Moving to CA, Car Buying Feedback

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N194A
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Joined: Fri Apr 09, 2021 5:27 pm

Moving to CA, Car Buying Feedback

Post by N194A »

Hello Bogleheads —
In a few months I’m moving to CA and will need a car, auto insurance, etc. Currently I’m across the country and don’t own a car.

I’m trying to understand if I can buy a car and insurance in CA without a state residence and pickup my car when I get there. Not sure if this is a straightforward process or not.

I’d like to avoid purchasing a car in my current location and having it transported to CA; especially when the move is only months away.

Appreciate any thoughts on the subject.
GT99
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Re: Moving to CA, Car Buying Feedback

Post by GT99 »

Do some research on California Vehicle Tax (inc sales tax) and registration law ( I know nothing about it) but typically residence doesn't matter. You may pay sales tax on the purchase depending on their laws, what matters is where you register the vehicle (which in turn is part of establishing residency). In my state, it doesn't matter if a vehicle is purchased in the state or not, the first time it's registered in the state you pay a full registration fee (then a much smaller annual renewal).
Given how strictly California goes after taxes, I doubt there would be a reason to buy before you get there.
bombcar
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Re: Moving to CA, Car Buying Feedback

Post by bombcar »

Some people do some strange trickery that I don't quite get the details of, where they live in CA for decades but all their cars are registered in South Dakota.

There may be minimum "cooldown" periods, but since you are not YET a CA resident, you should be able to buy a car now and drive it over there (if that's something you want to do).

Otherwise you should be able to find a dealer in CA willing to do all the paperwork for when you arrive. Insurance can be turned around in day. I assume you have a driver license, in which case you can start by getting insurance where you are now (try to get a company that also does business in CA, but that's not mandatory).
Big Dog
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Re: Moving to CA, Car Buying Feedback

Post by Big Dog »

If you purchase a car in your home state, you may be subject to local sales tax. When you arrive in CA to register the car at your new home, CA will charge you a Use tax (in lieu of a sales tax). Thus, you could be paying tax 2x. Prolly better to wait until you land in CA. Insurance can be added in a day. Plus, CA used cars tend to have less rust than those in the NE.
RetiredAL
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Re: Moving to CA, Car Buying Feedback

Post by RetiredAL »

bombcar wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 11:19 pm Some people do some strange trickery that I don't quite get the details of, where they live in CA for decades but all their cars are registered in South Dakota.

There may be minimum "cooldown" periods, but since you are not YET a CA resident, you should be able to buy a car now and drive it over there (if that's something you want to do).

Otherwise you should be able to find a dealer in CA willing to do all the paperwork for when you arrive. Insurance can be turned around in day. I assume you have a driver license, in which case you can start by getting insurance where you are now (try to get a company that also does business in CA, but that's not mandatory).
If you have recently bought a car out of state and then register it in CA, CA will assess you CA sales (use) tax. Sales tax in CA is location dependent and uses your address's zipcode to determine the rate.

They can also be a PIA if its a new car and it is not CA Smog Level certified, although this is rare most as cars sold in the US are CA certified, since it's easier to have a single supply chain than multiples.
Big Dog
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Re: Moving to CA, Car Buying Feedback

Post by Big Dog »

bombcar wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 11:19 pm Some people do some strange trickery that I don't quite get the details of, where they live in CA for decades but all their cars are registered in South Dakota.

There may be minimum "cooldown" periods, but since you are not YET a CA resident, you should be able to buy a car now and drive it over there (if that's something you want to do).

