Bought a 2002 3.4l, it's got no cats

Are people still driving Montana Ferrari's around CA? A popular YouToober had said it was super expensive registering exotics in CA, hence plenty of Montana plates.

 

If they are driving Ferrari's, they should be able to afford the registration.

As for the OP, I had an out of state vehicle registered in CA a couple of years ago. When they do the smog, it was through a smog only place that doesn't do repairs and I remember them inspecting the emission components but not as far as checking for part numbers to see if they belong in that year truck or not.

 

Us 1st gen owners are fortunate because we have some aftermarket CA complaint options in the way of catalytic converters....many vehicles do not and are forced to buy OEM dealership cats when their's fail and those are $$$$.

I had to replace both my cats a couple years ago before I got my smog test done, Toyota wanted $2500 or so to install 2 new Toyota cats.

I did some research online and basically it comes down to this....OEM cats are hands down the best you can buy. They will last longer than any aftermarket cats out there. That's (partly) why they cost so much.

But, I wasn't willing to spend that much so I read some more and learned that the best aftermarket CA complaint cats you can buy are those made by Magnaflow, so I got those installed for $600 at a local exhaust shop.

Been 2 years and they're still going strong *knock on wood*

I wouldn't mess around with the dirt cheap CA compliant cats, sure you will pass your smog test but chances are by the time the next test rolls around in a couple years, you're going to have to replace them again. The Magnaflow's I got were around $200 each, plus install it was 1/4 the price of what Toyota wanted. If I get another couple years out of them I'll be happy.

 

Ah c'mon. That's like saying "anyone who drives a new Tacoma should be able to afford the registration" Well, maybe. Maybe the line is right in there though. Ferrari's aren't private jets.



I will say if you can't afford to maintain a jet, you prob. shouldn't be flying though. hmmmm.

 

Yeah it just went up I believe 2 years ago. Oregon has also added a “new car privilege” tax which is only .5% of the sale so it isn’t awful but it’s heading that way. Still significantly cheaper but may not stay that way much longer.

 

I know, what the hell.

I drive a $500,000 car but freak out over the registration fee. rich people suck ass.

In other states they freak out over safety type stuff (one recent thread a guy got failed because his balljoints were bad). Cali couldn't care less about that... They only care about emissions, and even then it's pretty dumb how they do it (I've been failed because I didn't have the correct sticker on my K&N air filter. )

 

Pretty much that's what CA is saying though it is calculated by value. So if you're driving around in a $200K Ferrari in the first place, then you should be able to afford the thousands it's going to cost to register it. There's also a luxury tax and gas guzzler tax along with it.

 

Just in case anyone is wondering, registration for a $200K vehicle is only $57.

 

It's awesome when people want to live/work here with the higher wages and all that, but balk at paying the taxes for where they live.

whatevs.

 

The bottom of the page says "Grand Total Registration $20k"

The registration fees are 1500 plus the tax

 

Mine was $350 last year. Which is weird and makes no sense, I know other 1st gen members in SoCal near me that only paid around $100.

Only sense I can make of it is that the past few years I've had some freelance jobs and used my truck as a deduction as it related to those gigs, so maybe the state ends up jacking up the registration as a result. I dunno

 

he's only looking at the first line... that's why he thinks registration is only 57...

 

Correct, but "registration" is only $57. It's the other stuff that's outrageous.

 

yeah "registration" in CA is a culmination of a bunch of BS fees, the actual fee for registering is usually relatively small...but when you add in all the other crap they put on there, it adds up

 

That's "current registration". You can't pay just that part, it's all included when you pay your registration fees

 

The VAST majority of it is sales tax.

 

All I am saying it that registration fee by itself is $57. We all know we don't just pay the registration fee in CA as there's a bunch of other stuff associated with it.

 

But that only applies to when you're registering a new vehicle yea? This was my annual one from last year, I was wrong it was a little less than I remembered (but still high IMO)



The "license fee" part was what was higher on mine than it was on other 1st gen SoCal member's registration.

 

Yeah, you don't pay sales tax each time you register it, lol.

I'm sure mine's about the same. It's kinda dumb that mine is registered as "commercial". Apparently all pickups are reg'd as commercial. It doesn't really affect the reg fees, but there's some glitch in the matrix where all pickups (at least in my area) are commercial. I guess that was easier since it "could be used" as commercial. I dunno. weird.

IMO, it's really not that bad. It's $300 bucks. If you have a little shitbox 89 tercel, it's even less. Those dudes with their shitty pickups with OR plates are probably saving $50. cool cool

 

Dang!
Didn't know.