Buying a new, out-of-state Tacoma - Is it convenient?

Looking to buy a new truck. I am a California resident.
I'm looking at the pros (sale price foremost) and cons (potential headaches) of purchasing the truck out of state...
Will you share your thoughts, ideas, experiences, suggestions, etc. in this regard? Many thanks....

 

check local laws. You may end up paying taxes twice. We have an impact tax for bringing in new vehicles.

Is it that hard to buy a truck in california? Cost you a couple hundred just in gas to get it out of state wouldn't it? You'd also probably have to jump through hoops to get it titled and registered if you didn't want to do it twice.
Have the nevada dealer register it in california? I dunno. Never did it. Only people I know that have were lying about residence for cheaper registration and on the east coast where states are minutes apart.

 

My friend did this is 2002 for a Double Cab Tacoma 4x4. I know he had to get the truck weighed, smoged (it was Brand new), and had to pay the sales taxes on the amount he paid in AZ. He said he would never do it again, since it ended up costing him a bunch of time and money.

 

I bought a truck from CT once. I had to go to local DMV get a temp tag drove it home, then filed the paperwork in my state. I paid all taxes in my state.

 

bought my 2010 reg cab in ny and shipped it to CA. the reg i was looking at here in CA was 24k out the door. reg cabs are a special item in ca and usually cant even be ordered... at least at the dealers i went to.

so bought my reg cab in my hometown in ny for 18,5 out the door and cost me $700 for shipping to get it here... saved a few grand...

 

currently i believe unless you do a "dealer drop" where it gets brought to ca before you take possession of it

you cant buy out of state unless it has more than 7500 miles on the odo .... and yes youll get hit bad on taxes and such

 

well It IS america, I'm sure you CAN buy it out of state. But it'll probably get hit with tax like we do. Our laws usually mirror california. We're even fixin to have brownouts.

Wait, is california in the US? People keep telling me its the 7th largest economy in the world. So it's separate right?

Seemed foreign when I lived there. When it came time to register my car and get a drivers license, I just said I was visiting friends.... just passing through.

 

I wouldn't, because California is a real stickler on laws.

 

These should answer our questions.

http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures/fast_facts/ffvr29.htm

and

http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures/howto/htvr9.htm

 

Yea, you will end up paying your state's taxes anyway.

 

Yep, I know that I will end up paying the usual CA taxes on it upon registration, but what I have in mind is the kind of deal mentioned by Yoytoda (thanks Yoytoda for sharing your experience here!).
I've heard of similar deals where by buying out of state, if you look in the right place, you stand to save several grand... The key is to find a reputable/reliable dealer, possibly in a less prosperous regional economy than California (those deals I heard about were mostly buying from Texas dealerships - for some reason Texas seems best for this sort of thing, but I could be wrong on this one). Yoytoda was lucky in that he found his perfect deal in his own hometown.... I don't have that luxury. So I was wondering if someone could suggest practical ways to locate such a deal, what to watch for, what to expect in terms of potential problems, etc.
I know that a number of buyers do save a lot of money by locating deals such as Yoytoda mentioned, I'm just not sure how to go about it.
How do I locate such dealerships....what to watch for... Thanks.

 

I bought my last car (a '01 Suby wagon) in Reno because they had a monster selection. The dealership assured me they would ship all the paperwork to the CA DMV. Instead, they sat on it for weeks, then sent the DMV a mislabeled envelope that was promptly lost. I ended up with months of headaches.

Do not recommend buying out of state.

 

I bought a motorcycle out of state once and it was a little bit of a hassle but not so bad where I wouldn't do it again. The dealership I dealt with was great, I paid then they mailed me the title so I could get it plated and registered in my state, then I drove it home and got it inspected. Only paid my state's sales tax on it.

 

I purchased my truck in Idaho and I live in Washington. I saved a bit as they were lower and better to deal with than the local dealers. When I purchased it they figured the cost of Wachington state sales tax and licensing fees and we did all of the paperwork there. It was as simple as drive it the 30 min home and a week or two later the plates showed up. I have also purchased a motorcycle from Canada and saved quite a bit. I just had to pay the sales Tax to the state of WA when I went to license it.

 

First question is, WHY are you considering buying one out of state?

 

If you know how to buy a car, you won't save a penny shopping out of state (you'll actually spend more), UNLESS you're getting a configuration you can't get in CA. There can be a specific and extremely rare exception to this, one it's not even worth your time trying to get as the odds are incredibly slim.

 

there are times when a dealer is willing to deal with you and you will benefit from buying out of state. Here the local dealers will not move an inch on the price. I went across into Idaho and found a dealer that is more than willing to work to get the business.

 

true - i should have specified as i have in past posts that if you live where there's essentially one dealer around, you are more limited in your choices and may have to go futher away (hence crossing state lines sometimes) to get a better deal. where the poster lives is in so cal, and you can get them rock bottom here as there's a lot of dealers. i helped someone on this forum get a great deal on a truck, but i had to call 4 or 5 dealers to get that price.

 

demand for tacomas in ca are high, when i was shopping here in CA they NEVER drop below MSRP and then add the tax, title, reg, freight,etc. Especially for a next model year. (bought my 2010 in 8/09) for used vehicles they add $1000 to the KBB and then charge handling and other BS. So when i found a 2010 4x4 reg cab. (a configuration not normal in CA) this one the dealer got from WA. they wanted 24k... the one i bought in NY was 18,5 (which is MSRP) and they threw in all the other shit (tax titla reg etc) 18,5 and it was mine no additional hassle. yea you have to pay tax twice but my truck was 18,5 tax included and then CA tax on 18,5 when i would have had to pay tax on 24k. i made out like a bandit!!!

Edit: 4x4 is really rare here too

 

sorry, but that's not true - (but i do have the advantage of having been around the car business for most of my life, so that helps A LOT). i just helped someone on this list last year in So Cal buy a car $2,606 below MSRP (about $500 above net dealer cost less volume holdback goals/bonuses). it took a bit of work (not hard though, all this type stuff should be done over the phone), had to call a number of dealerships but found one that was willing to back off all their add on fees they tell you are their cost but aren't really (as they get reimbursed for them from Toyota).

and you're right abou 4x4's being harder to get here, less common. one thing - you have to be patient here when you want to buy - these trucks are in limited quanitity, and there's times in between dealer allocations that they get low on inventory and are even less willing to deal.

i'll mention the rare exception i noted above - occasionally (and this is VERY rare), IF it's the very last day (or so) AND they need to sell one more car to hit a milestone that will bump up their dealer payment from the factory you might and can get it below their cost. My buddy owns quite a few dealerships and one time he sold a car $4,000 below his cost because that got him and additional $50K+ from the factor for that months payment. But it's very unlikely you're going to be that person, on that exact day and they happen to need to sell one (or a few) more cars... but it can happen.