It's been a while since I've bought a car that wasn't owned by a dealership.

How do the fees and taxes and crap get figured by California?

From what I can tell... if you're not buying from a dealership they bend you over with no lube. 10ish% plus fees and reg and all that crap... $15,000 car becomes a $17,500 car. At which point you're instantly upside down in the car. Makes no sense to me.

Anyone fill me in? I haven't bought a private sale vehicle in like 10 plus years.

 

Doesn't matter where you buy, tax and license are the same. The difference is the paperwork.

 

^what he said.

 

wut?

 

This is how I usually figure out what I am going to end up paying in taxes/fees. Only difference in private party and dealership, is that dealers can charge a fee for doing the paperwork.

Vehicle Registration Fee Calculator

 

the tax rate depends on your county.

 

They want vins and all that crap and I don't have or want to put those in.

 

If you want a close estimate this is your best bet. or just find your local tax rate

 

You can allways put a lower price when you Register your car with DMV that way it helps with the tax price.

 

Just like smog, you don't post this information.

 

your in the santa cruz county right? it should be around 8% of what the car cost you.

http://www.boe.ca.gov/pdf/pub71.pdf

 

This is what I did when I bought a car last year. As far as the DMV was concerned, my car only cost me $800

 

Barely... county line is my drive way. LOL!


It's not as bad as I thought. I'm really not to worried about it at this point. I'll buy the car regardless of taxes. LOL. Just got to go check it out and have a nice sit down with the wife.

 

You pay your county's sales tax on the purchase price of the vehicle, plus a small fee to transfer the title. I forget what the fee is but it's easy to find. If registration is due, or up soon - you also pay that. You will also need a smog, and it is the SELLER'S responsibility to smog the vehicle.

When ever I go to purchase a used car, I bring the printed DMV page with me because I am tired of the recurring conversation about who smogs the vehicle. If the vehicle is smogged already (good for 90 days) it's already in the system, and you do not need the paperwork.

Also, if you are buying it in the Bay and you end up needing to smog it, smog it in SC because it's easier/cheaper than here in the metro areas. You cannot register a car in San Mateo with a smog done in Santa Cruz, for example, but it works the other way round.

You should have a Bill of Sale but it's not necessary. Don't make any mistakes on the title otherwise you will have to fill out a few more annoying forms.

If you say a car was a gift, they will asses it's KBB value and tax you based on that. So that doesn't work anymore.

All of this is far easier at AAA if you are a member! However you cannot handle an out-of-state transaction at AAA (e.g., buying a car out of state and registering it here).

 

Awesome thanks. It's an instate club. I-club car.

That's part of why the timing looks good on this as I just smoked my wagon last week so I'd have 90 days to sell it with the current smog.

It's a lame tax but I'd rather pay it than get busted by the feds. I've already been slammed by the IRS once for a mistake I made on taxes. That sucked. Don't want to do that again.

BI purchased a car from a buddy of mine and it went in as $500. No problems there as we both put the same number down... he was with me at DMV doing the transfer and registering a 64 Continental that he bought with the cash I gave him for the caddy. LOL.

Can't remember what I paid but it wasn't much. Yeah old cars! My insurance on that bad boy is like $300 a year for full coverage.