Buying out of state

[GTZ3315]

Hey guys, excited to hopefully get a raptor soon. I have one on order with my local dealer for MSRP however we did not get it in early enough for 24, now we have to wait for 25MY and after hearing some stories of waiting I'm a little nervous how long it will take. So I started looking for the color I wanted at MSRP, I live in CT and the only 3 others in the state were a color I didn't want and they all wanted markup.

However I have found one I like in OH, I don't have the time to road trip it so it will cost be a bit to ship back to CT but whatever cost to not wait I guess and at least it's not a dealer markup. However when tax started coming up, they have in there collecting CT sales tax and also on the shipping which I wasn't sure if that was even taxable. When I asked who will register the car they said they will send all paperwork and title to me and I will deal with the DMV. When I questioned the taxes again because I told them I will have to pay taxes at the DMV to register they said they are required to collect the tax so they can assign the title to me, then they will mail me a refund check for the taxes and I can then register and pay the taxes on my own.

It doesn't feel sleazy to me as much as they don't know how out of state deals work, but this doesn't;t make sense to me. I've never bought a new car out of state but plenty of used and classic cars and it's been as simple as we make a deal, write up a bill of sale, sign over title, I get insurance and go register my car and pay the taxes. If I don't have to I'd rather not lend this dealership $4500 for no reason even if they will send it back. Looking up OH tax regulation they do have states where they have tax reciprocity but CT is not one of them, it instructors you to fill out a form the dealer would file with the county basically stating you paid no taxes and you will not be using this car in OH, which makes sense and is easy enough.

Has anyone else dealt with anything like this? I'm going to ask them about it this morning before we sign anything, but you think I'm a little crazy with the details or is this a red flag?

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[Dingus83]

I’ve purchased probably 4 new cars out of state in the last 5 years and several have collected taxes. Like you mentioned, they will refund you any over payment. You should be good if they sent a buyers order over and it all looks legit.

 

[GTZ3315]

I’ve purchased probably 4 new cars out of state in the last 5 years and several have collected taxes. Like you mentioned, they will refund you any over payment. You should be good if they sent a buyers order over and it all looks legit.

Thanks. Yeah it is a large dealer they seem legit. The buyers order they sent wasn't super detailed but the tax was the only thing that stood out the rest seemed legit, I'm dealing over phone and email so it's more difficult. Knowing that this practice isn't crazy it does seem it may be standard to protect themselves to collect tax from everyone and refund what they didn't need to. I just didn't want to get into a game of bugging them for the refund but they've been responsive so far.

 

[SoCalMike]

Hey guys, excited to hopefully get a raptor soon. I have one on order with my local dealer for MSRP however we did not get it in early enough for 24, now we have to wait for 25MY and after hearing some stories of waiting I'm a little nervous how long it will take. So I started looking for the color I wanted at MSRP, I live in CT and the only 3 others in the state were a color I didn't want and they all wanted markup.

However I have found one I like in OH, I don't have the time to road trip it so it will cost be a bit to ship back to CT but whatever cost to not wait I guess and at least it's not a dealer markup. However when tax started coming up, they have in there collecting CT sales tax and also on the shipping which I wasn't sure if that was even taxable. When I asked who will register the car they said they will send all paperwork and title to me and I will deal with the DMV. When I questioned the taxes again because I told them I will have to pay taxes at the DMV to register they said they are required to collect the tax so they can assign the title to me, then they will mail me a refund check for the taxes and I can then register and pay the taxes on my own.

It doesn't feel sleazy to me as much as they don't know how out of state deals work, but this doesn't;t make sense to me. I've never bought a new car out of state but plenty of used and classic cars and it's been as simple as we make a deal, write up a bill of sale, sign over title, I get insurance and go register my car and pay the taxes. If I don't have to I'd rather not lend this dealership $4500 for no reason even if they will send it back. Looking up OH tax regulation they do have states where they have tax reciprocity but CT is not one of them, it instructors you to fill out a form the dealer would file with the county basically stating you paid no taxes and you will not be using this car in OH, which makes sense and is easy enough.

