car registration (tax, office, expensive)

[Lindalou76]

I know this is an old post but we FINALLY got our tags today and I was going to share what we paid. We didn't have to pay the $225 per vehicle for registration because my husband has had 2 tags in FL before, lucky lucky lucky! lol We paid $184 for his truck and $166 for my car, it would have been $225 more each if we never had tags in FL before. They said next year it will run about $140 for both cars together. Just wanted to share

[tom11011]

Originally Posted by Lindalou76

I know this is an old post but we FINALLY got our tags today and I was going to share what we paid. We didn't have to pay the $225 per vehicle for registration because my husband has had 2 tags in FL before, lucky lucky lucky! lol We paid $184 for his truck and $166 for my car, it would have been $225 more each if we never had tags in FL before. They said next year it will run about $140 for both cars together. Just wanted to share

$225 each more on top of 184 and 166? Or, just 225 total per car? I just got my florida drivers license this week but haven't done the cars yet, not in too big of a hurry yet because we haven't sold our home out of state. Also, I figure I need to line up the auto insurance first before changing the plates and address, I figure my current insurance might not be the proper rate etc.. if I tell them I moved. Again, I have a home in another state so I think this is fine.

[MAniacTHW]

My girlfriend just registered her car and it cost about $430. That was for title transfer, plates, and tag. It's good for a year.

[Lindalou76]

It would have been $225 for each car on top of the $184 & 166. So glad my husband had tags in FL before he joined the military 21 years ago! lol

[Miserable Midwest]

How did they get around this legally? When I moved there in 1994, they had a $395 initial registration fee and it was ruled unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court. I ended up getting a refund in the mail later that year.

[Sunnydee]

I just paid $398.00 to get my FL license plate and car registered. Yikes!

[tilli]

Originally Posted by Miserable Midwest

How did they get around this legally? When I moved there in 1994, they had a $395 initial registration fee and it was ruled unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court. I ended up getting a refund in the mail later that year.

I think the way it worked back then it was an "impact fee" that only new residents had to pay - Florida residents paid the normal fee. Now everyone must pay the initial registration fee on the first car you register in the state, even Floridians. So now it treats everyone the same instead of having special rules just for transplants.

[translator9]

Originally Posted by rezfreak

There's a big difference of asking a question that is very easily found vs discussing a topic.

When I moved here I googled the cost and couldn't figure it out from the list of fees the DMV posted. So I called. What I was told on the phone was different from what I ended up paying. For instance, nobody told me that there was a difference in cost when going to the Tax Collector offices versus going downtown to the one and only DMV office in Hillsborough county.

Not to mention that DMV rep told me it should be pretty easy once I had the paper work (which I had and in fact had two of each category from their sheet). I ended up spending 6 hours at the DMV including a trip to my bank for the title. Having been through the process I can help others when they have the same questions I did.

[tom11011]

Originally Posted by translator9

When I moved here I googled the cost and couldn't figure it out from the list of fees the DMV posted. So I called. What I was told on the phone was different from what I ended up paying. For instance, nobody told me that there was a difference in cost when going to the Tax Collector offices versus going downtown to the one and only DMV office in Hillsborough county.

Not to mention that DMV rep told me it should be pretty easy once I had the paper work (which I had and in fact had two of each category from their sheet). I ended up spending 6 hours at the DMV including a trip to my bank for the title. Having been through the process I can help others when they have the same questions I did.

What is the cost difference between the tax collector vs to the actual DMV?

[tilli]

I think it is about $6 extra to use a tax collector's office if I recall correctly. It's worth it, the tax collector offices are very efficient and even without an appointment I have never had to wait more than fifteen minutes for my turn.