California registration costs...

[rlaggren]

I was looking at a step van, a very nice 24' aluminum body on a Ford chassi w/an I6. Was thinking serious until THUNK!!!

Ran head first into the California registration process wherein _anything_ w/a GVWR over 11,500 MUST get a commercial weight tag (MCP). Now this in itself doesn't matter _too_ much except.... They fax the tag over to the insurance company and you get to buy a mandatory $750k policy cuz you're commercial. This costs somewhere north of $1500-2000/yr.

I have spent a couple hours looking on the net. The CA website pretty much says it straight out - doesn't matter what use, you're over 11,500# and you're commercial. This has all the 5th wheel guys with their duallies in an uproar but they don't have any solutions that I found.

For the morbidly curious:
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/vehindustry/mcp/m ... tm#whodoes

This is since about 2005. Anybody in CA know any side doors or loop holes for recreational or personal use vehicles? Or maybe the info I found so far is out of date (like maybe somebody came to their senses!)? My next step is to check the insurance angle and see if there's any flex there. Could be I finally found the straw that broke the California camel's back, though.

Thanks,

Rufus

[rlaggren]

OK. I think I found it (the loop hole of sanity). It looks like there is a "housecar" exemption for anything permanently setup for habitation. That leaves the guys towing (if they unhitch they're illegal) or with pickup campers (not permanent) out in the cold, but it should cover an RV conversion.

Back to other problems.

Cheers, Rufus

[dburt]

Oregon has somewhat of the same situation. You have to show a permanent bed or sleeping facilities and permanent kitchen facilities to register a bus or a box truck or whatever as an RV. Means you have to take it to the local DMV office and they come out and inspect your bus or truck and then you can call it an RV. In the meantime, it has to be registered as a bus, or truck. If it is under 26,000 lb GVWR then it does not have to be commerical, unless of course you are using it for commercial uses.

[rlaggren]

California appears to be getting anal about this, by degrees, but always moving in that direction. I spent about 3 hours going through anything I could find and it all points the same way - they are effectively going after large private vehicles. Which may or may not make sense re> road clutter, wear, and reducing emissions. The commercial fleets produce _so_ much wear and pollution that I doubt the private guys amount to much. Kinda like banning the use of copper and biocide bottom paint for pleasure boats but allowing it for any large commercial ship (well, that's not CA, that's the feds); so guess what - all large ships use biocide paint to avoid bottom painting costs so what's the point?

Anyway... I decided I was going off half cocked and canceled out on the step van. It had a nice pedigree, one owner, but it had 5 bolt wheels with 7.50x20 and maybe widow makers all around (didn't check close enough first time and I might not be able to tell for sure anyway) - and they were all alligatoring after 10 years or whatever. It was also a little large for me (but could got used to it); I think I"ll try for about 20' w/single rears. But thereal problem is I have no good place to work on it and retail service is just not affordable for me.

Oh well. Maturity sucks. <g>

Rufus

[Sharkey]

Finding 7.50 x 20 rubber might be more difficult than you would think. I bought four new rears for the Housetruck in 1998, and was told at that time that they would be discontinued soon. That and there are NO truck tire service shops anywhere around here that will service split rims. I was lucky, as my truck has something different (keyhole-shaped, non-split, removeable beads).

California is proof that legislators never met a law that they wouldn't pass.

[TMAX]

Or a tax they didn't like.

[Jones'n4chrome]

California is broke. They are raising the price of registration to help offset the debt. They are also writing parking tickets for everything. I got 2 parking tickets in the last 2 months. The first one for parking in the alley at my dads house. The ticket was also a pay envelope, it was pre printed and the fee for parking in the alley was $55.00 within a week they sent two letters to my house. The first one stating that if the ticket had not been paid yet, then I was to pay the new increased rate of $60.00 The second letter said the same thing except it was up to $65.00.
The second ticket was for parking on my grass. That ticket said to call for the price (that way they can raise it without wasting any money on all those nasty letters) I lucked out with that one though, it was only $55.00

This is easy money for them, because illegal aliens never rock the boat, they just pay the higher registration fees.

If you are curious why the state is broke...


http://www.theamericanresistance.com/re ... mbers.html

[TMAX]

Chuck, you are so right when it comes to our state being broke. It's a shame (sham?), since we are burdened with some of the highest tax rates in the nation. If the politicos ran things even halfway that they should be run, our streets would be paved in gold (or at least gold colored asphalt).

Your ticket misfortune brought to mind an experience that happened to a friend of mine last year. David lost his jeep to thievery (common theft, not the institutionalized kind, not yet anyway). When the joy riders ran out of gas, the jeep was abandoned here in Bellflower. After sitting long enough (about two weeks) to incur two $50 parking tickets, it got towed. After about another two weeks (to rack up some nice tasty impound charges), David was officially notified. I went with him to help get the jeep out of car jail. After monies passed (about $250-$300), papers signed, and gas added, he was free to go (well, almost). We checked both of the tickets and they both stated that if you wished to challenge them, you would have to do it in person at Bellflower city hall. What they did not have was an address for city hall, how convenient. The only address listed on these tickets was a P.O. Box in Tustin (about 25+ miles southeast of Bellflower). Went to city hall and to their dismay, got the tickets voided. Wonder how many folks just give up and pay.

Don't get me started on our city imposed 5% utility tax...

Tom

[splummer]

thats sad, how does a vehicle just sit in cali ,when it was reported stolen, sounds to me some one is not doing their job

[TMAX]

No, it's a racket. Been going on many years here in California. Back in the early to mid '60s my mom had a '55 Chevy that was stolen twice when we owned it. Easy to take and popular at the time. Both times it wound up in impound yards for over a week before we were notified of its recovery. Its part of a sweetheart deal between police departments and tow / impound yards. It's pretty much institutionalized here in California.

As for what happened to my friend, I can dismiss the two parking tickets because his jeep was reported in Orange County and recovered in Los Angeles County. Not much communication between the two.

TMAX / aka Tom

[splummer]

not only in cali, maine also, just ask any one in the city after a sno storm, .the impound yards are filled with cars.

[Jones'n4chrome]

Sharkey's signature line sums it up pretty good;

"History has never been kind to people who fail to control their leaders" -Mark Stanley

[graydawg]

In LOUSYANA as some who know call it, I recieved a ticket for double parking in front of a restaurant, the lines for parking had been changed at least three times and of course they didn't bother to paint over the lines they did not want adhered too, but anyway it cost me $25 and a $5 for being late, tried to fight it with pictures to no avail they said it's just $30 pay it and forget it, funny thing about the girl at the counter didn't have a answer when I said well here you pay it for me and we will forget about it.