I live in WA and planning to buy a car in CA. The dealer has agreed to sell it. I am trying to figure out how to go about the registeration and what the dealership should be doing so that i can drive the car of the lot.
Thanks
it is my understanding that if you drive the car off the lot, you would be subject to sales tax in California. You would need to have the car shipped to you in WA to avoid CA sales tax.
2 Likes
And registration as well
You likely wonât have to pay registration or CA sales tax, just get an exemption and one way trip permit (unless shipping) in advance if you will drive it.
While legit, i havent heard of any CA dealer so far that does this. It might open them to a sales tax investigation. There are many people who commit fraud and this would hold the dealer liable i think
Huh? I am not sure what you mean?
If you get a tax clearance and registration permit as an out of state purchaser from the State of California CDTFA and DMV how would âfraudâ and the dealer have anything to do with it? The out of state purchaser will have to pay sales tax and register the car in their home state and would show proof of that to the home state to avoid any issues and be able to register the car in the new state with the exemption in the first place.
I donât think that the fact that you havenât heard of a dealer doing this has anything to do with what CA clearly allows.
1 Like
Laws allow many things, just because itâs allowed doesnt mean it is doable by those dealers.
Maybe one on the fringe edge of CA will do thisâŚmaybe
AFAIK most CA dealers force the out of state buyer to register in CA. Why are they doing this when this is the easy âoutâ for them? why are they forcing poor WA buyers to pay for CA tax and registration?
It might be a rule by their GMs, it might be because of so much fraud they got penalized. I have no idea. But I read more stories of âCA Dealer forces me to pay CA taxâ then âBuy from this CA Dealer, he doesnât charge tax if you live in WAâ, stuff
TX is similar except a TX dealer will not lease for a CA one, and some wonât even SELL to a CA one.
Have you ever lived in a state other than California, bought a car in California and then tried to register it back in your home state with an exemption from CDTFA and DMV?
What you stated is all just really supposition and conjecture, and saying things like âAFAIK most CA dealers force the out of state buyer to register in CAâ with zero context is not helpful.
You are doing conjecture, there are many many posts here for CA dealers pull this stuff
I would like to say, no they donât do this but too many posts here.
As I said maybe there are a few dealers who do this, and for some reason, no one posts it here. I have seen posts of people who ship a car out of state, but so far no one here has posted, I bought the car in CA and drove it out of state and didnât pay CA tax!
Can you provide me the step by step procedure for this ? i am new at it so want to understand how do that. The dealership is adament on paying the sales tax unless i get it shipped.
So the answer then is ânoâ but instead more guessing and conjecture with zero actual experience with applying for an exemption? Your arguments to the contrary about it because of âposts on LHerâ or âI donât see itâ are not evidence of anything unfortunately.
@animeshseth - If the dealer says you can do it with getting it shipped then obviously it can be done - and likely without being shipped if DMV gives you a one way permit. Avoid the posts that are full of guessing and nothing else, but instead contact the CA CDTFA, CA DMV, your stateâs DMV and the selling dealer directly to get the answer you need.
Then ship it, save the $1k in sales tax and the $500-700 in regs
I dont know what car and what rebates you qualify for so I took at stab at it
1 Like
I want a brand new car in CA with only $1k in sales tax. In fact, I will take 20. 
1 Like
Well as this is Leasehackr I took a conjecture that he was leasing it.
Otherwise if this is a Purchase, whole different rules apply.
And now I understand your POV, a purchase you could theoretically avoid taxâŚavoiding Regs? WellâŚthatâs one really nice dealer if they let you drive it off the lot.
Leasing though, they donât wanna do it.
First of OPâs posts (along with the title) @forbs. No large sales tax up front on a lease in CA as you stated but heâs a buyer all the way!
You can get a reg402t one way permit to get you out of CA as long as you donât stop/detour/etc, but it isnt clear that you could legally drive through Oregon/WA in an unregistered car.
Will the dealer do the WA reg for you?
1 Like
I believe you can get an Oregon and WA temp permit in advance as well.
Having to go to the dmv in 3 different states ahead of time to coordinate getting permits on a vehicle you donât have paperwork on yet is definitely not worth the small amount of savings youd get over not paying for shipping
These exemptions deal with use tax, not sales tax. If you buy a new car in California from a dealer and drive it off the lot, the dealer is required to charge you sales tax, and will do so.
Right, because you canât do any of it online or via phone? All he really needs is the VIN, the selling dealer info and date of transport.
You can get a trip permit in CA (as you said) going to Oregon and WA per §4003 and likely do it online through the CA DMV Virtual Field Office service. Oregon will honor the CA permit and he can get one online with WA or at his closest field office. That is not three trips.
âSalesâ and âUseâ tax for vehicles are terms that are generally used interchangeably by the CA DMV and CDTFA. One is for dealers (sales) and one is for non-dealers (use). Additionally, an out of state purchase made by a CA resident has to pay DMV the âuseâ tax upon registration (which is your county/sales tax rate). Ask me how I know this.
OP - just get it delivered to you in WA or meet the carrier in Oregon if the deal is that good to offset the shipping - as the dealer suggested. If not, call CDTFA to see if you can get an exemption as the form below shows - even if from a dealer.
Also donât believe everything you read on the internet. As an example, people all over the truck forums will tell you that in CA being over a certain GVWR will require to you pay extra weight fees for your registration even if you are not a commercial hauler, but the DMV will tell you otherwise under the Vehicle Code.
Good luck and please get your info from the actual source.