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

In CA, a "commercial" registration generates a weight class fee based on unladen weight. 3000-4000 pounds ads $24 to your registration, 4001-5000 ads $80, 5001-6000 ads $154. Most, if not all, of the gen 1's should be under 4000 pounds, so it only makes a $24 difference.

 

Interesting! Our '92 Dodge D250 Cummins Diesel has standard (Car) plates here in SoCal. We bought it in '04 in Arizona and it had Commercial Plates. We brought it here to SoCal. Put a camper shell on it. Both the truck rear window and the front window of the shell have slide open windows. Hens a "Pass-through" so we now have standard plates from when 1st registered in SoCal.
I talked to AAA (DMV) people when I was registering/transferring ownership of my Tacoma and they said if I have a pass-through on my '03 Tacoma and keep the shell on it, I can change to standard plates instead of commercial plates that are on it now. My shell doesn't have a front window, just an opening with a rubber seal to the back of the cab. Solid rear window in the cab. I'll replace the cab rear window later next year with a slider. I'll have a pass-through and be able to get standard plates.
We plan on moving to Arizona before the end of 2022 (We Hope). I guess we'll see what happens concerning registration at that time.

 

For what it's worth, my Tacoma has been registered as commercial its whole life. I always had the same commercial plate on it that's still on it now.

 

Correct. When I bought my 96, they had just started making the tacomas at the NUMMI plant the year before. I was actually disappointed in that, as I wanted one made in Japan. But, I had that truck up until April of this year, making it 23+ years that I had the truck since new, and it was the best vehicle I have ever owned, despite being manufactured in America. It was in perfect condition when I sold it too!

 

The joke was always that if you wanted an American made truck, don't buy a Chevy (hecho en mexico), buy a Toyota Tacoma.

Where it's made really doesn't mean anything though except when you're wanting to support local workers. But if the company doesn't care about quality control, or a high end product, doesn't matter where it's made. There are plenty of products made in china that are plenty good (everyone's iPhones), and there's absolute crap that comes from the States, too.

 

Mine has a letter in the second character and the rest are all numbers-is that a "standard" plate or a "commercial" plate?

 

Technically that just means "truck" (pick up truck), but in CA a truck is considered a "commercial" vehicle. I would say it's for simplicity since any pickup "could be" used as a commercial vehicle, but the DMV isn't really known for making things as simple as possible.

I've never really understood why CA does that, but it's not like it makes much of a difference to us. The cost, at least for the light trucks, isn't much different than for passenger cars. My '04 Tacoma definitely costs less to register than my newer 4Runner, and even my wife's Corolla.

 

Myself and the guy I was responding to are in CT, must be different for you out in CA. I have a combination passenger/commercial plate. says "comb" right on it.

 

Man CT blows. Anyway they can crunch more money out of us, they know the weight of the tacoma is under <3500 and commercial is over 5k yet still try to get us. I'm actually waiting to register my 2000 as a classic vehicle bc the property tax and registration is cheaper annually/at renewal. However the temp plate i was using on it reads commercial....hmm.

 

You also have to have a permanent potty back there per CA DMV rules.

 

Funny you mentioned phones, in talking about products made in China. Yeah, everyone know the iphone is made in China, but I ordered a new phone, receiving it in October of this year. I ordered it from Banggood.com, which has great stuff, if you don't mind waiting a while for it to get here! BUT, I ordered an Ulefone Armor 6E, which is a rugged phone, surpassing ip68 standards for toughness. It has the latest version of Android, 9.1, and the battery life is TWICE that of the iphone! So far, I only charge it every three weeks, and even then, it usually is only down to around 85-88% battery!

 

Yeah, but was it made in a factory with suicide nets like the iPhone?

 

<<<<<SUB-TOPIC: CT GUYS>>>>>

Actually the dmv goes by GVWR which for the 1st gen Tacoma is 5100lbs. But they don't use that to determine whether it's combo plates or not, it's used to calculate some factor of registration cost. Regardless, even my 1 ton Ford van, that was rated to tow 10,000 lbs. had passenger plates. I just had to push a bit to get them.

 

Commercial

 

I already knew that as I stated back in post #45. I was sort of challenging jbrandt's assertion that-
"Pickup trucks all have standard plates, no difference than cars, SUVs etc... the license plate is not what designates it as commercial. It's just a classification purely on paper" when I asked that question.
Thanks though

 

haha ok. I guess I didn't actually fully read your #45 post. oops.

Well he is correct in that it is a classification purely on paper. Paper being CVC §260. He's incorrect that there is no difference than cars in the plates. Well, I guess its how you look at it - I guess pickup trucks do all have standard plates... commercial plates. They all have 1 alpha character although it will be interesting how that changes when they reach the limit. I suspect it will just shift to another position in the 7 characters (as they did the last time).

It is possible to convert as well. Rather simple really - if you have a cap or qualify another way. Hell, I like being able to pull into a yellow Commercial zone for up to 30 mins if necessary (just have to prove you are actually loading or unloading freight - if they ask of course).

Conversion From Commercial to Auto License Plates (CVC §465)

If anyone in CA is interested in this, see the attached PDF. Fill out section E, put in your sleeping platform and a little storage bin or something and take it down to DMV to submit the form.

anyway, enough of CVC. out.