[JeffInDFW]

California has earned their reputation for going out of their way to be a PITA. As posted above, Texas is awesome to deal with because they know it is good for business.

I'm also looking at a used car in California, so please keep us updated on how this works out for you. Maybe I should drive over in my truck and bring it back on a trailer?? Would I have to register the car in California if I did that?!?!

[JamesNoBrakes]

Originally Posted by JeffInDFW

California has earned their reputation for going out of their way to be a PITA. As posted above, Texas is awesome to deal with because they know it is good for business.

I'm also looking at a used car in California, so please keep us updated on how this works out for you. Maybe I should drive over in my truck and bring it back on a trailer?? Would I have to register the car in California if I did that?!?!

Texas has you put all those ridiculous stickers on your windshield...plus, no mountains. Blah.

[Mr. Wyndham]

I'm not at all familiar with CA DMV regulations, but there SHOULD be a temp tag you can get that would register for about 30-60 days. The car probably does need to be registered upon purchase.

When I bought my car in PA (I'm in NY), there was a $200 temp tags fee I had to pay to get it home.

If there isn't this option...or if it's really that expensive...shame on CA.

[BrianL]

Yea, that sucks. I bought my car in my neighboring state WA and had zero issues. OR has zero sales tax where WA does, so even though buying in WA, I paid no sales tax or had to pay for WA registration and got OR registration with no issues.

[sykb47l]

Originally Posted by JamesNoBrakes

Texas has you put all those ridiculous stickers on your windshield...plus, no mountains. Blah.

Its only one sticker now.

[Retro69]

Originally Posted by JeffInDFW

California has earned their reputation for going out of their way to be a PITA. As posted above, Texas is awesome to deal with because they know it is good for business.

I'm also looking at a used car in California, so please keep us updated on how this works out for you. Maybe I should drive over in my truck and bring it back on a trailer?? Would I have to register the car in California if I did that?!?!

That seemed kind of vague as well to me. But its not in doubt that CA is a huge PITA.

[BigDave23]

Originally Posted by JeffInDFW

I'm also looking at a used car in California, so please keep us updated on how this works out for you. Maybe I should drive over in my truck and bring it back on a trailer?? Would I have to register the car in California if I did that?!?!

You won't have a problem if the used car's registration hasn't expired yet. If you are trailering the car it doesn't matter where (or if) the car is registered...

[R.C. Collins]

My primary residence is in Oregon where there is no sales tax. Because of the better selection and prices in CA i've bought three cars (including my 1LE) there in the last two years. One used; two new.

CA's Franchise Tax Board has been cracking down on people claiming to be out of state buyers in order to avoid paying sales tax, so the DMV now requires dealerships to charge CA sales tax for non-resident purchasers unless the vehicle is flatbedded out of state, with a bill of lading to prove it. Two dealerships offered to have one of their employees drive my new car to the Oregon state line at my considerable expense (hourly rate, fuel, hotel, flight back, taxi, etc.)

The cheaper route is to flatbed it out. I just happen to own a transport business, so i was able to use my company name and bill of lading to satisfy their mandates. I've saved nearly $8,000 in sales tax by doing this.

[Retro69]

Originally Posted by R.C. Collins

My primary residence is in Oregon where there is no sales tax. Because of the better selection and prices in CA i've bought three cars (including my 1LE) there in the last two years. One used; two new.

CA's Franchise Tax Board has been cracking down on people claiming to be out of state buyers in order to avoid paying sales tax, so the DMV now requires dealerships to charge sales tax for non-resident purchasers unless the vehicle is flatbedded out of state, with a bill of lading to prove it. Two dealerships offered to have one of their employees drive my new car to the Oregon state line at my considerable expense (hourly rate, fuel, hotel, flight back, taxi, etc.)

The cheaper route is to flatbed it out. I just happen to own a transport business, so i was able to use my company name and bill of lading to satisfy their mandates. I've saved nearly $8,000 in sales tax by doing this.

Wow!


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[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by R.C. Collins

My primary residence is in Oregon where there is no sales tax. Because of the better selection and prices in CA i've bought three cars (including my 1LE) there in the last two years. One used; two new.

CA's Franchise Tax Board has been cracking down on people claiming to be out of state buyers in order to avoid paying sales tax, so the DMV now requires dealerships to charge sales tax for non-resident purchasers unless the vehicle is flatbedded out of state, with a bill of lading to prove it. Two dealerships offered to have one of their employees drive my new car to the Oregon state line at my considerable expense (hourly rate, fuel, hotel, flight back, taxi, etc.)

The cheaper route is to flatbed it out. I just happen to own a transport business, so i was able to use my company name and bill of lading to satisfy their mandates. I've saved nearly $8,000 in sales tax by doing this.

Holy crap!!

New York requires me to prove, or pay, all taxes in full on the vehicle during registration...so there's no way to get out of it. But luckily, PA doesn't have the same sort of paranoia, so they don't charge me.

[R.C. Collins]

Originally Posted by JeffInDFW

I'm also looking at a used car in California, so please keep us updated on how this works out for you. Maybe I should drive over in my truck and bring it back on a trailer?? Would I have to register the car in California if I did that?!?!

For out of state buyers purchasing at a CA dealership it goes something like this:

1) Driving it home: you pay CA sales tax (7.5-9.5%) and the dealer provides a trip permit at your expense. You will still have to pay any taxes, title, and registration due in your state.

