OCBen

For a minute there I thought New York required you to pay sales tax when you sold a car. But I see that what you meant to say was that you'll only need to pay tax on the net price of the car: the selling price less the trade-in amount. That was mighty generous of the dealer to do that for you. By the way, and you're probably aware of this, but if you wait until June 1st to close the deal you'll be able to realize an additional 1/8% savings in sales tax in New York City. I'm sure your dealer is aware of this too. If not, here's a link that explains it:

http://www.tax.state.ny.us/pdf/2005/st/st05_3_405.pdf

Riad

This is actually pretty common, at least with my experience in the north east.

Speed

OCBen: Thanks for the info. I'm actually getting the car from Beechmont Porsche in Cincinnati on June 1st with temporary OH plates and driving it back to NYC and then registering it myself, so I'll be able to take advantage of the tax reduction.

I also agree with Riad that a lot of dealers will help you in this regard. The same thing happened when I bought my '02 cab from Manhattan Motors and I had a private buyer for my '99 cab. It helps them make the sale and it's good customer relations.

OCBen

You're welcome, Speed. I've never heard of that arrangement out here. I don't know if it's allowed under California sales & use tax. I'm under the impression that the tax must be paid in full regardless of a trade-in. I could be wrong. The dealer sure never mentioned this to me when I was selling my Boxster.

Cincinnati??? ... I'm originally from the Cleveland area. I still recall that comment from Sam Wyche, the former Bengals coach, telling the home fans to behave because "You don't live in Cleveland, you live in Cincinnati." We Browns fans still get a kick out of that.