vehicles or trailers having the above criteria may initially be registered for 6 years or less by a prorated formula established by the Division of Motor Vehicles. The effective date of registration shall be the date the vehicle is titled. The registration fee shall be the number of years selected multiplied by the annual registration fee. Thereafter, the registration shall be renewed pursuant to § 2110 of this title.

(d) In calculating the prorated fees or combined annual fees payable pursuant to this section, the fees shall be calculated using the rates in effect or scheduled to be in effect during the period of the prorated or extended registration.

Legislative History

36 Del. Laws, c. 10, § 14 ; Code 1935, § 5552; 45 Del. Laws, c. 287, § 1 ; 21 Del. C. 1953, § 2109; 57 Del. Laws, c. 271, § 1 ; 58 Del. Laws, c. 365, §§ 1, 2 ; 60 Del. Laws, c. 382, §§ 1, 2 ; 65 Del. Laws, c. 330, § 1 ; 66 Del. Laws, c. 91, § 1 ; 67 Del. Laws, c. 411, §§ 1, 2 ; 68 Del. Laws, c. 123, § 1 ; 68 Del. Laws, c. 156, § 56(e) ; 70 Del. Laws, c. 88, § 1 ; 72 Del. Laws, c. 18, §§ 1, 2 ; 81 Del. Laws, c. 184, § 1