I was thinking about getting a F-250 King Ranch. The prices in Texas seem pretty good, I was wondering how much California sales tax, or smog things would have to be done? Thanks for any help.

 

Welcome to thes site,
I think they charge nearly 10% of the cost of the truck...example..if you buy a truck for $1,500 you pay $150 for tax. You might want to try Nevada, Im not sure about cars but I think most things in Nevada dotn have tax. Just make sure its a Califronia emissons approved truck otherwise registering it is next to near impossible unless its exempt (73 and older) or a diesel....I dont think they have to be smogged...yet haha.
-Chris

 

I think I would get a diesel, so if Im looking at a $40k truck, Ill have to pay $4k? I hate california! haha

 

Yeah I think so,
If you need to find out for sure before you buy, you can call California DMV and ask them any questions you might have....I can PM you with the number if you'd like. All you have to do is press zero a bunch of times till it says its transfering you to a real person.
-Chris

BTW....
Welcome to the site its a great place

 

I know a guy who buys Mercedes-Benzes new in NY, registers them in Oregon for 6 months, then re-registers them in CA. He claims that this way there are no CA DMV hassles, because the vehicle is essentially used. This practice is illegal, at least I think it would be.

But what would you save on buying in Texas? The shipping to CA alone would be at least $500.00/$750.00 on an open carrier. These trucks aren't that big a seller. I would think you could buy one here for about the same money.

Then there is the warranty issue. Any time you hit the service drive with a warranty issue, you are a second class person in the eyes of most dealers, because even tho the truck is registered locally, the dealer will have access to data that shows it was bought elsewhere. You become a VO = visiting owner.


And VO's, at least in the old days, get the worst service down time, because the dealer who's doing the repairs didn't sell it new = translation: he made no money on the sale.

Dealers dislike VO's regardless of the FoMoCo hoopla that any dealer can do the warranty work.

 

It is illegal,
And to do that you'd need a permanent address in that other state which voids out your CA primary residency...so if you do it you need to get a new CA drivers lic.

I looked into doing the same thing when I bought my El Camino but couldnt for this very reason. Not only that...you run the risk of fraud and tax evasion as well.

Its safer to buy the truck out of state then bring it back and reg. it ASAP or at the very least before the reg. expires. The whole "3 card monte" approach to reg. is made even harder with the new insurance requiremants that CA is enacting.

In other words....DO NOT DO IT!

Shipping from NV wouldnt be bad...but why do it when you could probably fly out there for around a $100 and drive it back.

-Chris

 

The ones on ebay in texas seem about $5-9k cheaper with less miles than the ones in cali, of course im sure I can find a good deal out here sometime. I would fly to texas and drive it back, although I'd have to fill that gas tank up about 3 times. Thanks for the help guys.

 

At least 3 times... My rig swallowed 50 gallons between Santa Cruz and Los Angeles...
What are the new insurance laws Cali is doing? I'm still insured at my old work address in Santa Cruz, so it'd be good to know...
For the amount in tax it sounds like you'd pay, might as well just find a cheaper rig in Cali. Look in N Cali, they're dime a dozen a cheap there (I got my 79 for free there, my 70 for $1k, a free 69, free 75 IH pickup, and almost a free 84 and 82). People are just giving away trucks in the bay.

 

Basically,
If you dont have insurance.....DMV will suspend/revoke your registration....notify CHP of said suspension and then you could get pulled over facing a fine or even sizure of your vehicle. From what I understand that is....my mom recently got a letter about this from DMV saying that she didnt have insurance on the Explorer she just bought, she did have insurance on it, but a gal in the office made a typo in the name of our street so it didnt have the correct info. So because of that DMV sent her a letter stating if she didnt show proof of insurance that they would suspend / revoke her registration and possibly sieze the car if she didnt send a written reponse within X ammount of days!

Long story short...make sure you have it and all the info is correct!
-Chris

 

Ah, don't you just love Cali laws? I have no way of verifying this for sure, but it seems to me Cali has more laws than any other state in the union.

 

I wouldn't doubt if thats true......I think thats why so many Californians are becoming transplants to Arizona! I went over there and its a completely different story.....its how California used to be even 10-15 years ago haha.
-Chris

 

That's why I can't wait to get my bills paid off and get out to Austin, TX... No smog for me out there...

 

We were thinking of moving to Arizona a few years back mainly for this reason, and the fact that the whole state only has a population of 4 million. Not too mention the fact that driver's licenses out there are good for a long time. However, it did not happen and we ended up here in Fresno. Out of So Cal, but not out of California completely.

Just found out from my brother that the Ranger he is giving me (in my sig) has never been registered in Oregon. It was originally a California truck, but the tags have been expired for several years (I am thinking about 7). So I plan on getting it registered in Oregon first, using my brother's address, and then when that runs out, get it registered here. Up there you have to have insurance before they will register it, so I will take care of both at once. May end up having it registered in his name first, and then get it signed over to me at a later date. haven't decided which way to go yet.

 

Some dumba$$ lady wrecked my 97 F-150 in NY while on recruiting duty, and bought my current truck in Penn for $17,750, private seller, no tax. When I got stationed back at Pendleton, the DMV charged me $1465 in taxes alone- nevermind the registration fees!! IE- if you bought a truck outta state and paid let's say 5% sales tax, when you tried to register it in Cal, they'd still charge you 3.25% to make up for the CA tax equivilent you didn't pay!! What a bunch of BS- they get thier 8.25% out of you one way or another.

 

How soon after you bought it did you come back to Camp Pendleton? At one time, if a vehicle was purchased out of state, and remained out of state for 6 months, bringing it to CA didn't cost the owner the sales tax. One way around the less than 6 month period is to leave it registered in the state you bought it in for the 6 month period. If you owned it for 6 months, than brought it here, and were still charged the tax, call the 800 DMV number and b!tch.