Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Here in California, all pickup trucks are considered to be
(and licensed as) commercial vehicles even if the only thing
you use it for is to drive around town.  And they charge you
for a commercial vehicle (along with a weight fee) no matter
how you intend to use it.

And all trailers are considered to be the kind of trailer
that the manufacturer says that it is, which also got
charged a weight fee.

In California, you don't have to tell the DMV anything; they
will give you the tags that go with the truck and/or trailer
that you own.

Additionally, in California, with regards to insurance; what
you have to tell your insurance company is the truth.  They
will ask you how you intend to use it, where you intend to
park it, how much you plan to drive it, etc. and they will
quote you a price based on that information.

If you don't tell them the truth, then no matter how much
you have paid in premiums, you aren't insured.  There is
nothing that insurance companies like better than to be lied
to when you are applying for insurance, because then they
get to collect premiums based on your false information, but
when it comes to paying out, they don't have to.  Only an
idiot lies to their insurance agent when applying for
insurance.

AND.....if you told them the truth on the application, and
they quoted you the wrong price for your specified use
because the agent wasn't thinking or didn't fill out the
right box, or didn't understand that that meant you were
going to be engaged in what many states consider to be a
commercial activity and they only quoted you the price for
recreational use, or whatever....it doesn't matter, they
still have to pay.

So... the moral of the story is,

a) don't lie to your insurance company, tell them exactly
what you plan to use your vehicles for, and

b) check with your individual state with respect to
registration requirements, because obviously it varies from
state to state.

Here in California, you don't have to check with the state,
because the presumption here is that you intend to use the
vehicle for its intended use (i.e. you plan to use your
horse trailer to haul horses or you intend to load the bed
of your pickup truck) and you have to pay for the privalege
of doing so, whether you ever actually do or not.  You get
charged for what you CAN use it for, not necessarily what
you WILL use it for.  If you can use it to haul horses, its
a horse trailer.

Generally speaking, that makes registration here in
California more expensive (although they have recenlty
repealed the trailer registration fee, but I am expecting
THOSE to come back any day now:)).

kat
Orange County, Calif.



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