If I have a trade in, MD applies sales tax to the difference between the new car price and the trade in. Virginia barges sales tax on the new car price, regardless of trade in. So my question is, will I be paying Virginia sales tax on the difference if I buy the car in Maryland? I cannot seem to get a clear answer.

Sometimes for EVs the dealers don’t want to sell to VA residents (because then they don’t get credit against MD’s stricter requirements) but that isn’t as common these days I think.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t seem to find this when I google search. Does the DMV have anything special I should know about when buying a new car? I’m a VA resident ( Arlington County) but sometimes my search brings up dealerships in close by Maryland. Should I stick to only looking in VA or is it so commonplace for people in DMV to cross state lines that it’s relatively simple and doesn’t add additional costs?

There is no additional costs. There is no advantage in buying in VA vs. DC vs. MD when you live in the DMV. Find the dealership that gives you the best value for the vehicle you are looking to buy. The DC, MD and VA dealers can typically do the paperwork in all 3 states without any difference.

+1 but I would add, when I lived in MD and bought a car in Alexandria, VA, the cars by default had a Virginia inspection done so I had to go get a MD inspection after purchase. If that would be a pain for you just buy in MD.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t seem to find this when I google search. Does the DMV have anything special I should know about when buying a new car? I’m a VA resident ( Arlington County) but sometimes my search brings up dealerships in close by Maryland. Should I stick to only looking in VA or is it so commonplace for people in DMV to cross state lines that it’s relatively simple and doesn’t add additional costs?

There is no additional costs. There is no advantage in buying in VA vs. DC vs. MD when you live in the DMV. Find the dealership that gives you the best value for the vehicle you are looking to buy. The DC, MD and VA dealers can typically do the paperwork in all 3 states without any difference.

OP here. Thanks for confirming. I thought this was likely the case but just wanted to double check! The car I’m interested in is in stock at a MD dealer but wasn’t sure if I should just stick to dealerships in my home state VA, so your answer was super helpful! Google was giving me all sorts of scenarios that I’m sure apply in other distant states, but figured in the DMV this would be pretty commonplace. Thanks everyone!

Md doesn’t have a dealer fee that’s as high as vA, but you still have to pay the tax and have the car titled in va. A md dealer can do that for you.

Anonymous wrote:I can’t seem to find this when I google search. Does the DMV have anything special I should know about when buying a new car? I’m a VA resident ( Arlington County) but sometimes my search brings up dealerships in close by Maryland. Should I stick to only looking in VA or is it so commonplace for people in DMV to cross state lines that it’s relatively simple and doesn’t add additional costs?

There is no additional costs. There is no advantage in buying in VA vs. DC vs. MD when you live in the DMV. Find the dealership that gives you the best value for the vehicle you are looking to buy. The DC, MD and VA dealers can typically do the paperwork in all 3 states without any difference.

Just bought a car in Maryland yesterday. There’s nothing crazy about it, very easy process.

I think documentation fees are usually lower in MD. We bought a car in MD a few years ago, but just because we found the car we wanted there.

I can’t seem to find this when I google search. Does the DMV have anything special I should know about when buying a new car? I’m a VA resident ( Arlington County) but sometimes my search brings up dealerships in close by Maryland. Should I stick to only looking in VA or is it so commonplace for people in DMV to cross state lines that it’s relatively simple and doesn’t add additional costs?