Virginia Transportation Funding Deal

...pretty good except of course the tax relief applies only to the value <$20,000. Some places have 65% relief, but some places 50% I don't know why. Some places as high as 5% tax in NoVa.

 

All our fees changing with the new bill.
Sales tax goes to 4.15% from 3%.
Our property tax is more like your registration fee, but higher in Nova.
Then just $33 Registation but I think that is also increasing.
Not to mention the new $64/yr hybrid fee.
When the clock strikes midnite Sunday I am going to try to register 3 years in advance to escape all the fee increases.

 

Well the Gov reduced the fee to $64, that's all we got.

Here's what I see, California has higher sales tax on cars vs. Virginia looks like 9% vs. 4.15%.

Then CA has a VLF Vehicle License fee of 1.15% x car value (2010).
This is the tax deductible portion.

The VA tax deductible portion is called Property Tax, and that varies but for North Virginia is around 2% under $20k value and up to 5% on the value over $20k. So this tax can get pretty high if your car is greater than $30k value.

So a cheaper car might be less tax in VA than CA. Something more expensive like a Highlander Hybrid gets quite costly tax in NoVa due to the 5% tax on the value over $20k. I do more checks later.

 

Well when the clock struck midnite I did register 3 years in advance on April 1. You have to be no more than 6-month in advance to do this. This could backfire but worth a try. Should be a few more months to do this depending on when the fees go into effect.

The other tip for Virginia Prii owners, is you can challenge your car tax assessment if your car is high on Miles or otherwise less value than the NADA book value. My car is 120k miles but the expected miles is 95k.

 

So the sad news today the Virginia General Assembly approved Gov. McDonnell's ammendments on the Transportation Bill. VA has gone official on the lowest gasoline tax in the continental USA, and a new $64/yr Hybrid fee.

I believe this bill gives VA the most hurdles to cost-effective Hybrid ownership of any state in the US.

It'll be interesting to see if the bill hurts hybrids sales, but I don't think I'd get one again under the current circumstances. It's a Model-T for me. Virginia's extraordinary car tax situation forces one to consider used cars, higher depreciation, and non-hybrids. If EV's are favored that may be better choice (right now EV not favored either, but our likely new Gov is/was an EV company owner).

 

Walter-
For a Camry Hybrid LE*
Total vehicle taxes + hybrid fees in North VA = $4500 to $5000 (each town slightly differeent)
Total vehicle taxes + hybrid fees in Maryland = $1620

For a Camry LE**
Total vehicle taxes + hybrid fees in North VA = $3000 to $3500 (each town slightly differeent)
Total vehicle taxes + hybrid fees in Maryland = $1343

*Camry Hybrid LE @$27000 (from Carmax.com new purchase at Laurel MD) **Camry LE @ $22380 same place

NOTE: I believe Maryland is a CARB state so you get 150,000 mile battery warranty vs. 100,000 mile in a non-CARB state like VA.

So in Virginia, unless you travel 15000+ miles per year you are not going to pay off the higher vehicle cost +higher taxes on a hybrid. Why bother buying a hybrid in VA? I see no reason. If you insist on a hybrid (for enviro reasons) then go to MD for your purchase and get CARB batt warranty (no-see edit below). Am I missing something here?

Six reasons to NOT buy a Toyota Hybrid in Virginia
(1) Dealer wants $1500 mark-up for hybrid vs. non-hybrid model (Carmax example above)
(2) Annual Property tax (progressive with car value) means hybrids are taxed more heavily
(3) VA has (inexplicably) chosen reduce gasoline tax to lowest in the lower 48 states
(4) Annual $64/yr Hybrid Fee is excessive in view of Items 2 and 3 above
(5) No CARB warranty on battery (just normal 100,000 mile warranty)
(6) Crappy HOV access (except if you already own pre-2009 CF plates)

Item (5) may apply to other hybrids depending on what guarantee they offer in VA

EDIT: CARB Warranty Clarification- In another post JimboPalmer gave a link to the Toyota PiP 2013 warranty and it states the CARB 150,000 HV batt warranty only applies in CARB states. So, as a correction to my post above, there would be no particular advantage for a Virginia driver to buy a Toyota hybrid in Maryland. In other words the CARB battery warranty does not transfer 0ver state lines unless both states are CARB. This could still be a disadvantage for Toyota depending 0n what the competition is doing.

 

^^^I wanna know the taxes that guy with a Tesla Model S in Falls Church is paying. I think he participated in the drive to NY in response to the NYTimes column. Should be about 5% per year on book value minus $500 tax relief. I calc $20,000 taxes over 10 yrs (20%).

Note I added 6 reasons now.

Here's how used CAMRY Hybrid could make sense in VA: Go to dealer in 2015, and get a 3-yr old 2012 Camry Hybrid off lease. You go for a guy that put like 90,000 miles on the car. You bargain for discount as battery is near end of guarantee. Then you make a request to your locality for tax basis reduction due to high mileage. Now you are semi-whole.

 

CARB Warranty Clarification- In another post JimboPalmer gave a link to the Toyota PiP 2013 warranty and it states the CARB 150,000 HV batt warranty only applies in CARB states. So, as a correction to my post above, there would be no particular advantage for a Virginia driver to buy a Toyota hybrid in Maryland. In other words the CARB battery warranty does not transfer 0ver state lines unless both states are CARB.

 

^^^not sure Walter...if you read the FORD C_Max warranty, it says something like the 2 requirements are (1) car is CA ceritifed and (2) if your state is currently following CARB then you are covered. So sounds like if your car is CA certified you might be covered. I think my 2006 is CA certified, but maybe later years were not. If mine breaks down I will sell it to you to fix my HV batt and then you sell it back to me, OK? Confusing.

Re: VA Property Tax, yes as you state, it is like your annual house property tax, but VA opts to add a significant portion into vehicles. The question is - does this make good sense? In some parts of VA (not North) the cumulative car tax would be 10% or less, this is fine although I not add a extra hybrid fee on top of that. In North VA the cumulative tax+fee is approaching 15-20% range for hybrids and average cars ($31k cost) so I think that now (and historically) it is getting oppressive. And it is increasing (there was an attempt to phase it out now its on a gradual phase back in).

 

Virginians-
As mentioned, you probably want to try to get 2016 registration stickers at today's costs (3-yrs ahead).
Costs you $125 and you save about $237 = 3 x ($15+$64)
Whereas $64/yr is upcoming new Hybrid Fee and $15/yr is the upcoming increase in registration cost.
In fact any car you can save a few bucks if you do it before the fees kick in.
Got mine in the mail today....go to DMVNOW.com