California residents, is your tacoma registered as a commercial vehicle?

I recently got a 2010 tacoma and was surprised to see when I got my registration that it is registered as a commercial vehicle.

is this the case for other CA residents? is it a DMV requirement?
is there an option to register it as non-commercial or should I just leave it as commercial?

FWIW, I am not using it for commercial purpose.

thanks

 

Never heard of that. Wonder if it is cheaper?!?!?
Great question

 

Thats wierd. Being an old man, I never looked. That would mean I would have to put my glasses on!

 

I think it’s only about $20 more but from what I remember if you put a shell on it you can register it as non commercial.

 

I think all trucks are registered as commerical in California. Not positive though.

 

Yup, mine's registered as a commercial vehicle. All trucks in California are registered as such. In 16 years of driving trucks, all of them have been registered as a commercial vehicle. As with my wife and all her trucks. And my dad. And my father-in-law...... and on and on.

It is a little more expensive. Theorectically, though, you should be allowed to park in loading-unloading zones reserved for commercial vehicles. My aunt does this in Cincinnati all the time and has never gotten a ticket in ten years.

 

thanks for the responses.

I just checked the DMV website, and see the only difference is commercial vehicle has an additional weight fee, which is $24 for under 4000 lbs.

I have not found anything yet that pickup trucks must be registered as a commercial vehicle. I don't know yet if it affects insurance costs.

so raskal, 1337taco, yours are registered commercial as well?

thanks plannerman for the info. this is my first pickup truck. good tip on the loading zone parking

thanks

 

I asked if I could register mine commercial when I bought it and they told me they don't do that anymore. Wrong.

So, then the plates arrived and they are commercial.
In CA, regular plates are one number, three letters and then three more numbers (1ABC234). The commercial plates are one number, one letter and then five more numbers (1A23456).

The only advantage that I know of is that you can park in a yellow loading zone.
Any other advantages?

 

mine is commercial. i think the plate is all numbers with only one letter. letter in the second digit position. as far as i know, it is automatic. you can opt out if you ask. but if you say nothing, it is automatically commercial.

i still wont park in a yellow zone. feels weird.

 

I park in those loading/unloading zones all the time, and have never been ticketed. Some of them are limited to 20 minutes max. but after 6pm, here in San Diego, anyone can park there.

 

Although I live in Oregon/Washington I am pretty familiar with California law. Simply put, yes - in California pickups are considered commercial vehicles. Although they are not required to have GVW declarations or any of the other hassles of having a 'real' commercial vehicle. Basically they classified them this way to unfairly tax them higher then other vehicles.. you pay more in taxes each year then car and SUV owners. This insightful op-ed piece from senator Roy Ashburn of Claifornia's 18th district does a great job of explaining this...
http://cssrc.us/web/18/publications.aspx?id=3304&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

 

Yes

 

Good link. Thanks

 

Got a buddy with a 1ton that did not want to pay commerical so he put a camper shell on and got new plates.It did not take long before he was caught with it off and got a nasty ticket!The CAR plates stick out.

 

thanks mountainwolfpup. this is one of the most useful information I have learned here in TW

The first and second sentence in this paragraph are contradicting each other.

"The DMV claims that the commercial fee is necessary to cover the wear and tear on our state’s roads and highways due to the weight of private pickup trucks. The commercial weight charge however, does not apply to pickup trucks with a permanent sleeper shell, SUV’s, or large passenger sedans heavier than many models of pickup trucks. The owner of a Ford Ranger pays an annual pickup truck tax of $24, but the owner of a Chevrolet Impala with a similar weight, does not. The owner of Ford F150 pays $80 that the owner of a Cadillac Deville doesn’t have to pay. Larger private pickups such as those used to haul campers or horse trailers pay even more – up to $257, while owners of Hummers, Excursions and Suburbans do not, even though many of those larger SUVs are in fact used for commercial purposes."

 

Thanks for the links. I need to write some letters now. When I bought my truck I think my registration was something outrageous. I should look at the documents again to recall what it was. I was quite disturbed by this at the time, but I really wanted my first 4x4 truck and was willing to pay for it...

 

Yep mine is.

 

Do you have a camper shell because they consider it a commercial truck is you have a camper shell.

 

You got to love California...

 

Great link! +1 rep for you!