Jump to content

any new Texans? cost to register question


Rav

Recommended Posts

hi-

 

we decided on Texas as our domicile state.

has anyone recently become a Texan and know what all the costs are?

registration fees, DL's, and any other fee's you had to pay, inspections,

going to register a 1 ton truck and fifth wheel -

 

thanks!

2016 Bighorn 3760EL

 

Steve, Dara and Mattie dog

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Texas driver's licenses are $25/6 years if between 18 & 84 years of age. They can be renewed by mail every other time.

 

Motor vehicle registration instructions are here and the fees are:

 

 

Cars and Light Trucks

The standard fee for cars and lighter pickup trucks is a base registration fee of $50.75.

Pickup Trucks

Motor vehicles 6,001 to 10,000 pounds, which includes heavier pickup trucks, pay a $54 base registration fee.

Heavy Vehicles

Heavy vehicles, including heavy-duty pickups, motor homes and commercial trucks, will find their registration fees fall into seven weight classifications between 6,001 pounds and 80,000 pounds.c

There are a few county feels and I believe that Polk Co, adds $10 to each vehicle. Sales tax fees on a vehicle can be $90 or the difference between your previous state's sales tax and the Texas sales tax.

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We "moved" to Polk County in 2015. The cost to title and register a 2008 Toyota Corolla, a 2013 GMC 2500 HD (diesel), and a 2016 Grand Design fifth wheel was $630.75 total (taxes and fees). This is half of what one year's property taxes were on the truck alone in South Carolina. Drivers' licenses were as Kirk says.

 

Rob

2012 F350 CC LB DRW 6.7
2020 Solitude 310GK-R, MORryde IS, disc brakes, solar, DP windows
Full-time since 8/2015

 

StatesVisited20210913_small.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A little more on driver licenses for RVers ...

Not all licenses can be renewed online.

If you need a Class B or Class A Exempt (aka non-CDL) you will have to renew in person.

Steve, you may need a Class A license depending on the combined gross weight ratings of the truck and fifth wheel.

(e.g. truck GVWR for 1 ton could be 10,001 to 14,000 lbs. and a fifth wheel GVWR at 16,000 lbs. would cause the combination to exceed 26,001 with the trailer being over 10,000 lbs. This would require an Exempt Class A license in Texas.)

 

If needed the Class A license will require a written test and a driving skills test in the truck and fifth wheel.

 

General Registration fee Information

Weight classification fees (pdf) - you will want to pay for registration of maximum weight or GVWR or risk penalties if caught carrying more weight than registration weight. RV's currently are not regularly weighed by enforcement but they could be at any time and the day may come when it may become a regular thing.

 

Inspection fees are now two parts. 1. included in the registration fee is $7.50 - this part is paid when registering. 2. the inspection centers portion of the fee which varies and is paid at the time of inspection. Inspections must be done 90 days prior to registering the vehicle. If county of residence is in a certain Texas county the gas vehicle must be inspected with enhanced emissions inspection testing in that county. Polk county is not an emissions county.

Inspections must be done annually 90 days prior to Registration month so you may want to get your registration month to be when you would most likely be in Texas (say the winter months). This would best be done at initial registration time. Registration month can be changed later but there are challenges to getting that change after the initial registration.

There is a waver for vehicle inspection if you are not going to be in the state for an extended period of time. It is done at the time of annual registration and there are other posts describing this process.

 

There may be other county taxes which vary based on the county of residence.

Susan & Trey Selman | email | HDT: '01 770 VED12 | 5er: '02 40' Travel Supreme RLTSOA | '16 Piaggio MP3 500 | '15 Smart Cabrio | Personal Blog | HHRV Resource Guide | HHRV Campgrounds | Recreation Vehicle Safety & Education Foundation |

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi,

 

As far as we have been told, there is an additional much larger fee to register vehicles if you are new to Texas. The county that you are coming into can tell you.

From what I've heard, this would be the difference in sales tax from what you paid at the state you bought your vehicle, and what the same vehicle would pay in Texas.

 

But a call to the county DMV is definitely recommended.

 

Cheers,

--

Vall.

Getting ready to join the RV full-time lifestyle in 2017!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Those new to Texas may not be paying a sales tax on vehicles that had been registered in another state. Instead, it seems that they are paying a $90 use tax plus some other fees, in addition to the usual fee. Think it might be about $188 per vehicle. We were also told that a 2015 21' trailer would be $175. The use fee is mentioned on the title and registration application.

Cathy (Catharine) Summerfield Hana

Link to comment
Share on other sites

just finished registering yesterday . 2002 toyota rav4 and a 2008 monaco monarch 33sfs. costs-- $665.00. had a helluva time getting our drivers licenses. tried to use our escapees postal address and that was not accepted as proof of residency. we have had this since june. currently we are in an rv park in rockport, tx. they would not accept our receipts for our monthly rent from that park. had to get a statement from our new bank in texas. after 3 trips running around to find something they would accept, they would not let us use our livingston address for our home address on our licenses, instead we had to list the rv park . so, after we get our permanent licenses, we will try to get a change of address on our id's to show livingston as our home. anyone else have to jump thru all these hoops?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does anyone here use the Escapees address on their driver's license and haven't many people used it for proof of residency?

Did Aransas County not know what they were doing or what? I would think Escapees would like to know about this.

