Q. I just received my registration renewal form in the mail, and the fee has gone up! I own a 2006 Lincoln Navigator, registered as a passenger vehicle, and the fee has always been $60 for two years. I read on your Web site about the $1.50 increase, so I was expecting that, but this is way more . . . $97.50 for two years! What’s the deal?

A. Registration fees have increased for all passenger vehicles weighing over 4,000. Any vehicle under the 4,000 gross vehicle weight limit will continue to pay $30 per year plus the $1.50 technology fee, for a total of $61.50 for a two-year renewal. Vehicles weighing over 4,000 now fall under the amended RIGL 31-6-1, also known as the “Gas-Guzzler” legislation, which increases fees for heavier vehicles which use more fuel than their smaller counterparts.

The new law reads, in part: 31-6-1 Amount of registration and miscellaneous fees. — (a) The following registration fees shall be paid to the division of motor vehicles for the registration of motor vehicles, trailers, semi-trailers, and school buses subject to registration for each year of registration: (1) For the registration of every automobile, when equipped with pneumatic tires, the gross weight of which is not more than four thousand pounds (4,000 pounds): thirty dollars ($30.). . . . (3) For the registration of every automobile, motor truck or tractor, when equipped with pneumatic tires, the gross weight of which is:

(i) More than four thousand pounds (4,000 lbs.), but not more than five thousand pounds (5,000 lbs.): forty dollars ($40.00);

(ii) More than five thousand pounds (5,000 lbs.), but not more than six thousand pounds (6,000 lbs.): forty-eight dollars ($48.00);

(iii) More than six thousand pounds (6,000 lbs.), but not more than seven thousand pounds (7,000 lbs.): fifty-six dollars ($56.00);

(iv) More than seven thousand pounds (7,000 lbs.), but not more than eight thousand pounds (8,000 lbs.): sixty-four dollars ($64.00);

Your Lincoln Navigator falls under section (ii) . . . more than 5,000 but less than 6,000. You can view the entire statute on the Rhode Island General Assembly’s Web site at http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/ statutes/TITLE31/31-6/ 31-6-1.HTM.

20 days to get new plates

Q. When buying a used car from a Rhode Island dealership, how many days am I allowed to drive using my own plates from my former vehicle? Is it 20 days, the same as temporary plates?

A. Yes, it is! You can use your own plates on a new vehicle bought from a Rhode Island dealership ONLY — not from an out-of-state dealer or a private party — for a period of 20 days from the date printed on your bill of sale (not purchase and sales agreement).

RIGL 31-4-3 Temporary registration — Invoice voucher issued by dealer, states “(a) Any person who purchases a motor vehicle from a bona fide licensed dealer and who presently has a motor vehicle registered in this state, may, when the vehicle purchased is of the same type as the presently owned and registered vehicle, operate the newly acquired motor vehicle for a period of twenty (20) days following the date of the original dated voucher. During this period any operator of the newly acquired vehicle shall carry the original dated bill of sale or invoice voucher which shall be accompanied by a numbered state sales tax form. The voucher or bill of sale shall recite the registration number to be transferred from the former vehicle to the newly acquired vehicle.”

You must put BOTH plates on the vehicle, and carry with you at all times the registration certificate, the bill of sale from the dealer, and the sales tax form, plus of course your insurance card.

Gina Antonucci Zanni, supervisor of communications for the State Division of Motor Vehicles, has agreed to answer questions of general interest posed by Journal readers about state motor vehicle laws and procedures. To ask a question that would also be of interest to other readers, send a letter to Ask projoCars, Features Department, The Providence Journal, 75 Fountain St., Providence, RI, 02902. You can e-mail your question to projocars@projo.com. Please put “Ask projoCars” in the subject field. Questions or complaints of a specific nature should be posed to the DMV directly and will not be answered in this column.