@PandaTrader: FWIW - I don't know the DMV formula specifically but I believe it starts with what you paid for the car when you first registered it then goes down some percent for each model year. At some age the fees bottom out. I pay the same "low" price for a 1936 (bought in 2003 for about a 3-series), 1962 (inherited in 1989), 1969 (bought cheap in 2004) but still pay a higher amount for a 1978 (bought in 2000 for about a 3-series).