Driving across the US

I’ve bought in MA and registered in NH. My brother bought in NY and registered in CT and also bought in NY and registered in VT. You pay the tax on where you first register it.

No state sales tax but the cost to register cars is horrendous

The excise tax is high, but our overall tax burden in very low. I was just in NY a few weeks ago visiting my sister. What we pay in excise tax - but no income or sales tax…not to mention the $0.30 extra per gallon gas tax…and don’t get me started on NY’s property tax.

My mother, living in NY, tried to buy a car in MA while summering on Cape Cod. They told her that she had to pay MA sales tax and then get a refund when she paid her NY sales tax. I told her forget about it and to buy her car in NY. The dealer in NY honored the price she had negotiated in MA and she did not have to worry about the MA sales tax. I know MikeInNH and his family have had better luck but the penalty for screwing up is pretty high.

Mike - Why would anyone come to NY to buy cars for CT and VT? Nothing in NY is cheaper!!!

I think shipping your Daughter’s stuff is an excellent plan. You fly to NYC and daughter flies back with you. No sales tax here and although registration has increased from the $10 per year I paid for my first car it is still quite low compared to most other states.

My mother, living in NY, tried to buy a car in MA while summering on Cape Cod.

That’s against MA law. The dealer in MA can NOT collect sales tax unless they also register the car in MA. We have many dealers in MA on the NH line who deal with this all the time.

Why would anyone come to NY to buy cars for CT and VT?

My brother lives right on the border. So he bought from the dealer that gave him the best deal. Same with me. We bought my wifes Lexus in MA. We live closer to the MA Lexus dealer then the one in NH. My brothers house is about 500’ from NY. He use to live in Bennington VT. At the time there were 2 dealerships in VT (non of which my brother wanted to buy from). Drive 30 miles in NY and there are about 10 more dealers to choose from.

If you take delivery of the vehicle in NY State or City temporary plate or not, I think the dealer MUST collect the sales tax from you…The only way to avoid this is to TAKE DELIVERY outside NYS. I did THIS once…I bought a car in MA. Faxed a copy of the title to my DMV in Colorado. They sent me back a 60 day temporary plate and registration. I drove the car back to Colorado and completed the title transfer and registration process…

But in THIS case, ship her stuff home and fly her home…Much, much cheaper overall…

My suggestion, sell/give away most of her stuff. Do the cost test, will it cost more to move it or buy a new one at your destination? Then do the need test, do I really want or need this item. If it doesn’t pass both tests, get rid of it.

Things you think you will always need/use but never will include text books and reference books. They will sit on a bookshelf for the rest of your life and never get opened again.

If the Rav 4 is in good shape, pack some clothes and a couple sleeping bags and drive it across country and pick her up. Ship the real valuable stuff home and load necessities like a few of her clothes and some snack foods in the vehicle.

Now take a nice long and circuitous trip back, stopping at places you wish to visit like National Parks, maybe some tourist traps like Graceland, Monument Valley etc. Prioritize the places she and you want to see. Camp in the vehicle as much as possible and enjoy the trip.

I would agree with shipping back the things your daughter absolutely must have and disposing of the rest. If you want to have a memorable trip back to Oregon from New York, go by Amtrak. If you don’t want to take a sleeper, go by coach. Take the Broadway Limited from NYC to Chicago. Spend a day or two in Chicago. Then take the Amtrak to Whitefish, Montana and visit Clacier National Park. This is just a suggestion. You can figure out all kinds of interesting routes. Make it a memorable trip back from New York to Oregon.
If you want to splurge, take a sleeper car. We have traveled by both coach and sleeper. We don’t mind the coach–we have never had problems sleeping sitting up in the coach.

If you take delivery of the vehicle in NY State or City temporary plate or not, I think the dealer MUST collect the sales tax from you.

No that is wrong. You pay the tax on where you register it.

Thanks for all the comments. I was thinking of driving to Connecticut or Long Island to look for the car. I was looking for a “used car” new to me. I won’t have the time to drive out to the east coast before her graduation. She won’t part with her stuff but I think the amount she has left will fit in the back of a RAV 4. My original plan was to fly out and rent a car and drive back to see the country. She wanted to come along and wants to bring the remaining stuff that isn’t being flown back by her dad and step mom. I looked into rentals and it will cost about $3000 not including gas. That’s when I got the brilliant idea to buy a used car out there. I’m going to sell my RAV 4 before I leave to help pay for the trip and possibly get $ to pay down on a car. I’m thinking in the ball park of $12000 for a vehicle.

I would be leery of starting out in a newly purchased used car. I like to drive a newly purchased used car for at least a couple of weeks before starting out on a road trip. Also, in your home town in Oregon, you know the reputation of the dealers. You won’t know this in New York. It may be beyond your budget, but if you absolutely decide to do this, you might consider buying a car offered for sale by a rental fleet. These cars usually come with some kind of warranty and can be fixed along the way by a dealer for that make of car.

