$600 license and registration fees for a new car in CA?
05-07-24, 11:03 AM
#46
Lexus Champion
I just got my renewal notice today for my 3 year old Tundra. It is now down to $665. I can't remember what it was initially.
My GS (2020) will be due in September. Last year it was $589 and this year it will be $540. The first year it was $700.
My 2019 Highlander will be due in July. I just looked it up and this year it will be $566. (More expensive than the GS because the Highlander is a hybrid)
My 2022 travel trailer is around $90 per year.
So if my math is correct (it is), this year it will cost me $1,861 to license three vehicles and one travel trailer. All these taxes but no California sunshine.
This is for Snohomish County, Washington, within the RTA tax zone.
My GS (2020) will be due in September. Last year it was $589 and this year it will be $540. The first year it was $700.
My 2019 Highlander will be due in July. I just looked it up and this year it will be $566. (More expensive than the GS because the Highlander is a hybrid)
My 2022 travel trailer is around $90 per year.
So if my math is correct (it is), this year it will cost me $1,861 to license three vehicles and one travel trailer. All these taxes but no California sunshine.
This is for Snohomish County, Washington, within the RTA tax zone.
05-07-24, 11:13 AM
#47
Lexus Champion
That's actually not uncommon at all. In IL, which is at the opposite end of the spectrum (I pay 10x what AJT does for a house of similar value), property tax rates for the various taxing bodies are determined by the total tax being levied, not the other way around. So for example, our high school district (which I believe is the largest HS district in the country) has a total approved tax levy of approximately $251M, and the total assessed valuation (not the total value) of all properties in the district is $9.3B, so the tax rate is 2.71%. This was a re-assessment year, so valuations were up 15.7% from roughly $8B the year prior, but the levy was only up by 2.4% ($6M). So our tax rate went down from 3.06% to 2.71% despite both the total district tax amount and our valuations going up.
As for the thread topic of vehicle registration, ours is $165 for title, and $151/year for registration. So the first year is $316, and subsequent years are $151, regardless of vehicle age or value.
As for the thread topic of vehicle registration, ours is $165 for title, and $151/year for registration. So the first year is $316, and subsequent years are $151, regardless of vehicle age or value.
05-07-24, 01:00 PM
#49
05-07-24, 01:39 PM
#50
drives cars
When I lived in MO, we had yearly property tax on vehicles, and a property tax receipt was required for registration renewal. I had a bill of about $620 for the first year I had my 2016 IS 300 AWD. It obviously decreases as the taxable value of the car decreases. Even after three years I was still paying over $500, however.
Here in GA, we have a one-time Title Ad Valorem Tax (TAVT) that's due when the vehicle is titled. After that, it's just $20 a year to renew. No property tax or other fee.
Here in GA, we have a one-time Title Ad Valorem Tax (TAVT) that's due when the vehicle is titled. After that, it's just $20 a year to renew. No property tax or other fee.
05-07-24, 03:15 PM
#51
Lexus Test Driver
When I lived in MO, we had yearly property tax on vehicles, and a property tax receipt was required for registration renewal. I had a bill of about $620 for the first year I had my 2016 IS 300 AWD. It obviously decreases as the taxable value of the car decreases. Even after three years I was still paying over $500, however.
Here in GA, we have a one-time Title Ad Valorem Tax (TAVT) that's due when the vehicle is titled. After that, it's just $20 a year to renew. No property tax or other fee.
Here in GA, we have a one-time Title Ad Valorem Tax (TAVT) that's due when the vehicle is titled. After that, it's just $20 a year to renew. No property tax or other fee.
Nevada has an annual property tax on vehicles, but it's just tacked on as a line item when you register your car.
05-07-24, 07:41 PM
#52
05-08-24, 03:45 AM
#54
Super Moderator
05-08-24, 07:07 AM
#55
Lexus Champion
Oh yeah. Vegas is a BLAST, but it gets old after 3-4 days. Then all you want to do is get the hell out of there and go home.
05-08-24, 09:23 AM
#56
Lead Lap
05-08-24, 10:18 AM
#57
Super Moderator
That said, in road terms, EVs are not "heavy" and just like ICE cars, do not contribute to road wear in any significant way. When predicting the durability or lifetime of a road surface, the very first thing an engineer does is completely ignore ALL non-commercial traffic, because it is not in any way material to the calculation.
