CA vehicle registration renewal

stan23

stan23

Well-known member
I'm sure you guys have seen this picture floating around. It's a renewal notice for a Dodge Ram 2500. With the 'new' fees, the registration is a staggering $1400 bucks.

I've owned quite a few trucks through the years, and i'm still a little confused on why all pickup truck owners have to register their truck as a commercial vehicle? I know you can throw a shell on and and 'declare' it for not for hauling, but still not sure why I have to do any of that.


I bought a 2018 GMC full size truck a few months ago, and i'm not looking forward to my registration renewal next year.
 

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stan23

stan23

Well-known member
Junkie said:
That notice is for something with GVWR 35,000lb. It's not a 3/4 ton truck.
Click to expand...

But it is...

The truck in question is a Dodge Ram 2500.

Yes, with trailer and truck combined you can be at 35,000.

On my old 2016 Tacoma, registration before all the new fees was right around $600 bucks. I just renewed my 10 year old KTM to a tune of $200 bucks.

I'm not looking foward to all the renewals to all my toys, but more specifically concerned with the reg renewal on my GMC.
 
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kevin 714

kevin 714

Well-known member
Large trucks put more wear and tear on roads pollute more and use more gas. In theory that excess usage and pollution should cost a premium
 
stan23

stan23

Well-known member
kevin 714 said:
Large trucks put more wear and tear on roads pollute more and use more gas. In theory that excess usage and pollution should cost a premium
Click to expand...

In CA, all trucks are registered as commercial vehicles.

And pay the premium for that.

But your blanket statement doesn't apply to all instances. A small/mid size truck isn't going to put more wear and tear on roads than say a Yukon XL.
 
byke

byke

Well-known member
But there's a table of GVWR relative to fee. People generally don't buy mega tow rigs for groceries, though that is a growing trend. So I think Kevin is still right, the more potential weight on the road, the more likely the wear, the higher the fee. The fact that someone may or may not actually do that just means they may or may not have bought the right vehicle, which isn't exactly the state's problem.
 
Archimedes

Archimedes

Fire Watcher
I recently sold an allocation I had for a new GT3 for reasons other than financial, but one of the benefits of doing so is avoiding the ridiculous fees I would have been paying to California every year on that thing. Just retarded. I believe the car went to somebody in Texas, so California lost out on about $20k in taxes and fees. It's just become so ridiculous that I don't think I'll ever buy an expensive vehicle again while I live in this State.
 
stan23

stan23

Well-known member
byke said:
But there's a table of GVWR relative to fee. People generally don't buy mega tow rigs for groceries, though that is a growing trend. So I think Kevin is still right, the more potential weight on the road, the more likely the wear, the higher the fee. The fact that someone may or may not actually do that just means they may or may not have bought the right vehicle, which isn't exactly the state's problem.
Click to expand...

I won't ride the bullet train, but every registration renewal has me paying a portion for it!
 
bpw

bpw

Well-known member
A dodge Ram does not have a GVWR of 35,000 lbs, someone checked the wrong box. It likely falls in to the under 10,000 lbs. category.

GVWR doesn't include trailers, a Ram 2500 is about ~7,000 lbs and can carry ~3,000 according to dodge. A heavy duty version might break the 10k but not by much.
 
stan23

stan23

Well-known member
Archimedes said:
I recently sold an allocation I had for a new GT3 for reasons other than financial, but one of the benefits of doing so is avoiding the ridiculous fees I would have been paying to California every year on that thing. Just retarded. I believe the car went to somebody in Texas, so California lost out on about $20k in taxes and fees. It's just become so ridiculous that I don't think I'll ever buy an expensive vehicle again while I live in this State.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear that.

Agree with you that the fees/taxes here are getting ridiculous. I would imagine if I was that Dodge Ram owner, i'd be pretty annoyed at how expensive reg has become.
 
byke

byke

Well-known member
Well come on guys, are you ballers or not? Don't be an S-class at Walmart type. Just pay the fuckin fees and enjoy ur toys. :laughing
 
Archimedes

Archimedes

Fire Watcher
stan23 said:
Sorry to hear that.

Agree with you that the fees/taxes here are getting ridiculous. I would imagine if I was that Dodge Ram owner, i'd be pretty annoyed at how expensive reg has become.
Click to expand...

IIRC, it was going to be something like $1,750 a year just for registration on the car. That is just mind boggling.
 
dravnx

dravnx

Well-known member
Money has to come from somewhere.
Spend the money wisely blah blah
Caltrans blah blah
Politicians make so much money blah blah
With cars getting 40+ mpg, the state needs the money to repair our roads. Registration fees are where it's coming from.
You want a big truck, you have to pay the fees.
 
auntiebling

auntiebling

megalomaniacal troglodyte
Staff member
stan23 said:
But it is...

The truck in question is a Dodge Ram 2500.

Yes, with trailer and truck combined you can be at 35,000.

On my old 2016 Tacoma, registration before all the new fees was right around $600 bucks. I just renewed my 10 year old KTM to a tune of $200 bucks.

I'm not looking foward to all the renewals to all my toys, but more specifically concerned with the reg renewal on my GMC.
Click to expand...

it's not a 2500.
https://www.ramtrucks.com/content/dam/fca-brands/na/ramtrucks/en_us/towing/2017 Ram 2500.pdf

per that a 2017 RAM 2500 maxes out at the GCWR of just shy of 26k lbs

2017 ram 3500 shit sheet
https://www.ramtrucks.com/content/dam/fca-brands/na/ramtrucks/en_us/towing/2017 Ram 3500.pdf

max GCWR is 39,100 lbs, so welcome to the 35k fee class. sucks for the owner if he bought it and didn't need the diesel dually but just had to have it
 
stan23

stan23

Well-known member
auntiebling said:
it's not a 2500.
https://www.ramtrucks.com/content/dam/fca-brands/na/ramtrucks/en_us/towing/2017 Ram 2500.pdf

per that a 2017 RAM 2500 maxes out at the GCWR of just shy of 26k lbs

2017 ram 3500 shit sheet
https://www.ramtrucks.com/content/dam/fca-brands/na/ramtrucks/en_us/towing/2017 Ram 3500.pdf

max GCWR is 39,100 lbs, so welcome to the 35k fee class. sucks for the owner if he bought it and didn't need the diesel dually but just had to have it
Click to expand...

Ah, thanks for the clarification. I saw the picture reposted everywhere, but not the source.

Still - $1500 a bucks just on reg fee to drive a dually rig is insane.
 
Alan_Hepburn

Alan_Hepburn

Well-known member
bpw said:
A dodge Ram does not have a GVWR of 35,000 lbs, someone checked the wrong box. It likely falls in to the under 10,000 lbs. category.

GVWR doesn't include trailers, a Ram 2500 is about ~7,000 lbs and can carry ~3,000 according to dodge. A heavy duty version might break the 10k but not by much.
Click to expand...

The weight fee on that bill is based on the CVRA - Commercial Vehicle Registration Act - which was enacted in 2001, and sets different weight fees on vehicles with a GVWR of 11,500 lbs or more. I've seen Ram commercials where they brag about the highest 5th wheel tow rating in the industry, so they most likely do have trucks with GVWR above 11,500 lbs. If the vehicle comes under the CVRA fees then the owner must declare either a GVW or a GCW and pay the fee based on that number. Along with the regular registration sticker the vehicle will also have a sticker attached to either the front doors or the front fenders showing the declared weight.

To learn all about commercial vehicle fees you can read all about them here
 
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