MalaysianMenace

I'm a Washington state resident and recently purchased my new 2008 Corvette from California.

As I understand, new cars can be released from dealerships with a bill of origin and a release of interest forms completed. Instead, what happened to me was the dealership I purchased from registered and titled my car in California, charging me $400.

When I got back to Washington state, I received California plates in the mail with tabs good for a year. By WA law, I needed to register my car with WA. This costed me another $250; but worse yet - the vehicle can only be registered as used as it had already been titled in CA.

I'm thinking of complaining to the CA dealership for incorrect information on their part. I'm thinking I have a decent lawsuit case against them.

Does anyone have similar experiences?

nmerhaut

Before you consider suing, try talking to the dealership or owner and document everything that was said. What do you have in writing? If you sue you might have to find a CA. lawyer. Always an expensive deal when you sue. Crummy situation but try to resolve on your own first. My 2 cents/

HummelS

Did you purchase the car there or have it drop-shipped from CA to your home? Sounds like a back-office screw-up to me. I'd give them a call & get it straightened out. (btw, the $400 might be their normal "doc fee" - it's not uncommon.)

I don't think it's lawyer time yet, based on what you posted.

MalaysianMenace

I bought the car at the dealership and drove it off the lot. I heard of other dealerships claiming they needed to drive cars to the WA border to complete the sale - but I always desmissed this as the dealer trying to collect more money.

Looking at the bill of sale - I did pay for California registration and titling. Seeing as I signed it; I don't have much of a case apart from documenting conversations with sales and business representatives of the dealership claiming that I needed to register in CA.

Thanks for the input all - I think it was a back office screw up. During the couple weeks after the sale, they transfered my paperwork to several people (due to their vacations etc.).

Worst part is that it's been impossible trying to contact any party at the dealership with authority. Left voicemails for the Sales manager and Business manager several times, haven't heard back and it's been a couple days.

DrivnXcitment

Well it is the holiday season. Give them a couple of days to get back to work then re-attack. I bought my 05 new from Illinois, while I was on det in Nevada, while living in California, but I registered the car in Florida. Complicated enough? Well it wasn't that bad. Talk to the dealership and if the are worth a damn then they will help you fix the problem. What I did was told the dealership how much FL sales tax was and paid it to the dealership. The dealership (in Illinois) paid the state of FL, and gave me a standard 7 day plate so I had time to get all my affairs in order to get a FL plate.

Good luck and I hope they didn't screw you.

kwickag

Ask for the $400 back. They should give it to you. Other than that there isn't much that can be done. The MSO has been given to California and I don't think you can get it back to give to Washington. Having it registered in Washington as used doesn't make any difference anyway, the car is worth the same. I'm curious why they didn't charge California sales tax since they titled it there.

RicK T

Calif registration would cost a lot more than $400, on the order of around $2000, depending on what you paid for the car. I'm thinking the $400 is some kind of doc fee. Check your paperwork, the real Calif registration amount must show someplace. I can't imagine how the dealer could get away with only the $400.

apriliacati

How can you get a California title if you live in Washington?

Does the title have your address on it?

They should have given you a Certificate of origin. Then you title it in your state.

Sounds like someone made a mistake.

VET4LES

The California registration fee is around $400 a year. The first year you pay the sales tax also. That's around $4000 in addition to the $400. I remember Carl from Boardwalk Chevrolet stating some time ago something about this subject. It had something to do with out of state buyer's and the registration fee. I don't remember the details.

RicK T

Well, that is true. When you take delivery from the dealer, in Calif, you/they are obligated to pay the Calif sales tax and DMV fees. To avoid that, the dealer has to somehow arrange delivery outside Calif. Usually, that is done by having the car transported to your state.

Boardwalk Chev posted about this subject several months ago. Transporting the car is what they offer to arrange for their Oregon and Washington customers. The transport fee to Portland is $600+.

RicK T

Isn't the registration still about 2% of the value?

Maui

I bought mine in Ca from a private party. I paid no Ca tax and Oregon has no sales tax. I just drove it home and registered it in Oregon.

RicK T

Yup, private party isn't a problem.

VET4LES

The OP bought a new car that had never been registered. Your private party car had a CA registration.

No sales tax in Oregon is a good deal for CA motorhome owners. They register it with a friend in Oregon and don't pay any CA taxes. When they get caught it's a big penalty.

RicK T

Vancouver, Washington residents (just across the river from Portland) do the same thing with their cars. Washington State Police go through neighborhoods looking for Oregon plates then send a nice letter to the owners to pay up and get Washington plates.

z06Bigbird

You obviously have never been involved in a lawsuit. In a case like this, you will spend $4,000 to $6,000, and judge will most likely tell you to go to arbitration. Then you spend another $3,000.

Lawsuits are hell for both parties, multiple depositions by plaintiff attorney and defendant attorney. Cross examination, badgering by attorneys, etc. Case will go on for 6 to 12 months. In the meantime, hope you have a good garage where you can store your Vette. You will need to drive it even though you will not have tags. Will your ins cover you if you do not have documented proof of ownership?

My advice: Resolve it in person. Less expensive; both parties come out with a win-win situation.

MalaysianMenace

My thoughts exactly. CA title that came a few weeks later had my WA address. You can register a car in CA, and get a CA license plate while living in another state apparently.

MalaysianMenace

Thanks for the insight and advice. I have a couple of things going for me though. I have valid plates and registration in both CA and WA now, and my employers gives me a great legal program (in addition to the GM Supplier discount used in purchasing the Vet ; ) But point well taken - I'll keep up the charm and negotiation with the dealer.

MalaysianMenace

I forgot to mention in my original post that I have no problem with sales tax. I paid 8% sales tax in CA, and sales tax in WA is 9% - so I just had to pay the 1% difference when registering my car in WA.

I wonder, now that I have two valid license plates with tabs - I wonder what CA plates would fetch on the black market. $400 If it weren't illegal I'd be all over the C6 parts for sale section

CoyoteRed

What address did they use? Here in GA one would have to have a legal residence here for a dealer to title a vehicle to anyone. So if you have no legal CA residence then they must have used their own address to be able to title the car. That means should you keep the car till it's paid off the title will be sent back to the dealership. I think you do have some sort of case here, just not sure how you need to go about pursuing it. But a car title has to be titled to the owners state of residence in all states that I have even dealt with. You do at the least have some questions that do need answering.