Registration $30 higher than on renewal notice?

[The motor guy]

I have two trailers and one is $30 higher and the other is $20 higher. Nobody including the dmv knows why. I guess next time I'll write a check and mail it in. This is like the 3rd uear in a row this has happened. Any ideas why? The only thing I can think of is both trailers are 10k gvwr and the renewal form is only an estimate. I think I read this a while back. They both require safety inspections too. One trailer cost like $160 to renew.

 

[mrsilv04]

Plates for my 3000# trailer in Illinois are $118 a year. Anywhere near that bad?

(Edit: Illinois finally 'fixed' that, and rolled it back to $36 a year).

 

[The motor guy]

No. I'm just irritated they don't ever know why it's more than what the green registration form states.

 

[mk378]

There's often a surcharge for going in person instead of by mail.

 

[eljefino]

Check into getting Maine plates from the Staab agency or similar.

 

[alarmguy]

Curious what kind of trailers you are talking about.
In SC we have no registration, no fees, no inspections for any trailers regarding boats, construction equipment, landscaping, and I think camping trailers.
You just hook the thing up to your car or truck. You do need working lights.

Yeah in NY we used to have to get inspection and registration.

 

[FowVay]

There's often a surcharge for going in person instead of by mail.

In my state (Georgia) it is the opposite. They charge a $1.00 fee for processing by mail. I enjoy the trip to the court house so I go down for my property taxes and car tags in person just to say hi to the staff.

 

[The motor guy]

Curious what kind of trailers you are talking about.
In SC we have no registration, no fees, no inspections for any trailers regarding boats, construction equipment, landscaping, and I think camping trailers.
You just hook the thing up to your car or truck. You do need working lights.

Yeah in NY we used to have to get inspection and registration.

Landscaping trailer.

 

[Chris142]

Here in California where everything is expensive a trailer cost $37 and is good for 5 years. I guess nobody in Sacramento has figured out how to raise that yet

 

[The motor guy]

Personally I'd just say forget it and never renew them because between all my trailers I'd save about $400/year. The problem is they don't give you the current month anymore if it's late and after a certain period you have to pay to re register it as if you just bought it. I used to get away with just letting it lapse for a few months if it was something that wasn't being used like the boat

 

[ollie]

Also in CA the registration gives you a complete breakdown of fees. It's the one of many good things I love about my state. Transparency and integrity of our DMV offices. CA DMV is one of the most smoothly run agencies in the country. Very professional and friendly staff always willing to help.