AS THEY grapple with an impending rise in council rates, Southern Downs residents are now staring down the barrel of a hike in car registration costs.

The State Government passed the registration hike in parliament on Wednesday night, breaking the three- year freeze on family car registrations imposed by the previous government.

Motorists are facing car registration bills of up to $600 a year for the average family car.

The 3.5% increase is nearly three times the rate of CPI, currently at 1.4%.

For local motorists, the rate rise is an unwelcome hit to hip pockets.

As the owner of 10 registered vehicles, including cars, boats and trailers, Andrew Gale is carefully looking at the size of his fleet.

The owner of AG Licensing described the rise in rego as "disappointing".

"I can't see it having a big impact on the rates of driving - it might result in more people not paying their rego on time," he said.

"It's those big guys like Wickhams and Frasers that have large numbers of large vehicle where it'll really impact hard - hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"People will just have to find the money - it's a big cost."

After moving a failed disallowance motion to stop the increase in Parliament, Southern Downs MP Lawrence Springborg said the rise was a let-down to the community.

"I know how tough it is for families in my electorate of Southern Downs trying to pay the bills due to the rising cost of living," he said.

"At a time when unemployment was up, jobs were scarce and families were struggling to pay their bills, Queenslanders deserve better."

According to the RACQ, the increase meant Queenslanders paid more for registration than any other state.

Executive general manager advocacy Paul Turner said there was no excuse for a rise above inflation.

"Queenslanders already pay the highest registration fees in the country and are sick of being used as cash cows" he said.

"Any rise will place further strain on the state's motorists."

Mr Springborg said Labor MPs should be ashamed of themselves.

"Labor is struggling to manage the budget and is using motorists as cash cows as they continue to make it up as they go," he said.

"I don't think Queenslanders voted for massive hikes in registration fees."

Rego hike

4 cylinders:

$328.90 (current)

$340.40 (future)

5 or 6 cylinders:

$492.30 (current)

$509.50 (future)

7 or 8 cylinders:

$669.80 (current)

$693.25 (future)

*prices exclude CTP