atomarchio

I am leasing a 04 TL with Navi in Black/Camel with 24,000 miles and am looking to upgrade to an RL. Unfortunately, there is no company like Carmax in the area and I don't want to limit myself with a local dealer that will raise my sell price to buy my car.

Does anyone know of a company like Carmax in Cleveland, OH that would buy my TL for a good price without having to sell me a car?

And I just found out my payoff with Honda Financial includes sales tax so the dealer payoff is much less thereby reducing the amount I have to pay get out of this lease. Thought that might be useful information.

Please let me know. Thanks.

neuronbob

I went through this the last time I traded up, but there's no one in the Cleveland area that I'm aware of who does this. We used to have AutoNation on Rockside Rd., which would do what you are suggesting, but they closed and were replaced with Toyota of Bedford.

bwilder10h

You already know what the payoff is, why wouldn't you list it locally in the autotrader or newspaper and try to sell it yourself?

What do you owe on it?

atomarchio

My payoff is $28,954. However, $2020 is sales tax that is included which I would have to pay to buy the car and then sell to a private owner.

Correct me if I am wrong here, but the dealer could call Honda Financial and get a payoff amount $2020 less since they don't have to pay the sales tax.

I would have to sell for 2K more just to break even and that does'nt include all of the grief of selling to a private owner.

bwilder10h

No, that's incorrect. With a lease, they figure out what the car is worth at the end of the lease term and you pay tax on the usage. So let's say you paid $32000 for the car and lease it for three years. At the end of the lease, the car is worth $18000. You only pay tax on the difference of $18000 and they divide it into 36 payments and add it to the monthly payment each month.

The payoff Honda Finance gives you should not include any tax because the payoff is good for the day you call and probably good for five days after. Something got lost in translation there...

You'd be much better off to sell the car yourself. If the car is a 2004 and you leased it new, something is very wrong if you still owe $29k

bwilder10h

Ok, so if the tax is $2020, then the payoff on the car is $26934 and that is what you need from a buyer to purchase it from you.

You don't pay sales tax on the car, the person who buys it does. It's no different than if the buyer walked into the dealer and bought the car off the lot, he's still going to have to give someone 6.5% sales tax that goes to the same office in the State of Ohio.

The dealer pays tax on the difference between what he paid you for it and what he sells it for. However, he is required to collect the sales tax from the buyer.

I looked at some used TL's before I bought my 05 and I'd think you could unload that car fairly quickly for payoff...

If you PM me, I'll give you the name of a guy I deal with in Orland Park, IL that has given me far better deals than anyone in my area. I'm about to trade my 05 for a 06 Navi with him this coming week. He's giving me $1800 less for my 05 than I paid for it 7 months ago.

atomarchio

that's the problem. A dealer can buy the car at $26834 number but if I buy and then sell to a private owner it's $2020 higher.

Just got off the phone with Honda Financial services. The "dealer payoff" is a lower amount than my payoff amount which includes sales tax.

How do I PM you? I'm not sure what PM means.

neuronbob

"PM"= private message.

Click his user name in the post, and a menu will appear. Select "send xxxxx a private message".

Good luck trading your car! I ended up trading just because I didn't want the hassle of selling myself, and as I stated above, we don't have a Carmax equivalent. Bummer.

Bob

bwilder10h

So you don't understand that no matter who buys the car, they will have to pay sales tax? It's confusing you because they are including the sales tax in the price because by law, they have to collect it.

Think of it this way... if you go to walmart to buy a roll of tape, they post the price on the shelf without sales tax. So do you refuse to pay it when you get to the checkout and they add sales tax? List your car for $27000 and when the buyer goes to pay for it, he knows there is sales tax regardless of the purchase price and pays it because he has to.

The dealer is not getting a 'better deal' he's just a go between like walmart is for scotch tape. It doesn't matter if you or the dealer sell the car, the buyer still has to pay sales tax on the purchase price. If your payoff was $5000 the buyer would still have to pay tax on that purchase price. In fact, the dealer would probably ask $30k for it and then the buyer would pay tax on $30k instead of $26834.

bwilder10h

That's why dealership owners live in million dollar houses, people would prefer the easy route and just get it overwith.

If atomarchio played his cars right, he'd look at what 04's are selling for in the paper and in the autotrader and price it $500 less and walk away with some change in his pocket instead of upside down at the dealer.

I'd personally rather keep driving the car another 30 days while it's on the market and walk away ahead of the game.

cortc

The dealer does not pay sales tax as they are going to resale it as a business, when they sell it they will collect sales tax from the new buyer... When they call the finance company they will get a payoff without tax...

atomarchio

neuronbob,

Now I understand you're point with the dealer.

However, if I try to sell the car myself and get a good offer. How would I go about paying Honda Finance and not paying sales tax?

Would'nt I have to pay my payoff amount plus tax even though I am only paying off the car to sell it?

cortc

Sell it for the payoff with no tax and just tell the buyer that they need to pay tax on the sale... You then have the title sent to the new buyer so they can register the car...