Mugged by California DMV?

CoachPotato wrote:
Pardon me if I'm covering plowed ground here, but I couldn't find any threads on this topic...

My annual registration renewal is to be $880! I've owned a couple of gas rigs in the past, the last was newer than our "new" diesel, and paid about half or less than the fees of this diesel!

Would some diesel owners from Kalifornistan please chime in here and let me know it this sounds similar to what you're paying?

Our coach is a 2004 (12 years old!) Winnebago Diesel 32T. It seems to me I'm being mugged and I'd like to know if our $880 mugging sounds similar to your experience.

Thanks for any info.

-Dale

Dale,
California's registration fees, are primarily based on what the DMV was told, the price of the vehicle and year. That is, in all "new" car/truck/motorhome/motorcycle vehicles, when a transaction between a dealership and purchasing customer is finished, the total selling price is sent to the DMV and, the tax (and subsequent fees) are based on that price. So, if you buy new, any vehicle/motorhome etc. you will be paying the highest possible licensing fees applicable, for quite some time.

But, if you buy a USED vehicle/coach/motorcycle etc. from a private party, and, dare I say this, "fib" on the reported price to the CAL DMV, you will be paying lower taxes and, subsequent licensing fees, from that point on. Now, is this practice wide spread, well, if I were to guess, I'd say probably about 30%-40% of Californian's do it.

But, you rest assured, your "California" registration fees, are on par with many other states. When we moved from CA to AZ just over two years ago, of course we brought with us, all the motoring fleet. That included a 2004 Itasca Horizon, 36GD with the C-7 330HP CAT. A 2011 GMC 1500 4x4 Extended Cab and, a 2008 Honda GL 1800 Goldwing.

The registration fees for the motor home were due when we left CA. They were going to be $350.00. But, Arizona calculates things a bit differently than CA. What they do is:

Take the MSRP of the vehicle when it was new. In our case, the MSRP of our coach was, $217,000.00. Then, they subtract 60% from that figure and multiply it by a constant factor. Now, for every year following, it drops by 16.25%. IN this fashion, there is no chance for "fibbing" like there is in CA.

In AZ, I don't care if you paid $200 for a $50,000 dollar motor home, the MVD over here is going to charge you, the same exact amount, that they would charge a person who paid $50,000.00 FOR THE SAME COACH, IN THE SAME YEAR!! Our registration fees were $687.00 for the first year we were here.


And, not only that but, in places like UT, you HAVE to obtain an ANNUAL safety inspection and, your billed by the DMV according to engine size and weight. So, even CA is less then other states.
Scott