I have the short wheel base and am having regrets that I didn't purchase the upgraded package w/ the ML system. I love the car, just wish I'd made a different decision. I have less than 5,000 miles on it and am tempted to sell it for the upgraded package. Problem is, here in CA they don't refund sales tax which was $5,000 of the sale...so that would be a big loss considering the package isn't that much more! Ugh!

 

That is a bummer Acecert. Unfortuantely its almost like the ole "penny wise, pound foolish" scenario. In Massachusetts the trade-in value of your vehicle is subtracted from the purchase amount on the new car to reduce the sales tax price. Is this not the case in CA?

 

Unfortunately, no...they don't refund any sales tax here in CA. Hey, things could be worse...I have an LS 460 don't I?

 

I don't think you would have to pay the tax on the entire purchase price, just the difference between the price of the new car less the trade in value. I have the ML and it's great but I don't think it would be worth it for you right now.

 

I wish that were the case...but after talking to the dealer to see if I could trade it for an upgrade, he said I would lose the $5,000 in sales tax I paid and he added in CA that it is not refundable and have to pay the full sales tax on the new purchase, which would be over the $5,000 grand since I would be upgrading and it would cost more. Damn!

 

If I were you I'd double check that with your state DMV. I once heard that sometime back in the 1920's a car dealer actually misinformed a customer. Now bear in mind that was over 80 years ago, but lightening can strike twice!

 

acecert's dealer is correct. CA sales tax is due on the full purchase price and doesn't give a credit for the difference on a trade-in.

i almost bought a ls460 without the ML that i ordered, but lucky for me the non-ML car was defective when it arrived. so decided to upgrade to the ML package.

 

He is correct. I have lost a small fortune on all the cars I trade in. Cali sux when it comes to cars. I am considering moving out of Cali, and this is one of the reasons. I go through cars like underwear.

 

The only thing close to this in CA is with leases. I don't -- please someone from CA who knows correct me or agree with me -- believe you have to ever pay for the residual value part of a lease. So if you lease, you are never onligated for more than around 1/2 of the sales tax of a full purchase.

 

Wow, that's a shame. They really sock it to you out there, especially when you add the high cost of gas you guys and gals pay.

 

This is absolutley the case. If it weren't I'd trade my IS on an LS tomorrow. I just can't stand the thought of Cal getting the full tax amount again.

I have a PA address also, but Cal won't even issue a temp tag where I can "drive" the car to PA and register and pay the 6% tax there. They have to flatbed the car to my PA address which will cost a fortune too. This state sucks for car sales. Like Rocman, I buy a lot of cars and I'm ready to get out of here.

 

Glad you Cali guys like paying all those excessive taxes to pay for the benefits given to illegals. That may not be politically correct, but it's true.

I didn't know that about full tax whack on each car purchase even with trade-in. I'm honestly shocked. That sucks. It also hurts car dealers, but it sounds like they're not exactly suffering out there.

 

I have a PA address also, but Cal won't even issue a temp tag where I can "drive" the car to PA and register and pay the 6% tax there. They have to flatbed the car to my PA address which will cost a fortune too.

Uthatch, do you have to have the car physically in the state to register it? I'm in Mass. I could buy a car in any other state, get all the paperwork, register it here, and then go to the other state with the plates, pick up the car and drive it back.

 

I'm not certain I understand your scenario exactly? Here's what I did when I bought my IS350 last october: I bought and registered the car in Cal (paid full reg and tax, but I wasn't trading anything so it didn't matter a bunch except for Cal tax being 8.25% instead of 6%. I wanted the car though and the tax amount difference was only about $600 so I bit the bullet).

I then registered the car in PA within about a month so that my Cal reg didn't expire in the meantime. I brought a VIN tracing into AAA in PA and they registered the car for me. It cost me another $50 or so, but now I don't need to run the front tag and my insurance is less.

 

Well for instance if I bought a new car over the internet from a CA dealer, I would pay for the car and have the dealer send me the bill of sale. I would take that to my insurance company. My agent would insure the vehicle and send a runner to the RMV to register it and pick up the license plates. Then I'd hop a flight to CA, pick up my car and take a leisurely drive back to MA. The only constraint is the vehicle is supposed to receive a state inspection sticker within 7 days. So if you take a couple weeks to get back you'll have to sneak into the state late at night!