Cathy (Catharine) Summerfield Hana

Link to comment
Share on other sites

just finished registering yesterday . 2002 toyota rav4 and a 2008 monaco monarch 33sfs. costs-- $665.00. had a helluva time getting our drivers licenses. tried to use our escapees postal address and that was not accepted as proof of residency. we have had this since june. currently we are in an rv park in rockport, tx. they would not accept our receipts for our monthly rent from that park. had to get a statement from our new bank in texas. after 3 trips running around to find something they would accept, they would not let us use our livingston address for our home address on our licenses, instead we had to list the rv park . so, after we get our permanent licenses, we will try to get a change of address on our id's to show livingston as our home. anyone else have to jump thru all these hoops?

 

 

You can change the address on your drivers license online.

 

Newt

2012 HitchHiker Discover America 345 LKSB

2009 Dodge/Cummins

 

LIVINGSTON TX

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i know i can change my address online, but my point was that my escapees address would not be recognized at the dmv office. i was under the impression that texas would accept this address. am i wrong to think that or did the dmv in aransas pass drop the ball? it was a hassle.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i know i can change my address online, but my point was that my escapees address would not be recognized at the dmv office. i was under the impression that texas would accept this address. am i wrong to think that or did the dmv in aransas pass drop the ball? it was a hassle.

 

The DMV has nothing to do with driver's license.

Everybody wanna hear the truth, but everybody tell a lie.  Everybody wanna go to Heaven, but nobody want to die.  Albert King

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Weird, we had no problem with the livingston Tx address. We used the DPS office in Dalhart which is no where near livingston though they were well aware of the rainbow drive address.

 

As long as you provide the required proof of residency documents, it's not up to them to decide the legitimacy of your address.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You can change the address on your drivers license online.

 

Newt

Not true if you have a class A non CDL. Even address changes must be done in person. They took fingerprints and gave me an eye test. I just did this (change my address) a couple of days ago ... December 13th.

2017 KZ Durango Gold 381REF, 8K morRYDE IS, Disc brakes, 17.5" Hi Spec Aluminum Wheels w Goodyear G114 H rated tires

2016 F350 King Ranch DRW, 3.73, 4x4, Super Duty Crew Cab, 6.7L Powerstroke Diesel.

26,760 CGVW

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not true if you have a class A non CDL. Even address changes must be done in person. They took fingerprints and gave me an eye test. I just did this (change my address) a couple of days ago ... December 13th.

 

I was posting about regular D/L not the special ones for you special folks. :lol:

 

Newt

2012 HitchHiker Discover America 345 LKSB

2009 Dodge/Cummins

 

LIVINGSTON TX

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ok. i mispoke when i said the dmv. wisconsin uses the dmv.all one department.regardless of the department name, all i am saying we could not use our livingston address for our home address. as soon as we get our licenses in the mail, we will change our address on them to livingston. forgot to mention that when we had to get a statement from our bank, they had to change our accounts to show our address as the rv park we are living in. after we got our drivers licenses, we went back to the bank to change it back to livingston. as stated above, fingerprints and eye test. i appreciate they do that. don't want a blind criminal driving my house down the road. like i said it was a hassle. felt like the tiger jumping thru the fire hoops. after the show was done, i went back to my home and ate a piece of meat, put up my feet and had a couple cocktails. now i am a texan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Newt, on 15 Dec 2016 - 8:10 PM, said:snapback.png

 

This is Texas. The County Tax Assessor/Collector handles vehicle titles and licenses.

 

Newt

 

The DPS handles driver's license.

2012 HitchHiker Discover America 345 LKSB

2009 Dodge/Cummins

 

LIVINGSTON TX

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ok. i mispoke when i said the dmv. wisconsin uses the dmv.all one department.regardless of the department name, all i am saying we could not use our livingston address for our home address. as soon as we get our licenses in the mail, we will change our address on them to livingston. forgot to mention that when we had to get a statement from our bank, they had to change our accounts to show our address as the rv park we are living in. after we got our drivers licenses, we went back to the bank to change it back to livingston. as stated above, fingerprints and eye test. i appreciate they do that. don't want a blind criminal driving my house down the road. like i said it was a hassle. felt like the tiger jumping thru the fire hoops. after the show was done, i went back to my home and ate a piece of meat, put up my feet and had a couple cocktails. now i am a texan

You will want to check on this yourself but I believe that your vehicles need to be registered in the county in which you live. I take it from what you say that they are now registered in Aransas County.

 

You might want to tell Escapees about your situation and they can advise you well. Once you change your address to the other county, that may be a problem regarding the vehicles.

 

You could compare costs in both counties unless you have some big attachment to Livingston. Of course, fees in Livingston may be less.

 

Perhaps someone else here can comment further as far as those two counties.

Cathy (Catharine) Summerfield Hana

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

Newt, on 15 Dec 2016 - 8:10 PM, said:snapback.png

 

This is Texas. The County Tax Assessor/Collector handles vehicle titles and licenses.

 

Newt

 

The DPS handles driver's license.

 

Everybody wanna hear the truth, but everybody tell a lie.  Everybody wanna go to Heaven, but nobody want to die.  Albert King

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

RVers Online University

campgroundviews.com

RV Destinations

Find out more or sign up for Escapees RV'ers Bootcamp.

Advertise your product or service here.

The Rvers- Now Streaming

RVTravel.com Logo



×
×
  • Create New...