If you have a important meeting in SF, driving from Reno is not a good idea to start with. You can still see lots of snow over Donner pass on I-80 in March.

I have no idea about why the tax and fees are so high in Reno, but that's becoming more and more common in lots of cities. One example is Houston, where I live. They put on many fees to fund all the new stadiums built here in the past 5 years.