Hey All,

I am sorry if this has already been answered before.

I am getting a new TSX here in Colorado. This is my first car purchase and I am not exactly sure how the whole car registration process (TTL etc) works.

What documentation (DMV and state related (legal)) formalaties does the dealer take care of and what formalities do I need to take care of.

When the dealer quotes me the OTD price what must it include.
Do i need to go the DMV at all? If yes, what for? Do I need to pay the DMV anything more.

Please advice.

 

usually OTD means price + tax, sometimes with or without TTL. Make sure you ask them what is the full amount you will be paying, that should be your OTD - including TTL.

You don't have to go to the DMV at all, the dealers do everything for you.
You suppy them with insurance, and ur license info. They'll register the car and title it under your name, or whoevers name is purchasing the car.

When you buy the car, they'll finish the process, sometimes have ur plates or give u a temporary plate sheet, and get the process ready.

At the time of pickup, you supply them with either the full payment, or down payment. Sign the registration papers, and they'll hand you the keys. Look over the car, make sure everythings good, and sign for the car (dealer stuff). Then after everything is good, you can walk...drive away!

I hope i clarified some stuff, i just got my first car 4 months ago...dang...4 months already...wow...anyway, so i know how confused you might be..but its a simpled process!

 

Here in VA at least the dealer takes care of everything except county property tax stamps (which I can take care of online), so there is no need to go to DMV. Since I'd already had a car registered in Virginia, I even got hard tags (as opposed to paper temporaries) on the car direct from the dealer's lot.

The price the dealer quotes you includes exactly what is on the paper he quotes it to you on. That may include tax, title & license fees, and dealer documentation fee, or it may not -- the price the F&I guy gives you when you are actually about to sign your purchase order will include everything.

 

ACN had it right, for the most part. Only, it might be simpler for everybody involved in your transaction to forget about the OTD price and instead work off of the dealers price with destination charges. If you go to Edmunds or Consumer Reports (which is a pay service), they'll tell you exactly what the dealer paid for the car. But they can't know the documentation fees, taxes, title fees. These fees are fixed - the dealer can't control them. Plus your sales tax price will vary depending upon your address. If you live within the city limits of most Colorado municipalities, sales tax will be 7%-8%. If your address is an unincorporated area, your sales tax will be closer to 4%.

So, IMHO, it's easier to determine what kind of deal you are getting if you work with (1) the invoice amount (2) the destination fee [~$600], (3) the dealer holdback [about $815 on a non-navi] and then make the dealer an offer that allows him a profit you think is reasonable.

It's fine to know the amount of the doc fee, title fee, and all that, but easier to negotiate leaving those out.

Are you buying in Denver or Colorado Springs?

 

This is definitely a state-by-state thing. In Maine, all the dealer does for you is a 14-day temp plate, and a title application. You still need to go to the DMV or a local town office which is designated by the DMV to issue the real plates.