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I saw that you were confused on the tax issue. Just because you buy it in Colorado you will not pay Colorado taxes. You will pay Idaho taxes to the dealer you buy it from. The tax rate is dependent on the County you live in. So yes you only pay Idaho sales tax.
We just bought a vehicle in Oregon and went through the same situation. It is not that bad. You contact your local DMV and find out the vehicle tax rate then relay that information to the dealership and they charge you that tax. Once you inform the dealer of the tax you need to be charged for Idaho let them handle the rest of the work, it's their job. Any bigger dealer deals with out of state buyers on a daily basis.
Since you do not live in Colorado you can not register the vehicle there.
I've bought a couple vehicles from out of state but not because they're cheaper, it was availability of the specific vehicles. I cannot believe if you're looking for a generic vehicle you cannot get a good deal in Boise. Up to you but the nuisance factor is high and a problem with a dealer out of state screws you unless the dealer is saintly.
Thanks for all the replies. I am getting close to buying the car in Denver. Here are a few remaining comments/replies to earlier posts.
First, I am buying a new car, so any issues with used cars are a non-issue. Second, I am buying from an car dealer that I know of through reputation, so am not too worried about any shady deals.
I asked the local Boise dealers if they could match the prices, and they weren't even willing to try. Here are the quotes I got :
Dealers in Seattle
$25,000 + $200 doc fees (close to $25200 is what I remember).
Flight to Denver $100.
So, based on this limited experience, it seems that Boise dealers simply do not have the manufacturers incentives to be able to offer much below invoice prices.
And I don't have the salary to justify paying $1500 more!
I'm sure they get the incentives. Seattle and Denver probably have three times the Subaru dealerships, dealers compete for customers, driving down prices. In Boise you have a smaller population and you're hundreds of miles from a "big city". Most people aren't going to take the time or trouble to travel out of state. Bottom line, they can get away with higher prices.
Having lived in Seattle, I can tell you there are at least 10 Subaru dealers within easy driving distance. Here, there's one in Boise and one in Nampa. So there's less motivation for them to deal.
We just bought a 2010 4runner from CA. Not only was this car (with the particular things we wanted) not really available here, it was $7,000 cheaper to buy in CA vs. dealerships closer.
The Toyota dealership in CA tried to get us to pay CA sales tax. They said it was illegal to sell without paying it. Yeah right. Don't let them tell you this. We refused b/c CA sales tax is 10% vs. Idaho's 6%. This is how the tax works. If you take possession of the car in Colorado, you WILL have to pay sales tax (most likely...I've heard of the occasional dealership letting it slide, but really legally you pay sales tax where you take possession of the car.) However, when you go to register in ID, it will say on the bill of sale that you paid the tax, and you will get credit for paying that amount.
Here's where it gets tricky. If CO sales tax is less (4% vs. 6%), you will owe the 2% difference to the DMV. If CO sales tax is MORE (10% vs. 6%) you will get credit for the 6% but will NOT get a refund of the extra 4% you paid.
This is why we refused to pay CA tax...we were going to pay 10% tax (about $3800), and then not have to pay in Idaho. We would only get credit for about $2400 in Idaho though (the 6% owed), and eat the extra $1400.
The only way you can get around this is by having the car shipped, or have the dealer drive the car to a state line where you meet them and take possession (this actually does happen sometimes). Chances are though you either pay CO tax (which is not a big deal if it is equal to or less than ID tax) or ship the car. We shipped our car, it cost about $400 and got here the next day. $400 was worth it for the $1600 tax savings and $7000 overall savings.
Anyway, these are things to find out and negotiate with the dealer prior to signing anything. It took us 3 weeks to have Toyota lawyers finally realize if we were shipping the car we didn't have to pay CA sales tax. Maybe it's just CA and their budget crisis, but it took a lot of ultimatums and threats of walking away before they gave in.
Registering and paying tax was easy. Just make sure you have title and bill of sale.
I feel bad I can't support local dealerships, but I refuse to do so at a cost of $7000.
Also, Denver to Boise is a drive we do a lot (my parents live there). It can be fine, or terrible. Just check the weather. If it's snowy/windy, I-80 can close and you get stranded between Green River and Cheyenne. I-70/I-15 is the prettier drive but goes through canyons and if it's icy can be a little treacherous. If weather's ok it's not a bad drive...on the I-70 route SLC is close to half way and a nice break point.
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Any bigger dealer deals with out of state buyers on a daily basis.
