ceevee

Looking to buy a 2012 C350 with 20K miles for about $31K. I've been looking for a white one with lighting pkg, panorama, and COMAND for around this price. However it's located in California. I'm from Chicago.

Anyone else buy a car that was out of state? What was your experience?

a1rh3adsz

I purchase my car out of state. NY to CT to pick it up 3hrs and 1/2 drive. It was a easy and smooth transaction. I bought it from a dealer though not sure about you. Not my first time buying a car so i know most of the step to the transaction. Since its out of state a little more work. I did all my homework, had my price in mind, then call or email. Once both party have agree on price and whatever then next step would be schedule a day to see the car, and that would be the last step because no point of wasting time and effort if you go see the car and no agreement on price or whatever comes up. On that day all you have to do is test drive and look over the car one last time and thats all, I was all set and ready to do the paper work but hey no harm in negotiating a bit more and it work on the spot. LOL. for me i was transfering my old plates to the new car so they gave me a dealer plate to drive home and when they send me the registration and paper and a prepaid envelop i mail the dealer plate back. Some dealer might just give you a paper temp plate, No different. ALL done. Super easy for me No trouble at all. Some state might be slight different but it shouldnt be much. Hope this help and GL with purchase.

Mr Snappy

BE WARNED !


I bought a Corvette in California but live in Kansas. If you buy the vehicle from a dealer or broker, you WILL have to pay sales tax, regardless of if you drive it back to your state and have to pay sales tax there as well.


Most states do not do this, they won't charge you the sales tax unless you title it in that state. Not California, those greedy bast@rds will tax you at their higher rate on the spot.


Kansas did give me a credit, but the tax in most states if far less, so you end up losing money. That being said, I still would do it, just don't be surprised about the taxes.

ceevee

Did they ship the car to you?

Mr Snappy

No, I went and picked it up. They do not charge you the tax if you have it delivered. I considered having it dropped off in a parking lot right across the Nevada state line...but decided that was too much of a pain.


That was back in 2010...who knows what crazy tax scheme that state has going now.

PeterUbers

I bought my e63S from Benz of Wilmington DE, great experience and it was pre driven with 85 miles only on it... Shipped it to Chicago and I only paid Illinois tax on it. It was the best deal on an advertised e63S at the time in this country

I kept about $2000 of the final price to give them upon my inspection of the vehicle .. And when I realized it was exactly as described I then wired them the remainder of my balance.

ceevee

Thanks. Benz of San Francisco will not ship the car to me. "Please be advised that Mercedes Benz of San Francisco no longer sell any new or pre-owned vehicles registerd outside of California at this time due to unforeseen complications on processing the Title, registration, etc...that the Department of Motor Vehicle controls."

So it looks like I'm still hunting for one.

S&MMBX2

C350s seem to be hard to come by compared to C250/300 models. Take a look at MB Buckhead in Atlanta. They seem to usually have a few and are an AMG Performance Center. Pretty sure they're the biggest MB dealer in the south, so they might ship to you, and I'm fairly certain the taxes in the south (if they charge any to begin with for an out of state sale) won't be anywhere near California's.

IGB

In California, cars are taxed on the basis of the registered owner's address at the DMV (to account for the different sales tax rates from one county to another). Of course, in the case where someone from out of state is making that purchase, the California DMV has no address information on him/her... But in any case, a car dealer collecting sales tax on behalf of the registered owner is simply a courier where they will end up having to pay that same amount when they submit the documents for the title transfer and the request for a new registration/plates... etc. And while they may be required to charge it as part of the sale for an in state purchase, I don-t. See how they can require it for an out of state buyer!

Now, the fact that you say you were charged, and when you got back to your state and went to that state's DMV to register/inspect the car, you should have only paid the difference between the taxes you paid in California and what you would have paid in your state (assuming they are higher). Otherwise, California owes you a refund of the surplus amount above what your state taxes would have been.

I would even go as far as saying that dealer should not have charged you sales tax at all... Its not that s/he benefits in anyway by collecting it when s/he simply turns it over to the state -[unless, they fudged selling the vehicle for a lower amount, resulting in a lower tax only to then have them pocket the difference]-

IGB

Of you do end up finding one in California, here is how to avpid having to pay California sales tax:

Instructions for How to Request a Vehicle/Vessel Use Tax Clearance from the Board of Equalization (link).

