Leasing a car in NH vs MA?

Ask the Hackrs
1

My family has two houses, one in NH and one in MA. I receive mail at both addresses. I have a license from NH. I will be traveling between NH and MA occasionally, but I’ll spend most of my time in MA.

This is my first foray into car sales so sorry if some of these questions are dumb. I know buying a car in NH offers significant savings, but I’m not sure about leasing a car for a few reasons:

  • Are leased cars registered in my name or the dealers name? I think registering a car is cheaper in NH.
  • Is insurance different for leased cars? I’m getting quotes in NH significantly lower than MA.
  • I’m seeing much better lease deals in MA, but I think this might not matter when I consider other fees like sales tax etc.

Thanks in advance for any advice! :slight_smile:

2

Registered in both your name and the bank’s name at the location where it will be kept.

AFAIK, insurance is insurance.

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3

  1. The wording can vary state to state, but it will probably be some variation of your name as the registrant/lessee and something like “Toyota Lease Trust” as the owner/lessor.

  2. Obviously insurance on a leased (brand new) car will be higher than, say, carrying min liability on an old jalopy but it’s not very different from buying the same brand new car. You will be required to keep certain minimum coverages (depends on the brand of the car and their financing arm), but that’s usually a good idea anyway. Makes sense that NH would be lower.

  3. You can buy wherever you get the best deal and still register in NH as a NH resident. You pay tax and DMV based on the address/zip you provide to register the car. Sometimes there will be regional incentives built into a price, but somehow I doubt that MA and NH are considered different regions by most car companies. I bet most MA dealers are used to NH clients.

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4

I would absolutely register the car in NH. The car will be registered in your name, if you buy from a NH dealer they give you a “blue form” that you just bring down to your town hall to register the car. You can calculate your registration cost here https://www.eb2gov.com/EB2Gov.dll/EReg/GetQuote?TownCode=646&SID={266726ED-E547-42D0-B58E-A15EFDF8F2A7 That’s accurate for Nashua, but any other town should be within a few $.

With leasing, the parent car company will require you to carry some minimum amount of insurance like $100k/$300k/$100k and collision and comprehensive deductibles each <=$1000. And yes insurance in NH is way cheaper than in MA. You’ll save a ton here. Back in 2013 i moved from MA to NH, I ended up paying a third of what I payed in MA for the same coverage.

Go to the dealer with the best overall deal. Even if you buy from a MA dealer you won’t pay any sales tax if you register the car in NH.

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