CA buyers: Buying your BRZ or FR-S out-of-state

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by vhx1

What about for dealer destination charge? This shouldn't be taxed as well?

You are taxed on what you buy, excluding extended warranty. This includes:
- car (including destination charges)
- accessories
- 3rd party services (clear bra, etc)

This excludes:
- labor work
- shipping from dealer to you
- factory extended warranty

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/auto...ation-fee.aspx

-alex

[Silverpike]

This process is a nightmare. I can't reccomend this to anyone given my experience so far.

The smog guy entered the wrong VIN into the system, so now I need to go back and have the car redone.

More seriously, the CA DMV doesn't think I am the lienholder for the car. They say I need some kind of documentation from Heuberger. Nothing I received from them verifies I have paid in cash, so now I need some kind of documentation from them in order to get a title issued.

[Silverpike]

I wanted to post a follow up message after yesterday. I was extremely pissed off yesterday and not in a good mood about this process.

I feel like this thread is geared mostly toward people who finance the car. I think that for people paying cash, there should be some extra information added:

1. If you pay cash for the car, you will not get the title from Heuberger. This was the most un-intuitive thing for me. You still have to take the certificate of origin to the CA DMV and have a California title issued to you.
2. If you bought the car for cash, get a note from Dawn to be included in your paperwork stating this fact. This is because Heuberger's paperwork is a little misleading. On the Bill of Sale, it does not state what payment method was used. On the Purchase Order, it uses a specific field called "Balance to Finance". This will lead the DMV guys to think the car was financed, in absence of any other information.

Basically it's important to prove to the DMV that you are the lienholder. Depending on who you end up talking to, they won't just take your word for it, and there is nothing in the documentation that would indicate that you are the rightful lienholder (unless Heuberger left something out of my packet).


Philosophical rant:


It's utterly retarded that car titles are issued per-state. Cars are property, and as such it's irrelevant in which state property is owned. Furthermore, the DMV (in any state) has no direct knowledge about who is the rightful owner of anything at all, since they don't know the buyer or seller. Asking the state to provide a document about a car owner is like asking me to do an inspection everytime my neighbor has his yard work done.

[Silverpike]

Oh and yet another thing:

Norcal people: DON'T GO TO THE SAN JOSE DMV OFFICE. It feels like it's in the ghetto, and I was scared to leave my car in the parking lot. I've been to the downtown LA DMV (near south central) like 3 times, and I felt safer there than in the SJ one. The people there were all d*cks, except the guy who came out to do the car verification. What he lacked in teeth, he made up for in personality (in spades ). Even with an appointment, the lines are long. I had an appointment and was there for 1.5 hours, and I still didn't have legal registration when I was done. I waited 30 mins for them just to come out and do the verification.

Lessons:

1. Get the car verified by someone else outside the DMV.
2. Don't go the SJ office. There's another office in Los Gatos I'm going to try next.

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by Silverpike

This process is a nightmare. I can't reccomend this to anyone given my experience so far.

The smog guy entered the wrong VIN into the system, so now I need to go back and have the car redone.

More seriously, the CA DMV doesn't think I am the lienholder for the car. They say I need some kind of documentation from Heuberger. Nothing I received from them verifies I have paid in cash, so now I need some kind of documentation from them in order to get a title issued.

The whole process and point of this is if a buyer wishes to save a lot of money, they can do the paperwork themselves. The drawback is that you have to do the paperwork yourself... I read the entire thread before I went to buy a car, and I knew exactly what to expect.

If you want to save money and you are buying from out of state, you have to do the paperwork yourself.

If you don't want to do any paperwork, pay extra and have an in-state dealer do it for you.

Originally Posted by Silverpike

I feel like this thread is geared mostly toward people who finance the car. I think that for people paying cash, there should be some extra information added:

1. If you pay cash for the car, you will not get the title from Heuberger. This was the most un-intuitive thing for me. You still have to take the certificate of origin to the CA DMV and have a California title issued to you.
2. If you bought the car for cash, get a note from Dawn to be included in your paperwork stating this fact. This is because Heuberger's paperwork is a little misleading. On the Bill of Sale, it does not state what payment method was used. On the Purchase Order, it uses a specific field called "Balance to Finance". This will lead the DMV guys to think the car was financed, in absence of any other information.

Basically it's important to prove to the DMV that you are the lienholder. Depending on who you end up talking to, they won't just take your word for it, and there is nothing in the documentation that would indicate that you are the rightful lienholder (unless Heuberger left something out of my packet).


Philosophical rant:


It's utterly retarded that car titles are issued per-state. Cars are property, and as such it's irrelevant in which state property is owned. Furthermore, the DMV (in any state) has no direct knowledge about who is the rightful owner of anything at all, since they don't know the buyer or seller. Asking the state to provide a document about a car owner is like asking me to do an inspection everytime my neighbor has his yard work done.

That's the whole point of this process you're missing: if you buy a car from out of state, THERE IS NO TITLE GIVEN TO YOU. PERIOD. I don't know where you got the impression that the dealer will title the car for you, when you're not even a resident of that state... the process, as mentioned before, is:

Certificate of Origin >>> Title >>> Registration

Titles are issued based on your state of residence. You can thank the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution for that one.

As for the "Balance to Finance", if you've paid the entire balance in cash, that should be zero. It's your responsibility to know what you are paying for the car and what you owe (beyond what the dealer tells you), and if this field is zero then it's not an issue to be honest.