Start at page 4 under the heading: Who is required to pay California use tax?

steveb9771

If you are going to purchase an out of state vehicle, you should only consider states that do not have snow and verify the vehicle has not been exposed to winter snow and salted roads. Also avoid vehicles from extremely hot climates such as Arizona since the extreme heat takes life out of the upholstery.

In general, California vehicles will be better condition than those from a lot of other states due to the mild climate and better roads

I believe you will have to pay California tax if purchased from a dealer, but not from a private party.

Private party purchase for out-of-state use, one-trip permit
The purchase of a vehicle from a person in California, who is not required to hold a dealer’s license or a seller’s permit (private party), is generally subject to use tax at the time the vehicle is registered with the DMV. However, a purchaser is not required to pay California use tax if the only use of the vehicle purchased from a private party in California is to remove it from the state andvit will be used solely thereafter outside this state. This exclusion from use tax requires that no other use can be made of the vehicle in this state. A One-Trip Permit may be issued by the DMV in lieu of registration, for operating certain vehicles while being moved or operated unladen for one continuous trip from a place within this state to another place outside this state. This exclusion does not apply to sales tax.

ceevee

Ugh, thanks. I want to buy from a dealer, as it is CPO. Maybe I'll just take the hit if I find a dealer who is willing to ship the car.

cfmistry

FYI, if you get the option of CPO vs. a cheaper vehicle under new car warranty, you may want to consider the differences between CPO vs. MB extended warranty. Although the extended warranty will cost you $2500+, it provides more coverage for longer time than the CPO.

IGB

The paragraph you posted following ^this^ comment stated that buying from a private party will "generally" subject the purchase to the sales tax requirement... BUT there is an exception...

Similarly, from the document I linked above:
BUT, it goes on to add:

As explained in this publication, your purchase may qualify for an exemption and may not be subject to use tax.

So in both cases, private party or dealer, the burden to provide basis for an exemption from the tax requirement is upon the buyer. If he can provide proof that the car is not being used in California, the tax requirement should be waived.

Furthermore, if he us buying from a private party, he will have to drive it out, he will have to go tk rhe DMV , and he will have to applynforbthe exemption all on his own. Alternatively, if he is buying from a dealer, the dealer is more likely to arrange for shipping, the dealer may be able to handle obtaining the exemption and the dealer is more likely to be able to get the exepmtion approved because they arw risking rheir license if they try and fudge sales related matters like this.

The dealers even has their own window at ALL DMV offices whereas if he goes with a private party seller, they are both standing in line for who knows how long.

Call the dealer you are buying from and ask them... All this back and forth is useless if you call and they say "sorry" we don't sell to out of state buyers (like that dealer in SF)... Which, by the way, I find it pretty odd that a dealer will refuse a sale. Then again, this is San Francisco we are talking about!

IGB

A CPO must still be under the original warranty for it to qualify to be inspected and possibly pass inspection and become a CPO.

I would pick a CPO (at least thay has been recently inspected & 'certified') over one with only an original warranty (which may have been inspected but for one reason or another did not qualify to be a CPO)...

Additionally, if he ends up buying one with a CPO, the car will still qualify for the MB Extended warranty at the end of the CPO period (although at that time, it might be higher than the $2500 you estimated) and I would consider that option just prior to the expirarion of the CPO coverage.

cfmistry

I thought CPO cars did not qualify for the extended warranty? That was my understanding. Also I was not referring to cars that "failed CPO", but rather ones traded to different dealerships. There are a lot of cherry cars out there that are being sold privately etc.

LogicalApex

MB offers a 2 year extension on the CPO base warranty (for a total of 3 years of CPO coverage).

My understanding is that this extension is offered to every CPO car as long as it is purchased before the end of the base CPO warranty. The CPO warranty either starts after the new car warranty expires or on the date of delivery (if the CPO is being purchased after the new car warranty has already expired).

An Example would be this CPO 2009 ML350 which would have lost its new car warranty sometime around 2013.