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How do you purchase a car from an "away" dealership?

coffeetv

Passed Driver's Ed
I've noticed that some posters on the board have gone to great lengths to get the car and/or deal that they want, including looking halfway across their state or even going to neighboring states to get their car. My question is, how does this work?

I mean, with internet sales and what not these days, I can see how negotiating and buying a car from a distance wouldn't be too hard, but what happens after you close the deal? How do you physically get the car? Who services you for your warranties? What about paperwork and taxes?

I'm still hovering around my local dealerships, but I figure exploring my options wouldn't be a bad thing.
 

NEOHMark

Ready to race!
I've known fellow motorcyclists who've made a vacation out of picking up their new prize. Work out a deal across a large distance, fly into the city to pick it up, and ride it home. It'd be a fun thing to do someday, IMHO.

Paperwork is pretty straightforward - your home state will require some proof of ownership transference. The sales tax should go to your home state, at your local county's rate and it's usually a function of being collected when the car is titled in that county. Warranties are covered by any authorized dealer in the country - they are bound by Mfr agreement to service any car under warranty, regardless of point of purchase.

I don't know that I'd go out of my way to save even $500 or a thousand bucks. My time is worth more than putting that kind of effort into it. But for a fun thing to do and a bit of an improv vacation? I'd be all over that like ants at a picnic. :w00t:
 

coffeetv

Passed Driver's Ed
I've known fellow motorcyclists who've made a vacation out of picking up their new prize. Work out a deal across a large distance, fly into the city to pick it up, and ride it home. It'd be a fun thing to do someday, IMHO.

Paperwork is pretty straightforward - your home state will require some proof of ownership transference. The sales tax should go to your home state, at your local county's rate and it's usually a function of being collected when the car is titled in that county. Warranties are covered by any authorized dealer in the country - they are bound by Mfr agreement to service any car under warranty, regardless of point of purchase.

I don't know that I'd go out of my way to save even $500 or a thousand bucks. My time is worth more than putting that kind of effort into it. But for a fun thing to do and a bit of an improv vacation? I'd be all over that like ants at a picnic.
Thanks for your insight! I didn't know that about the warranties-dealer thing. I drive a hand-me-down and lord knows any warranties or service plans expired long before I even got the car.

I personally don't prefer going long distance to get a car [mainly b/c of the extra planning for logistics, timing, added cost, etc], but we'll see how things go. I'm really no closer to getting a new car than I was when I started searching about a month ago, and I think some frustration is starting to set in. Lots of highball offers, hidden fees/details, jerk salespeople, etc. I'm not in a hurry to purchase, but dealing with all of this really makes me want to close a deal so I can just be done with it.

We'll see what happens. The GTI kinda rose up my list so suddenly that I forgot about the other cars I was looking at to begin with. I'll probably let this VW thing cool down for a little while so I can look at some other cars.
 

NEOHMark

Ready to race!
I'm really no closer to getting a new car than I was when I started searching about a month ago, and I think some frustration is starting to set in. Lots of highball offers, hidden fees/details, jerk salespeople, etc. I'm not in a hurry to purchase, but dealing with all of this really makes me want to close a deal so I can just be done with it.

That's really, really disappointing to hear. You would think, in this day and age, that the car buying experience would be a bit better than that. A new car is supposed to be FUN, don't you know??? :)

The 'no hurry to purchase' attitude WILL work out to your advantage - trust me. Those jerk salespersons on the other end of the deal are a LOT more dependent on you than you are on them. I would suggest, once you figure out the exact car you like and all the options you want on it, researching a website like www.zag.com to see what a realistic price would be for YOUR choice of car with YOUR choice of equipment. You can print out the summary and take it with you to any dealership and be armed with pretty much all the ammo you need to strike a decent deal.

JMHO
 

edgary

Ready to race!
That's really, really disappointing to hear. You would think, in this day and age, that the car buying experience would be a bit better than that. A new car is supposed to be FUN, don't you know??? :)

The 'no hurry to purchase' attitude WILL work out to your advantage - trust me. Those jerk salespersons on the other end of the deal are a LOT more dependent on you than you are on them. I would suggest, once you figure out the exact car you like and all the options you want on it, researching a website like www.zag.com to see what a realistic price would be for YOUR choice of car with YOUR choice of equipment. You can print out the summary and take it with you to any dealership and be armed with pretty much all the ammo you need to strike a decent deal.

JMHO

I agree.

The only thing I would add is that zag.com works by having dealerships' partnerships with the companies listed there. Thus, if you show up to a dealership that is not in agreement with the program, they have no obligation to respect that price, simply telling you that they don't work with them. It's happened to me.

However, it's a great reference point. I'd suggest also using the Edmunds' True Market Value, and MotorTrend's TruePrice, and use those in the negotiation as well.
 

NEOHMark

Ready to race!
I agree.

The only thing I would add is that zag.com works by having dealerships' partnerships with the companies listed there. Thus, if you show up to a dealership that is not in agreement with the program, they have no obligation to respect that price, simply telling you that they don't work with them. It's happened to me.

However, it's a great reference point. I'd suggest also using the Edmunds' True Market Value, and MotorTrend's TruePrice, and use those in the negotiation as well.

Excellent insight.

+1. You can't possibly have too much ammo.
 
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