Road stress scales in an exponential fashion according to the "fourth power rule", which can be expressed as <weight per axle> ^4. The enormity with which this scales is extremely hard to visualize, so let's use an example. Let's pretend for simplicity's sake that a weight of 1 ton per axle causes 1 cent of road damage per trip
A Civic with 2 people aboard is around 3,500 lbs, so 0.875 tons per axle. 0.875^4 = 0.6 cents per trip
A Model S with 2 people aboard is around 5,000 lbs, so 1.25 tons per axle. 1.25^4 = 2.4 cents per trip
A Semi is 80,000 lbs fully loaded with 10 axles, which is 8 tons per axle. 8^4 = $40.96 per trip
A fully-loaded cube van is 37,000 lbs with 2 axles, so 9.25 tons per axle. 9.25^4 = $73.21 per trip
So in the same number of miles where that model S has created $100 worth of stress on the road, the cube van has caused $300,041 of stress. Combine that with the fact that commercial vehicles typically rack up a lot more miles than light vehicles do, you can see why cars--even if they're heavier than average--don't really matter.
Last edited by geko29; 05-08-24 at 01:44 PM.
05-08-24, 10:53 AM
#58
Lexus Champion
That's kinda where I was going. Road taxes are normally levied in the form of fuel taxes. State's gonna get their money somehow.
That said, in road terms, EVs are not "heavy" and just like ICE cars, do not contribute to road wear in any significant way. When predicting the durability or lifetime of a road surface, the very first thing an engineer does is completely ignore ALL non-commercial traffic, because it is not in any way material to the calculation.
Road stress scales in an exponential fashion according to the "fourth power rule", which can be expressed as <weight per axle> ^4. The enormity with which this scales is extremely hard to visualize, so let's use an example. Let's pretend for simplicity's sake that a weight of 1 ton per axle causes 1 cent of road damage per trip
A Civic with 2 people aboard is around 3,500 lbs, so 0.875 tons per axle. 0.875^4 = 0.6 cents per trip
A Model S with 2 people aboard is around 5,000 lbs, so 1.25 tons per axle. 2.5^4 = 2.4 cents per trip
A Semi is 80,000 lbs fully loaded with 10 axles, which is 8 tons per axle. 8^4 = $40.96 per trip
A fully-loaded cube van is 37,000 lbs with 2 axles, so 9.25 tons per axle. 9.25^4 = $73.21 per trip
So in the same number of miles where that model S has created $100 worth of stress on the road, the cube van has caused $300,041 of stress. Combine that with the fact that commercial vehicles typically rack up a lot more miles than light vehicles do, you can see why cars--even if they're heavier than average--don't really matter.
That said, in road terms, EVs are not "heavy" and just like ICE cars, do not contribute to road wear in any significant way. When predicting the durability or lifetime of a road surface, the very first thing an engineer does is completely ignore ALL non-commercial traffic, because it is not in any way material to the calculation.
Road stress scales in an exponential fashion according to the "fourth power rule", which can be expressed as <weight per axle> ^4. The enormity with which this scales is extremely hard to visualize, so let's use an example. Let's pretend for simplicity's sake that a weight of 1 ton per axle causes 1 cent of road damage per trip
A Civic with 2 people aboard is around 3,500 lbs, so 0.875 tons per axle. 0.875^4 = 0.6 cents per trip
A Model S with 2 people aboard is around 5,000 lbs, so 1.25 tons per axle. 2.5^4 = 2.4 cents per trip
A Semi is 80,000 lbs fully loaded with 10 axles, which is 8 tons per axle. 8^4 = $40.96 per trip
A fully-loaded cube van is 37,000 lbs with 2 axles, so 9.25 tons per axle. 9.25^4 = $73.21 per trip
So in the same number of miles where that model S has created $100 worth of stress on the road, the cube van has caused $300,041 of stress. Combine that with the fact that commercial vehicles typically rack up a lot more miles than light vehicles do, you can see why cars--even if they're heavier than average--don't really matter.
05-08-24, 11:02 AM
#59
Intermediate
bought a diesel ram in 2005 to not screw w smog...years later U need smog every 2 years....have passed last 8(?) times........same smog guy. says its pretty much a $$ grab by CA, not really registering air pollution specs but to get ur $$ and to get the "coal burners" back to stock..
05-10-24, 03:02 PM
#60
to the OP, this sounds average for CA. usually a special plate fee is $90 (on top) so seeing $0 is a good thing!
i believe, and i could be wrong, the registration you pay is in relation to the car's age. newer the car, the higher the reg fee. i observed this with my fleet.
my 92 accord was double digits at 1 time but this year crept back up to $100-something. so i suppose my initial theory is shot
! CA doing CA things...
i believe, and i could be wrong, the registration you pay is in relation to the car's age. newer the car, the higher the reg fee. i observed this with my fleet.
my 92 accord was double digits at 1 time but this year crept back up to $100-something. so i suppose my initial theory is shot
! CA doing CA things...