Buying a car in a different state?

[our guile]

I've never bought a new car before, so I'm a little unfamiliar with some parts of the process.

Right now I live in GA but my car is registered in FL. As far as I know, if I were to buy a Fist in FL, I could transfer my plates over to the new car and keep my costs down.

Do I have this option if I buy the car in GA? I'd really prefer not to drive all the way down to a dealer in Jacksonville just to save money on tag and registration fees, but I will if the difference is significant.

Does anyone have any experience with this sort of thing?

 

[StayPuft]

I live in Illinois and I've purchased 4 cars out of state that I drove home, 3 private party (NY, MN, KS) and 1 from a dealer (Wis). You can transfer your FL plates to a car purchased in GA and vice versa -- registration is the easy part. If you aren't transferring plates you will have a temp dealer tag usually good for 30 days from whatever State the dealer's in.

Where you need to make sure your t's are crossed is your taxes. Make sure you pay the taxes for whatever state and county you will be registering the car. You have a couple scenarios and ways to do it but here's what I did. I told the Wisconsin dealer that I was registering the car in Illinois so I had to pay Illinois taxes. I opted to pay my taxes directly instead of at the dealer so I left the dealer having not yet paid my taxes yet and drove back to Illinois, and then paid my taxes in-state. I didn't have to do that because I could have paid my IL taxes at the WI dealer but I didn't want my taxes lumped into my loan.

 

[degnerd]

In Wisconsin and almost bought a low mileage '15 from NJ. I was ready to fly out and give the dealership cash money for it. I guess they didn't think I was serious or whatever,cause they wouldn't respond to most of my emails,and didn't return calls. Ended up going local with a brand new one for 2 grand more. Was worth it for me. Not really your senecio though. Good luck.

 

[FatGuyInALittleCar]

Georgia charges an Ad Valorum, or 'personal property' tax on all new and used car purchases. It is based upon the original sticker price of the car and is graduated over the first few years of ownership. The tax is assessed at each license registration renewal.

If you purchase a car in FL, and have a mailing address there, it is best to have a FL driver license and register your car there as FL does not assess an additional tax (outside of sales tax).

If you purchase in Florida and transfer the registration into Georgia, or register it in Georgia right out of the box, you will be charged the tax.

If you don't have a FL mailing address and license, don't be surprised if they won't sell to you. This is where the term "residency restrictions apply" comes from. Further, if you show up with a GA license they may charge you a conversion fee to report the sale to GA to ensure you pay the tax man. The last thing the dealer wants is to piss off the state revenue department. It can trigger problems with audits and the like.

I learned all of this as a resident of GA and having two cars die shortly after transferring them and paying exorbitant tax, then replacing them with new cars and having to pay again. State taxes in GA are very high, but they make up for it in low overall cost of living.

 

[da51d]

I bought my car in MD but got CO plates. The dealer handled everything and it took 3.5 months. I'm military though so YMMV.

 

[our guile]

Georgia charges an Ad Valorum, or 'personal property' tax on all new and used car purchases. It is based upon the original sticker price of the car and is graduated over the first few years of ownership. The tax is assessed at each license registration renewal.

If you purchase a car in FL, and have a mailing address there, it is best to have a FL driver license and register your car there as FL does not assess an additional tax (outside of sales tax).

If you purchase in Florida and transfer the registration into Georgia, or register it in Georgia right out of the box, you will be charged the tax.

If you don't have a FL mailing address and license, don't be surprised if they won't sell to you. This is where the term "residency restrictions apply" comes from. Further, if you show up with a GA license they may charge you a conversion fee to report the sale to GA to ensure you pay the tax man. The last thing the dealer wants is to piss off the state revenue department. It can trigger problems with audits and the like.

I learned all of this as a resident of GA and having two cars die shortly after transferring them and paying exorbitant tax, then replacing them with new cars and having to pay again. State taxes in GA are very high, but they make up for it in low overall cost of living.

That's exactly my predicament. I have a FL license and mailing address even though I'm currently living and working in GA, and have no interest in paying more of GA's high taxes. My current car is registered in FL and I have no intention of changing it to GA. I know that if I buy the car in FL and register it in FL I won't have to pay the taxes. But can I avoid the taxes buying the car in GA and registering it in FL with my current tag and FL mailing address?

If not, I'd rather save a few grand and drive down to a dealer in Jacksonville or somewhere to buy the car, but I'd prefer not to unless I have no other choice.

 

[StayPuft]

That's exactly my predicament. I have a FL license and mailing address even though I'm currently living and working in GA, and have no interest in paying more of GA's high taxes. My current car is registered in FL and I have no intention of changing it to GA. I know that if I buy the car in FL and register it in FL I won't have to pay the taxes. But can I avoid the taxes buying the car in GA and registering it in FL with my current tag and FL mailing address?

If not, I'd rather save a few grand and drive down to a dealer in Jacksonville or somewhere to buy the car, but I'd prefer not to unless I have no other choice.

If you register the car in Florida you will not pay any personal property tax on it in Georgia.

 

[FatGuyInALittleCar]

And you may be able to buy at a GA dealer within X distance of the state line if they are set up to deal with the administrative complication of dealing with 2 different states' sets of rules/tax rates.
But why? The deals in South GA aren't any better than they are in FL are they?

 

[StayPuft]

I should clarify that even if you purchase your car in GA you will pay FL sales tax because that is your residence and that is what's reflected on your ID.