Buying 2010 Prius Out-of-state Questions (Iowa, Missouri or Kansas)

Believe it or not the best people to ask are generally your local tag and title office. These are the people who will ultimately decide what you have to pay and what forms you need to fill out, so why not get the information from the source? I am transferring my tag from my old car to the new car and my local tag office was very helpful in explaining what I needed to do (and not do) in terms of forms and fees.

 

What are the chances I might get a good deal on a 2010 Prius right now? Or, should I wait and if so, how long? I'm thinking that because of the recall, dealers will be eager to sell the cars that are not affected by this recall in an effort to generate some revenue.

 

I live on Long Island, NY and got tired of the price scams and unavailability of cars from my local dealers. I bought my 2010 Prius via eBay from Expressway Motors in Boston - the price and service were great. I arranged my own shipping (cost about $300) and it got here without a problem. Even with shipping, I saved a lot of money. Registering with New York's DMV was no greater hassle then usual. I paid Sales Tax at the time of registration - the dealer did not charge it. I just had to show the invoice and they calculated the tax from that. The whole thing was actually easier then being subjected to the BS of the local dealer, whose sales rep gave me a heads up that I could expect to spend at least an hour with the finance guy who would "help" me with additional options, contracts, etc. I did meet the finance guy briefly, and realized that it would be a very long hour.

 

I have done it several times in Chicago. All you do is take the bill of sale with you. You will pay the sales tax when you register it. That's it. It is easier than dealing with the finance guy at the dealer.

 

What color are you looking for. I see several Chicagoland dealers have it in stock.

 

Last summer, when the local dealer could not find a car to my specifications, I came close to buying in CA. Dianne at Long Beach Toyota said I should have it shipped instead of flying in and picking it up. Shipping would have been much cheaper than paying nearly 10% CA and local sales tax. (Maybe I could have gotten that back in some way, but I did not pursue it.) If I had shipped, I would have to pay the 3% NM excise tax at registration. Then my local dealer came up with what I wanted, so all the complexity was avoided.

 

I've bought several cars out of state in recent years, including a Prius in 2008.

What I've learned is that some states have entered into regional sales tax collection "compacts" with each other. The compacts generally involve bordering states but sometimes include more distant ones. The compacts are a good thing because collection ground rules are agreed to by all involved.

But not all tax compacts are worded the same way, thus you need to check them out by calling a DMV tax and title person as suggested by another poster in this thread.

Under no circumstances should you rely on the word of the dealership salespeople re out-of-state sales tax matters. They don't know squat, and their F&I managers will readily tell you that. In my recent transaction the dealer's F&I gal said that what I was told my her sales manager bore little resemblance to reality.

Potentially the most troublesome transactions will be those where you take delivery in a high sales tax state with plans to plate the vehicle in a lower tax state. If you get roped into paying (higher) sales tax in the dealer's state at the time of delivery with a promise that "the excess sales tax will be refunded later", run for the hills. Ain't gonna happen.

Although it's been twenty years since it happened and laws might have changed since, I once bought a car in Florida and paid sales tax twice by the time it was plated. Indiana BMV said that Florida was a non-compact state and declines to share/forward sales tax they collect.