403portside

Hi all,

I'm trying to finish paperwork for a 06 C2S cab I'm purchasing from a Porsche dealership in Kansas.

They seem to be charging fees upfront for what will eventually be sales tax + registration in my home state of CA. I was not expecting this. I thought the rule was that I would pay those fees once I register in CA. Furthermore, the fee is listed as a 'lien fee' and the dealer is saying that Porsche requires that the car be registered in this way.

I will clarify this with them tomorrow but does this sound legit to you?

Thanks for your input.

jcnesq

No, it does not sound legit. Are they going to register it in CA for you? If not, something is amiss.

403portside

That's effectively what they are saying. That they have to 'register it for me'. Will verify what's going on tomorrow.

But this is a dealership that sells new Porsche, Mercedes, Land Rover and several other luxury brands so I would be surprised if something was amiss.

RollingArt

Sounds about right for a $60k car.

Tax and license, that's Ca.'s lien on the car.

At least it's money to a good cause, right?

Good luck with your purchase. Your gonna love it.

and of course the pics.



Phil

403portside

Thanks. I agree, the amount is right but the process doesn't seem to be. Have never heard of an out of state dealer charging sales tax on behalf of another state (or in this case, the lienholder which is Porsche financial)

Mechanic

FL dealers dealers the same thing. It's based on a legal analysis that the out-of-state-dealer is effectively doing business (via the Internet, advertising, etc.) in the new owner's resident state, and thus the burden is on the selling dealer to collect the resident state's sales taxes, fees, etc., at the time of the sale or face liability for them if they go unpaid by the buyer.

CarlJ

Ditto to what the others are saying. It is state dependent. I bought mine in GA, but registered it in TN, and I had to pay my own tax and fees in TN to title it, BUT I know other states that are required to file it for you like you were registering it in the same state regardless of where you will title it.

p-cardriver

I've bought several cars out of state and titled/registered them in MI. The first time we found out after the deal was done without any taxes that the selling dealer MUST collect and remit the sales tax. The MI offices would not allow me to simply write a check. So I had to fedex a check to the dealer in CO and they had to send the money in to MI. This is MI's law.

I suspect CA has something similar. This would prevent you from buying a car, financing it, and then not being able to pay the sales tax or trying to avoid it. So I understand why the lender would care, too.

That said, I would check both the CA DMV rules (no doubt they are on-line) for out of state purchases from a dealer, as well as Porsche Finance's rules, to be sure.

Alfie

Is this a cash transaction, or is there a bank involved? If the dealer is involved in the financing, they may need to provide documentation to the bank of proper registration in order to get funded by the bank. The easiest way for a dealer to minimize the risk of this not happening correctly is to collect the fees(taxes, etc) up front and do the registration themselves. I do it all the time, im surprised though that they couldn't explain it better. If it is a cash deal, it shouldn't matter to them.

Clifton

Same for my out of state purchase. I procured the car in FL and the dealer collected my state registration fees & taxes for me. My tag came in the mail about a month later. Actually saved me a lot of hassle by not having to go to the DMV.

Nugget

This is how it worked when I bought my RS from a dealership in Tennessee. They calculated the TX sales tax that was due and collected that money during the sale. Then they filed the sales tax paperwork to Texas on my behalf with the funds. I'm pretty sure they were required to handle it that way. It makes sense that the law would require this since it makes it a lot harder for someone to cheat their way out of paying sales tax.

soverystout

Bought a VW Tiguan for the wife in PA and we live in DE. PA collected all of the necessary taxes and fees and then had a check cut to the State of Delaware for us to take to the DE DMV for registration. Financed through VW financial.

socalsteve

If you are a AAA member, call them. They will tell you if this is "kosher" or not.

But, if the fee's and taxes match what CA would be charging you and you GET IT IN WRITING that this $$$ is going towards CA State tax and registration, then I think you are ok.

But again, check with AAA or even (if you can stand it) go into a local CA DMV office and ask directly.

Good luck and enjoy the car!

Steve

CHV

Live bout 5 miles from this dealer. They are a top notch outfit, I'd be surprised that they'd pull a fast one, they've been in business a long time and have a great reputation. I am no tax atty though.

What salesman were you dealing w/? You want me to run up there and get some more pics of it?

Chuck
09 911S

Bum

I bought my car in 2007 from TX and the dealership there did not have me pay any tax since there is no state tax in TX. When I went to register my car in CA, since there was no previous tax paid, i had to write a check for the taxable amount of the sales price for state taxes. So unless somethings changed in CA, this was not mandatory by the state.