CA - Registration Price Shock, Commerical?

[lmr]

In Oregon it's not too bad. First, there's no state sales tax. The title is $192 and the registration is $632 for 4 years plus a one time plate manufacturing fee of $24.50.

Correct! However, in the case of Rivian, as they currently do not have a dealership license in Oregon, there is an additional .5% tax on the R1 purchase price that needs to be paid at time of registration. This is due to the fact that Rivian is currently selling the vehicles as an Illinois dealer and Oregon has a Vehicle Use Tax (V-TAX) that applies when purchasing vehicles from a dealer outside the state.

Still not nearly as expensive as California and several other states, though.

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[SANZC02]

Not a mistake. As other have said, all trucks in CA are considered commercial because you technically can carry things in the bed for commercial purposes. I bought a tundra a few months back and it got a commercial plate.

That is interesting, I have not registered a pickup in CA in probably 20 years but the 3 I had were never registered as commercial vehicles. Something could have changed since then but according to the DMV website it is optional, see below.

This is from the DMV’s website, note the definition of a pickup truck as well as the last paragraph Stating a pickup truck is one of the vehicles that can be registered as a passenger vehicle or commercial depending on use.

 

[the long way downunder]

Rivian needs to get it together with their licence plate screw supplier. Rusty already and Im in SoCal. I didn't even receive screws for the front plate bracket. Kind don't feel like I shouldn't have to paint these but yet here I am...

Debating putting the front plate on. Might wait for the vanity plates to arrive.

Agreed. The front plate bracket is primitive – I expected Rivian to put some effort into the design. It was lying in the frunk, no mounting hardware, not sure if it involves drilling … I'll be looking to adapt an aftermarket Tesla front plate bracket (something that doesn't touch the bumper and is easily installed to pay a fix-it ticket …

There's a mini "industry" of after-market tamper-proof license plate screws and hardware … even titanium if you're counting grams on the scales of a 7000lb EV. : )

https://www.google.com/search?q=theft+proof+license+plate+screws

 

[Cavalryscout18]

That is interesting, I have not registered a pickup in CA in probably 20 years but the 3 I had were never registered as commercial vehicles. Something could have changed since then but according to the DMV website it is optional, see below.

This is from the DMV’s website, note the definition of a pickup truck as well as the last paragraph Stating a pickup truck is one of the vehicles that can be registered as a passenger vehicle or commercial depending on use.

Just like every visit to the DMV in CA, they never make it easy. In short, the reg says that a “commercial vehicle is a vehicle…maintained primarily for the transportation of property.” They then say that a “Motor Truck” is “is a motor vehicle…maintained primarily for the transportation of property.” Finally, they confirm that a “Pickup is a Motor Truck with a GVWR of less than 11,500 pounds… with an open box type frame less than nine feet in length… like a Nissan Frontier.” So it’s all there; put all three together and you have it that all normal sized pickups are commercial vehicles. I think the part you showed around some pickups can be commercial or passenger are the ones with permanent campers as shown in that first screenshot. If you look at the rest of that reg, there are other exceptions for when a truck is not a “pickup” and thus not a “motor truck” which includes trucks with certain storage compartments, exceed the weight, or are of a certain configuration (flat bed).

 

[mini2nut]

I just used the CA DMV website to calculate fees on my pre-ordered $76k Rivian R1T.

In my CA county it would be $797.

 

[Mcfly Rivian]

From my experience the only way around the commercial designation in ca is to have a permanent camper shell attached.

 

[crashmtb]

I believe it says commercial because of the GVWR being over 8500lbs. But damn 1055.00 ouch. I'm not longing forward to that.

That form says unladen weight over 8001 lbs, R1T is less than that at 7500 or so. Gross weight is also below the 11,469lbs indicated, at 8500ish

 

[R1Sky Business]

I just used the CA DMV website to calculate fees on my pre-ordered $76k Rivian R1T.

In my CA county it would be $797.

Cheap...CA cheap that is

 

[ironpig]

I just used the CA DMV website to calculate fees on my pre-ordered $76k Rivian R1T.

In my CA county it would be $797.

I just calculated one at $823 if it's registered as an automobile and $913 if it's commercial.

 

[mecrider82]

Years ago, I bought a Toyota pickup, you know the original small one and not the Tundra full sized like today, and was told that ALL pickups in CA is registered with commercial plate. It has to do with having a bed that can carry stuff.

When I challenged it saying it will never carry stuff for commercial purposes, I was told it did not matter - its just the law in CA.

I encountered the same thing with my GMC Canyon when I registered it, all pickups have to be registered as Commercial regardless of actual use and the only way to get around it is to have a "permanent" camper trailer installed over the bed, then you can register it as a passenger vehicle. There is a tiny bit of relief in the fact that the weight fee is a one-time charge at initial registration, so it won't be quite that much going forward! I believe mine was around $1071 in Sonoma County (county specific taxes and fees too), but I expect the annual registration fee to be in the $600-$700 range....for comparison my 2016 Canyon renewal which would have been due on May 31 (had I not traded it just beforehand) was $386.

 

[hayduke]

Good news: Got my CA tags and registration less than 3 weeks after receiving the truck
Bad news: As with others in CA, it's a $1000+ fee and commercial.

Interesting data point about the camper shell. Ironic as I would guess such a shell would likely put the vehicle at the max gross weight rating or very close to it. Ironic as heavier vehicles do put more wear on road, but by increasing my vehicle weight I could pay fewer fees.

As an additional datapoint, I have a Ford Transit van (camper). Since it is registered as a camper, it is not commercial, does not pay weight fees, and last I checked the registration was ~$500.

Ironic that an EV with a similar price point is 2x the cost of a gas vehicle that gets ~13mpg to register in CA.

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