akinaboy

Hi.
I just talked to one of the salesman at a lexus dealer in CA (forgot the name of it) and she said that I won't be able to buy a car from them and get it shipped if I purchase the vehicle with a loan involved. Is this true? I thought there would be no problem to buy one with my loan from anywhere in the US, because I will have to pay the state tax under the state that I live in anyways.. Someone correct is if I'm wrong or she is..

IS_Mine

I am confused....


I bought my car in AL, I live in MS and I have a loan for the vehicle.

I don't see how that is different? You are still going to pay the tax either way it goes (your state tax, and sometimes out of state tax but that is refunded once you pay your state tax). As far as shipping the car? I figure that would be a fee you would have to pay out of pocket or perhaps I am just missing the context of this post?

G35TOIS350

bought my g35 out of state. was sort of nice actually cause i didnt pay the sales tax to the dealer at time of purchase, but instead to the licence branch when i went to get plates. gave me some buffer time to get the huge chunk i owed to the gov together rather than wrapping it up in the loan.

homer4598

I've purchased several cars out of state and all of them involved loans. They're playing games with you....

javyLSU

iTrader: (21)

What kind of loan do you have? Is it a "blank-check" type internet loan, or is it through LFS?

Javier

kensteele

yeah it might depend on what you mean by a loan check. is this the dealership policy? maybe it is state law, i think ca has some wierd laws about buying cars out of state. while it is not impossible, it is unlikely that you can't purchase a vehicle out of state with a regular cashier's check.

also getting it shipped vs. driving it off the lot may have something to do with it as well.

akinaboy

I called that dealer again, because I felt like I was treated unequally. They said that they don't want to take a risk of doing this. I asked " what kind of risk can your dealership take?" Then, they said "If there is another dealer who is willing to sell a car to out of state, you should go through them." I was really upset, but what's point of arguing with them?
Anyways, I was going to send them a CC from my local credit union or I could send them my CC and deposit into my acct. I still do not see what kind of risk they can take from selling me the car. It was Westminster dealer.

javyLSU

iTrader: (21)

...and so the TRUTH is revealed. Turn around and run away from this dealership, AS FAST AS YOU CAN! I would never give business to a dealer that didn't want it.

Javier

akinaboy

haha... Oh.. also here's a story I didn't tell.
I told her that I am willing to fly down and pick it up in person with my CC. She said that she still can't sell it to me and it has to be sold to California residents ONLY! WTF? I never heard anything like this. When I talked to her about flying down and blah blah, I wasn't really going to do that, but I was just pissed off that I wanted to see how she would react. At the same time, I was able to locate a 6spd IS250 at a different dealer in CA. He was willing to give me good deal on it and even willing to help me to load the car on the truck as long as I make an arrangement with trucking company.

Dabigman

What's the big deal? So the dealership said they don't feel like taking the extra risk and dealing with the headache. Why are folks acting like the dealer is obligated to this type of transaction?

There are lots of ways this deal could go bad for the dealer and the ones that do it are definitely taking on more risk. I did this for my car (from Florida) but I definitley didn't expect every dealer to be open to it.

javyLSU

iTrader: (21)

Sometimes I don't understand car salespeople (notice my politically correct term )... They get paid to sell cars, not find ways to tell people no. If I was working in a business where they paid me according to how many cars I sold, you better darn well believe I would do everything I could to sell as many cars as possible. Yet this lady, because she didn't want to be "wrong," insists and insists that she can't sell you the car because you're not a resident of the "Great state of California." Whatever... I've bought 3 vehicles out of state and have never run into this type of close-minded, stubborn thinking. If they had bothered to do their homework, they would realize that there's acutally LESS paperwork involved in an out of state sale because they don't have to deal with the taxation and registration of the vehicle.

Javier

Dabigman

You are making one assumption on top of another. How do you kow the salesperson shut the deal down and not the Finance guy, or the GM, or their accountant, or their counsel. There are numerous legal and tax implications, both state and federal, that make it far from "less paperwork" as you say.

What happens if the car is loaded onto the trailer in mint condition but gets a chip en route? Sure you can say the transport company is liable but they will deny it and say it was there when he picked it up. Now you are mad at the dealership and best case you smear their name all over the internet and worst case you sue them. None of this happens in face to face sales.

There are also tax implications involved. If the dealership doesn't collect your states taxes, how is the home state guaranteed to get the tax money. Oh and California wants proof that the car was sold and actually delivered out of state, otherwise they are missing out on a heck of a lot of tax and fee revenue. Managing all this is a huge hassle for the dealership unless they do it all the time and know the ins and outs.

kensteele

if i were a dealership, no way would i take a "blank check" from out of state. not because the check might be fake but if something goes wrong, it's too tough to straighten it out. there are [legal] issues with banking across state lines as well as working with out of state residents. believe it not, some people actually believe that if they don't resident in your state, they are untouchable.

otoh, if it were from BoA, that's another story. but how do you decide if First Bank is ok and Bank of Cheyenne is not ok? i know some of these are not your issue, but because there are a lot of issues in general, some dealerships try to avoid them altogether.

javyLSU

iTrader: (21)

Dabigman, you make some valid points. You're right, I did make some assumptions, but regardless of who exactly kills the deal, it really doesn't matter... I completely agree with you when you say that the dealer is not obligated to participate in such a transaction, which is exactly why I wouldn't waste my time trying to give business to a company that doesn't want it... not that the OP has a choice anyway

You're greatly overcomplicating the issue of interstate car sales. Car dealers have been selling and shipping cars across state lines for as long as cars have been sold. The burden of registering and paying the associated fees and taxes on a vehicle purchased in a state other than where it's registered lies with the purchaser, not the dealer. All the dealership needs is a simple piece of paper from the purchaser certifying that the owner is indeed registering the car in another state. There's also a document that accomplishes the same objective for sales tax purposes. As far as "managing the issue," that's the end of the line as far as the dealership is concerned. The only other significant handoff that has to occur is that of the title if a third-party finance company is involved. The minutiae varies from state to state, but by and large, it's the same process - I know, because I've purchased vehicles in 3 different states.

I also have personally worked at two different car dealerships as an accountant. Trust me when I tell you from experience that accountants and lawyers do not get involved in these types of low level decisions. It is the individual dealership's management that sets policy in these types of situations, and unfortunately it's usually lazy sales staff that make these decisions about "not wanting to deal with it" without management's knowing. In each and every instance that I've bought a vehicle for out-of-state registration, I've had to walk my salesman through the entire process - it's just not something that most sales reps are familar with. I'm not saying that's what happened in this particular case, but that's what I've seen repeatedly from both my own experience purchasing cars as well as my experience within the industry. You're also correct when you use the shipping scenario as something that could go wrong, but there are literally a million things that could go wrong, and you would still be protected by the same laws governing commerce as you would conducting business in your own state.

Javier

akinaboy

wow.. I feel that this thread is being heated.
I understand that there could be some responsible issue in the transaction when the car is purchased by an individual from out of state by getting it shipped over, but the point I do not understand is.. she still denied to sell it to me even if I were to show up in person and buy the car from their lot. Of course from then, the rest of risks are on my shoulders anyways such as getting it shipped or whatever... because I was going to get all that by myself.