Has anyone else dealt with anything like this? I'm going to ask them about it this morning before we sign anything, but you think I'm a little crazy with the details or is this a red flag?

I live in CA and bought our RR in IL and they shipped it for $800. I paid for the vehicle plus IL tax and they overnighted me the title. When I went to the DMV here in CA, being an out of state vehicle they made me pay additional tax, go get it smogged and had to take it to a scale to get it weighed. It was a little bit of a hassle but we managed to get it done all in the same day. I believe IL tax was lower than CA so we just had to pay the difference. Congratulations on your purchase, you will love it.

 

[MQZ]

I always buy out of state. You can either pay taxes at dealer for their state and refund/add at your dmv depending on rate between two states. I always request no taxes, no registration and just insure. I have trailered vehicles and had them shipped not registered at all. That way I don't have to pay registration twice, etc. Plus why do people pay interest on taxes. I understand interest for use on vehicle you drive, but interest on taxes going to state, nah. I always look up state requirements on purchasing new vehicles and avoid registering if possible. When you trailer or ship it to your driveway you don't need a temp registration or tag. The dealers do this to follow a process, add onto normal fee and finance more tax into finance terms and cost. You don't need title per se' in bought state to register in new state... just paperwork showing purchase or bill of sale. Good luck.

 

[Rabbit9]

The problem is that they are not familiar enough with out of state sales and the tax laws. I live in SC and have bought vehicles in Florida, North Carolina and Georgia (that’s where I bought my RR). Dealer relationships aren’t what they used to be (nothing is), and rather for better pricing, or availability, getting a vehicle from out of state often makes sense. The taxes should either be deferred to be paid when you register your vehicle in your home state with the BOS, or if the dealer/state has a reciprocity agreement, the dealer will collect the taxes for your home state, and take care of the paperwork for you. It really shouldn’t be that difficult.

 

[John E Davies]

I have bought four cars out of state, two in SD, one in CO, and one in IL, none charged me any registration fees. That is always taken care of here in WA when they collect their pound of flesh (10% of the purchase price)….

Road trips on all four purchases were fun and rewarding, I even got shot at outside a hotel one night while trying to resolve an issue on a used Audi, a drunk guy thought I was messing with his car and fired two rounds through his screen window with a .22LR revolver. The cops never located the bullets.

The other trips were not as exciting.

I see no issues with your buying a new RR out of state, I flew to get mine from a rural dealer in central SD and drove it a relaxed meandering 1500 miles home in three days. I paid $1500 over MSRP, $300 for paperwork, no sales tax and no dealer add ons.

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

 

[Jason B]

I always buy out of state. You can either pay taxes at dealer for their state and refund/add at your dmv depending on rate between two states. I always request no taxes, no registration and just insure. I have trailered vehicles and had them shipped not registered at all. That way I don't have to pay registration twice, etc. Plus why do people pay interest on taxes. I understand interest for use on vehicle you drive, but interest on taxes going to state, nah. I always look up state requirements on purchasing new vehicles and avoid registering if possible. When you trailer or ship it to your driveway you don't need a temp registration or tag. The dealers do this to follow a process, add onto normal fee and finance more tax into finance terms and cost. You don't need title per se' in bought state to register in new state... just paperwork showing purchase or bill of sale. Good luck.

If you are limited on your down payment amount, it's a wash on the interest.
EX;
I can put 12K down, and finance 30K plus 4K tax. Total financed = 34K
Or put 8,000 down, pay 4K tax, finance 34K. Total financed = 34K

 

[MQZ]

If you are limited on your down payment amount, it's a wash on the interest.
EX;
I can put 12K down, and finance 30K plus 4K tax. Total financed = 34K
Or put 8,000 down, pay 4K tax, finance 34K. Total financed = 34K

I back out tax, address down payment, then negotiate... that way on my side it's not even factored into deal. Dealer runs it against down payment on paper... so I get what your saying, especially if your limited on total going towards everything. But I separate it out entirely from numbers if that makes sense.

