So I’ve got a bit of an annoying situation here. I’m 28 months into a 36 month lease on a Santa Fe and I’m moving to SC. As far as I can tell, it’s going to cost me $300+ property tax just to register this thing. And, to do so, I need a ton of paperwork including power of attorney from HMF. It all seems like a huge hassle and I’d love to just get something new now instead of waiting. The payment is decent, but not cheap enough to turn it in and eat 8 of them. And, the residual is high, so it’s definitely got negative equity.
Has anyone moved a lease into SC and can confirm the costs and process? Anyone have any suggestions?
I’m not familiar with SC DMV rules but really you can not afford $37/m more? Not to criticize here, but i doubt you can get rid of the existing lease and get a new one for less than $37/m more.
Good luck.
When I needed all that, I just hired a titling/registration company for $50 and they handled everything for me. Once I did it myself and the power of attorney from Stellantis was painful to get since their system was so buggy.
Even if you didn’t, it might take that long for Hyundai to release the title on buyout.
If we’re referring to OP’s Santa Fe, it was $1000 DAS which is offset by ~$28/mo for the remaining 8 months. Easy to get to this end of the lease and forget what’s already paid-in.
My understanding from family in SC is no inspection and prorated registration. I would request a POA from HMF and just pay it
My primary annoyance was that I have to pay the full “infrastructure maintenance fee” even though I’m only going to have the car for 8 months. This fee is charged to new residents because they didn’t pay sales tax on their car in SC. It’s actually not a bad deal compared to what I paid when I brought my truck from CT to LA.
Anyway, I had assumed I would also have to pay sales tax on the remaining payments. But, that’s apparently not the case based on more research. So, it’s not as bad as I first thought.
I like the idea of just paying someone to handle all the paperwork, though. One of the reasons I buy mostly new cars is so I don’t have to deal with the DMV, so that speaks to me.
Fair, but nobody can go to the DMV for you when you exchange your current license for a SC one (and take a written test? VA, OH, and CA all required it when I moved).
The sales tax in SC is basically the IMF. It’s a maximum of $500 when you buy a new car, so there’s nothing to owe now, other than that. But, as you mentioned, SC has the property tax, so they get you somewhere in there!
Keep the Hyundai. Just think of all the property tax dollars you are saving by moving from our fair nutmeg state. Make sure you email your city or town that you’ve turned in your CT plates and so they stop charging you (Hyundai Financial) property tax on the car. I think you can also get a pro-rated amount back from the state for registration.
I’ve lived in more states than I can remember. Transferred leases, transferred registrations, transferred titles, you name it. It always sounds worse than it is. Unless there is some weird one off circumstance for you, it’s something the local DMV office does 100 times a day and is no big deal. Just make sure you have all the paperwork. Bring everything you have, bring ID, bring proof of address, etc. Most of the time the headaches people have at the dmv is being unprepared. As long as you have the right paperwork things go smoothly.
The DMV being a horror story is mostly a trope leftover from the 80s and 90s. Like airline food jokes. DMVs have really changed a lot in the past couple of decades.
Everything above is not applicable in the state of California.
I haven’t moved a lease to SC before, but I can say that the SC DMV and separate property tax offices (they are different…you have to pay prop tax first before going to the DMV) are all very helpful. Definitely the most helpful of the 5 states I have registered cars in. Also, you can get a refund for the pro-rated property tax amount. Just have to send in your receipt after you turn your tags in.
