What is the best state (on the E. coast) to by a vehicle?

[AKcharger]

We're going to be flying down to the lower 48 next year to buy a truck and trailer my '70 back to Alaska. Since I'm planning to spend  $25-35K taxes and such can add up fast! Since I have almost the whole eastern seaboard to choose from, what is the best place/state to purchase a vehicle...oh and 26 foot enclosed trailer too.

Plan
- Fly to lower 48 ( probably BWI or Newark)
- Pick up car from storage in Shanandoah PA
- Drive Charger around looking for truck, 2006-2007 Dodge 2500 w/5.9 diesel is our target
- Drive around new truck and charger looking for trailer
- Drive truck with trailer/car (and parts!) back to Alaska


Thanks
AK

[TeeWJay426]

Generally speaking, the taxes you pay are based upon the state in which you will register the vehicle.... where you buy it won't matter. Might want to research which ones will issue you a temporary registration to get it back to Alaska, though.

[bakerhillpins]

What he said about the taxes... its based upon the state of registration. As far as the temp tags go, that is going to be an Alaskan issue. Check with your DMV or whoever would normally issue you tags for info. Here in NH (AK is probably different) the town govt issues tags, so off we went and explained the situation, filled out the paperwork, paid the fees and were given a tag to drive the vehicle back with. Check with them asap about the requirements for temp tags because it may require you to have special info. We had to prove we were buying a vehicle by supplying a contract and VIN. Be careful with borrowing dealer tags from a friend or just using one off of your existing vehicles. The fines can be steep if you get caught and sometimes your insurance carrier will not cover you in case of loss.

As for where to buy: We buy all our cars out of the Metro DC area. We have family that lives in Annapolis Md so its easy for us to do so while on vacation. There is LOTS of competition there and there are several dealers that actually have online sales depts so you can negotiate a sale from home and go pick it up when you are there. Rather than being forced into buying off the lot. We bought online from Koons http://www.koons.com/index.htm and it was super easy. Even the bickering part. The biggest problem was paying for it. They said we needed to be there on a business day to pay. We paid with cash (no bank loan) and told them this but they insisted we be there on a business day. When we plunked down the spots it took them a while to wrap their head around the fact that there wasn't any lien paperwork to be filed. The Lien stuff needed to be called in apparently, So we didn't actually need to be there on a business day.

Good luck

[edit]: guess if you are buying new the online sales are probably easier since you don't need to worry about condition.

[68X426]

Remember to check with your insurance company about temporary coverage with the purchases. Not all insurers automatically cover you as the driver, or another driver, or all new vehicles, immediately. Just run it by the insurer early, one less thing to do at purchase time.

Sorry I can't help on the east coast questions.

[Aero426]

Your plan seems like an awful lot of effort and expense to get the car back.   Since you will have to pay for fuel anyway, why not look at having the car and parts shipped.   Even if you flew in to supervise the loading, it would seem like less hassle. 

[AKcharger]

Good info guys thanks...especially about the on-line deals, I'll have to give them a try

Aero 426 fair question: My 1st plan was to ship (about $2500) but sticking point is the 4 speed tranny and '72 fender I need to ship up as well...all the shipping companys I checked with say car can ONLY be shipped with original installed equipment, NO extras (I've shipped 3 cars before same deal). In addition I was going to pick up some new rear 1/4's for it's next rostoration so buying a trailer makes sense. Plus car trailers are about 1/3 less expensive down there and truck is about 15-20% less.

any other tips/opinions appreciated!

[Aero426]

Good info guys thanks...especially about the on-line deals, I'll have to give them a try

Aero 426 fair question: My 1st plan was to ship (about $2500) but sticking point is the 4 speed tranny and '72 fender I need to ship up as well...all the shipping companys I checked with say car can ONLY be shipped with original installed equipment, NO extras (I've shipped 3 cars before same deal). In addition I was going to pick up some new rear 1/4's for it's next rostoration so buying a trailer makes sense. Plus car trailers are about 1/3 less expensive down there and truck is about 15-20% less.

any other tips/opinions appreciated!

As to shipping the car, have you checked on Moparts.com as there is a separate car transport forum which puts people together.  I am sure you could find someone to handle the whole thing in one shot.   Might cost more, but you'd get it all.   

If you go with a high volume carrier that won't handle the parts, crate the tranny and ship it.   The trans and the fender could likely go by Greyhound bus. 

[mikepmcs]

Good info guys thanks...especially about the on-line deals, I'll have to give them a try

Aero 426 fair question: My 1st plan was to ship (about $2500) but sticking point is the 4 speed tranny and '72 fender I need to ship up as well...all the shipping companys I checked with say car can ONLY be shipped with original installed equipment, NO extras (I've shipped 3 cars before same deal). In addition I was going to pick up some new rear 1/4's for it's next rostoration so buying a trailer makes sense. Plus car trailers are about 1/3 less expensive down there and truck is about 15-20% less.

any other tips/opinions appreciated!

Are you a member of USAA.  They will do everything for you if you ask them to.  True you can sometimes get a better deal if you hit a dealer at the right time but no hassles with USAA and you basically take the vehicle, they cut the check to them, etc....
As far as taxes go.  I could buy a vehicle in another state and would not pay taxes until I registered it in Maine, so I'm not to sure I agree with the tax statements made in some previous posts.
Another thing to consider is this.  4 wheel drive or 2 wheel drive?  If you buy a 4wheel drive in the northeast it will cost you more.  If you buy a 4 wheel drive in say Florida, it will most likely be less.
Most dealers issue you a temp plate for a period of 14 days or more, so that should not be an issue. 

[bakerhillpins]

As far as taxes go.  I could buy a vehicle in another state and would not pay taxes until I registered it in Maine, so I'm not to sure I agree with the tax statements made in some previous posts.

True, the point being that the state that you try to register it in will have certain requirements before they allow you to register and pay the ideally lesser tax. One of which might be residency. Then you need to be certain that your insurance is valid for that state. Then there are states that charge tax to register a vehicle already registered in another state as would be the case if he then tried to move it to Alaska reg. I seem to recall VT charging tax (or something extra) to do this. Or maybe that was CA with an environmental impact tax... anyway.

Another thing to consider is this.  4 wheel drive or 2 wheel drive?  If you buy a 4wheel drive in the northeast it will cost you more.  If you buy a 4 wheel drive in say Florida, it will most likely be less.

Really? 2 good friends who moved from NY/PA to NC/FL found that they had a more difficult time finding a 4wd vehicle. One had to special order to get what he wanted. This was of course over 15 yrs ago though so things have changed a bunch from then.

[hemi68charger]

Chief..
Go to www.dodgetalk.com

Those guys are mainly into the later model trucks, Durangos, Chargers, and such. You might get someone over there to pipe in or even find a truck/trailer in your general area where the Chargers at.....

Troy

[71ChallengeHer]

Bill, PA sales tax is 6% . I think you can get a temp transport tag to drive it back.  http://www.runkles.com/contact.asp I can check around here for you for some trucks. If you want ?  http://www.baughermotors.net/index.htm?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=navclient&gfns=1&q=Baugher+Motors I deal with this dealership alot.  

[AKcharger]

More good info!

Since I have the luxery of time I'll check out the car shippers. Problem is parts shipping. I've looked into shipping a hood once, $1100    So my real problem is 2 1/4 pnls, one fender and a 4 speed to ship.

Aero, normally a good suggestion about grayhound...but they don't drive up to alaska 



rlushia- your mailbox is full

[stripedelete]

Hang the parts in the lower 48 and then ship it.  Cheaper than a truck?