I have a 2019 Volvo XC40 that is up for expiry and well under mileage (22K vs 36K) and in the current market it makes sense to capture the equity in the car and purchase-to-sell. I had a solid offer from Vroom and Carvana and was hoping to avoid Connecticut Sales tax (about $1,700), however both Vroom and Carvana advised they do not purchase directly from VCFS.
We’ve had two kids in the interim so I’m looking to upgrade to an XC90 so I was wondering if anyone has any knowledge of CT sales tax exemptions if we flip the car within a period or otherwise. I’ve tried to research it, but I haven’t had any luck. I also tried speaking to a dealer, but got the usual ‘Sell it to Carvana at that price. We couldn’t come anywhere close’. The offer was circa 34.5K from Carvana/Vroom.
@mani_is_kool Thank you. I’m not sure why I thought my situation is so unique. Based on what I’m reading, Volvo is difficult and won’t sell to dealers directly and only CA has the 10-day flip allowance.
Looks like I’m eating the tax. Appreciate your guidance.
@cpq thanks for the information. I was hoping that I could somehow avoid sales tax but it sounds like that isn’t feasible in CT. I sent off a check to Volvo today to buy the car and that will give us more time to look at leasing options for the XC90.
I’m very glad I stumbled across Leasehackr and will try and use a broker.
Having the title in hand is going to give you much more flexibility. If you can wait out the inventory issues, that will also give you time to hunt down your deals.
Lots of folks have been stressing out the third party buyout process in the last few months. Glad to see you’ve worked things out relatively quickly for yourself. GLWT!
Hi,
Had the same experience. I am in NJ. Both carvana and vroom declined. I called a local guy as well. Dealers won’t or can’t buy volvo finance leases. Volvo finance website says 3rd parties can buy your lease. Maybe volvo finance tries to prevent lease breaks.
I am very close to lease end date. Because of inventory shortage, nowadays I can buy and sell with some profit. Check your dealer what will be your pay off + taxes and get a recent offer from dealers if you are interested.
I sold my Volvo lease to Carmax last month. It was quite painless and VCFS worked with Carmax well. The issue is Carvana and Vroom want the dealer invoice not customer invoice (and hence, want to pay lesser to Volvo), and Volvo does not want to entertain that. Carmax is happy working with the customer invoice and paying Volvo the amount on the customer invoice. It is what it is.
Carvana and Vroom want the dealer invoice not customer invoice (and hence, want to pay lesser to Volvo)
I’m reading this over and over and don’t understand it. I have a Volvo I may want to sell to Vroom- so I appreciate if you or someone make it clearer , Thanks
There are two kinds of invoices. if a Volvo dealer wants to buy out a car, then Volvo financial services gives them a special price (with the goal of keeping you in the Volvo ecosystem). This is lower than the price you as a consumer is offered to buy out the car lease. Vroom and Carvana want that lower price offered to the dealer, not the price you pay as a consumer. Hence, they want the ‘dealer invoice’. Some companies dont care about this issue. But Volvo financial services simply will not issue you a dealer invoice with the lower price. Carmax is willing to pay that higher price thats on the consumer invoice - they dont want that separate dealer invoice. Hence, it works for them and they are able to buy out your Volvo lease. Volvo does not care as long as they get the amount listed on the consumer invoice.
I hear what you’re saying, and in theory it makes sense, but Vroom and carvana seem to have no issues buying vw/audis at the much higher 3rd party buy out price. If what you’re saying is what’s going on, they wouldn’t be buying from other brands with higher 3rd party prices.
They also said they weren’t buying from Toyota who doesn’t charge a higher 3rd party price.
I dont have a good explanation why they dont want to deal with Volvo then. personally, Carmax had no issues dealing with Volvo, and Volvo had no issues dealing with Carmax as long as they were willing to pay the amount on the consumer invoice. The Volvo folks were very friendly. When I asked them what the big deal is with Carvana and Vroom, they told me this is the reason why “some agencies dont want to work with Volvo” -that they ask for a dealer invoice and Volvo simply refuses to provide that.
It goes beyond a special ‘dealer price’. If one dealer sells to another then vehicles sales tax isn’t included.
In my case, the cost to buy my XC40 is about $1,700 more because I have to buy it from Volvo first, pay sales tax, and then sell it to Carvana. If Volvo would sell it directly to another dealer as a dealer-to-dealer sale, then the invoice wouldn’t include the Sales tax.
I confirmed with Volvo. A non-Volvo dealer cannot purchase a leased vehicle from them. So, I don’t know how some of these posters pulled it off. Based on what I have read so far, to avoid paying the sales tax, either sell it within 10 days (on date title is transferred or title is received in mail) or get an exception using that dreaded government form which is a hit or miss.
