i might be selling my tsx and buying a.. another tsx (want to go to MT). so, quick question. if i do a private sale and private buy, say, through ebay motors, what fees am i gonna be nailed with? (other than price of car obviously)

ive never done a private deal, so i don't know about what the DMV does, and how much on average would insurance nail me for doing the buy/sell?

This might be shocking, but search.

I didn't think this would be a common question at all. Sorry. Let me check it out.

So I've been searching, can't find anything useful. Can you just tell me?

okay, from my sorta-not-really successful searches, all i found was that you have to cancel insurance on the car and turn in your plates. figures. but this still isnt clear..

It may very by state, but here in MD the only 'fees' for private sale are the tax you pay on your new vehicle purchase. And like $35 to get new plates if you need it.

So, to sell a car is free, as long as you've got the cleared title in hand. You'll have to do the escrow title song and dance with your finance company if the car isn't payed off yet, and that costs you fedex money, but that's it. Also, consider getting the car professionaly detailed to really make it sparkle like new in the eye of your potential buyers.

Also, in MD its a big deal, but in other states (like VA) its not so much... you MUST keep insurance on the car until the title change is cleared and the tags are turned in or re-registered. My friend got hit with a $250 fine from the DMV for not having insurance on a registered car when he cancelled his insurance early, so check with your insurance agent about your state's laws (he better know) and find out what order you have to do those things in, that all varies by state.

If you really decide to go private sale (I'm selling my third car via private sale right now) take out lots of ads, be patient, and find the right buyer. You'll get top dollar. On another note, if anyone wants to buy a lovely 1998 M-B E320 4matic...

Don't forget, on a private sale, the money you make on the sale is going to be considered income and you will be taxed on it.

This is one reason why you might want to consider a trade-in as a option. On the trade-in, the only tax you will pay is on the amount of the difference between the value of the trade-in and the sale price of the car you are purchasing.

Just something to think about.

That depends on the state...not all states tax the sale of cars as income in fact I find it hard to believe that any state except maybe california or new york would be able to pull bullshit like that...

VA, MD, and DC do, I know for sure. I also think several states in the northeast, do this as well. I'm pretty sure NY, NJ, and PA do this as well.

Don't forget about the ebay fees (and paypal fees if you're going to use that) if you're going to sell through ebay, which I personal wouldn't recommend. Anything over a few hundred dollars on ebay is just too much risk.

and while it might be small, don't forget the dmv fees for registering and title-ing the car (maybe ~$100 there, depending if you're keeping your old plates), also you'll have to have your new car inspected most likely, regardless of if the car already has a non-expired inspection.

I'm not exactly sure about what you're trying to ask about the insurance, but there shouldn't be any 'fees' associated, although there might be slight adjustments if you're trading for a newer/older year TSX.

Thats freakin' absurd, its not income if you dont make more on it than what you paid for it...I'd definately be talkin with my state reps on that kind of bullshit...hell it makes me mad just thinking about it.

It's been a while, and I'm sure you could find the fees on eBay if you looked, but when I last did it, it was $40 to list and then another $40 if it sold I believe. Depends on your state, but here it doesn't cost anything to sell a car, however there is a $5 fee to notify the state that you no longer own the vehicle and have sold it to so-and-so. That covers you in case they take your car and go run up a bunch of tickets or something before registering it in their name. If you do sell on eBay the best course of action is to require a cashier's check, meet 'em at your bank and verify authenticity and deposit, then give them the car.

And I don't see why insurance would 'nail' you, you'd just have a slightly different premium for a different year model I would think.

!!

I never reported income on my sold cars... I guess if i get audited I owe a few bucks, but I did everything as by-the-book as I could think of, including notifying the DMV, and I never read about or was notified about this. (you sure??)

I was told by several long time maryland residents that you needed to report this as income on your returns. I haven't looked over the tax code to confirm, but I've heard it from enough people that I pretty much am willing to accept it to be true.

Before too much longer they'll be taxing you guys for the oxygen you breathe

Technically you are pretty much always required to report any income like that but not many people would since there's almost no way for the gov't to find out unless they did a full audit on everyone's bank accounts and they certainly don't have the resources for that.

Great, now we have noobs telling noobs to search...

Unless you know for a fact that the exact info asked can be found in a seach, you've got no business telling people to just search for it.

so then, think it is worth it to trade for a mt tsx? that or get a faster car, coupe probably (used, has to be 22k or less, suggestions?)

Worth finding out how much it would cost you to just trade for an MT. You might get lucky and not have to pay more than a grand or two.

what would i be paying for? Couldnt i buy one for less than i sell? Or are you saying a newer mt?

FYI,

balwinderismyuncle =

Well, most likely, if you trade it in at a dealer, you'll get less for the car than if you sold it private party. The difference between the two prices is all that you would be paying. Find a good dealer who is willing to negotiate some on the price and you could probably get the price difference between the two prices down to very little.

Not really its really all a myth that they're giving you more for your trade. In reality they're just backing it out of the price of the car. Selling it outright in most situations is by far the best way to unload an old vehicle.

anyone want to trade a modded automatic tsx for a manual tsx?

Huh? I was suggesting he negotiate on the price of the car he hoping to buy. The price on the car he is trading in doesn't give a whole lot of negotiating room.

Not much negotiating room? I think I could get 20-21k on my car, maybe even 22k. 25,000 miles isn't much. KBB says the car is ~22.5k last time I checked.

According to KBB, your car is only worth around $19.5k as a trade-in. It will always be worth more as a private party sale.

Like someone pointed out before (I think it was CGTSX), if you're trading in for a new vehicle, you're paying tax only on the difference of the new car and trade.

So even though the dealer might give you ~$1500-$2000 less than private value, you probably make up a good part of it in taxes.....while you get a peace of mind and don't have to go through the hassle of transferring title, registration and stuff since the dealer will take care of that for you... something important to keep in mind that most people overlook

I would do an actual calculation between the two choices and weigh them out...

if i went for a different car, what would you suggest i look at? My dream is the 350z, but two seats is a problem. I might want sometiming faster than a tsx.

.....duesch

you don't need to pay taxes if you sell your car. you already paid taxes on it (regardless of whether you bought it new or used), and you'll pay taxes on the next car you buy.

car tax on new cars in VA and MD are both about 3% (i think MD is like .05% less or something), so the tax i paid amounted to like $800. if you trade in (and lose $2,000, we'll say), you will get taxed on like $10,000 (the difference of the new car and the trade). with my numbers, it would save you like $430.

= sell to a private party.