Car Registration

[roguebanshee]

I guess this is going to be a rant: I am sitting here looking at my California registration and wondering a few things, such as:

1) why am I'm getting charged a fee based on the current value of my car when I already paid for my car, and the taxes based on that value?
2) does a car's value actually "cost" more in paperwork if the car costs' more?
3) is this even legal?

1) Likely to get you to buy a smaller car, which may have a better mpg (small cars tend to be cheap, small cars tend to get higher mpg). And bigger, more expensive cars do tend to cause (slightly) more wear and tear on the roads.
2) Probably not, but it's an incentive to not buy a $100000, 10 mpg tank.
3) If it's on your papers from an official source, then it's as legal as your normal income tax.

Besides, this kind of scheme can reduce road tax. All in all, it's likely designed to make you think about the vehicle you're going to use.