PennSilverTaco's "Perfect 5-Lug Regular Cab" Build, Aspergers, and General BS MegaThread!

Jesus. About 79k for 1500sq ft on 1 acre bordering a stream.

 

It's not all about you, it's about community. Yes, you and I may have a very good awareness of what's right or wrong with our vehicles, and we take care of them. But those inspections are designed for the 95% of the people on the road that just get in and drive every day... The people that don't know that their brake lights aren't working, that their tires are nearly bald, that they're one pothole away from a CV joint letting go, or that their brakes are at the end of their lives. And how does it benefit you? Because you might be the one they would have hit because you didn't see them because their lights weren't working, or because they skidded through a wet intersection, etc. Maryland doesn't have annual inspections and you should see some of the deathtraps that are in use on our roads every day.

As for the beer thing... that's a local philosophy thing. PA has its own ideas about that stuff, whether its holdover puritanical thinking or a tax/revenue thing. I don't know. Again, get involved. When I grew up in PA no one would have ever dreamed that pot might someday be legal. But now, hey, more and more states are going that way. It's all because people chip away at old thinking. It takes time, but people voting and being active really can effect change.

 

Free love is good, too. And yes, I know "Live free or die" is NH, but I was referring to the similar philosophy up in ME.

 

Another big problem is that the state inspection system is a total conflict of interest...

Inspections are done by the very same people who profit from fixing vehicles. Some of my friends have been blatantly ripped off and charged for shit they didn't need.

Luckily, I take my truck to either my dad's independent mechanic or my local dealer for inspection, and they are both pretty honest...

If Pennsylvania suddenly abolished annual safety inspections, I would not be upset. I can see why these inspections are important, but why not do them every two years like Virginia?

At least my dealer gives me a free loaner, but with my dad's mechanic, I've got to drive my mom's car for a day while my dad takes my truck to work (mechanic is next to my dad's work). I've got to take my dashcams and all my other shit out of my truck, and it's just a big once-a-year pain in the ass that's completely pointless in my opinion!

 

That’s a nice sport, and I’m not really a TurdGen Fan

 

It's inspection stickers expired in November, too...

 

I wouldn't mind an orange 2015 DCSB TRD PRO!

 

Makes me jealous every time!!

 

Are you the one who mentioned earlier that it cost like $470 to register your truck in Hawaii?

I just read these articles...

One of these articles discusses how some Connecticut residents register in Maine because they owe back taxes in Connecticut and thus can't register their vehicle as a result. However, I think some people just don't want to pay these unnecessary taxes...

One example used in the article is used $7K vehicle, on which the annual property tax would be about $700! That's in addition to sales tax, registration, insurance, title fee, and emissions testing!

Look at it this way...

You're a wealthy Connecticut resident and you've just paid cash for a brand new $400K Rolls-Royce Phantom. By the calculations in the article, annual property tax on your new Rolls-Royce would be $40K! Obviously, you're a multimillionaire so you can afford a Rolls-Royce and all the expenses associated with owning one. Insurance and routine maintenance are to be expected. Sales tax is also an unavoidable reality. Annual emissions testing is another necessary evil. But, just because you can afford $40K in property taxes on your new luxury car every year, why in the bloody hell would you want to pay it if you could avoid it?!?! You're rich, not stupid. That money could be spent on renovating your house, paying your kid's college tuition, and buying a new Tacoma for situations like driving to Home Depot, where bringing a Rolls-Royce would just be a bad idea...

 

Yes that was me. We pay to register and pay for safety check every year.

 

Motivation aside, tax evasion is tax evasion.

 

I consider a rich Connecticut resident registering a Rolls-Royce in Maine to avoid paying the MSRP of a new Lexus in property taxes more in the category of tax avoidance...

I met a guy from New Jersey at a car show who registered his hand-built Maserati under his LLC in Montana to circumvent emissions testing and pay lower taxes...

Since he owns an LLC in Montana, it is totally legal...

My friend's dad, a pharmaceutical executive, registered his Bentley at the address of his second home in Florida. This was again because it was cheaper and Florida doesn't have emissions testing...

