Buying from a dealer out of state?

[Laserbrain]

There's a car I like in MA. The price is high-ish. $48k with a $52k MSRP.
There's another car in CT or RI, I think. Can I buy there and have it registered in MA? How does that work? I don't want to get hit twice on tax.

There are a bunch of cars I like in MD and VA. The logistics of buying a car that far away are awful. I imagine it would be a whole weekend affair, but to save $5k, it might be worth it. Any tips on how to make that work?

Related: Any tips on how to leverage the MD and VA advertised prices to get a better deal on a local car?

If the MSRP on a 2019 is $52k, what's a good price? $42k?

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[Zooks527]

There's a car I like in MA. The price is high-ish. $48k with a $52k MSRP.
There's another car in CT or RI, I think. Can I buy there and have it registered in MA? How does that work? I don't want to get hit twice on tax.

RI and CT dealers deal with MA sales all the time. They may even run the paperwork for you. I had one dealer in RI do it for me. A dealer in NH would not, but he loaned me a dealer plate to get it back to MA, and gave me a FedEx envelope to send the plate back to him after I went to the Registry. If you're swapping plates from an existing car, you can put them on, fill out something on your registration, and then have 7 days to process the paperwork after you get back to MA. The dealers will know the drill.

There are a bunch of cars I like in MD and VA. The logistics of buying a car that far away are awful. I imagine it would be a whole weekend affair, but to save $5k, it might be worth it. Any tips on how to make that work?

Negotiate by email and phone. I bought a car in CA for my daughter that way (as she moved to CA, not for delivery in MA). They even picked her up at her new apartment the next day and drove her to the dealership

Most of the dealers down there have done out-of-state sales. They can pre-run the registry stuff via FedEx before you get there, and you'll leave with MA plates on the car. That's what BMW was going to do for me when I was looking at accepting delivery at their Performance Center in SC. Worst case is they send you the title and you do the Registry stuff before you go, bringing the plate with you. The downside is you own the car before you see it.

In all of the above cases, you'll only pay tax in MA if that's where you first register it.

Related: Any tips on how to leverage the MD and VA advertised prices to get a better deal on a local car?

None. A New England dealer will politely tell you to go there if you want those prices.

 

[Bikeman315]

None. A New England dealer will politely tell you to go there if you want those prices.

 

[Zooks527]

Yeah, like I said - politely.

 

[1Bear]

There's a car I like in MA. The price is high-ish. $48k with a $52k MSRP.
There's another car in CT or RI, I think. Can I buy there and have it registered in MA? How does that work? I don't want to get hit twice on tax.

There are a bunch of cars I like in MD and VA. The logistics of buying a car that far away are awful. I imagine it would be a whole weekend affair, but to save $5k, it might be worth it. Any tips on how to make that work?

Related: Any tips on how to leverage the MD and VA advertised prices to get a better deal on a local car?

If the MSRP on a 2019 is $52k, what's a good price? $42k?

A good price is 12% off MSRP plus the rebates you qualify for plus tax, title and doc fee.

Bear

 

[Louk]

buying out of state isn't difficult just tell them to to hold off on any taxes and you will register it yourself. take all your paperwork to the dmv like you did a personal sale and thats it. some dealers don't mind to pick you up at the nearest airport either so thats a plus. my last two were out of state purchases and couldn't have gone smoother.

 

[stanger1]

I just did an out of State purchase and trade from a Dealer that was 800 miles away.
Was i nervous? Hell yes. I checked the BBB for any issues before I did and checked reviews, All good.
They made me a great offer on my trade and the New Used Car was too good to pass up.
All the paperwork was sent FedEx next day, they picked my car up before I had my new car, that felt weird and i was very nervous to see me car go bye bye.
But the dealer kept me in the loop, pictures of car being loaded into the enclosed trailer, etc.
I did have to pay the sale tax for my State and get the car inspected due to an out of State title.
But after this experience, I would do again, especially with this Dealer.

 

[shogun32]

I would do again, especially with this Dealer.

which is?

 

[givemeadollar]

This is what I did to get my 2019 lfp 800. The dealer is located in central ohio and i live in Illinois. I flew in to ohio and my dealer was a straight up G and picked me up at the airport drove me to the dealership about an hour away and then I took the car home from there. You will get a temp plate in whatever state you bought the car in and they will send you a packet in the mail of all the information that you bring with you to the dmv and get the car licensed/registered. saved me a small fortune and I got one hell of meet and great with the new toy.

 

[shogun32]

You will get a temp plate in whatever state you bought the car in

Your home state might have what's called (in VA) a transport permit. It allows you to drive the car from A-B for 3 days and no tag needed. $10 or so. But you might get a raised eyebrow from the police while you're transiting. Just keep it displayed in the window.

If dealers can file your registration/taxes for your home state, watch out for an extra few hundred dollar fee. Basically they send the stuff to a company that employs "runners" to go to the DMV on your behalf. Some states do everything electronically and it's a no-brainer. Either way, what's your time worth? So there is that...

 

[stanger1]

which is?

I would say, but I don't know if we are suppose to do that here on the forums.
They are in IL.

 

[stanger1]

Dealer was Fox Valley Motorworks in IL. I would buy from them again.
I got better service long distance, then some of my local dealers had given me in the past.

 

[EFI]

You will get a temp plate in whatever state you bought the car in

Not in the great state of Massachusetts you don't. They do not recognize temp plates, so even if you get one from a different state you might as well be driving an unregistered car.

OP, it's not as difficult as you think. You buy the car, the dealership does all the work, and you eventually get your plates and registration in the mail. You only pay taxes once when you register in MA.

As a I mentioned before though, just be aware you won't be able to drive it around here until you get your MA plates. Or you can, but be aware it's not legal to do so on temp plates.

 

[Zooks527]

Not in the great state of Massachusetts you don't. They do not recognize temp plates, so even if you get one from a different state you might as well be driving an unregistered car.

Close, but not quite. Massachusetts doesn't issue temporary plates and won't recognize out-of-state temporaries on a car owned by a Massachusetts resident. They will, however, recognize temporary plates on a car owned by an out-of-state resident.

OP, it's not as difficult as you think. You buy the car, the dealership does all the work, and you eventually get your plates and registration in the mail. You only pay taxes once when you register in MA.

Other options are:

• The dealer does the work up front, they get the plates via FedEx, and the plates are on the car when you arrive at the out-of-state dealership to pick it up. This is how BMW does it if you have you car delivered to their Performance Center in South Carolina.
• The dealer does the paperwork up front, sends it to you, you pick the plates up at the Registry, and take them with you when you go to pick it up.

Absolutely correct, however, that there's no clean legal way to drive it home to MA from an out-of-state dealer without MA plates on it.

 

[EFI]

Close, but not quite. Massachusetts doesn't issue temporary plates and won't recognize out-of-state temporaries on a car owned by a Massachusetts resident. They will, however, recognize temporary plates on a car owned by an out-of-state resident.

Yes, thank you for the clarification. I was speaking in regards to the OP, which I assume is an MA resident thus as you stated no legal way to drive an out of state car without MA plates.

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