Just out of curiousity. What are you in CA paying for tags on your Shelby?

[1967 eight barrel]

Had CA started chomping on vintage collector cars and taxing them to death? I know there were two states looking at using the collector guide as a value to base registration and taxation on for said vehicles. Has that come to fruition? Carbon Taxes?

                                                                                -Keith

[557]

Should be based on purchase price NOT market value,at least that's what the DMV lady told me when my car came out of slumber.And she was a car collector,baby birds if I remember correctly..

[1967 eight barrel]

I know tags aren't flat-rated like they are here. I pay 59.00 a year in Texas. If you bought a new vehicle or brought it with you it's 6.5%. I was paying about 840.00 a year in Ca for another vehicle that was three years old when I left in 2003.  My X father in law was paying 8K a year for his Lamborghini Diablo back then.

                                                                                                    -Keith

[sd427]

Based on purchase price, but then it goes down each year for depreciation.

[pchmotoho]

Unless it was last year (maybe 2 years ago) when everything went up nearly 50 percent. 

[67 GT350]

WOW , crazy, they will get rid of the hobby somehow....

[1967 eight barrel]

You forget, I am from Commiefornia. However, I'm not talking about new purchases. I was curious what you were paying for tags. I noted there was talk of using a value guide on collector vehicles to determine value, which is what tags are based on in CA. I bought a new Maxima just before I left in 2003.  Tags were about 800.00 a year.  I didn't know if they had implemented a system based on current values, as they generally have gone up, not down.  My tags are about 59.00 a year here.  Even for the BMWs.
                                                                                                                            -Keith

[Cudino]

I believe the replies above are referring to the yearly registration fees, not just the first year.  In CA, at least right now, the yearly "tag" renewal fees are based on the purchase price (or value, if received as a gift) of the car when the new ownership title is issued.  Then, as mentioned above, the CA DMV has an automatic depreciation rate, so each year this yearly renewal fee will go down a (very) little based on this depreciation schedule.  I haven't heard that CA will change this from "purchase price" to "market price", but it seems unlikely since the "purchase price" method is so tightly connected to this system now.  As mentioned it is not uncommon for an owner to have to pay thousands of dollars a year just to get new tags.

But, for anybody in CA who is not aware, CA does have a specialty plate called "Historical Vehicle".  There is a special filing process for a Historical Vehicle, but I think it is just $25.  To be considered a historical vehicle the car needs to be 25 years old or older, and of "historical significance", which nobody at the DMV really questions.  The real benefit of getting these plates is that the yearly "tag" registration fee is just a flat-rate of $109/yr (went up from $106/yr last year), rather than being a % of the purchase price.  The only side-effect is that Historical Vehicles may only be used for parades, car show events, or other similar specialty activities.  All my collectable cars are under Historical Vehicle status, since they are generally driven rarely and I greatly benefit from the low flat-rate. 

With Historical Vehicle you will get new license plates, unique to HV status.  If you have original/old CA plates that you want to keep then DO NOT surrender them to the DMV, and be sure to keep old registration and Title paperwork with the original plate# on it.  As long as you have paperwork showing your car used to have those original plates on it, and as long as you physically have both front/rear plates, then you can later get them reassigned back to your car (meaning to go back from HV plates to your original plates) without too much hassle.

- Wade

[2112]

^^^so if your 50 year old Shelby was purchased recently, you have to start the depreciation all over again based on today's value?

[Cudino]

Yep, exactly right.  Take 2 identical 50 year old Shelby's, one still owned by its original CA owner, the other just bought yesterday.  The new CA owner will have to pay at least 5x more each year for tags.  Ugh.  At least there's the Historical Vehicle option...

- Wade

[2112]

That's messed up.

[1967 eight barrel]

Well, at least they haven't crammed the leftist planned taxation and a carbon tax. Yet. It's coming.  We will eventually wind up with 3300 lb paper weights. I was reading a lot of the proposed legislation across the nation. We live in dark times.
                                                                                       -Keith

[pchmotoho]

No one at the DMV investigates the price that you say you paid for your vehicle. I've had several CHP friends tell me this as well as a branch manager. My ? To them was, "So if someone says they bought a 65 Mustang and the VIN number is 5S123, that car is most likely a minimum of 200k (it was an older conversation) and no one will investigate it?  They all said 100 percent correct. Their is absolutely no one who will check.

I'm talking about private party deals.

Of course dealers and suctions are a different story.

[1967 eight barrel]

I know you may not know but I medically retired from the CHP in '02.  The CHP doesn't investigate.The DMV does turn some known fraud over to the DA at times. Don't think for a moment the state doesn't check. Auction information is public and can easily be verified. The state has a lot of overreach and don't think for a second they won't wield that power. They will, and do!
                                                                   -Keith

[2112]

Good reason to have it titled as a Ford rather than a Shelby.