 

So, by my calculations, property tax on $8K car in Connecticut would be about $800...

Why should someone have to pay $800 in property tax to register a car, when that money would be better spent on something like THIS?

 

On first glance, it would appear that this truck has no engine!

 

Your examples fail to make your case. People who own a LLC operating out of MT, or people with other homes in other states, who likely meet the minimum requirement for citizenship in that state, are LEGALLY entitled to this option.

Registering your pickup at your grandmothers house in Maine, with intent to avoid taxes due by law in your resident state, is fraud, therefore by definition "tax evasion".

It's a damn shame that our government is forcing you to live in CT since you obviously dislike it. More so, it's a shame you are in a profession that is so specialized that you couldn't possibly find similar work in a state which more closely aligns with your ideal.

 

I don't live in Connecticut. I live in PA. I was just using Connecticut as an example. PA does not have property tax on vehicles...

I have no problem with the registration fees in PA. I'm just sick of having to get my truck inspected, when right next door in Ohio and certain parts of Maryland they don't...

I do not want to commit tax fraud...

I've considered transferring ownership of my Tacoma to my Grandmother's name and registering at the Maine house, or to my uncle in South Carolina...

I take great care of my truck, and all I feel I should have to do is pay for registration and insurance. Emissions testing is a crock of shit for a well-maintained 2010 Tacoma with 80K miles.

 

@Iamraiderpower
@Plain Jane Taco
@LocoLocal

From 2000 until 2002, my family lived in Oak Harbor, Washington while my dad stationed at NAS Whidbey Island.

I was 11 years old when we moved there, and 13 when we moved away. One of my friends was a kid named Eric was 7 years old when we moved in. Our house was located on a corner lot, then there was an older couple, and then there was Eric's family's house. Eric's house notable for being the only 2-story home on the street...

So, I was going to use the term fair weather friend to describe Eric, but that isn't accurate. That term would describe other friends of mine who'd be my best friend one day, but then tease me to put on a show for other kids who also liked to tease me, among other things.

Eric was really more of an obnoxious sidekick. His dad was a cop, and I'm pretty sure his mom worked, but I don't know what she did for a living... He had a sister named Alexa who was older than him but younger than me. This was almost two decades ago, but the cars his parents drove were old even for 2000-2001.

Eric's mom drove a white 1990 or 1991 Chevrolet Lumina Euro, with a red interior. I vividly remember that car vividly because I rode shotgun when Eric's mom drove me to the city park to go swimming with him in the summer of either 2000 or 2001. It was very well-maintained and looked brand new, but Eric's family was not poor and I always wondered why his family car was not only a 10-year old sedan, but also one of the most mediocre GM products ever made.

Sometime in 2001, the transmission in the car failed (I think). All I know is that instead of buying a new vehicle or getting the car fixed professionally, Eric's dad jacked the Lumina up in the house's 2-car garage, tore the thing apart inside the garage, and fixed it himself within a week.

Eric's dad's daily driver was a a beautiful red 1988-1989 Honda Civic hatchback, which like the Lumina looked brand new. Eric's dad was OCD about taking care of his vehicles. What I remember most about the Civic was that it looked like a rally car. It has these large, low-profile aluminum wheels, and it also had four Hella fog lights mounted on the front bumper. I am 99% sure the car was just a base model Civic and NOT an Si. The Lumina was fully loaded, with A/C and power everything. What I remember most about that red Civic was that it did not have air-conditioning, and that it was a stick shift. I also remember that the Lumina had the factory Delco tape deck, while the Civic had an aftermarket CD player.

If I remember correctly, Eric's mom borrowed her mother's 1996ish Chrysler minivan while the Lumina was out of commission...

 

@Iamraiderpower
@Plain Jane Taco
@LocoLocal

Eric was really more of an annoying sidekick than an actual friend. He was about four years younger than me, so we had different interests, and to say we hung out was not an accurate statement. The truth is that he followed me around and I tolerated it. Even those of us with Aspergers, who have trouble with social skills and making friends, have standards.

