buy car b4 or after move to LA? (sales, insurance)

[mnr3]

will be headed to metro nola after 1st of year and wondering whether to buy a car here in cleveland and deal with the hassle of tag transfer and taxes, etc. or to wait and buy in LA. I know orleans has high sales tax--tho. cleveland is at 7.5%--but not much about the other parishes and all the other fees for transfers and such. thanks
fwiw, the sales price of new or slightly used car to be around 20k

[WestbankNOLA]

I may be wrong, but it might be better to buy it here. If you buy in Cleveland it seems like you would have to pay 7.5% there then be taxed for 9% once you get to Louisiana, whereas if you bought it here you'd only have to pay tax once.

It depends on whether or not you have to pay taxes at the time of purchase or at time of registration in Cleveland.

[mnr3]

Originally Posted by WestbankNOLA

I may be wrong, but it might be better to buy it here. If you buy in Cleveland it seems like you would have to pay 7.5% there then be taxed for 9% once you get to Louisiana, whereas if you bought it here you'd only have to pay tax once.

It depends on whether or not you have to pay taxes at the time of purchase or at time of registration in Cleveland.

that's what I'm trying to figure out. we pay sales tax upon purchase in Cleveland. So in LA, you pay what and when? I recall that registering an out of state car forced you to pay some percent of the value? where would one look this stuff up? thanks in advance.
mr

[WestbankNOLA]

Check out Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles Expresslane

In Louisiana you pay the tax upon registration.

If you transfer a car from out of state you have to pay the same tax based on the value of the car at the time of transfer. If the car is brand new then the tax will go to the sale price of the car.

[sailordave]

Originally Posted by mnr3

will be headed to metro nola after 1st of year and wondering whether to buy a car here in cleveland and deal with the hassle of tag transfer and taxes, etc. or to wait and buy in LA. I know orleans has high sales tax--tho. cleveland is at 7.5%--but not much about the other parishes and all the other fees for transfers and such. thanks
fwiw, the sales price of new or slightly used car to be around 20k

Buy a car AFTER you get to LA. If you buy one in Cleveland and then try to register it in Louisiana you'll have to pay Louisiana sales taxes on the same vehicle.

[justmiinNE]

Also, I dont know what registration is in Ohio, but La is cheap.

[WestbankNOLA]

I didn't know $3,600 to register a new car was cheap.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

LA's taxes are cheap by comparison. When I moved to Miss., I was shocked at how much I had to pay to register my car. In UT, it is the same story, but somewhat lower.

[WestbankNOLA]

When I moved to MS after Katrina, my yearly registration went from $20 to $200 but my insurance went down $1000 a year so it was a trade off. Plus, I only had to pay $10 at initial registration in MS verses almost $4000 in LA

[mnr3]

Originally Posted by WestbankNOLA

When I moved to MS after Katrina, my yearly registration went from $20 to $200 but my insurance went down $1000 a year so it was a trade off. Plus, I only had to pay $10 at initial registration in MS verses almost $4000 in LA

so basically it would seem that the initial registration is high, b/c you pay a sales tax equivalent, but subsequent years are low. So definitely would pay to buy in LA. Just makes it harder to shop! I guess I can wait, though. it would have been nice to have the new car for the x-country trip, esp. b/c my current car has no cargo space (old celica convertible). oh well. thanx all.