California emissions?

Pretty much in all states (that I have experienced), buy out of state from dealer then pay sales tax in registration state. I bought my Taco in AZ and registered in NM, I paid NM sales tax.

I was given my grandmother’s ‘78 Monte Carlo in the early 90s in NJ, I argued with VA DMV for about 10 minutes before they arbitrarily set the sale price at $1.00 and charged my 4.5% sales tax.

 

You did not pay sell tax in AZ when you bought the truck here?
So if you live in a state that does not collect sell tax and buy your truck from another state (and not pay sell tax in the state you bought it from), you don't pay any sell tax?
As in you buy the truck in AZ (no sell tax taken) but live in NV/LV where is no sell tax, when you register the truck in LV no sell tax collected?

 

No, I paid NM sales tax (cheaper)

Depends on your state DMV. Delaware has no sales tax, but I think they have a minor tax on vehicles and houses. Then the selling state may also be aware of the lack of sales tax, so you pay there, but only pay sales tax in one state. I had a buddy who bought a ATV in Tn and paid sales tax in NC.

Of course there are probably exceptions, check with your state DMV and selling dealer beforehand to confirm you will only pay tax in 1 state

 

I can give input on this since I’m picking up a truck from Oregon this month and I did a lot of research.

1. You will pay California taxes even if you buy it in Oregon. This can go in two different ways. The dealership in Oregon may charge you the California taxes at the time of purchase (they transfer the money somehow to California DMV I assume) and you won’t pay taxes once you arrive at California. The other way it can go is, the dealership in oregon won’t charge you taxes but you still have to pay them in California. You have about a month to do it.

2. You have to go to the DMV in California and register the car. You do not need to do a smoke check or any checkup since the car is brand new and you have paperwork to prove it. This is when you may have to pay the taxes if you didn’t pay them in Oregon. You have a month to do this as well.

3. The Oregon Tacomas are 100% compliant with California laws. So no need to worry about any of that.

Cheers.

 

To clarify all the other posts and to answer some questions, if you live in CA and buy a Tacoma from out of state, you will pay sales tax either at the out-of-state dealer, back in CA, or a combination of both. You can even overpay the sales tax, if you're not careful.

For example, if you buy the truck in AZ and pay the lower AZ sales tax (5.6%) at the AZ dealer, you will pay the remaining difference from the higher CA tax (7.25%) when you register the vehicle. Therefore, 7.25% - 5.6% = 1.65% to be paid to CA DMV. And, if you live in a CA county with higher sales tax than the state's 7.25%, then the sales tax difference will be greater, and your catch-up pay will be even more.

However, if you buy the truck out of state in a municipality with higher sales tax than the CA county you live in, and you pay their higher sales tax, CA will NOT refund you the difference. Hence, you overpaid in taxes. The lesson is, make sure you're paying the right % of taxes at the out-of-state dealer. Or, don't pay the tax at the dealer and pay it all in CA.

 

I bought a truck in AZ but planned to register it in NM, so I didn’t pay AZ sales tax (only NM) and it actually saved me quite a bit of money. Not sure how this works for other folks - I also had the vehicle shipped to me and didn’t pick it up from the dealer.

 

Due to the 40 million people in California, some of their DMV offices are like a giant Jerry Springer show. I made an appointment at DMV , waited 2 hours to register my truck that I purchased out of state only to be told my paperwork did not indicate the weight of the Tacoma. DMV could have easily looked it up, but they made me get a certified weight certificate from a state approved weight station. The weight certificate was only $20.00, but I had to make another appointment, go back and relive the Jerry Springer atmosphere for 2 more hours. And this was all pre-covid so it is probably worse now. If you feel like you died and went to hell, you probably are at a DMV Office in California.

 

My truck arrived out of state Feb 9th, 2021 to my door. It had 90 day temp plates.

Feb 11 Went to empty certified weight scale. Montrose, CA. $10 (13 minutes)
Feb 11 Went to smog (La Canada Flintridge $48) 22 minutes wait.

Feb 15 Went to (Glendale) DMV at 750am. 817 AM Vin verification outside.
845 was at window. Walked out with plates. (0 paid, as out of state dealer took care of everything)

Then again, after 13 out of state registrations since 2010, I have it pretty much down to a science.

