Registering a vehicle in California

[curiousgeorge5]

I came across a video of a man who used to live in California. He owned a dilapidated looking SUV vehicle. It had to be at least 20 years old. He claimed it cost $1200 per year to either register it in California or to register it in the part of California he lived. Could that be true? If so, would it apply to wherever in California a person lives or probably to a particular part like LA or San Francisco?

[JGC97]

Not true. If his vehicle is indeed 20 years old, he's probably paying under $200/year. I know this because I own a '97 Jeep GC. I've owned it 22 years. My registration is due the first week of June and I paid it this past week. $177/year. Up $11 from last year but still under $200 so that guy is full of .... fluff.

[curiousgeorge5]

Originally Posted by JGC97

Not true. If his vehicle is indeed 20 years old, he's probably paying under $200/year. I know this because I own a '97 Jeep GC. I've owned it 22 years. My registration is due the first week of June and I paid it this past week. $177/year. Up $11 from last year but still under $200 so that guy is full of .... fluff.

Any idea what it would cost if your GC was a few or several years old?

[JGC97]

I have no idea what the tags for a newer one would be but this little tool can give you an estimate.

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/wasapp/FeeCal...VehicleForm.do

[saibot]

We have several cars of that vintage and they are all under $200 to register. I most recently paid up my 2007 BMW and it was $163.

$1200 sounds like some of the old "Everything in California costs 10x more" bull--.

[cb73]

There are people who totally ignore parking tickets, let them end up on their car registration bill, and then complain about California/DMV being too expensive.

Depending on where he lived, parking tickets that go to penalty can get seriously high. Collect a couple a month and it will add up.

[evening sun]

Originally Posted by cb73

There are people who totally ignore parking tickets, let them end up on their car registration bill, and then complain about California/DMV being too expensive.

Depending on where he lived, parking tickets that go to penalty can get seriously high. Collect a couple a month and it will add up.

Good point, if he is paying that much he is paying for unpaid tickets, not only is registration, Ours is somewhere in the 200 range. More bs from the I hate CA fools

[mattja]

I paid $165 to renew my 37-year-old truck last month.

[rodentraiser]

Maybe he was talking about the cost to make repairs so he could pass smog to get his car registered.

I had an old truck that I started repairing 6 months before the registration was due to almost 6 months after it was due, because it cost so much. That was to pass smog so I could get the thing registered. I'll tell you guys, the last year my neighbor said something along the lines of, "$200 and I'll get you a smog certificate." I took him up on it because I didn't have a penny more to spend on repairs. But the next year I got a new vehicle.

I know, I know. But when you push against desperate people, these things will happen. It was either drive an unregistered car (or a registered and uninsured car) and risk a ticket/tow or not have a job.

[NORTY FLATZ]

Originally Posted by rodentraiser

last year my neighbor said something along the lines of, "$200 and I'll get you a smog certificate." I took him up on it because I didn't have a penny more to spend on repairs.

The going rate here is $900 cash. At least that's what it is/was for a blown C5 with meth injection....

Gotta get it smogged again, this year....