I am peeved. Today, I had to have the inspection done on my car and it cost me $30. This has to be done yearly--including emissions--whereas in Utah, it was every other year. Last week, I had to pay my property tax on said car (yes, in NC, they actually charge a property tax on vehicles--even those vehicles one doesn't outright own, which is utterly ridiculous) to the tune of $250, which is a decrease from what I paid last year. This is all in addition to the yearly license and registration fees I pay. Oh, and I had to pay sales tax on my property tax payment. Yes, paying tax on tax.
Anyway, I sat down and calculated how much my car costs me each month once I factor these ridiculous taxes and charges into the monthly payments, while also adding the insurance and fuel costs. Not counting oil changes or maintenance and being VERY conservative on the fuel costs, my monthly car expense is approximately $585! That's almost $600 to drive a freaking vehicle! The sad thing is that even if I drove a cheaper car, it wouldn't be saving me that much as the fuel would cost the same, the taxes wouldn't decrease that much, the insurance wouldn't drop that much, and it would take a very cheap car to get my payment to drop significantly as the current payment isn't that horrible. It works out to be over $200/month more than what I spent on my car in Utah, while my payments on my new car only went up about $100--and my insurance dropped by $25/month too. That means I'm paying over $100/month in extra fees, taxes, etc., as a chunk of my payment also goes to taxes. It's ridiculous and I do not heart it.
My thought at this late hour is that NC needs to re-think the property tax idea on vehicles, especially when it's not technically my property. The car is the property of American Honda Finance Corporation until it's paid off. Alas, I digress...but I'm still angry.
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