Otherwise you should be able to find a dealer in CA willing to do all the paperwork for when you arrive. Insurance can be turned around in day. I assume you have a driver license, in which case you can start by getting insurance where you are now (try to get a company that also does business in CA, but that's not mandatory).
South Dakota allows non-residents to register cars in their state. However, CA has very strict rules about registering cars in teh state so maintaining a SD registration for any length of time is a no-no in CA.
vested1
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Re: Moving to CA, Car Buying Feedback

Post by vested1 »

Big Dog wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 11:35 pm If you purchase a car in your home state, you may be subject to local sales tax. When you arrive in CA to register the car at your new home, CA will charge you a Use tax (in lieu of a sales tax). Thus, you could be paying tax 2x. Prolly better to wait until you land in CA. Insurance can be added in a day. Plus, CA used cars tend to have less rust than those in the NE.
It may depend on the OP's current state of residence. There is a $500 cap on sales tax for vehicles in South Carolina. From my own research I found that it costs about $1,000 to ship a car from west coast to east coast, but it may be cheaper in the other direction.

We bought a new car in CA before moving to SC and paid nearly $3,000 in sales tax. There is a $250 transfer fee to register an out of state car in SC, and we paid around $800 property tax on the new car in SC before we were able to register it. Property taxes on vehicles are assessed every year in SC. Only real estate is subject to property tax in CA.

I would look up the DMV regulations and tax treatment in the OP's current state and in California first before making a decision in the OP's case. They may save some money by doing so.
Topic Author
N194A
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Re: Moving to CA, Car Buying Feedback

Post by N194A »

It looks like CA will charge a sales tax but will credit the previous state’s sales tax. Not sure how that works exactly and if it covers any other fees. (Probably not).

Another question, my thinking is I’ll buy the car before changing to a CA drivers license. Is this going to be an issue?

Thanks for the additional considerations, keep them coming and I’ll keep doing my research.
Topic Author
N194A
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Re: Moving to CA, Car Buying Feedback

Post by N194A »

vested1 wrote: Mon May 29, 2023 6:22 am
Big Dog wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 11:35 pm If you purchase a car in your home state, you may be subject to local sales tax. When you arrive in CA to register the car at your new home, CA will charge you a Use tax (in lieu of a sales tax). Thus, you could be paying tax 2x. Prolly better to wait until you land in CA. Insurance can be added in a day. Plus, CA used cars tend to have less rust than those in the NE.
It may depend on the OP's current state of residence. There is a $500 cap on sales tax for vehicles in South Carolina. From my own research I found that it costs about $1,000 to ship a car from west coast to east coast, but it may be cheaper in the other direction.

We bought a new car in CA before moving to SC and paid nearly $3,000 in sales tax. There is a $250 transfer fee to register an out of state car in SC, and we paid around $800 property tax on the new car in SC before we were able to register it. Property taxes on vehicles are assessed every year in SC. Only real estate is subject to property tax in CA.

I would look up the DMV regulations and tax treatment in the OP's current state and in California first before making a decision in the OP's case. They may save some money by doing so.
My current location is fairly expensive. Then there’s the parking, or lack of. Island living ain’t easy.
bessonguy
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Re: Moving to CA, Car Buying Feedback

Post by bessonguy »

I purchased a car soon after moving to a new state. I had not yet changed my driver's license to the new state so the insurance company wanted to charge me more. (a high risk pool). A couple days later when I got a new license they put me on the normal, quoted rate.

Purchasing was no problem for me. The only potential issue I could think of is if you are living in a hotel and don't have an address yet. No idea what to do there.
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Watty
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Re: Moving to CA, Car Buying Feedback

Post by Watty »

N194A wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 9:45 pm Appreciate any thoughts on the subject.
A couple of things;

1) When I moved cross country the order that I did things mattered since until I had a permanent address that complicated getting a drivers licenses in the new state and buying a car since the car registration and sales tax varied by the county where I lived. Getting your car insurance also depends on your address. I was doing a corporate relocation and buying a house so I was living in a hotel for a couple of weeks until the house sale closed so for a while I did not have a permanent address which complicated things. I had a P.O. box at some place like a USP store and as I recall I for some of the things I was able to have a different mailing address so I could use the address of the house I was buying as where I lived. There are likely ways to work around the requirements but it would be good to get your new place to live as soon as possible since that will make everything else easier to do once you have a permanent address.

If you can get your new address first that will also mean that you will not need to do all the address change paperwork a month later.

