You aren’t getting anything from DMV. The refund comes directly from CDTFA.
Same thing DMV = California Government, CDTFA = California Government.
They are going to not want to give money away.
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Agreed that California is money thirsty vampires when it comes to taxes but in keeping to topic, I’ve actually had fairly good luck getting refunded on overpaid tax payments (non-car lease/use tax) and they even add interest payment to it… I happen to consider this as an “overpayment” because the angle here is that, since US Bank is collecting taxes on a transaction that I do not legally need to pay, I can request a refund on this once they remit the tax pay ment to the CDFTA.
I currently owe exactly almost $40k on the lease above + $3k of taxes but I’m getting offers of 46-48k range and knowing that the title transfer process can take 3-4 weeks, I think its worth rolling the dice a bit to pay the car off, get the title, and then sell it within 10 days, hopefully to get myself qualified for the tax exemption.
Knowing that the law spells it out in black and white that the end user should not be selling sales tax when a bought-out-lease is sold within 10 days, I feel that given enough due diligence/documentation, there could be a chance of getting refunded.
But before volunteering myself as a guinea pig i was just curious if anyone went this way before; if not I dont mind being the first 
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Following you as I am on the same boat with Fusion Auto and Credit Union. Their third party buy out quote is whopping $30800 for my 2018 JGC Limited 26K miles when my own buy out is $21K ish.
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Has anyone here tried the “Maximize Value” option from https://client.mycarauction.com instead of the Cash Offer option?
Here’s what it says on their site:
The “Maximize Value” option is a way for you to list your car on our platform for free to see if we can get you more money than the “Sell Now” offer. We expose your car to thousands of prospective buyers for free to see if we can get you a higher price. While we cannot guarantee you get more money we do our best to get you the highest price possible. This option takes 3-5 business days to complete. After the inspection you keep driving the car and we do the work. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO OBLIGATION TO SELL. If we do not get you a price that is acceptable to you then you do not need to sell and YOU DO NOT OWE US ANYTHING period!
Experience of someone who did private sale within 10 days.
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Has anyone in California actually bought out their lease from the Dealer paying SALES TAX, Doc-Fee, License & Fees, sold the car within 10 days and then recouped the sales tax & fees? I’ve read all the threads where the idea is discussed but nothing is mentioned about someone actually doing it.
Backstory:
I have an Infiniti QX60 that has about $2500 equity in it. Car Trackers is willing beat a CarMax offer to buy the car from me once I make the purchase from the Infiniti Dealer (you can’t purchase directly from IFS.) Car Trackers say that so long as I can get a ‘lien release EMAIL’ from the dealer, they can pay me and pick up the car. They’ll then deal with the title transfer from the DMV. (This is a little unclear to me as I was under the impression that the ‘Lessor released title’ would get sent to me.)
To buy out the lease from Infiniti (it’s past maturity) I have to pay them sales tax, a Doc Fee of $85, License and Fees of $414 (I think this includes a new registration.) They are charging a $75 buy fee on top of my $300 purchase option which seems fair.
The issue here is if I sell the car to Car Trackers, how do I get the Sales Tax and DMV fee $$ back?
I called the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) to get an answer. While it was a challenge trying to understand the guy on the phone (heavily accented) this is what I understand from the conversation. Once I sell the car to Car Trackers, I would need to go BACK TO THE DEALER to show them my proof of sale (possible including a ‘General Resale Certificate’ from from the CDTFA website) and I would then need to RELY ON THE DEALER to file a claim for the refund and pay me back. This seems highly suspect to me and I have no faith that a Dealer would even want to get involved in this with no upside for them. And while it’s clear that I could try to recoup sales tax, it wasn’t very clear if the DMV fees could be returned.
If anyone in CA has gone through this process can you please share how you were able to succeed or fail in recouping the Sales Tax, etc.?
Many thanks!
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In the same situation as you, Nissan must go to dealer to buy out my leased Sentra. I guess they with collect all the sales tax plus some other fees.
So I sold my car to mycarauction but haven’t got the title yet froM GM financials.
However mycarauction gave me full check and I was able to cash out the money.
Now the question is should I give them my car or wait for the title to come?
If I give the car to them who is liable from here onwards? Me or mycarauction ?
Do I still need to keep my insurance while I get the title?
Your help would be appreciated. Thanks!
I gave them the car once the payment were deposited into my MBFS account. I believe carauction will get the title from bank as that’s what they requested. I filled the dmv notice of transfer and release of liability just after they picked the car and cancelled the insurance. You can call carauction and/or GM to clarify who will receive the title.
Hi guys - I just did a deal to buy out my 2020 VW Tiguan lease which netted me $4k of positive in my bank account. Others have spotted that many manufacturers offer higher buy out rates to Carvana etc. That was my experience. However I stumbled across a professional vehicle buyer in Socal who can broker deals through franchised dealers so that:
- You get out of your lease (they buy it out) themselves.
- You get top dollar (around Carvana offers) with any positive equity paid to you in cash!
- No sales tax to pay!
After a lot of reading and worrying about paperwork/sales tax I couldn’t be happier. I’m happy to pass on his details to anyone who wants to DM me.
Thanks!
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So has anyo e had any good results from this? Wa ting to buy out my car from US Bank.
Hey, I am trying to sell my leased Audi car to carauction. Wondering If I need to worry about transferring the title to my name and transfer it to carauction? Also do you need to do any paper work for title transfer?
Audi will prevent it by jacking the price up
Yes, I did. The whole process with carauction is much faster and straightforward compared to any other online dealers. Additionally they don’t pick up the car until you confirm that the payment has been posted in your lease account. While vroom and Carvana gave me runarounds for a week, carauction bought the car within a day.
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Do not do that unless there is a large gap of days between when you receive the title and when mycarauction writes you the check. If you transfer the title dmv will want sales tax.
And to clarify, the title the lease company sends you is the pink slip that shows you own the car, the lease company and you own it, but they have signed it, look at 1a, you have to sign 1b.
What is confusing is vroom, carmax, etc is telling everyone that they won’t accept the title because the lease company’s name is on it, which makes no sense. When the lease company signs 1a, and the odometer section and 2, you own the car.
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Big misconception. A Lease means you RENT the car. That’s why it’s confusing, you are making an assumption of ownership. Look at your lease contract , notice a line called RENT CHARGE?
Edit : Until you go to the DMV to fix the title, you don’t own the car, you are in uncontested possession (Lawyers speak up on the term?) of the car, but you don’t own it…yet.
I think what @Charlieo is saying that after you bought the lease, you own the car as the lessor sent you a lessor released title.
Perhaps these companies got burned once or twice for an unknown reason or a lessor / captive changed their mind after a transaction occurred which then caused Vroom / Carvana to lose money.
Point being, it only takes one or two times till they change the reality and it’s their company, their rules.
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