Originally Posted By: CKN
Originally Posted By: JOD
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Id go and get it. Fly out with a suitcase of tools and a pocket full of cash and walk if you need to.
The road trip is part of the fun, memory and adventure!
I've done that twice buying cars in CA and driving them to Seattle. I'd recommend a cashier's check vs. cash though... Also, as a safeguard I got a round-trip ticket vs. one way, just in case (in each case it was only a few $$ more). It's worked out well both times for me.
What I don't understand is people in the rust belt NOT doing this when they buy a used car.
To the best of my knowledge-if you intend to drive a car off the dealers lot in California-both taxes and license on said vehicle is due. California doesn't issue "temporary plates" to transport a car out of state. So if you live in a state where you have to pay for title and taxes on a car, regardless of what state it's purchased in, it's not economical to buy a car in California for use elsewhere. You will pay double fees. Now-if you use a shipper for the purchased vehicle in California-you need a certified Bill of Lading showing the car isn't going to hit the pavement after your purchase in California. Then most often, the shipping fees don't make it worth the cost of buying out of state.
It's my understanding many more "exotic" dealers such as BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, etc., are familiar with this process (certified shipping) but a Ford or Chevy dealer might give you a blank look on the shipping procedures for out of state.
As an ex-Southern Californian living in Utah, I have thought of buying a car in California, but upon arriving in Utah I would have to pay license and taxes all over again, if I drove it in to Utah.
That's not necessarily correct. You pay taxes in the state in which the car is registered. I got a trip permit from WA state, which allows a certain amount of time (7 days IIRC), and as long as you're headed the correct direction you're allowed passage with the trip permit. That included passage through CA.
I purchased both from a dealer and a private party in CA, and neither time did I register the car in CA.
In WA, if you pay any taxes in CA, they're deducted from your tax bill in WA (WA taxes are even higher on car purchases than CA). Otherwise, you pay taxes in WA when you go to register the car. So, you don't save anything on sales tax by buying out of state--otherwise, every single person in WA would buy their cars in OR where there's no sales tax.
How Utah handles it specifically, I'm not sure--but you don't have to pay double taxes in WA, and I never paid any taxes in CA (and I did not register either car--I used a trip permit for each purchase).