If you feel the DMV staff aren't taking your answers and are giving you a hard time, GO SOMEWHERE ELSE. I have none of the issues you discussed, and I got the same stack of paperwork from the dealer as you.

The whole point of a car's first step to getting a title is to have the certificate of origin. That's the first step and the only document that the state will accept for establishing a title. Beyond that, the title goes from one person to another...

-alex

[Silverpike]

Originally Posted by mav1178

That's the whole point of this process you're missing: if you buy a car from out of state, THERE IS NO TITLE GIVEN TO YOU. PERIOD. I don't know where you got the impression that the dealer will title the car for you, when you're not even a resident of that state...

I definitely understand it. I just think it's stupid.

As for the "Balance to Finance", if you've paid the entire balance in cash, that should be zero. It's your responsibility to know what you are paying for the car and what you owe (beyond what the dealer tells you), and if this field is zero then it's not an issue to be honest.

That field will never be zero. The reason is that this field is on the Purchase Order document. In a Purchase Order, nobody has paid for the car yet. Only the Bill of Sale should contain payment information.

If you feel the DMV staff aren't taking your answers and are giving you a hard time, GO SOMEWHERE ELSE. I have none of the issues you discussed, and I got the same stack of paperwork from the dealer as you.

Good idea. It must be why I wrote the same thing right above your post!

[poundsand]

Originally Posted by Silverpike

More seriously, the CA DMV doesn't think I am the lienholder for the car.

Because you're not. If you're trying to convince them you are, you're barking up the wrong tree. If you paid cash, you should be telling them that there is no lien.

[monisan]

Hello everyone!

Just wanted to update everyone on my experience with titling and registering my BRZ in Socal. I went to West Covina DMV today to title my car. Had an appointment at around 3:10 and got out at about 4. Unfortunately had to pay tax on shipping because it was included in the total price of the car and couldn't convince them otherwise. They will only take the number off the paper. I didn't want to argue with them so I just went with it.

The process is very easy. Heuberger sends you a FedEx envelope with basically everything you need to title and register your car. Get your car smogged, and the shop will usually send the smog check to DMV electronically after car passes. They will also issue you a state certificate. Take smog check certificate with the documents and you are all set to go. I also had my car insured before going and brought with me my insurance card, but they didn't ask for proof of insurance even though I had it on me. DMV employee will look over your paperwork and then ask you to get your car verified outside.

After verification, you pay for everything and plates will be given to you with all the stickers. Overall, the process was much easier than I expected. Kind of wish I didn't have to pay tax on the shipping since the shipping was 725, but I think maybe Heuberger just writes shipping in with the total price when you completely pay off the car with cash.

Anyways, hope this post helps out anyone who is going to title and register in CA! and make sure to make an appointment online with DMV before going

[davesbrz]

Originally Posted by monisan

Hello everyone!
... Unfortunately had to pay tax on shipping because it was included in the total price of the car and couldn't convince them otherwise. They will only take the number off the paper. I didn't want to argue with them so I just went with it.

Thanks much for updating us Monica!
Sounds like you had the same experience at DMV as I had. They are not flexible or willing to look at anything but the PO box with price.
Of course, as they told me at DMV, we are free to total up any non-taxable items, like shipping, dealer's handling fee and any labor charged for installation of options and we can request a refund for the tax paid on shipping from the Calif Board of Equalization.
The form seems to be at this link.
If anyone goes this route for requesting tax refund, please post your experience. Seems like it would give us another $100 or so in our pockets... to be used for customizing

[JM9ISM]

The guy at the Bellflower DMV won't let me register the car because it has under 7,500 miles and he acted rude and said there is no way you can register the car!


Someone help me please. I hand him all the paperwork from Heuberger also car is verified at this DMV and smogged

I forgot to mentioned that another DMV guy came in and said "I just finished my car registration class, and it is going be illegal if I register the car for you"....... BS

[davesbrz]

I would suggest that you go to another DMV in the area where CA->CO forum members have successfully registered
Can someone near Bellflower make a recommendation?

[tonylop33]

Originally Posted by JM9ISM

The guy at the Bellflower DMV won't let me register the car because it has under 7,500 miles and he acted rude and said there is no way you can register the car!


Someone help me please. I hand him all the paperwork from Heuberger also car is verified at this DMV and smogged

I forgot to mentioned that another DMV guy came in and said "I just finished my car registration class, and it is going be illegal if I register the car for you"....... BS

You got a guy who does not know what he is doing. Try asking for a supervisor or go to another DMV.

"NOTE:California law prohibits California residents or businesses from importing and/or registering a new vehicle with less than 7,500 miles at the time of purchase unless it meets or is exempt from California emission standards. If you acquire a 49-State vehicle (manufactured for all states except California) from another state or country, you may not be able to register your vehicle in California."

Source DMV web site
More source info.

All BRZs are 50 state cars and therefore not subject to the 7500 mile rule.

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by JM9ISM

The guy at the Bellflower DMV won't let me register the car because it has under 7,500 miles and he acted rude and said there is no way you can register the car!

My 15 minute appointment registration was done at Whittier DMV.

Arrived 7:55AM. Was out by 8:10AM.

-alex

[monisan]

Originally Posted by davesbrz

If anyone goes this route for requesting tax refund, please post your experience. Seems like it would give us another $100 or so in our pockets... to be used for customizing

I might do this. I'll post my experience if I do get that refund

@JM9ISM - I went to the West Co DMV on a weekday around 3:10. That DMV is pretty packed but with an appointment you might have to wait like 10-15 minutes. They did let me register though so if you're close by you can try that one!