I am currently in New Jersey and will be relocating to Massachusetts in a few months for work. I have never leased or owned a car before, but I will need one in MA for my daily commute. I am considering leasing a car here in NJ before the move so that I am ready to drive on day one.
I am also thinking about making a one-time payment to save money in the long run. Would this be possible, or would I run into paperwork or registration issues when moving states? Would it be easier to wait and lease in MA instead?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!
It’ll be better to wait. NJ taxes you up-front on the depreciation, but you’ll have to pay it one way or another - rolled into a lease or up-front. MA will then tax you again on the monthly. You can technically show proof that you paid tax up-front at a higher rate, but that doesn’t always work.
alternatively, once registered in, say, NJ, OP can easily re-register in MA vs having to BUY from a terrible MA dealer, who will be far more expensive.
Theoretically you should be able to show you already paid the tax (if it was paid upfront) and then not owe anything in MA on registration. That was easy for me on a car I owned when I moved to MA. But on a lease it may be more complicated and sounds like not a guarantee it will work.
They’ll probably ask for his MA license, and whoops OP can’t provide - non-matching DL and reg states can be a dog-whistle for fraud for an FS - notwithstanding any other issues with registering.
I appreciate all the insights! Just to clarify, I’m moving to MA in June, and the main reason I was considering leasing in NJ beforehand is to ensure I have a car ready for my work commute since there’s no other way to get there. However, I don’t have a MA address yet as I’m still looking at rental options, and I will probably not have a garage. I’m currently considering a Toyota, Mazda, or Subaru with AWD/4WD. Given these factors, would it still make sense to lease in NJ and transfer, or would the complications outweigh the convenience?
Not so much complications, rather double taxation for that. Let’s put it this way, NJ taxes you on the entire lease cost upfront, you can add that tax to your lease cost, while Mass taxes the monthly payment on a monthly basis - so if you can’t get Mass to acknowledge the NJ tax you paid in one shot at the beginning, you’re paying tax, on the tax.
The additional complications from buying a car once you’re in Mass would be that Mass is a more expensive market (by virtue of being less competitive), and has that additional logistical complications for getting a car into Mass from out of state due to laws around temp tags.
These are all garbage leases, though. Don’t lease a car that’s not hackable (“hackable” meaning net cost of successive leases is lower than ownership over same period of time).
If you want to lease a hackable car, contact @Bostoncarconcierge about transacting in MA and he can set you up to be driving by day one. Don’t pay NJ TTL for no good reason.
You can lease a car in any state and move to any state. Very very exceptional cases you can’t like the California only hydrogen pilot Hyundai did. You would register in NJ then change address after 30 days to Boston. USPS will forward your mail anyways so no concerns. Credit report will validate with your NJ address.
Your best bet though is to figure out what car will really work in Boston then get a car there. For Boston, you should absolutely get a TSP or TSP+ car with All wheel drive. Driver’s aren’t more crazy than NJ/NY, but roads can get bad in winters. Ideally you get a car with curve illumination if you are in the burbs.
Free advice: Never, ever, do one pay leases. Always do max MSDs. If you total your car, you don’t always get the one pay money back. It’s a big hassle. MSDs can be tricky with some companies in the event of total loss, but it just gets applied to the balance and you get a refund from what insurance pays for
