Has anyone bought a TL in another state? I live in Houston, TX and it seems to be impossible to get some of the deals that you guys on the east coast are getting. I was thinking of purchasing a 05' Navi in NY and having it shipped down here. I was curious if anyone knows what the cost of shipping is, what are some of the tax advantages or downsides, service and maintenance issues, etc. If anyone has had any experience with this, please let me know if it is worth saving a couple hundred dollars or if I should just bite the bullet and pay the regional premium. Thanks.

 

Sales tax in houston is pretty low compared to other states and I have seen some good deals around here. Theres a dealership on highway 6 u can call. They usually work things out well with customers.

 

In Texas, the tax is the same (6.25%) no matter where you buy your car. The state collects it when you register your car. I verified this with the state Tax Assessor/Collector. So, if some dealership tries to tell you that you need to pay local tax, you should get up and walk out.

--Mark

 

Not sure how it is in TX, but check on this carefully before you pull trigger. I live in KS and bought my TL in MO. At least in KS and MO, you pay sales tax based on where you live (or technically, where the car is garaged and titled), not where you buy it. Just like when I buy on Amazon, I pay KS sales tax and not WA.

 

There would be no tax advantage. The tax you pay is the tax rate of where you register the car. And I am sure TX would have a much lower tax rate compare to NY (8.25%).

As for shipping cost, I guess it depends on how you ship it. I shipped my car from NY to Phoenix before, and it costed me about $600 and took about 1 week. However, since you are shipping a new car, you might want to go with someone more reputable, so I won't be surprised if the cost is actually closer to $1000.

Overall, I think it probably won't save you that much to buy the car from NY.