The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

I'm probably the idiot here but I just bought a vehicle that was registered out of state over a year ago.  I called my local agency to get it registered and they are telling me I have to pay .25 a day from when it expired and then 1.00 a day after July 1st.  So, for the first 11 months I pay $82.50 and from July 1st to now I pay $22.00 for a grand total of $104.50.  W.T.F.. . why am I responsible for someone else not wanting to pay their tag????

Because the government wants their money. Same reason why they pretend a 1992 Buick Park Avenue is still worth $38,000 and refuse to use book value or sale price (whichever is higher would be fine) to set excise taxes.  That's why we have such nice roads.

Wait.  Most tag fees go to schools and the general fund.  Which makes perfect sense.  ???

my advice? Don't wait till tomorrow.  Otherwise it will be 105.50!!

In all seriousness, that is pretty stupid.  hmm maybe you can write your state senator? I dont really know what to tell ya.
It won't do any good though, I can tell you that.  The same people who are in our state govt own our liquor stores, title companies and yep, you guessed it, tag agencies as well.

Just wait till you go to refinance your house, the thousands of dollars you paid to have your title searched, will be charged again.  EVEN THOUGH NOTHING HAS CHANGED ON THE LAND!! America at its finest!  We are one of the few, if not the only that still does it that way.

UH OH, is that a new law? ? It used to be .25 a day, with a max of $25.00 (trust me, I know, I've paid the max on more than one occassion!) . . . I guess $1/day makes it a little more important to me to actually renew on time, it's mostly a "my time" issue, I hate going to the Tag Agency, I have yet to find a helpful, efficient one.  URGH!!

Yep, that's the new deal

Don't get mad at the tag agency.  Get mad at your state representative.  He/She was the one who put that law in place.

While it's a hard lesson to learn, never buy a car with an expired tag.  That is the responsibility of the owner/seller, not the buyer.  In fact, state law says car dealers can't sell you a car with an expired tag.  Not sure if it addresses individual sales.

Why not go to the Tag Agency w/o the previous tag and w/o  a previous bill of sale.  Say you just purchased the car yesterday and never had a bill of sale.

Or, just say it sat in a yard for the past year.

<shrug>

That won't matter though; especially if insurance was being carried on the car.  If you are going to allow your vehicle to sit in a yard (whether it does or doesn't) then the state requires you to 'black tag' the license.  I did that on an old junker I was trying to sell after I bought my new car.  All the black tag does is allows you to tag the car without insurance as long as you sign an affidavit stating you won't drive the vehicle.

Short answer...what I'm saying is that the Tag Agency is likely to ask you that question (why didn't you black tag the vehicle?).

I can definitely understand not wanting to go to the tag agency, they generally are staffed by rejected hags who despise you just for no reason at all. I will give a plug to the one exception I have found so far, and that is central tag agency in downtown Tulsa at like 5th and Cheyenne. I have been going there for 3 years and in that time they only managed to employ one of those hags, and even then she was somewhat nicer than the others.

My wife seconds your opinion about the Downtown tag office.

So what would the scenario be if you wanted to restore an old motorcycle that's been sitting disassembled in parts baskets for 10 years -- would you have to by 10 years of tags if you didnt have a certified mechanic to say it was a basket case?

Essentially, yes, and even then I don't know if a mechanic's affadavit would hold water anymore.  Another option is to go through a title mill like the ones that advertise in Hemmings, Walneck's, etc.

If you bought something on a bill of sale, and it did not have a title, I don't remember the whole mechanism for getting one in Oklahoma and how they would have any way to track when the last time something was registered. 

I'll make a case for the agency at 56th / Garnett.  I've never had a bad experience at that Tag Agency and the ladies there are very nice (and suprisingly good-looking as well).   ;D

I just brought current three vehicles that had been sitting for one reason or the other.
The tag agency made me pay two years on them. The last year it wasnt tagged and the current year up to now.
They did go by the month stickers. On one of the vehicles my new current tag was only good for two months before it had to be renewed again(I opted out on tagging it again thru Aug next year)
The new law did not apply to my out of date tags(Thank Gawd)
because they were already expired before the law was put in place.
So the old law of two years to current was done, and they didnt even hit me with the .25 cent per day or 25 dollars max. Dont know why but I didnt bring it up.

I wish they'd let us do the three year registration on cars and motorcycles like they do boats and watercraft.  You get a little bit of a discount for doing so and you don't have to remember it every year.  Also saves the state paperwork on renewal notices.

So there is no cap on the past due fees now  :o? 

Of course, sounds like if my tags expired in May, which they might have  ::), I fall under the old law still?

I agree on paying ahead.  I renewed my tags last time in February, yes, I was that far behind, and asked if I could go ahead and renew for the following year and they said only 30 days early . . . . it would be so much easier to pay ahead.  Now I am going to have to dig up my insurance verification as well.   

I also liked the downtown tag agency, it was wonderful to have a close by place to walk to, but now I am south, and have to drive and stand in long lines with grouchy people, and slow staff.  :(

Update OP?

Oh and I think this thread is discussing 2 things:

1) Tagging an out-of-state purchase that had been expired.
and
2) Tagging an already Oklahoma tagged car that had been expired.

I don't see how OTC can charge fees for #1 because for all they know the car showed up in the state just this morning.