My 2020 Honda CRV Touring lease is up in November and I’d like to buy it out since the residual ($22k) and total buyout ($24k) is less than what it’s worth, plus I like the car, it’s in great shape w/ low miles, and a better price than most similar cars I could get on the market.
Curious about the sequence of events with a buyout considering I just moved states (IL → CA).
My question is - if I buyout immediately (which I’m ready to do), and the title is sent to my IL address (not a problem, parents’ house), will I be able to immediately register in California without paying additional CA tax? Or do I have to register in CA prior to the buyout and then again after I get the title? Seems like the former is OK, and I’m OK to pay CA use tax for a ~month until my title arrives in CA, but would CA also charge me Sales tax to register it since they technically haven’t gotten any Sales tax on this vehicle if that all goes to IL? Am I over-thinking it and I should just buyout and go to my CA DMV?
Just wanted to see if others have had the same situation and any advice since my move happened to align almost exactly with lease end. I should’ve just done the buyout in IL, but moving was already a lot to figure out and I just didn’t get to it.
I just brought a car into CA that I bought and paid sales tax out of state less than a year ago. In these cases CA bills for any difference in sales tax you would have paid if you had bought in CA. In my case I owed an additional 0.75% on my purchase price. Ugh
What we are really talking about is registering the car in CA. Isn’t sales tax like 10%? In Maryland we would not have to pay sales tax again if we buy the car at the end of the lease as long as it is registered again in MD. But since no tax has ever been paid in CA, wouldn’t OP be required to pay full sales tax in CA when car is registered? Maybe OP can buy car in IL and register in IL using OP and parents name and IL address.
@Wtmeyer - that is definitely the root of my question - if I buy it and the sales tax goes to IL, but the car never gets registered in IL and I just take the title to CA DMV, will they say that I also owe them the full Sales Tax in order to register?
I will be calling Honda Financial to see if they are aware but honestly not expecting a ton of state-specific knowledge there. I could register in IL first, and then transfer to CA if necessary, 2x registration fees is definitely better than 2x Sales Tax. I just don’t know if CA would try to charge me that Sales Tax that I would have already paid to IL since it’s included in my buyout amount.
You can call the CA DMV and ask, or AAA here if you are a member - the much easier way to go. If not, get your CA DMV login created and make your appointment asap.
You’ll need to smog it and get a VIN scan when you try to register it in CA, and when you do they will undoubtedly want to collect some amount of tax - the base rate (to your other question) is 7.75% but may be higher depending on what county in CA you are moving to.