2) Be sure to get insurance quotes before you select the car to buy since the cost for different models that seem similar may vary by more than you might expect. Since you do not have car insurance now your car insurance may be expensive since for the first few years since you do not have a claims history that the insurance companies can look at to help set your rates. People who have returned from living overseas have posted that they were needing to pay car insurance similar to what a teenage driver pays since they did not have any driving history that the insurance company could look at.

3) There will be time limits which will vary by state but you may only have something like 30 days to get your new state drivers licence. With the new Real ID requirements you will likely need to bring in some combination of things like your paper Social Security card, birth certificate, passport, etc. Check your new states requirements and be prepared for that. During the pandemic you sometimes needed an appointment to go into the DMV in person to get things like drivers licenses so check to see if you still need an appointment to apply for a drivers licence.

4) I once did a move like this with different states where I relocated across country and bought a car. One problem I ran into was I was paying cash for the car and the dealership had a rule where they would not accept any out of state checks so I had to figure out how to get the money into a form they would accept. You may need to figure out how you can wire the money to the dealership even for a downpayment if you are getting a car loan.

5) The car dealership will also be concerned about identity theft and making sure that you are who you say you are and not some scammer trying to get the car. A different time when I was buying a car they had a service from a credit bureau where the had several obscure questions to ask you to verify your identity. These were really obscure like one was asking if I had once lived on 103rd, 105th, or 107th street and I answered "none of the above " since I did not recognize any of them. Later I realized they were asking about an apartment I had lived in for about 6 months over 20 years before. I failed the challenge questions. To work around that the next day I needed to come back with my passport for additional identification to finish the paperwork but oddly they let me take the car. If you have one it would be good to take your passport with you when car shopping.
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Watty
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Re: Moving to CA, Car Buying Feedback

Post by Watty »

Some more things. Be sure to check the expirations dates of your credit cards, ATM cards, drivers licence, etc. since you don't want them to expire while you are in the middle of your move.

It would also be good to take plenty of paper checks with you. Even if you do not use paper checks much now they will still be handy for things like setting up utility deposits, opening new checking accounts, etc. In one of my moves I flew into a city to find an apartment and when I wrote my first check I realized that it was the last check in my checkbook. :oops:

For some things that did not take credit cards I had to get cash from an ATM and then buy money orders at a grocery store for some things like utility deposits. That was a long time ago so there may be better ways to handle it now but it would not be a bad idea to have plenty of paper checks with you.
av111
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Re: Moving to CA, Car Buying Feedback

Post by av111 »

N194A wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 9:45 pm I’m trying to understand if I can buy a car and insurance in CA without a state residence and pickup my car when I get there. Not sure if this is a straightforward process or not.
Why can you not wait until you have relocated and found a home
AV111
Topic Author
N194A
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Re: Moving to CA, Car Buying Feedback

Post by N194A »

Watty wrote: Mon May 29, 2023 9:18 am
N194A wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 9:45 pm Appreciate any thoughts on the subject.
A couple of things;

1) When I moved cross country the order that I did things mattered since until I had a permanent address that complicated getting a drivers licenses in the new state and buying a car since the car registration and sales tax varied by the county where I lived. Getting your car insurance also depends on your address. I was doing a corporate relocation and buying a house so I was living in a hotel for a couple of weeks until the house sale closed so for a while I did not have a permanent address which complicated things. I had a P.O. box at some place like a USP store and as I recall I for some of the things I was able to have a different mailing address so I could use the address of the house I was buying as where I lived. There are likely ways to work around the requirements but it would be good to get your new place to live as soon as possible since that will make everything else easier to do once you have a permanent address.

If you can get your new address first that will also mean that you will not need to do all the address change paperwork a month later.

2) Be sure to get insurance quotes before you select the car to buy since the cost for different models that seem similar may vary by more than you might expect. Since you do not have car insurance now your car insurance may be expensive since for the first few years since you do not have a claims history that the insurance companies can look at to help set your rates. People who have returned from living overseas have posted that they were needing to pay car insurance similar to what a teenage driver pays since they did not have any driving history that the insurance company could look at.

