Vehicle Registration

[D4x4Fish]

Ok I get my 1999 Dodge Ram 1500 Registration for the first time Amount Due $251! So after talking with the guys at work, they tel me I can Register it noncommercial, and save on the weight fees. $154. So I go to DMV to register.

They ask, Do you have a Shell on the Back of the Truck?

Answer Yes.

How much did it cost you to convert your Truck to an Noncommercial Vechical?

Answer, I bought it this way, It had the camper shell on it.

So how much did it cost you to convert your Truck?

answer, It didnt, I bought it this way.

You need to put something in the box for a price.

Answer, What do you want me to do I bought it this way.

How about $350?

Answer Ok.

So they give me new plates

Then

Tell me now that I have registered as Noncommercial, I can not put anything in the back of the truck, Like say you go to Lowes and buy a gallon of Paint.

I say What?

They tell me I have to treat it like a car.

So I ask them like I would treat my wifes Toyota 4Runner.

That is right.

So I tell them that I haul Home supplies in the back of her car all the time. Bricks, potting soil, lumber, all kinds of things.

Their answer to me is

YOU CAN NOT DO THIS WITH A NONCOMMERCIAL VECHICAL, YOU WILL BE TICKETED!

You gotta just love this State!

[steelman]

So, are you saying that I shouldn't have brought home 11 sheets of 1/2" plywood on top of my wifes old '99 Montero Sport a few years ago???

[igofshn]

The thing is that you cannot legally take off the shell. You will get ticketed for that. You can carry your normal stuff in the back with the shell.

[USMC 0369]

Wait...

I'm from a common sense state so this is confusing me.

If I NEED to haul something in a noncommercial vehicle (that would require I remove the camper shell) like say...an engine stand or engine hoist, I cannot do that without getting a ticket? Even if I'm not hauling the items for a business (commercial) purpose? That's fricken retrarded!!! I'm sure there's some kind of loophole or something because the Home Improvement Warehouses would go right out of business if this were true.

Not everyone working at the DMV is a genius, maybe you got one of the short bus crew.

[D4x4Fish]

The following is from DMV

Additional Registration Fee for Pickup Trucks



Since 1972 California’s DMV has classified pickup trucks as commercial vehicles, requiring all owners to pay additional registration fees based on the vehicle’s weight. It’s a generalized interpretation that some state legislators are attempting to overturn. Critics charge that owners who only use their pickups for family use are being unfairly saddled with additional fees. But perhaps because it’s estimated that non-commercial pickup truck fees will total $288 million in 2008, the DMV seems resistant to amending this mandate.

Regardless, as of now the following rates, based on your pickup’s unladen (empty) weight, are as follows:

Zero to 1,999 pounds: $8
2,000 to 2,999 pounds: $8
3,000 to 4,000 pounds: $24
4,001 to 5,000 pounds: $80
5,001 to 6,000 pounds: $154
6,001 to 7,000 pounds: $204
7,001 to 8,000 pounds: $257
8,001 to 9,000 pounds: $308
9,001 to 10,000 pounds: $360
Pickups with permanent sleeper shells are exempt.

[COLOR="Black"]truck fees will total $288 million in 2008[/COLOR]

[Shadly1]

You know, I have had pickup trucks in the past and never noticed an additional fee. They were Toyotas, so maybe it was too low of a dollar amount for me to notice. There are certain tax advantages to owning a commercial vehicle if you claim exemptions.

Do El Caminos count? I don't have one. Just wondering.

[D4x4Fish]

Just being a Cheap SOB here. I think the government gets more than their share of my money.

[Shadly1]

Well, you can pay the gubment or you can pay a lawyer to avoid paying the gubment...