California Vehicle Registration Renewal with Driver: One Less Thing to Think About |
Posted: September 10, 2019 |
There's this new online service called Driver. It’s pretty straightforward — California vehicle registration renewal made easy — and for me? It’s a freaking lifesaver. See, I live in Los Angeles. I spend a lot of time in traffic. And when you’re stuck in a car for as long as I am, you tend to come up with stories about the drivers around you… at least, I do. I look at someone’s car and think things like, “Oh, that person is on their way to…” wherever. Or, “Those two are going to the market but don’t want to…” Because of this, I’m also oddly fascinated by people’s license plates — not their license plate number (although figuring out vanity plates is a great way to spend time), but just the plate in general. Do they have a cool holder with a fun saying? Are they from another state? And, often, I’ll see someone with a woefully lapsed reg sticker and think, “Geez, that person must be driving in a constant state of stress, wondering, ‘Is today the day I get caught and have to pay outrageous late fees?” I saw a car not that long ago that still had a 2013 sticker. Twenty-thirteen. Six years late with their renewal fees translates into a $100 registration fee penalty + a $100 CHP fee + 160% of the Vehicle License Fee due for that year + 160% of the weight fee due for that year (if applicable). Not sure what all of that adds up to but one thing’s clear — it’s a lot and going into a DMV field office to pay takes, well, time not to mention you can also be towed if your plates are expired for six months or more. A-yup. Remembering so I don’t have toWith Driver, you renew online. Yes, I know that's nothing new. After all, the DMV has an online portal. But listen a second because car registration renewal is one of those things that slips by pretty much everyone I know. If registration fees have never passed you by, well, then, you’re awesome and need not read further. If it does, however, then you’re still awesome but keep reading. For me, when I get my notice in the mail I actually go online to pay it right away only to be told I’m too early. This has happened way too many times simply for the fact that California vehicle registration renewal happens once a year, I only receive one reminder by mail without any follow-up, and when I’m done paying my registration — even if I go into a local DMV office to do it IN PERSON — I forget about it. But when I go into the DMV portal too soon, I just put the DMV renewal notice aside only to suddenly find myself a couple of days before — or after (don’t judge me) — finally remembering I received a renewal in the mail and think, “Oh, crap!” I then either race into a DMV office to pay it or scramble to renew online through the DMV portal. No grace and feeling the pressureI don’t know if your state has a grace period for late registration but the great Golden State does not. From day one, you’re charged late fees and it just goes up every ten days until you pay. And there have been PLENTY of times when I’ve had to endure those ten+ days because I forgot all about it and needed to make a “pay this or pay that” choice that did not come out in favor of my DMV registration renewal. That big honking fee at the end of the year has its good and bad times for someone like me. I’m your basic single middle-class mom raising two kids, two dogs, and paying rent and living expenses in — wait for it — California, the second most expensive state to live in the U.S. There are far more important things I’d rather be saving up for — and actually, need to put money toward — than my renewal fees. I don’t want to have to think about this on top of everything else and many people don’t. Having a way to take paying — or even remembering to pay — my renewal fees off my plate is welcome. I’m a longtime AAA member and, honestly, I like going into my local AAA field office for my registration renewal. The people are really nice and they have lots of cool info on travel, things like that, so I don’t mind going in there (again, don’t judge me). Life just gets really busy and since I don’t ever really take a lunch hour and I get off of work pretty much after every reasonable business is closed, it’s not easy for me to find the time to jump in my car, drive through L.A. traffic staring at people’s license plates and making up stories about their lives to get to the AAA office before it closes. This way, I renew online, avoid late fees that completely mess up my whole financial equilibrium — and probably don't look good on my license — and can drive without that, "Will I get away without a ticket again?" mantra banging against my psyche. Easy California vehicle registration renewal = peace of mind
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|