How much does it cost to register your 3rd Gen Taco in TN, NC

Hi all,

My wife,, her parents, and I are planning to beat feet out of the People's Paradise of California for a more sane state, sometime in the next 1 - 2 years. Right now, we are interested in Tennessee and North Carolina primarily. We've been doing various research on cost of living and other financial matters, but I am hoping some of you that live in those states and have 3rd Gen Tacomas or 4Runners might share what it costs to register such vehicles with your Dept of Motor Vehicles? I ask about 3rd Gen's, since that's what I have, and in CA at least, as a vehicle ages, registrations steadily decreases, so I'm looking to get as close to what it would cost me to register my 2017 as I can.

Thank you, and much appreciated.

 

In my county, I think I pay ~ $58 each year for renewal but we also have a wheel tax which is included in that price. Other counties might be cheaper/more expensive. It looks like it's a $70 fee if you move to TN.

From the Maury County website: "The cost of transferring out of state title and obtaining new standard TN plate and registration is $70."

 

Tacomas are classified as a private truck 5,000 lbs, which has an annual registration fee of $56.75. The tax rate and annual inspection fee depends on the county that you live in. Emissions are not required in my county so I pay around $14 a year for inspection. Last year, the annual property taxes on my 2019 TRD Double Cab LB were $235. Here is a link to more info on NC DMV Fees -- https://www.ncdot.gov/dmv/title-registration/vehicle/Pages/fees.aspx

 

I would never have thought the fees might be different by County..... in California and New York (only states I have registered a vehicle in) the registration is at a State level, and where you live doesn't make any difference.

In CA, if you have Disabled plates (which I do), they waive one of the fees, which is about a 25 - 30% savings. So my 2017 "only" costs me just at $400/year, where it would be well >$500/year if I didn't have the Disabled plates.

 

In both California and New York, ALL pickup trucks are classed as Commercial vehicles, even Tacomas, which really sucks, and increases the registration fees $$$$$$

So, in NC, they consider a motor vehicle to be "real property" and charge property taxes? Shit, even California doesn't go that far. They DO consider a motorhome or RV as real property and charge property taxes on those types of vehicles, but not on cars/trucks/motorcycles.

 

Nc is like this. Some counties are higher than others. My fees were just cut in half because I was previously paying city & county taxes.


Edited to add last years

 

Correct. In NC, vehicles are subject to annual property taxes based on their current actual cash value (as determined by the state, which is always lower than the true market value). As the value of the vehicle depreciates, the amount of annual taxes owed goes down as well.

It isn't as bad as it sounds. CA taxes & registration fees are still a lot higher than NC taxes -- your post even confirms this, as you pay almost double for a 2017 than I pay for a 2019. Not to mention, NC has a substantially lower overall cost of living, so you will realize a lot of savings in other areas.

 

Thought that when I lived in NC they charged extra by weight if you used it to tow - even just recreationally.

 

Move to Missouri -Our disabled Vet plates are FREE! You have to pay county personal taxes on the appraised valuation of the vehicle, but the plates and annual registration is free if you have any level of VA declared disability. They even let us "disabled vets have personalized plates for free. Our other car is still taxed normally so it is only good on one vehicle.
Of course, there is a whole lot of other political based CRAP you would have to put up with here, but that may not be true for you, depending on your "political" viewpoint. I'll just quit there with that line of conversation.

 

Tom, I am guessing here , but I think many states consider vehicles to be "real property" which means a source of taxes for the county/ state.

 

I'll throw GA into the mix. GA used to charge sales tax at the time of purchase then an ad valorem tax every year on your birthday. They changed that about 10 years ago. Now you pay a 7.5% tax at the time of purchase, then $20/year for a new tag. That only applies to vehicles bought after the law was changed. I pay $20/year on my F150 and Explorer. But since the Tacoma was bought prior to the law change I still pay about $150/year on it in ad-valorem taxes. My utility trailer and travel trailer I pay ad valorem tax on. About $10/year + $20 for the tag on the utility trailer, about $220 total for the travel trailer.

I have any idea what it will cost you initially if you move here. But once here, $20/year on each vehicle.

I've traveled all over the country and IMO northern Alabama, north GA, and the parts of Tennessee and North Carolina within 50ish miles of the TN/NC border are a pretty good place to live. My family is from TN and are spread out from Chattanooga to Bristol. My parents moved to North GA in the 1950's for better work opportunities.

TN has no state income tax, but sales taxes are high. AL has the lowest property taxes, and cheapest real estate. Lots of people live in AL and commute to GA or TN to work. Or move to AL after retiring. GA has the strongest economy and best paying jobs. I know less about NC, other than to say the western mountains of the state are beautiful.

Chattanooga impresses me as a big city, with a small town feel. I have some family in Knoxville and I don't care for it as much. Parts of it are nice, parts can be rough. And if you want small town or rural there are plenty of options in all 4 states.

The NE corner of AL, most of the northern 1/4 of GA and the area along the TN/NC border are either in or near the mountains which is important to me.

 

Thanks all for the great info.

I should have said that I am in the Information Technology field, and I have a position that allows me to work from anywhere, I don't need to go into an office, all I need to good, reliable internet connection at home and I'm good to go.

My disability is, unfortunately for me, not Service related. It happened 19 years after I got out of the Army, so my Disabled license plates are just ordinary, not Veteran plates.

 

I live in Northern Virginia the Personal Property tax on my truck was $733 for 6 Months. It can be harsh. The county sets it here and it can be based off Kelly Blue Book (Fairfax County) or Purchase Price minus depredation (Well before the current market). Also in NOVA counties and Richmond they have emissions.

 

Having lived in NC, TN, and CA (military) I can say that TN is the cheapest in most cases. NC always finds a way to get some $$ out of you, such as annual inspections, increased cost for window tint, annual vehicle property tax, etc.

TN also doesn’t have income tax (other than interest and dividends) so that helps as well.

Either way, cost of living will be much less in either NC or TN when coming from CA.

 

There must not be a single pothole in the entire state of CA. I've seen some posted renewals from there. Woof.