2) Trailering it back yourself: you will be charged CA sales tax, and you pay any taxes, title, and registration fees due in your state.

3) Hire a professional transporter: you pay the transport fee, and pay any taxes, title, and registration fees due in your state.

4) Have a dealership employee drive it to the state line: you pay all the employee's expenses. You can negotiate a price. Pay a one trip permit fee ( I'm not sure if the dealer can use a dealer plate for this purpose), and pay any taxes, title, and registraion fees due in your state.

Note: CA dealers are reluctant to handle out of state title and registration transactions if you don't pay CA sales tax. If your state still works with paper titles instead of electronic titles it can be a time-consuming PITA to do yourself. It takes 6-8 weeks in Oregon. I've had to do it three times.

[Rock-It Man]

Originally Posted by fastball

Technically you should only be paying your sales tax and registration fees to the county you are registering the car in. It doesn't matter where or from whom you buy it from.

Both times I've purchased new cars from nowhere near my home, outside of my home county, and both dealers registered and filed the paperwork with my home county, and I paid tax to my home county where the cars are registered in. The first time I did so thinking I could actually pay LESS tax, as the county I bought it in had a 5% sales tax when we had 7.5% tax, but they said that is not the case.

What you need to do is get the paperwork from the dealer before you take possession of the car. Take it to your local BMV registrar and pay sales tax/registration there. Get a temporary license plate, and then go back to the dealer with registration and temp tag in hand.

Now, a GOOD dealer will file that paperwork for you, because they can do it by mail and it doesn't matter if you buy the car in Maine and register it in Utah. They may charge a "filing fee" or some BS but it really doesn't cost them anything other than postage to do it.

It should not matter if the car is being shipped or driving on the roads...... you're driving it back to where it would be shipped to anyway. No way should you pay tax to a state your car isn't registered in.

Something ain't right with that dealer, or with Mecum.

In Mecum's case, they're not a dealer, but an auction house. The buyer is responsible for moving the car promptly off the auction site. So getting a home state registration would be impractical even if it was sufficient legally, which I'm not sure it is.

The only way to avoid the sales tax in Indiana in this situation is to have a bill of lading for shipment to another state. Even private trailering won't work. I have no idea whether this would be any different if buying from a dealer.

In a private sale out of state, I have made the deal, and gotten my home state plates in advance, which means paying the home state sales tax. If the buyer didn't know what his state's rules were, they would find out after I was gone and would be stuck with their sales tax. Not my problem.

BTW, there are no temporary plates in Massachusetts. Dealers have stacks of permanent plates but it still takes proof of insurance and then a trip to the RMV to get the car registered. Only then can you drive away. Oh, and don't forget to get an inspection sticker within 7 days. Basically it takes a whole day between paying for the car and getting to drive it away. Private sales are more problematic. Every time I have sold a car, the buyer wants to "borrow" my plates until they get the car home. To which my answer is always NO!. In one case I drove the car to the buyers yard, took off the plates, and got a ride home. But what usually happens is that the buyer takes the front plate off his car, puts it on the purchased car, and drives home that way. Obviously this is idiotic, in case of an accident, but not my problem.

[fastball]

Wow every state seems to be very different, and judging by the responses Ohio seems to be one of if not the easiest to deal with. It's cut and dry here: no matter what county you buy the car in, you pay sales tax and registration to the county you register the car in. And the dealer you buy the car from will take care of all that without a problem. So if I buy the car in Cincinnati and live in Cleveland, the dealer in Cincinnati will send all my documentation to a Cleveland BMV for registration and tax, and I will get my title in the mail within a week.

Every dealer has stacks of 30 day temporary tags, so you can drive your car home the day you sign your papers, and you can get your own at your local BMV if you buy a used car privately for $7.50. You can also renew your temp tag every 30 days for up to 90 days for an additional $7.50/month.

We also do not require inspections or inspection stickers. Just a basic emissions test every 2 years which is free, and yearly registration renewal is $55.00.

[ZED SLED]

Originally Posted by fastball

Wow every state seems to be very different, and judging by the responses Ohio seems to be one of if not the easiest to deal with. It's cut and dry here: no matter what county you buy the car in, you pay sales tax and registration to the county you register the car in. And the dealer you buy the car from will take care of all that without a problem. So if I buy the car in Cincinnati and live in Cleveland, the dealer in Cincinnati will send all my documentation to a Cleveland BMV for registration and tax, and I will get my title in the mail within a week.

Every dealer has stacks of 30 day temporary tags, so you can drive your car home the day you sign your papers, and you can get your own at your local BMV if you buy a used car privately for $7.50. You can also renew your temp tag every 30 days for up to 90 days for an additional $7.50/month.

We also do not require inspections or inspection stickers. Just a basic emissions test every 2 years which is free, and yearly registration renewal is $55.00.

That sounds typical for in-state. But OP's issue is buying from another state. Here in NY it doesn't matter what county you live, you get raped for the same 8% sales tax.
I had to go to Springfield, Mass, where I traded my '13 ZL1 for my '17. Springfield is about 30 minutes from the NY border, so they had their 'runner' drive the ZL1 to the closest NY DMV which is about 45 minutes from there. I had to follow in the dealer's used Honda shit box. At DMV he wrote a check for the sales tax, got the reg switched, traded cars, then went our separate way.