Man did I just get a shock. Opened my vehicle registration renewal notice for my 2016 Ram 3500 diesel and found a $308 weight fee. Add that to the license fee and all the other gobble gook and I'm shelling out $778 clams! :MI did some research online and it appears that my truck is rated commercial and the only way to get it reclassified is make the bed permanently unusable by bolting in a camper that can never be taken out. Have any of you guys gotten the same shock as I have? Is this just a California thing? Don't think this is fair but after thinking about all the $200 and $300 pops I've made each year for special this or thats, the $308 is cool just to be able to hear my diesel brakes rumble as I come down the hill. I can sell myself on most anything . . . Just don't tell my wife!

YEP....That is CA registration.Pick up trucks are 'COMMERCIAL' as far as registration fees.

You know the best part?Next year it will go up by about another $200! You should call Jerry Brown and thank him for allowing you to own it and drive it in CA!! Don't forget to tell him how glad you are to pay the higher price for Fuel also!

It is a California thing. In Oklahoma a one-ton pickup is a passenger vehicle.

Another reason to not live in California.

Look on the bright side. You get free 30 minute parking in all of the commercial zones in town. Just tell the meter maid you are making a delivery.

California DMV weight fee | Good Sam Community

Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Apr 23, 2017
YEP....

That is CA registration.
Pick up trucks are 'COMMERCIAL' as far as registration fees.
jake2250
Explorer
Apr 23, 2017
You know the best part?
Next year it will go up by about another $200!
You should call Jerry Brown and thank him for allowing you to own it and drive it in CA!! Don't forget to tell him how glad you are to pay the higher price for Fuel also!
tatest
Explorer II
Apr 23, 2017
It is a California thing. In Oklahoma a one-ton pickup is a passenger vehicle.
edatlanta
Explorer
Apr 23, 2017
Another reason to not live in California.
srx-6
Explorer
Apr 23, 2017
Look on the bright side. You get free 30 minute parking in all of the commercial zones in town. Just tell the meter maid you are making a delivery.
agesilaus
Explorer III
Apr 23, 2017
Don't complain that money goes to keep your roads in the fine shape that is the California standard.

I pay about $100 in Florida and think that's too much. But at least we don't have 100 potholes per 1000 feet of road.
smokeylew
Explorer
Apr 23, 2017
srx-6 wrote:
Look on the bright side. You get free 30 minute parking in all of the commercial zones in town. Just tell the meter maid you are making a delivery.

I like that! It's another positive slant on this. I'm storing all of the pluses in the little grey cells so when I write that check I'll have a big stupid smile on my face instead of a frown. :B
krobbe
Explorer
Apr 23, 2017
Highway Robbery!
It looks to me like Kalifornia has co-opted the word commercial to include all pickups.
By definition, commercial means: 1. concerned with or engaged in commerce. 2. making or intended to make a profit.
Kalifornia's definition according to their code CVC 260 defines commercial vehicle as:
1. Used or maintained for the transportation of persons for hire, compensation, or profit.
2. Designed, used, or maintained primarily for the transportation of property.
Nowhere in the definition of commercial does it mention property.
SO my thinking is, if a pickup is not used for commercial purposes, there should not be any fees or tariffs over a standard passenger vehicle.
Here in Mich, it costs $8 to transfer a plate to another vehicle. Maybe that is an option for you as well.
Garry_Gayle
Explorer
Apr 23, 2017
I do not pay those weight fees on my F350 because all I tow is our 5th wheel trailer, campers and rv trailers are exempt according to the DMV office I went to for clarification, if you tow anything else then you pay.
ACZL
Explorer
Apr 23, 2017
Just sent in my renewal to NYS DMV for my truck and it was 150 bucks w/ current white plates. If I needed new gold plates, $180 and new gold plates w/ current number--$200. Reg as commercial and at 9k.

Upon edit: This fee is for 2 year reg sticker. So basically I'm paying 75 bucks/year for reg.