WTH./moved out of state..personal vehicle, now COMMERCIAL vehicle??

2002 stock Tacoma----why the hell would moving out of state/CA moved to AZ say NOW its a COMMERCIAL vehicle per AZ registration.

NO tickets in 30 yrs but now.. I have big ticket and its a nightmare----DMV< ADOT MVD--cant answer any questions???

Thank you

 

Not completely sure what you are asking, but in CA all trucks are registered as commercial vehicles.

 

i suppose there is also an associated 'extra' tax for that commercial vehicle designation?

 

Here in CT I have a "combination" plate and registration since I own a truck that could be used as a combination of personal transport and business work. I think it's stupid, especially since registration fees are about double. But huge gas guzzling SUVs and vans can get away with passenger reg

 

In CA, all trucks are commercial.

If you moved out of CA, do you still have your old CA registration?

Should say commercial, mine does -

 

Your Tacoma in CA should be registered as a commercial vehicle. All trucks in CA area registered as such. My 2nd gen and my GMC sierra are both "commercial" vehicles. I think it has something to do with the open bed creating a variable GVW for the vehicle. If the bed was enclosed through a shell or in the case of a trunk in passenger vehicles, then the GVW is theoretically "fixed."

Some one will correct me for sure, but this is what I remember about the topic of why trucks, even passenger trucks are commercial.

 

Like everyone has reiterated, all trucks are required to be registered as Commercial in California. Why AZ still recognizes it as commercial, probably because that’s what all the California papers had on it.

I don’t see what not having a ticket in 30 years has to do with it. You don’t hold a CDL so your fine would be the same for a normal class C license.

 

When did CA switch to commercial for trucks? I don't remember that on my Powerstroke F250.

Has there been an abundance of overloaded mattress and tire trucks heading south?

 

I can only Guess DMV clerk in AZ just goes by the paper work they see .

Knowing nothing about how things work there I would hope you have some recourse to get things corrected

 

Yep they get pushy about the combo reg. But it's only required for trucks above a certain gvwr. Get pushy back: every pickup I've ever registered in ct, and every 1 ton van I've ever registered in ct, has been with passenger plates.

 

Different states have different motor vehicle rules, regulations, and laws.

 

"Big tickets and its a Nightmare"

 

Yes, as others have said, in CA, all trucks are automatically registered as COMMERCIAL, just like someone showed on their registration above. My old 96 was like that, and so is my 2019 TRD Sport, even though both were/are just personal vehicles to me. I would just check with AZ dmv to see, and you could probably find that out online, but most likely AZ is the same as CA in that regard, or as someone else mentioned, AZ could have just simply made it commercial after seeing it on your CA registration.

 

it is my understanding that this has more to do with not being able to have passengers in the bed of a commercial vehicle... anyone remember the Subaru Brat... it had seats in the bed of that truck facing backwards. peeps would take those seats out and use their car as a truck and the DMV didnt like that due to they can get more $ from a commercial designation.
One advantage of the commercial designation is the ability, at least in CA, to park in a yellow loading zone and leave the vehicle for loading and unloading purposes. Non commercial vehicles can park there but the driver has to stay with the vehicle.

 

As said before, all pickups are automatically commercial. if you add a camper shell or similar you can get that changed. I've got a ARE lid on my tundra and did just that. The only thing that changes is the price you pay for registration. I remember the language something about being able to sleep in the bed. Saved me about 100 bucks a year.

 

Interesting, I've heard that the DMV makes it pretty hard to change the commercial designation. My source said that it needed to be converted to a permanent livable situation in the truck bed. Supposedly a removable truck camper shell wasn't enough..

Edit: I'm interested in your experience, because $100 a year would be a great savings in registration fees.

 

It was weird. I heard that too but figured I'd give it a shot. I even took it to the dmv in case they wanted to inspect it, but they said no need. If I were to get pulled over and the officer didnt think I could throw a sleeping bag in it, I'd be the one getting a ticket. Ymmv. I could've just gotten a lazy dmv employee.

 

Same here. Is that really why? I feel like I see plenty of pickups with standard plates.

I’m thinking I should’ve written 2 door instead of truck for body style


Obviously a different state, but I do have a shell on the back and have slept in the bed plenty of times while camping. I wonder if that would impact my CT registration

 

They didn’t even mention it to me, just handed me the combo plates. Literally no indication prior to paying that it would be a combo reg.

I’ll be pushing for passenger plates when this registration is up.

 

Eh, the Brat issue had nothing to do with a commercial vehicle designation or a greedy DMV. It was LBJ and the Chicken Tax. Really interesting if you've never read about it:
https://www.wired.com/2014/12/subaru-brat/

Imported light trucks got hit with a 25% tax and Subaru said screw it, we'll put seats in the back (welded in) and now it's a car instead of a truck. Tacomas are assembled in the US specifically to get around this absurd tariff. The crazy part is that it is STILL in effect.