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I am looking to purchase a new car. I reside in Indian Land (Fort Mill) Is there any advantages to buying a car in SC as opposed to NC ? Is there a sales tax difference or any sort of price advantage? Any advice you guys can give or experiences you have had would be of great help in my search. Also any tips on leveraging car salesman? I always find them shady and I'm extremely skeptical of all of them. Thanks!
looking forward to replies regarding this. I am also in the market and must agree, theres something about car salesman that make my skin crawl. Its probably the one industry that I have never had some sort of a inside connection with. Always feel like I am getting had one way or another.
I believe sales tax is cheaper in SC, therefore may be a better way to go, but not certain of this.
Sales tax on a car in SC is capped at $300. Indian Land is unincorporated, so the property tax will be cheaper (you will only pay county and not city taxes).
Charlotte/Meck: You will pay 3% highway use tax (HUT) in lieu of the sales tax. If you buy a 20k car, that's $600. Then, they will send you a tax bill for property tax. If you move to SC shortley thereafter, they prorate the tax.
Here is what recently happened with me:
Lived in Charlotte in April 2007. Bought a used car for $6200 at Satrun of Hickory. Paid $186 HUT in addition to all of the other fees (tags, registration, etc). In June 2007, I moved to SC. Registered the car there, paid $74 property tax, $10 for two year tags (I think). Got a property tax bill from Charlotte for $120 for the car. Had to send them the proof of car being registered in SC and then they prorated the tax to $28.
Overall, it depends on the county, but if your are comparing Meck to either York or Indian land, buying a brand new car should be cheaper in SC.
I think you have to show proof of residence for SC to get the sales tax cap of $300 which one can't do if they live in NC. I bought a car 1 1/2 years ago and I wanted to go this route with a SC Chevy dealer but it didn't seem to me like it would work.
If I buy a car in NC and reside in SC do I pay sales tax for both states or just the state I reside in?
Just the state you reside in for property tax, but you will initially have to pay the 3% HUT in NC OR the regular sales tax (capped at 300) in SC depending on where you buy it. You will not have to pay the initial sales/hut in both states.
Groove...thanx for the advice yesterday. After going to dealers in NC and SC the prices were pretty much the same. There was no advantage to purchasing in 1 state rather than the other. What was weird was I traded in my car signed papers and drove home with an '08 that day! Registration, and insurance transfers are definintly done differently than in NY. When all is said and done though...It was a rather easy experience and I got a great deal! That $300 sales tax cap is nice too! I now just have to figure out what I do with the property tax. I guess I have to go to the tax assesor in Lancaster and pay the difference in values??
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