Buying a vehicle in Washington State (Seattle, Tacoma: sales, insurance, transfer)

[Aussiedude]

G'day all, just stumbled across this great looking forum, I am looking for some info about buying a vehicle (truck) in WA State, specifically:

What is the rate of taxes and other additional costs over and above sticker price you need to budget for when buying a used vehicle in WA?
What ID if any do you need to provide?
Do you have to be a WA resident to buy a vehicle in WA?
Anything else I need to know?

Looks like a great forum, looking forward o hearing from you!

Thanks

[Hemlock140]

You would not have to be a WA resident, but if financing you would have to show proof of insurance or buy some through the dealer. Depending on the city/county your tax could be over 10%. You would also have to pay the license fee if due and transfer fee, probably not more than a hundred or two.

[509]

Originally Posted by Aussiedude

G'day all, just stumbled across this great looking forum, I am looking for some info about buying a vehicle (truck) in WA State, specifically:

What is the rate of taxes and other additional costs over and above sticker price you need to budget for when buying a used vehicle in WA?
What ID if any do you need to provide?
Do you have to be a WA resident to buy a vehicle in WA?
Anything else I need to know?

Looks like a great forum, looking forward o hearing from you!

Thanks

If your looking to buy a vehicle to travel in the states.

Buy it in one of the states without a sales tax. Oregon or Montana. You would save lots of money. Minimum you pay in Washington would be 8.5%.

You also need to license in that state. Not sure about Oregon's license fees.

You also need insurance. Insurance is based on residence location. So a small town will result in much lower insurance rates than in an urban area.

Hope this helps.

[cdelena]

If you are going to license the vehicle in Washington you are going to pay the tax (they may call it a fee instead of sales tax but it is the same). It is much cheaper to buy in Oregon with no sales tax but there is an active Washington Patrol unit that looks for people using Oregon plates in Washington to save money.

[StealthRabbit]

I do believe you are required to have a WA drivers License to TITLE a car in WA. In OREGON you are required to have an insurance policy to get a license plate. (By law you're required to have insurance in all states that I know of, but... WA does not require you to show proof if Insurance to get plates.)

WA is very petty about registration and taxes of vehicles (major source of revenue).

I think you can buy a vehicle in any state and register it in your state of Domicile, you purchase 'transit' permits to go across states enroute to 'home'. (or just take your chances with a non-expired' plate.) Done that MANY times driving vehicles across different states. Winter is good, as you can cover plate up with snow. OR get vehicle very muddy and cover plate with mud. Cars that sell at abandoned vehicle auctions get higher bids if they have current plates, the bums that buy them (me...), seldom register them, they just drive them till the plates expire and park them on the road (after all the last car I bought there cost me a whole $35.00, I'm still driving it several yrs later).

I'd go with MT, probably much less hassle. Lots of retirees use SD as domicile (only 1 night / yr required for residency + it is Income Tax Free) and many purchase / register vehicles in neighboring MT.

[Aussiedude]

G'day all again

Thanks for all the great info, and so quickly, much appreciated! That's interesting about the one night/year in SD to qualify for residency - that was a question I forgot to ask - do you think not being a US citizen and in the country on a 90 day tourist visa would be an impediment or cause complications? Would one need proof of residency such as utility bills, etc to buy a car in other states?
I am also looking at cars in Oklahoma also now, so I guess they have a totally different tax regime to WA.
I would not be looking at financing the car, just a cash purchase, but would obviously need to be able to drive around freely. Last time I rented a car in the US (CA) I used my Aussie driver's license, no worries! Hopefully that will apply elsewhere too, international licenses are a bit of a joke really.

Cheers and beers!

[kanhawk]

I recently bought a car and the sales tax, including local city tax was 8.5% which is typical of most localities in Washington, although you will pay more in sales tax if you buy in Seattle or Tacoma. So, if you buy a used car for $5000 you'll pay about $400 in sales tax. Other costs like license and tag fees, state emissions tests, and title transfer fees will add roughly another $80 or so.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by Aussiedude

G'day all again
...- do you think not being a US citizen and in the country on a 90 day tourist visa would be an impediment or cause complications? Would one need proof of residency such as utility bills, etc to buy a car in other states?...

Here are a couple searches on this subject (and a couple opinions / facts to consider)
Answers.com - Can a non citizen buy a car in us
Buying a Car to Drive in the USA - USATourist Community

Oklahoma - Buying & Selling FAQs - The Paperwork To File At The OK DMV - DMV Guide
Oklahoma Motor Vehicle Information
Montana Title Transfers - MVD Titling & Registration Information Online - DMV Guide
License Plates - MT Dept of Justice

BTW: You can probably get a bargain on a Hail Damaged car in OK. I find TX has some of the best used car prices, and no rust issues. You can always title in a sales-tax free state to avoid TX high sales tax. Sounds like you need to 'buddy-up' with a 'resident' of a sales-tax free state with low license fees. (to get a street addy that they can mail the title to ). Check on some RV forums, as they do this all the time (since they have no street addy). Escapees RV Club – the club for all RVers

Sales taxes in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Do I Have to Pay a Sales Tax for Buying a Car?

Registration and Title Fees By State