I guess everyone's experience is different.

Not giving my business to CA mobster dealers = multi orgasmic

 

I don’t remember how much tax I payed on my bmw m3 in Colorado but somewhere in the hundreds, brought it to California when I moved and had to pay $1000 to register a car from 2008. Only for it to be hit and totaled a week after getting plates.

 

Dang, thank you for the heads-up about DMV and the truck weight.

I live in Orange County, CA, and the Toyota dealers in my area, including in LA County, would not offer me a good deal in a new Tacoma 4x4 TRD Offroad, even with my 800+ credit score. They only wanted to drop the MSRP by $500 or drop the finance charge from 3.99% to 2.9%. I said heck with you guys, and made a deal with a rural Colorado Toyota dealer that dropped the MSRP by $3,500. Yes, I have to pay for my flight and gas home, but I'm saving $2,500 ($3,500 - $500 discount offered by local dealers and another $500 for flight and gas = $2,500). And I got a 2.29% APR, so my monthly payment is like $30 less. And I got a nice day driving trip out of it.

BTW, just so this is out there and to avoid ripoff artists like Toyota of Orange in Orange County, CA, instead of offering a discount, they jacked up the MSRP by over $4,000 due to market conditions, while other local dealers were offering a small discount. Never going to Toyota of Orange; even their dealership building is nasty, small, old, and crowded, a perfect cesspool for Covid.

 

That is my understanding as well. And my experience buying a vehicle out of California. You only pay tax where you live. Simple. Not a reason to hate California.

 

Then that state ripped you off.

 

Nope I hate it still. I bought a car while I lived in another state. Paid for the car, taxes, and all the reg bs. Then I move to CA later on and have to pay sales tax ON SOMETHING I ALREADY OWN to be able to register it here? What kinda scam is that?

 

Interesting, never heard of that.

I moved 4 cars to CA over the years. Cars I owned and had registered in MO, RI, MA, and NC

All I had to do was do a smog test, and pay registration fees in CA, and collect CA plates. These were between 2006-2015.

I use these calculators:

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/wasapp/FeeCalculatorWeb/newVehicleForm.do new vehicles

out of state vehicles that you own, and bring to CA
https://www.dmv.ca.gov/wasapp/FeeCalculatorWeb/newResidentForm.do

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/file/...le-from-out-of-state-nonresident-vehicle-pdf/


This way, I know exactly what I owe, the minute I walk in, and no surprises.

 

Sounds weird. According to the Kalifornia DMV, residents moving to into the state are exempt from sales tax if the vehicle was already registered. You probably paid a registration fee based on the value of the vehicle, and a bunch of other fees but not sales tax. I know, it doesn't make much difference what they call it..but....Kalifornia is just stupid expensive no matter what.

 

People can hate on CA all they want (and I do), but nothing made me angrier than "excise" tax on my cars in RI. YUCK

 

You paid double sales tax on a car you imported? Hard to believe.

That would not be a California thing, that would be a “person you delt with thing”. I have brought in the Vehicle Code and successfully educated DMV workers. I never thought to blame the state.

 

Last out of state car I bought before moving out of CA was an Audi S4 Avant from NY. It literally took 4 hours in Thousand Oaks which is (was?) one of the nicer DMV's because appointments are months out.

When I moved to TX from CA I showed up at a DMV without an appointment to get my TX DL, they scanned my passport, I paid some nominal amount of fee and filled out an application, was out in about 30 minutes total.

After I got my TX DL I showed up at the county assessor's office without an appointment and waited maybe 5 minutes. All I had to show was my TX DL, inspection report (takes a few minutes and no appointment from lots of sticker shops), my insurance, and since they were already registered back in CA, I paid the IIRC 40 dollar per vehicle and got my plates and stickers right there.

Let that sink in.

No appointment, no wait, and walked out with plates and stickers.

 

Worst part about VA is the insane speed laws.

80mph is misdemeanor reckless driving!

They also confiscate your radar and back it over with their patrol cars.

I used to be at Norfolk a lot and I hated driving in VA, you are constantly watching your speedo like a hawk because you better.

VA IS a terrible state if you like driving at all.

 

Ah, the dumbgeon. My people.