Purchasing a Car out of state and Financing

[Hopper1]

Has anyone had experience in buying a car out of state and having to finance it? Been looking at Mini Coopers and I could get a better deal from an area of low demand but I would need to finance it through my credit union. Is this a generally easy process or not?

Last car I bought was from a local private seller and they had to be at the credit union to process the transaction. This is the only car I have purchased. Any advice is appreciated.

[guiseppewv]

I have purchased from out of state once and I have researched it a lot. It will depend on your credit union but I would say that they should not have a problem with you buying a car from out of state as long as you are buying it from a dealership. If you are doing the private car sales thing then you might run into a problem. It will depend on your credit union.

[DarkFury]

More or less... when you buy out of State, your financing usually will work regardless. Just make sure NOT to pay the Sales Tax of the outside state as you will most likely have to pay that sales tax to your home state (at least it is like that here in Indiana... )

When I bought my Thunderbird in Florida many moons ago.... I used financing from an Indiana credit union to make the purchase from a dealer down there. No sales tax was paid in Florida, but it was paid when I registered for my Indiana plates at the DMV.

Good luck on your potential new vehicle purchase.

[Hopper1]

Thanks for the info. There is a use tax in Washington for vehicles purchased out of state. It is based on "fair market value" unless you can prove it was purchased at a lower price and why it was purchased at a lower price, ie have an appraiser sign off on the actual value of the vehicle. People were taking advantage of the system claiming purchases prices of $100 and not paying taxes on private sales.

[speedracer120]

I assume that was because they'd buy the cars down in Oregon? I always wondered if I could avoid a California sales tax by buying a car in Oregon, as I've seen several CA registered cars with dealership stickers from Oregon. Paying a vehicle tax is fair in my view, but I'd be happy to avoid the sales tax on anything.

[irwin]

I assume that was because they'd buy the cars down in Oregon? I always wondered if I could avoid a California sales tax by buying a car in Oregon, as I've seen several CA registered cars with dealership stickers from Oregon. Paying a vehicle tax is fair in my view, but I'd be happy to avoid the sales tax on anything.

Wouldn't that be sorta dangerous though come smog inspection time?

[bachviet]

I assume that was because they'd buy the cars down in Oregon? I always wondered if I could avoid a California sales tax by buying a car in Oregon, as I've seen several CA registered cars with dealership stickers from Oregon. Paying a vehicle tax is fair in my view, but I'd be happy to avoid the sales tax on anything.
You can't avoid sales tax if you register the car in CA.

[DarkFury]

You can't avoid sales tax if you register the car in CA.
Exactly... same as here in Indy.

They hit ya for the tax when it is time to register the car... Now you can take the chance of not registering it here and going with "out of state" plates, however unless you are a student or some other "non resident", they will eventually catch up to ya... and boy.. you don't wanna pay the FINE, the tax, AND the registration. Just crazy man... :2far:

[speedracer120]

Eh, that's what I figured. I've heard of people using the addresses of friends who live in Oregon and claiming to be residents or just putting the names of the friends on the titles of the car to avoid sales tax on their cars. Seems a bit extreme, especially considering the people I've heard who have done this are all well to do.

Back in the early 90s when our family first moved out here to CA, they made you pay this exorbitant amount to get smogged and registered if you bought your car from out of state. It didn't matter that you were moving and such. It was so bad, that a few years ago, the state decided to reimburse all those who paid that special tax. Regretably, we didn't get the check. Bastids.

[ufcrusher]

Exactly... same as here in Indy.

They hit ya for the tax when it is time to register the car... Now you can take the chance of not registering it here and going with "out of state" plates, however unless you are a student or some other "non resident", they will eventually catch up to ya... and boy.. you don't wanna pay the FINE, the tax, AND the registration. Just crazy man... :2far:

You dont know the half of it. Here in California, they apparently have a cutoff age for you to be considered a student. It doesnt matter that you are actively enrolled in a full time program or not, as far as they are concerned if you are past a certain age, you cant claim to be a student. I ran afoul of this idiotic bit of DMV dogma with my Probe.

My car was registered in Florida where I lived prior to moving to California for law school. As I had almost a full year left on my registration and I was a student I didnt bother to do anything. I believe it was right as my tags were expiring was when the Probe commited suicide and ended up as a lawn ornament in the driveway for a few years until it was Frankensteined back to life. (It died during my first year at law school and was resurrected in my last year) Obviously, I immediately went to register the now working car and explained that the car had no engine for the past few years, I was a full time student, and that I was a Florida resident here only for school.

The lady proceeded to tell me that I was not a student by the state standards. I looked at her and stated that I was a full time student in law school and I could easily provide proof of that for the entire time I was in the state. She once again told me that according to DMV rules at age 23 (maybe 22) the state no longer considers you to be a student. I told her that was BS as every other state only looked at whether you truly were a student. The DMV hellion told me that otherwise someone that was 50 could make the claim if they went back to school full time and that this was their rationale. I once again told her that was BS, if you are a full time student only here for school, this was tantamount to age discrimination. Needless to say nothing I said entered the object she used for a head.

She then assessed my vehicle value and tags from the moment I came into the state. I protested because I had official tags that didnt expire and were valid for a large portion of the time. Plus, I pointed out that I had not hit their age cutoff until approximately six months into this period and was a full time student. That was the ONLY thing I said that effected her calculations as she had to back out six months of tag delinquency (which actually brought the "infraction" to only 2 years). I ended up having to pay well over a grand for my tags. :disa: She wouldnt even let me retroactively place the car in non-operable status even though I had proof when the engine died and when the new one was installed. There is definitely a warm place in hell waiting for her.

Thus, if you are a grad student in California, I would make sure that your home state tags never lapse while you are here. Because in the event that they do and you need to get CA tags issued they are going to hit you with a blackjack and take everything.