Buying a car out of state

[Anonymous]

Has anyone done this recently and did you find the hassle to be worth it? FWIW, we’re in NoVA.

[Anonymous]

I've bought 3 out of state. Super easy but I did tons of research on the cars and dealt with reputable dealers. 1 certified used, the other 2 new. The hardest part of the shipping, but all three dealers were very accommodating. I could use theirs which was much more expensive, or hire a a trucking service. All went fine.

To buy they overnighted the paperwork to me and hired a notary to bring the paperwork for me to sign. I put 5K down on each with CC. The remainder I wired from my bank to their account. Again, made sure I was dealing with reputable dealerships.

[Anonymous]

^^^
Also, I had them shipped because if I drove them off the lot myself then I would have to pay that state's sales taxes rather than my state's. Then I would still have to pay for registration etc in my state.

By having it shipped, I avoided a lot of extra tax from the other states.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^^
Also, I had them shipped because if I drove them off the lot myself then I would have to pay that state's sales taxes rather than my state's. Then I would still have to pay for registration etc in my state.

By having it shipped, I avoided a lot of extra tax from the other states.

We bought car in different state and we had no such condition. We paid the tax of our home state. Is this new?


OP, when you say out of state are you talking close like MD or NC or much further?

If you’re buying used, get an independent pre-purchase inspection regardless of any warranty like CPO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^^
Also, I had them shipped because if I drove them off the lot myself then I would have to pay that state's sales taxes rather than my state's. Then I would still have to pay for registration etc in my state.

By having it shipped, I avoided a lot of extra tax from the other states.

How much did the shipping cost?

[Anonymous]

20 years ago I bought a car in Maryland instead of Virginia to avoid the high destination fee. No clue if the fees are more equal now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^^
Also, I had them shipped because if I drove them off the lot myself then I would have to pay that state's sales taxes rather than my state's. Then I would still have to pay for registration etc in my state.

By having it shipped, I avoided a lot of extra tax from the other states.

So the only tax was your resident state tax?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^
Also, I had them shipped because if I drove them off the lot myself then I would have to pay that state's sales taxes rather than my state's. Then I would still have to pay for registration etc in my state.

By having it shipped, I avoided a lot of extra tax from the other states.

So the only tax was your resident state tax?

I recently purchased in NJ. I paid sales taxes as if I purchased it in Virginia. They registered the car for me in Virginia and then mailed me the plates. Taxes and fees were identical to if I had purchased it locally. And I picked it up, signing all the paperwork onsite - I did not have it shipped.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know the typical cost to have a car shipped from OOS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know the typical cost to have a car shipped from OOS?

It would be based on mileage. https://www.shiply.com/

You can call around dealerships in the DMV and see if they will match the price. DMV is a very competitive car market and most of the business is done online.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^
Also, I had them shipped because if I drove them off the lot myself then I would have to pay that state's sales taxes rather than my state's. Then I would still have to pay for registration etc in my state.

By having it shipped, I avoided a lot of extra tax from the other states.

So the only tax was your resident state tax?

I recently purchased in NJ. I paid sales taxes as if I purchased it in Virginia. They registered the car for me in Virginia and then mailed me the plates. Taxes and fees were identical to if I had purchased it locally. And I picked it up, signing all the paperwork onsite - I did not have it shipped.

Same experience here but bought and picked up in NJ when we are MD residents. This was a large used car dealer and they took care of the titling/tags (although it took longer than my experiences with local dealers - I had the temporary tags for almost the entire month.) Had to get a Maryland state inspection and that was it.

Compared to a later experience buying a DC car in a private sale and transferring to MD it was easy. But not as easy as buying locally (including DC/VA.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^^
Also, I had them shipped because if I drove them off the lot myself then I would have to pay that state's sales taxes rather than my state's. Then I would still have to pay for registration etc in my state.

By having it shipped, I avoided a lot of extra tax from the other states.

This may be a California law. In Washington (state) I bought a car and drove it home and paid no Washington state sales tax. The dealer send the title transfer and registration documents to my home state.

[Anonymous]

We are in NOVA and bought in MD - MD caps dealer fees, which is a plus. However, they require proof that the car is insured before you drive it off the lot; our insurance automatically covers us, but we didn’t have a card bc it was a Sunday, so they had to drive the car to us the next day.