balavay

Hi all! This might belong in Dealer Purchasing & Service Forum section, it just does not look like that one gets visited too often... But if so, moderators, I was hoping that after people share their experience, it can be moved there for reference, but leave it here for a while to get wider exposure? I hope this would be useful info for a lot of people.

I live in New Mexico and plan to buy a car from a BMW dealer in Texas. I will be financing it through BMWFS. My plan was to get the temp plates and print out the Vehicle Transit Permit from https://vision21.txdmv.gov/Vehicle/VehicleLookupForPermit.aspx, then drive it back to NM.

I thought that I would pay tax (3% in NM), title ($5) and registration (~$50) once I get back to NM and register the car. But the dealer is telling me that I need to pay NM taxes & fees upfront due to their "lender & corporate policy". I am ok with paying NM tax upfront, but they want to charge me $270 for registration fees since they are using some third party company (www.autotitling.com) to process everything. If I go register it myself once I get back it would be $55. Plus, the extra $215 is hidden in the tag/registration section without breakdown of actual costs. This is not a part of the 'doc fee', that is a separate charge of $122.50 and a different topic...but I am ok with that one.

Does anyone have any experience with this to help me out? Did anyone hear of such a policy? I'll call BMWFS on Monday to ask but maybe someone already went thru this?

Thanks a lot in advance!

turboawd

you could easily do it yourself if you had the title, but since you're financing the car, the dealer wont give you the title for obvious reasons.

balavay

Thanks for the reply. If we both sign the title and put the bank name under the lien holder, why would that not be safe for them? They can also keep a copy of the title and already have all my information from the loan in case there are problems. I ask because this would make it simple - I need to do emissions and VIN inspection once I get back to NM and need the title before registering the car.

tonyb635

Each state could be different. In SC we have a maximum of 300.00 for taxes and a friend of mine almost purchased a car in VA. They were going to sell him the car as an out of state resident and when he registers the car in SC he will have to pay the sales tax of 300.00 and then the registration fee. I would ask your DMV instead of getting misinformed from this site...

AchtungE60

You have to do what the dealer does because they're the ones that control the situation. Every state is different and every company within every state has their own policies. No one here is going to know the answer to your questions but you'll probably get a ton of replies with opinions.

balavay

Thanks guys. I agree, I'll call my local DMV tomorrow to check. But I figured maybe someone already went through this and can share their experience.

KLR4LIFE

Every state has its own laws but i purchased my car from CO and i live in NY. I had to have the car shipped to NY with temp tags and the title and paper work came by fedex. I had to go to the DMV and show them the dealer paper work and i had to pay the taxes on my car for NY which was a little over 8%

BimmerFan52

The dealers will follow their state law dead on. In certain states like CA the car must be shipped out of state to avoid paying the CA tax.

Even if Texas law allows issuance of the title before payment of sales tax, if the dealer is financing it and won't go along with it you'll have a hard time.

First I would tell him to eat that cost or no deal. How desperate are you for the deal and have you chiseled the fat off him already?

If TX law does allow the issuance of the title without dealer registration then finance it with someone else and tell him no sale if he won't do it your way.

Try PenFed - 1.49% on used cars with less than 100K miles for 5 year loans up to $70,000 and loan amount up to 100% of NADA value (really - no typos in that line). They are a credit union to military personnel, but you can join by making a $20 donation to military families fund (tax deductible). Make an application on-line and within 24 hours they will say yeah or nay. Tell them who you are buying the car from and they will Fed-X you a check. It couldn't be easier. I have done two loans with them and it is slick! Fantastic people to deal with too.

In AZ here a big advantage is NO state tax on purchases of vehicles from private parties either in state or out of state, which makes for a nice savings. On a $40K car the tax savings where I am (Scottsdale) adds up to almost $3600.

balavay

BimmerFan52, thanks for suggestions. If they follow TX law it would be simple, there is a Form 14-312 "Texas Motor Vehicle Sales Tax Exemption Certificate — for Vehicles Taken Out of State" so I would pay taxes and reg fees once I get back to NM. They are saying that they are supposedly following their lender and corporate policy.

Yes, I think I have a good deal. But I am not desperate, I would have no problems looking for another one so I can drop this if they do not adjust their rates.

I've checked PenFed, everything sounds great. I've read some bad reviews/complaints so it's good to hear you recommend them.

BimmerFan52

I guess the question becomes how they require it to leave the state. CA won't let you drive it out of state. It must be shipped on a truck with an official carrier bill of lading.

If you can drive it out of TX, can get your own financing and the $tealer still won't waive the registration then I would tell him to eat the cost or pound sand.