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Hawaii vehicle registration and insurance are abusive.
There are no allowances for low mileage driven vehicles that I can find.
I'm retired and don't commute for work.
I keep a car for getting to the towns, Pahoa (5+ mi.) and Hilo (25 mi.) once or twice each every 2 weeks and an older pickup for maintaining our property. The pickup has been on 180,000 miles for 8 years.
I don't drive around the island.
Once you've seen it, you've seen it.
The cost of licensing and insurance for them is way too high compared to the use they get.
Are there any strategies available to deal with this?
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01-27-2022, 04:31 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-27-2022, 04:33 PM by Durian Fiend.)
Nope, other than ditching one of them.
Your insurance company may adjust your premiums down a bit for low miles driven.
I appreciate that you aren’t on the road much.
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Sometimes it's cheaper to insure two vehicles than one.
It's not just vehicle registration/insurance that are abusive, it's everything, the whole system assumes people will put up with anything for the "privilege" of living in Hawaii. I could be just as proud for half the money.
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I'm thinking of pulling the plates on the pickup.
It is mainly used to work on our property.
Plus, the immediate area is all private roads.
I am considering selling it, but not ready to yet.
The only possible problem is bringing things home from Home Depot for the place.
It's just that I've driven a pickup for 40 years, and will have to transition to not having one.
It'll be difficult.
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Plus, the immediate area is all private roads.
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Upon which, you can be pulled over and ticketed.
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I don't know about Hawaii but a lot of states have a "farm use" provision which does not requires plates or insurance on a farm vehicle.... usually limited to a few miles around the farm.
Might want to research that.
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Upon which, you can be pulled over and ticketed.
Depends on the roads, and on your willingness to fight the ticket in court.
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Judging by the number of vehicles I see on the road with expired plates I would guess your chances of being pulled over are almost nil.
You almost have to be in a running gun battle with police to get ticketed.
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The "farm vehicle" idea is a good one - at least it works for quads. You put an emergency triangle sign on the back. Cops leave you alone - at least with a quad.
What about getting creative? Maybe some neighbors are in the same situation and only need a truck now and then. Form a co-op.
OR, what about renting the truck out sometimes on Turo or craigslist?. Probably not for tourists but who knows? A few rentals per year might cover the costs of owning the truck...
https://turo.com/us/en/search?country=US&defaultZoomLevel=11&delivery=false&deliveryLocationType=googlePlace&endDate=02%2F02%2F2022&endTime=10%3A00&international=true&isMapSearch=false&itemsPerPage=200&latitude=19.4975033&location=P%C4%81hoa%2C%20HI%2096778%2C%20USA&locationType=City&longitude=-154.95081040000002&maximumDistanceInMiles=50&placeId=ChIJa3nX7j4wUnkRCfq3IBeVVlg®ion=HI&sortType=RELEVANCE&startDate=01%2F30%2F2022&startTime=10%3A00&type=11
Keep it local
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what about renting the truck out sometimes on Turo or craigslist
HB1500, if passed, will amend HRS 291C to prohibit peer-to-peer car-sharing, even among residents who don't all need full-time use of a truck.
Get out while you still can.
