DMV Fees California
 

Hey,

I was wondering if these fees are normal. DMV wants for my 2005 X5 3.0i

registration fees $69
License fee $332
County/district fees $20

Total $421

That seems so high.

Paid ours last in December so there has been an increase ... ours was Reg=$41 and License=$194 for our 2003 X5 3.0. Reg Fee up nearly 50% so license Fee might have gone up as well. License Fee is calculated on "value" of car so yours would be a little higher just because of model year.

Even if it is (as you say) "high" What do you propose to do?
Just deduct the appropriate amount from your taxes.

Bastards! That is ridiculous. Seriously, that is insane.

But my dad has a 330 paid five years ago about the same price as I did. So wouldn't his fees be as high as mine. He pays 200 every year.

I paid last year the same amount 421 or so but I assumed it was so high because I bought from someone in arizona.

Yes I will. I just want to make sure it is no internal error by the DMV.

@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).

Ok thanks

It's Cali: broke as an old window...they are jacking up fees on any item(s) they can.

No sh*t!

CA Vehicle Registration
 

Paid May 2012
Registration Fee: $69
License Fee: $159
County Fee: $10
Total $238

Paid May 2011
Registration Fee: $57
License Fee: $321
County Fee: $10
Smog Abatement Fee: $20
Total $408

Oh, I found the problem. Fortunately, there is an easy fix.

Registration Fee: $69
License Fee: $199
County/District Fee: $10
SMOG Abatement Fee: $20
Total: $298

Paid mine in May, $177

2005 3.0. I am original owner. Took delivery August 2005.

Last year was $210. 2010 was $375.

I'm in LA, near UCLA campus if location makes any difference.

it is lovely how someone has to pay the government for the pleasure to own things that we already own... so, if i don't want the item anymore, can I "unload" it onto the government? this is a very interesting subject and calls for a bottle of congnac and some big cigars...


I just wish our year was like martian - like 700 days, but i am thankful that it is not not like the mercurian year of 88 days... can you imagine, paying those "arbitrary" fees every 3 months???

My property taxes can buy a lot more cigars than my auto reg fees.... and I prefer port.

property tax, eh?... whatever happened to the land of free - if you stake a piece of land, it should be yours, from hell to heaven... then the mining companies come along, and they take away your "hell" rights... then power companies show up, and they they the hope for "heaven"... then township comes up with a "right-of-way"... along with the railroad...

as the time passes by, it seems that our entire purpose on this land is to make sure that we the taxes for "____" (insert your purpose here)... for the people who work to pay off taxes until sometime in May of each year, we all should have free medicine, full retirement packages, cheap prescription pills, smooth roads... Like in sweden, or something...

When in human history has the land of free ever been in existence.
Nothing is free. Never has been, never will be and believing otherwise
is nothing more than a pipe dream.

OT...
Fwiw, my annual DMV license plate registration fees in NC are ~$65-$88 each for our various 3 cars, and ~$18 each for my 3 m'cycles.

i would not expect "free"... i'd rather pay for things, but when i come to a store to buy something, usually i dont hand cash (or blank check) to the cachier and hope that (s)he will get me what i need. i pick things up, sometimes bypassing cheap things in favor of higher quality, but more expensive things, and then pay the cashier...

with the taxes, it seems that the cashier greets me at the store, collects my money, and then fills up my basket with things that (s)he thinks will be good for me... and the next day, the same cashier tells me that the prices went up... and i have NO say of goes in my basket...

That is the feeling that i don't like, not the fact that i have to pay for the roads, the infrastructure and the rest... I just don't like paying my share of $3bln to pakistan to hate us... or, insert your favorite peeve project...

For the purpose of this thread one does have a choice.
If a person doesn't want to pay the tax, don't buy a car.
But if you do, how much you pay may determine how much you
pay in taxes. In that case buy the cheapest car you can find.
After all a car (like a toaster) is nothing more than an appliance
meant for a single purpose. To get one from here to there....:cool:

Come on out to LA...

We'll start with some Sake & Sushi...

Then Cabernet & red meat...

Then the cigars & snifters...

and debate the merits of taxes... and who we will vote for...

Sounds like a fun time, especially if we fill up the restaurant parking lot with E53s!

Had a few drinks tonight.... now I have to figure out which costs more... the taxes (fed, CA, property, auto fees, etc) or my wife's spending habits ;)