Connecticut: up 95 to Greenwich/Stamford area, you’ll get good vehicles there.

Long Island: take the LIE past Queens into Nassau County. Do not buy a car in Queens! Nassau County can be OK.

NJ: your closest option might be Jersey. I-80 across the George Washington Bridge into Fort Lee, Teaneck, Hackensack; should be some decent vehicles. Probably shorter ride than CT or Long Island.

Buying a USED car 3000 miles from home, and not expecting any problems? Good luck.

The idea of buying a used Hertz or Enterprise car might work. I still would NOT buy one in the the NYC area. MOST rentals have not been flogged every inch of their miserable lives. A friend of mine worked for Enterprise several years ago. At that time they changed oil every 8000 miles and dumped them at about 24,000. I don’t know if they got that last oil change at 24K or not. I mean, it might cost them an extra $10 or so since I’m sure they buy their oil in bulk, and filters by the gross.

If you really want to buy a used car long distance either get a professional to inspect the car for you for a fee or send a trusted friend to search for you. You still might need to fix things along the way but at least hopefully you’ll find a good car for your budget. I’m pretty sure you will have to pay the local sales tax rate at whatever dealer you buy the car from and get a temporary plate for the trip.

I think you’ll find that total cost to have all your daughter’s things shipped and have her fly to OR will end up far, far less expensive, as well as less hassle, than any other option given the modest volume of belongings you indicate she has.

If what you are wanting to do is enjoy a coast to coast cross country driving trip with her as a “Grand Tour” finale to college, then I’d still suggest having her things shipped to OR via FedEX or UPS so the two of you can focus on the fun and sights of the driving trip. Drive your current car to NYC, help get her things packed and shipped off, then embark on the driving adventure.

If the point is merely to get both daughter and her things safely from NYC to OR, then keep it simple with shipping her things and having her get on a plane.

I speak with the experience of having gone to college half way across country from home and years later taking my mother on a pair of summer long driving trips across the western half of the country.

There are car transportwr services that deliver vehicles to where you need them. If your current RAV4 is suitable, pay a service to drive it to NY. This will almost certainly be cheaper and more pleasant than buying a car in NY and dealing with the taxes and licensing.

@wolyrobb I’m pretty sure she won’t have to pay NY sales tax. Cars are different than most goods because they get registered in their home states. I KNOW that if an individual buys a car from a dealer in my state (Confusion) and intends to register it in any other state, the dealer has a form to fill out specifically for that purpose. This is probably a question best answered by the NY DMV or perhaps their website.

Added by edit: Here you go. If you were not a resident of New York when the vehicle was purchased, use form Sales Tax Exemption (DTF-803) to receive a non-resident exemption from NYS sales tax. Form DTF-803 defines the terms “non-resident” and “resident”.

If you do choose to buy a used car, I’d get it from a national chain like CarMax, or maybe a used rental car from Hertz, Avis, etc. They’ll have warranties that can be used nation-wide. I’d be very concerned buying a used car from an independent dealer, then heading across country.

And no matter where you buy it, you need to have a pre-purchase inspection done ($100 or so), after you look at the Carfax. If there are ANY problems on the Carfax, find a different vehicle. If the Carfax is clean and you like the car, then have it inspected. Carfax is far from perfect, but it will at least let you eliminate some cars quickly.

I like the idea of the road trip with your kid. you guys will be able to talk about everything you ve ever wanted to talk about with each other.

wouldn t renting a car for the ride home be easier? you could still sell the rav 4 first if you need funds for the trip.

I d rather worry about car shopping at home. NY cars are beat to heck a lot anyway. on the inside if not the outside.

The idea of Carmax brings up another possibility, maybe. A month or so before the trip, maybe you could go to your local Carmax, if they are willing and have them check the Carmax dealers in the NE for their inventory. If you find a car you are interested in, you and they maybe able to work out a deal where you trade in your current vehicle on the day you leave, fly to the nearest airport to the Carmax dealer that has the car you selected, have all the required paperwork for registering it in OR, or the paperwork needed to get it there and pick it up.

If this can be done, it probably wont be the cheapest way to buy a used car because you will not be in the best bargaining position, but it would simplify things. If Carmax doesn’t offer this service, maybe they should when you consider the number of threads we have here about people moving to another part of the country and want to sell their current vehicle and buy one at their destination.

@MG McAnick I didn’t know that about NY, in states like Arizona from what I understand the only way to avoid the sales tax was to have the car shipped from the dealer or auction site by Reliable or similar carrier. If you took delivery in state you would owe the tax. Hopefully the OP will download and keep the tax exemption form.