Why is my California DMV car registration so expensive?

( KRON ) — Are you one of the millions of registered car owners in California who recently paid their annual vehicle registration fee? You might have been taken aback by the immense price tag of having your car registered in the state — especially if you recently purchased a new car.

For those spending hundreds — even more than a thousand — of dollars on registration, you may be asking yourself why is it so expensive in the state?

The answer isn’t as simple as “everything is just more expensive in California.” The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has a fee calculator that weighs several factors to determine the registration costs, the government agency said on its website .

Several factors determine the cost of registering your vehicle in California, according to the DMV:

• Purchase price of vehicle
• Owner location of residence (Certain counties/cities may increase vehicle ownership fees)
• Gross vehicle weight
• Number of axles
• Is it a “Clean Air Vehicle”?

Those just are a few aspects of the vehicle that are factored in determining the cost of registration. The DMV compiles all those factors into a final annual registration fee — for you to get that sticker on the top right of your rear license plate (below).

Here’s an example.

The average transaction price for a new vehicle in the U.S. is $47,244, according to Cox Automotive . The registration fee for a new car at that price, well, varies.

If you purchased that 2024 model vehicle on Aug. 1 and you live in San Francisco, the first annual registration fee would be $648, according to DMV’s registration fee calculator . However, that’s for a gas-powered car.

At that same purchase price, an electric vehicle whose owner lives in San Francisco will pay $628. EV owners are not charged by the DMV for things like “Original Smog Abatement” and “Alt Fuel/Tech Smog Fee.”

Now, if the owner lives in another county like Solano, for example, the inaugural annual registration fee is different. With all aforementioned factors the same, a Solano County new car owner pays a little less for their DMV registration: $639 for a gas vehicle and $619 for an EV.

Just make sure you pay the registration on time by the set due date. There are penalty fees for late payments that add up to as many as hundreds of dollars extra.

A further breakdown of how registration fees are calculated can be viewed on DMV’s website . If you’re looking to buy a new car in California, this tool can help you estimate how much your registration would be.

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