Kamikaze2b

Hey guys I thought I'd put this out there as there are some very knowledgeable car people here...

Here's the deal, I have an old friend that live on Maui, he wants to buy a new car while he's out on the west coast visiting friends and family. The issue seems to be that once a new car dealer finds out he lives in Hawaii, they refuse to sell him the car. There seems to be some vague Hawaii law quoted, but I cannot see how a state could forbid a private citizen from buying something that's totally legal to own from a privately owned business in another state. I'm guessing that the car manufacturer themselves has threatened the dealerships with loss of cars in order to keep new car sales going in Hawaii, I simply can't think of anything else.

I have done a fair amount of googling and simply cannot find any useful information. Anybody out there been through this or have any input?

ArmyofOne

hmm, not sure. I know military does it all the time, but that might be different. I know the taxes are higher in hawaii, so if you were to buy a car in say, california and ship it back, it might be considered tax evasion?

I know when I bought my truck I went to Portland. Sales tax was MUCH lower than Tacoma. Saved me almost $4,000 in Taxes, and I only had to drive 2 hrs. My uncle lives there, so getting an address was no issue, I registered it there. Then I went to TX on leave, RE-registered in my home state (which military can do) of Texas, and when I got home I called and cancelled the OR registration. they said no issue and sent me a refund in the mail of around $200. Now because I didn't have to pay sales tax in Portland OR, When I registered in TX, I had to pay $870 in sales tax. Beats $4,400 (10.5% in Tacoma).

But again, its not against the law that I know of as long as you have an address you can register the vehicle at. MOST dealer's will not sell a car they are not registering for you unless you can prove to them you are sending a transport to pick up the car and ship it. In which case I can't see how it would matter much.

My0gr81

The same for Canada, where MANUFACTURERS, have by contract restricted dealers from selling cars to individuals that don't reside within their operating area. I can buy a car for at least 10 to 30 percent cheaper in the states, but no dealer will sell me one. Some manufacturers even deny warranty coverage for cars bought out the country.

As long as all local, state and country taxes are paid and if any exise duties due are paid, there should be no LAWS that restrict the buying and selling of cars. Military and some heavy equipment vehicles is another matter totally.

xsh0tya

Might need to get your friend to stop into the DMV or registration and ask specific questions. If they don't know or seem to be making it up, contact a used car dealer. They will know for sure as its their business and they will probably not be getting all their vechicles from that State and if they are they will know why.

Kamikaze2b

Thanks for the feedback guys!

spwolf

exactly... just dont tell them where are you from.

I purchased my GS350 from US to Europe and i sent 20 emails, never got response back... So i told my cousin from US to call them, and he got like 10000 calls within days :P

He just didnt tell them that he is sending the car to Europe.

bagwell

WTF? why do they care if he lives in Hawaii? Hard to repo the car ????

anyway...doesn't seem like an issue on this shippers website.... http://www.pashahawaii.com/default.aspx

Kamikaze2b

Okay I called Toyota directly. After getting the run-around I was able to talk to a high level supervisor. She informed me that it's Toyota policy to STRONGLY discourage both the customers and dealers from doing this. I guess it's so that people in Hawaii are forced to buy their new Toyota there and keep the dealer network strong. Obviously it would be challenging to have warranty work done if there was no dealer to do it. I understand this, but the dealers here are lying saying that it's the state of Hawaii that is making it illegal, when in fact it's Toyota threatening the dealers. She went on to tell me that they don't want cars exported out of the United States, I then asked her if she realized that Hawaii was in fact a state..? *crickets*

tex2670

Seems odd to me. If you MOVED to Hawaii, would they prevent you from bringing your car from out of state and registering it there? I really don't see what's the difference. If they know you live in Hawaii, they must collect sales tax based on where you live. I suppose if you had a legitimate CA address, you could buy in in Cali, register it there, then ship it to Hawaii and re-register it there.

Navigation and sat radio may be different for cars shipped to Hawaii, right?--but that would seem like the tail wagging the dog on such a policy.

toyemp

Hawaii is actually not served by Toyota Motor Sales USA if I recall (it's been a few years since I worked @ TMS). Hawaii, even though it is part of the US, is serviced by Toyota Japan and a small local distributor. That's why TMS doesn't want to sell you a car that is going outside of their sales region.

EDIT:

I looked it up - the local distributor is named Servco Pacific and their website is http://toyotahawaii.com - completely separate from TMS USA

blacksc400

iTrader: (4)

My clients always buy cars in CA, and then drive it back to Nevada to register here, because they can get a lot better deal in highly competitive CA car market. All they have to do is to tell the dealer they are taking it out of state, the dealer will issue an one day pass instead of 30 days temp permit to put on the car. I don't see any difference if your friend wanna ship it to HI.

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

Even Lexus here in Hawaii is imported directly from Japan through Servco. I'm not sure of any specific law though. Buying used cars out of state is no big deal though.

spwolf

as we said above, you simply dont tell the dealer where are you taking the car, end of story.
there is no law, just the distribution agreement between dealer and toyota usa forbids them selling cars to outside market such as Hawaii.

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

That is true, but then you'd have to physically be there or have someone be at the dealership for you to pick up the car, then ship it to Hawaii yourself. You wouldn't be able to just do it over the phone. It could wipe out the cost savings if you have to pay $2,000 for a round trip airfare, then another $1500 for shipping. When I bought a used car from a dealer on the mainland, I had the total cost including shipping to Hawaii and the dealership dropped it off at the shipper for me. I did it all over the phone and just picked up the car at the local dock here in Hawaii.

spwolf

he will be on west coast visiting friends and relatives... so he can pre-arrange everything and pickup the car himself when he comes.

thats the only way it will work...