 

[Quick]

I live in CT and have purchased many vehicles out of state. The process is simple:

- if the dealer collects CT sales tax, they have to issue a refund check and it’s a hassle. Avoid this route if you can. Also, CT has two tax rates as we pay a luxury tax for over 50k.

Once you get the truck to CT you’ll need to get a VIN verification. Take that and all paperwork to the DMV.

My preferrreed method is to have the dealer just issue a transit tag and give you the MSO along with your paid invoice. Take that and the VIN verification to the DMV, where they will charge you the appropriate tax amount. I’ve done this with probably 20 cars without issue. I‘ve also done this on vehicles purchased from OH, so there is no requirement for them to collect taxes on it.

Good luck. Let me know if you have questions.

 

[Jason B]

It looks like the only way for me to get a deal on a '24 Ranger, is to go out of state. They are few available here in LA, so there's no budging on MSRP, while some northern states offer $2k - $3k off (so I hear).
Granger Ford in Iowa will do $50 over invoice for sales. Sounds good, but I don't want to hassle with sales tax between there and Louisiana. Plus, it's a looooong drive, about 950 miles, 14 hours. I'd have to calculate the cost of a flight up there, hotel, and fuel. Then there's my '21 trade in, so maybe fuel to drive there, but then again, it's another hassle of paperwork to trade my LA truck to a IA dealer.

 

[Critical Habitat]

bought in Iowa, live in Minnesota. Gave them a cashier check, they gave me the bill of sale and State certificate of new car purchase, which is your 15-day registration (part of document fee).
Take all that to the service center in MN and pay tax and registration and they give me my plate. Title showed up soon after that.

Seems like other states might collect the tax and you pay the difference when you register, or you pay the entire state tax and get a rebate from the purchasing state.
Your salesperson should be able to explain the process.

A lot of people find and use reputable shippers, too.

Since you live in Connecticut, you could celebrate and take an amtrack auto train
(northeast regional in your area, also connects in DC to Florida).

 

[GTZ3315]

Got it today! Fresh off the truck and with its little brother.

I did have to pay tax to the dealer, they said their title company requires it and it’s just their process. Given I now have learned this isn’t rare I went with it and will just have to stay on them for the refund check.

Overall experience was good, shipping from OH was even super fast and easy. Got it for $500 off msrp so I’m happy all around

 

[SubaruRaptor]

Got it today! Fresh off the truck and with its little brother.

I did have to pay tax to the dealer, they said their title company requires it and it’s just their process. Given I now have learned this isn’t rare I went with it and will just have to stay on them for the refund check.

Overall experience was good, shipping from OH was even super fast and easy. Got it for $500 off msrp so I’m happy all around

I was torn between blue and green when i chose mine. The blue looks real good. I feel like everyone got white black and grey and other grey. Do yourself a favor and check your hood height drop point, there's a service bulletin to fix the slamming issue where you just turn the rubber stopped a bit. Also check above your driver tail light, recently they are all coming with chipped paint right above the driver tail light.

 

[Full-size no more]

It looks like the only way for me to get a deal on a '24 Ranger, is to go out of state. They are few available here in LA, so there's no budging on MSRP, while some northern states offer $2k - $3k off (so I hear).
Granger Ford in Iowa will do $50 over invoice for sales. Sounds good, but I don't want to hassle with sales tax between there and Louisiana. Plus, it's a looooong drive, about 950 miles, 14 hours. I'd have to calculate the cost of a flight up there, hotel, and fuel. Then there's my '21 trade in, so maybe fuel to drive there, but then again, it's another hassle of paperwork to trade my LA truck to a IA dealer.

There’s a dealership in AR that has one at $2k over sticker. Friendly salesperson. If you’re interested let me know and I can send you the link. I had to drive mine from there to Houston and passed through Shreveport so it would probably be closer for you.. I just received my title and bill of sale and will pay taxes when I register at the dmv tomorrow.

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