3) There will be time limits which will vary by state but you may only have something like 30 days to get your new state drivers licence. With the new Real ID requirements you will likely need to bring in some combination of things like your paper Social Security card, birth certificate, passport, etc. Check your new states requirements and be prepared for that. During the pandemic you sometimes needed an appointment to go into the DMV in person to get things like drivers licenses so check to see if you still need an appointment to apply for a drivers licence.

4) I once did a move like this with different states where I relocated across country and bought a car. One problem I ran into was I was paying cash for the car and the dealership had a rule where they would not accept any out of state checks so I had to figure out how to get the money into a form they would accept. You may need to figure out how you can wire the money to the dealership even for a downpayment if you are getting a car loan.

5) The car dealership will also be concerned about identity theft and making sure that you are who you say you are and not some scammer trying to get the car. A different time when I was buying a car they had a service from a credit bureau where the had several obscure questions to ask you to verify your identity. These were really obscure like one was asking if I had once lived on 103rd, 105th, or 107th street and I answered "none of the above " since I did not recognize any of them. Later I realized they were asking about an apartment I had lived in for about 6 months over 20 years before. I failed the challenge questions. To work around that the next day I needed to come back with my passport for additional identification to finish the paperwork but oddly they let me take the car. If you have one it would be good to take your passport with you when car shopping.
Good stuff there and the subsequent post.

Mine is a corporate relocation, but I’m waiting to see the details. I’m doing my discovery and developing scenarios, and once I have the relocation package, I can make an actual plan. I was hoping to get ahead on a car purchase but it looks dependent on CA residency.
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quantAndHold
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Re: Moving to CA, Car Buying Feedback

Post by quantAndHold »

N194A wrote: Mon May 29, 2023 7:00 am It looks like CA will charge a sales tax but will credit the previous state’s sales tax. Not sure how that works exactly and if it covers any other fees. (Probably not).

Another question, my thinking is I’ll buy the car before changing to a CA drivers license. Is this going to be an issue?

Thanks for the additional considerations, keep them coming and I’ll keep doing my research.
If you buy out of state, just bring all the paperwork you get when you go to register the car. They’ll get the sales tax from that. Also, you need to make sure the car passes California emissions, or you will not be able to register it. Most cars do, but there are still a handful that don’t.

We were able to buy in Oregon, tell them we were moving to California, and not register the vehicle until we got to CA. In our case, we drove it around unregistered for two months. Not that I’m recommending that, but when we got to CA, they just back dated the registration to when we bought the vehicle.

The main complication, no matter when and where you buy the car, is you’ll need a California address for the registration. You might ask the dealer ahead of time what to do about the lack of a drivers license. In our case, the CA DMV was okay with us, but we were changing our licenses at the same time. Not sure what a dealer would do.
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Watty
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Re: Moving to CA, Car Buying Feedback

Post by Watty »

N194A wrote: Mon May 29, 2023 10:13 am Mine is a corporate relocation, but I’m waiting to see the details.
If you will be selling and buying a house then one thing I did was to give my real estate agents copies of the section of the relocation agreement which specified which expenses the company would pay. That way the contracts could be written up to maximize the expenses the company would pay and minimize the expenses they would not pay. Part of that was to have the contracts use the same terms that the relocation agreement used. That saved me a lot of money.
RetiredAL
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Re: Moving to CA, Car Buying Feedback

Post by RetiredAL »

N194A wrote: Mon May 29, 2023 10:13 am I was hoping to get ahead on a car purchase but it looks dependent on CA residency.
CA dealer can sell to anyone from anywhere. But the dealer is required to collect all fees and register it with the DMV. Should not be an issue moving into the state, but someone visiting who has to buy a replacement, they will be stuck with a CA registration be able to drive it off the lot.

CA expects someone arriving to get a CA DL and register their vehicle quickly, 30 days I believe. This was a problem for our summer interns and they generally ignored it as being on a temporary assignment.
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