How to Renew Your Car Registration at LTO (Philippines)

I just wanted to share my experience on our car registration renewal. If you're interested to know about driver's license renewal, you can check out this post: How to Renew Your Driver's License.

Earlier today, my brother had his car registration renewed at LTO. I tagged along since this is the first time that we were having the renewal. Typically, a brand new car is registered for the first three years (so you don't have to worry about registration renewal during this period), after which renewal is due every year.

THE SCHEDULE

The most important thing to find out if you're due for renewal is the schedule. I asked the staff at LTO and they said that your plate's last digit is the basis for the month of your renewal:

1 January

2 February

3 March

4 April

5 May

6 June

7 July

8 August

9 September

0 October

As for the week that you're due to renew, it would depend on the plate's middle digit:

1-3 1st week

4-6 2nd week

7,8 3rd week

9,0 4th week

For example, your car plate is ABC 123. The last digit is 3, which means that the month is March. The second digit is 2, which means the week is 1st. Hence, the deadline for renewal is 1st week of March.

Take note that if your renewal is late, you need to pay P200 extra for each week that you are late. If you are late by a month, then you will have to pay 50% extra of the total amount.

WHAT YOU NEED

-photocopy of OR-CR (wouldn't hurt if you can also bring the original)

-your car

-money

-smoke emission test result (can be taken at LTO)

-CTPL insurance (can be taken at LTO)

-stencil (will be taken at LTO)

THE PROCESS

We went to LTO Manila South District Office near PureGold San Andres since that is where we originally had the car registered.

LTO Manila South District Office

First off is the car's smoke emission test. There are two privately-owned emission test centers available inside the LTO compound. One is Pearl Orient Private Emission Testing. The other is Protection Emission Testing Center. We went with the latter just because it was nearer the entrance. We were asked to present a copy of the OR-CR (original or photocopy is fine). We were charged P400 for their service. We had to wait around 10-15 minutes for this.

Smoke Emission Test receipt

Afterwards, we went to get Compulsory Third-Party Liability (CTPL) insurance, also available within the LTO compound. We were also asked to show a photocopy of the OR-CR. We had to wait around 30 minutes (because there were a lot of people in LTO earlier today). We paid P1,060 for this.

CTPL Insurance from LTO

Next, we took a stencil application form from the Public Assistance and Complaints Desk. An LTO staff assisted us with the filling out of this form (for free). This took about 5-10 minutes.

There were really lots of people at LTO today.

No noon break.

Finally, we submitted everything to Window 8 for processing. Since there were lots of people today at LTO, we had to wait almost an hour just to be called to Window 9 to pay. The total amount was P2980 (inclusive of P450 for the new plates which were out of stock at the time). I think the amount would also depend on the car type. Ours was an SUV. By the way, if you transferred to a different LTO branch than the one where you initially registered, you would have to pay extra P100.

We had to wait about 10 minutes, then our new OR was released at Window 10. The new plates were still out of stock and we were given a landline number to call after 45 days to check for plate availability.

So, after paying P4,440 and spending almost two hours at LTO, we were able to renew our car registration at last. It wasn't really too difficult.

EXTRA NOTES

I have also heard about what they call "three-fourth" or "3/4", wherein you don't have to renew your car's registration. Instead, you can have your 3-year car registration extended. Kind of weird, but yes, it is possible, because I personally know someone who has had this done. Of course, this is only applicable to cars in their THIRD year of registration, but have not yet reached their 36th month.

For example, your car (with plate ABC 123) was bought and registered on July 2012. Since you are due to renew on the 1st week of March, but have not yet reached your 36th month (you are currently on the 33rd month), you can have registration extended, and you only have to pay 3/4 of the total amount. Plus, you don't have to undergo the smoke emission test.

Instantly, you save around P1,000! Your next renewal would be due the following year (just as if you had your car's registration renewed). I'm not sure if this is applicable to those who are transferring to a different LTO branch though, because the staff have to manually locate your files.

For more information, you can contact LTO Manila South District Office at (02)528-4682.

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Hope my post helped somehow. Feel free to share your LTO experience. :)