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We are moving to Charleston from NJ in mid-Sept. We need a new car and did not know if we should buy before or after we move to SC. I vaguely recall reading a post about car taxes, but can't seem to find the thread.
You will have to pay car taxes each year in order to register your vehicle, but the sales tax you pay when the vehicle is purchased is 5% of the purchase price with a cap of $300, regardless of how expensive the vehicle is. If the sales tax is higher where you currently live then you should wait until you move to South Carolina.
Bottom line is it is better to not be driving a fancy new car here. Besides, driving is dangerous here with the long narrow single lane roads without breakdown lanes.... and swamps to either side of them sometimes (with literally nowhere to pull over)..... and people speeding by. Save your money and get a used car.
Waccamatt is right...most states don't have a cap on the sales tax like SC does, so if you are getting something that would be more than $300 where you live now, then buy it here. Also, you might want to check edmunds.com to find the "true market value" of your car. You can get cars cheaper in certain areas b/c of the market value. We drove to Orangeburg (a little over an hour from Charleston) to get our car b/c they offered us an awesome deal over the internet. The dealerships here wouldn't even come close to that.
Our personal property tax is higher here than what I was paying in VA, but you're going to have to pay that each year in SC no matter what if you move here and get tags here, so that won't really matter.
I agree that driving here can be crazy (there are drivers from all over the place since residents have moved from all over and everyone drives differently...) but thats no reason to not get the car that you want. Plenty of people live here and drive "fancy new cars." (Just maybe be prepared to replace a windshield every now and then...because if you commute, flying rocks are inevitable on 26!)
I wanted to add car insurance covers your broken/cracked windows... That's a SC perk.
And yes there are plenty of new, nice, expensive cars.... I just bought one myself and find driving very easy here! But I have lived in Key West, Miami, Williamsburg, VA, New Jersey so I am use to all types of driving.
Bottom line is it is better to not be driving a fancy new car here. Besides, driving is dangerous here with the long narrow single lane roads without breakdown lanes.... and swamps to either side of them sometimes (with literally nowhere to pull over)..... and people speeding by. Save your money and get a used car.
No offense, but that is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read. Auto "accidents" occur everywhere.
Yes, the sales taxes are cheaper. The yearly personal property taxes are going to be applicable once you register in SC so it doesn't really matter if you buy now or later. If you buy prior to moving, plan on having to make a couple of trips to the DMV once you get here to register in SC. If you buy after you arrive, the car dealer takes care of all that stuff for you and then they mail you your registration.
Other than Ford & Chevy, there are maybe two dealerships of all other makes. This reduces competition and the cars can be slightly more expensive.
I agree with Emily. Driving IS dangerous here! Single lane roads with no shoulder, the rain ditches, people passing you on double yellow lines. I drove out to Cottageville on 17A earlier tonight and was scared the whole way. There's literally 6 inches of shoulder on each side of the road. I actually said to my husband, what the hell would anyone do if they broke down out here? You can't pull over because there's a 3 foot ditch on each side of the road. You can't get out and walk for help because there's no shoulder. It's very dangerous.
Let's see... bad drivers in Charleston. Yes this is true. I guess it's just plain hard to avoid poor driving conditions with the amount of vehicles on the road. Drivers in Charleston are as diverse as those who now call this home. Some learned to drive in Ohio, some in New Jersey, some in San Diego, some have never driven before because they lived in New York City, and sadly some recieved very little training in Mexico before being issued a North Carolina driver's license. The rural roads around here were built when they expected 4 or 5 cars A DAY to pass by. No one expected our part of the world to become so popular. Even with all the complaints you see listed on these forums about the Lowcountry, people just seem to keep coming.
Prices historically have been slightly higher in Charleston than in other parts of the State. I think the prices have started to even out somewhat with the advent of internet shopping. That is the best place to shop around. Compare prices and see if the sales tax break outweighs any price difference.
Buy the car here. You won't have to transfer plates and SC caps the taxes at $300. Enough said.
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