However, I do give him credit for always seeming to stick by me when other friends didn't. I also give mad props to his dad for having mechanical know-how that would make anyone on TW proud (as stated above, he was a police officer, not a mechanic, but he ripped apart his wife's '91 Lumina when the tranny failed and fixed it himself in his 2-car garage).

Even though Eric followed me around like a puppy, his family didn't particularly care for me at times. His mom was on antidepressants (the day she and my mom met, she just volunteered this information to her within minutes of them meeting), and I would classify her as being a bit psychotic and unpredictable. His mom was nice enough, but she treated me rudely at times...

One time, when I told Eric I was going home to watch the Simpsons, he wanted to come too. I wasn't so sure about letting an 8-year old watch the Simpsons. Hell, I was lucky I'd talked my mom into letting me watch the show.

Before I could do anything, Eric yelled into his house, asking his mom if he could "Go to Charlie's house to watch The Simpsons," and as expected, the shit immediately hit the fan...

Eric's mom went far beyond simply saying no. She basically criticized my moral character because I watched the Simpsons. If I remember correctly, I just went home without saying a word, but what Eric's mom said really hurt me...

I immediately told my mom and she sided with me...

Eric's dad was not abusive, but he was a strict disciplinarian who according to Eric used corporal punishment on him and Alexa.

 

@Iamraiderpower
@Plain Jane Taco
@LocoLocal

Eric's family regularly held car washes in their driveway and donated the proceeds to charity. My mom drove a 2000 GMC Safari conversion van, she was all too happy to donate to charity, and she always paid extra since the van was so big. As such, my mom's van was always the first we washed...

We held two or three of these car washes in 2001-2002. The first one was for victims of the 9/11 attacks if I remember correctly.

One time during one of these car washes, Eric and I got into an argument over something that I have no way of remembering now. I got upset, and out of frustration, I threw the pair of scissors I'd been holding onto the driveway. Eric's mom saw this happen and absolutely flipped out, not because of the obvious danger of throwing a pair of scissors, but because I'd "broken her good good scissors." She immediately picked them up, looked at them, and said I'd blunted them, or knocked them out of alignment, or some bullshit like that...

I tested the scissors myself and thought they not only looked okay, but worked okay as well, but Eric's mom wouldn't shut the hell up. I went and explained the situation to my mom, and she again took my side, but bought Eric's mom a new pair of scissors to appease the situation. I think the scissors cost like, I dunno... Maybe $8.99?

I would like to point out that roughly a decade after this fiasco with the scissors (about 2012 or so), I borrowed my mom's 2004 Honda Odyssey to take my friends to the movies (there were only three of us, but the Tacoma was a bit uncomfortable for three guys to ride in, and my dad didn't like me driving his Acura). After the movie, I dropped my friend off back at his parents' house. It was dark out, my mom's minivan predated backup cameras, I was not used to my friend's parents' narrow driveway, and I was still a fairly new driver. It was a recipe for disaster. While backing the Odyssey out of the driveway, I backed right into my friend's mom's '97 Monte Carlo, which was parked in the street. My friend's mom saw the whole thing, too!

I let loose a torrent of profanities, primarily because I was worried I'd actually done some damage and my insurance rates would go up. It turns out that the impact felt and sounded a lot worse than it actually was. There were barely noticeable scuffs on both vehicles at the point of impact (the Odyssey's rear bumper and the Chevy's front bumper), and my friend's mom could not have been nicer about it. She told me that it was old car and that it wasn't a big deal, and then she just told me to be more careful. That was about 5 or 6 years ago and I haven't had an incident in that driveway since...

I hit my friend's mom's car, which was probably worth about three grand at the time, and scuffed the bumper. She was cool about it.

A couple hundred bucks in damage to a car worth about $3K, and Mike's mom doesn't care...

Unnoticeable (possibly nonexistent) damage to a $9 pair of scissors, and Eric's mom loses her shit!

Anybody see where I'm going with this?!?!