New State, New Car, Same Time?

[mgarbowski]

My daughter is graduating college in May and moving to Virginia in June. She will need a car on Day 1 in Virginia, or extremely soon thereafter. She doesn't own one now. And she has close to zero use for one until she moves there. I'm thinking ahead about how best to accomplish this without registering and titling it twice, creating a sales tax/use tax mess, etc. Can we buy and register a car in a state you plan to move to when you're not there yet if you have an apartment lease? Can you trust Cars.com or Carvana to (A) not sell a piece of junk, and (B) get it to you within a few days after she moves in? Any other clever ideas?

I most definitely don't want to buy and register it in NY just to move it a few weeks later, since the NY sales tax on vehicles is ~4.5% higher than in VA, so we'd basically be gifting NY several hundred dollars for no reason. And I'm still pissed off over that time I lived in DC for about 18 months, bought a car, and NY state made me pay sales tax when I moved back and reregistered it here.

I realize this is not the ideal forum, as we mostly have people who moved to NY and didn't need a car right away. But what the heck, it costs nothing to ask. Is there a subreddit or forum, that would specialize in this sort of arcane advice? And I'm very happy to hear completely non-Virginia specific experiences or ideas.

 

[413Blue]

I recently purchased a new vehicle from a dealer in PA, I live in MA. I was able to have it registered at the dealership for MA. I had to pay the difference in taxes to MA upon registration.
I know this doesn't really line up with your situation exactly, but I did just want to point out that you certainly can purchase a vehicle with a Virginia dealership and accept delivery on the day of the move, so the big national websites are not your only option. I'm not sure if she needs to establish residence in the state prior to having it registered in state. Im also not sure if she can purchase the vehicle remotely the day before so that she could simply walk in a drive away hassle free on move in day.

Unfortunately, in the end, I think a temporary rental is the best path forward. Shop for and purchase a vehicle when she arrives and has the time, instead of spending her first day in a vehicle finance office.

 

[mgarbowski]

I recently purchased a new vehicle from a dealer in PA, I live in MA. I was able to have it registered at the dealership for MA. I had to pay the difference in taxes to MA upon registration.

Thx. Maybe our best option is to call a local dealer and ask for some help. I presume you had to prove Mass residency to the PA dealer. We don't even know if she even can buy and register a car in VA before she gets her VA license or has established residency. What a pain. I get that this is not the most common situation, but it can't be unheard of, either. The VA DMV website doesn't really help on this either.

Poking around the web I haven't found anything on point in any state, but this is a hassle even for people who just want to move with a car they already own. You need a new drivers license, new plates, new registration (in some states new title), new insurance, maybe an inspection, and there is no clear guidance on what order to do it in. You have a limited grace period on insurance after moving, so you need to do that quick, but once you do your old state will demand your plates back immediately, so you better have the new ones lined up, etc.

Rental might be the way to go, but it seems such a wasteful expense. She's going to be self-sufficient going forward, but we're helping with the car purchase and other set up expenses. Trying to avoid even more extras. It is what it is.

 

[moogoo]

Oh fun. This is nearly my exact situation when I graduated college many years ago. Moved to northern VA too.

Surprisingly, this guide has not changed since I used it forever ago: https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/moving/#newva.asp

I was in the same situation as your daughter. No car and no need for one til I moved. In fact, the only reason I needed it before moving to VA was so I could drive myself down there. I bought my car in PA, paid the sales tax (not as much as NY) and moved to VA. I pretty much followed the guide I linked.

VA is pretty annoying. Especially, in the northern VA counties. They tend to change things from county to county, which can be frustrating as hell to find information. If you follow the guide I linked, you should be good to go. But to answer some of your questions in your original post:

I'm thinking ahead about how best to accomplish this without registering and titling it twice, creating a sales tax/use tax mess, etc.

If you buy a car here, you will be exempt from paying it in VA by providing your receipt. Easy, but obviously you'd be paying double sales tax here like you said.

Can we buy and register a car in a state you plan to move to when you're not there yet if you have an apartment lease?

You need to title the car before you can register it. Title process can be done through the mail, but you do have 30 days to title and register your car once you've moved, so it can definitely be done once you're there. It's fairly straight forward with corresponding forms. Registration requires an emissions test but you can be exempt from this initial test requirement if you provide an recent emissions certificate from the dealer/place of purchase. An apartment lease is sufficient as proof of address.

Things to be aware of:
- As I said, laws and requirements in VA vary from county to county, especially in northern virginia. always check the local county website for guidance on particular requirements/laws.

- there is an annual personal property/car tax that is paid to the county. each county calculates this amount a little differently and has different requirements. Some require a second county based registration (with a fee of course). I used to live in fairfax county, which is one that does require a local county registration in addition to the state one. Again, you'll need to check your specific county's tax website for this information.

- this is in the guidance link above, but note the insurance requirement minimums and the tint percentages.

Feel free to ask anything else and I will answer if I can and/or point you in the right direction (hopefully). Good luck to your daughter!

 

[mgarbowski]

Oh fun. This is nearly my exact situation when I graduated college many years ago. Moved to northern VA too.

Surprisingly, this guide has not changed since I used it forever ago: https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/moving/#newva.asp

I was in the same situation as your daughter. No car and no need for one til I moved. In fact, the only reason I needed it before moving to VA was so I could drive myself down there. I bought my car in PA, paid the sales tax (not as much as NY) and moved to VA. I pretty much followed the guide I linked.

VA is pretty annoying. Especially, in the northern VA counties. They tend to change things from county to county, which can be frustrating as hell to find information. If you follow the guide I linked, you should be good to go. But to answer some of your questions in your original post:


If you buy a car here, you will be exempt from paying it in VA by providing your receipt. Easy, but obviously you'd be paying double sales tax here like you said.


You need to title the car before you can register it. Title process can be done through the mail, but you do have 30 days to title and register your car once you've moved, so it can definitely be done once you're there. It's fairly straight forward with corresponding forms. Registration requires an emissions test but you can be exempt from this initial test requirement if you provide an recent emissions certificate from the dealer/place of purchase. An apartment lease is sufficient as proof of address.

Things to be aware of:
- As I said, laws and requirements in VA vary from county to county, especially in northern virginia. always check the local county website for guidance on particular requirements/laws.

- there is an annual personal property/car tax that is paid to the county. each county calculates this amount a little differently and has different requirements. Some require a second county based registration (with a fee of course). I used to live in fairfax county, which is one that does require a local county registration in addition to the state one. Again, you'll need to check your specific county's tax website for this information.

- this is in the guidance link above, but note the insurance requirement minimums and the tint percentages.

Feel free to ask anything else and I will answer if I can and/or point you in the right direction (hopefully). Good luck to your daughter!

Thank you so much! I may come back with questions later. This is great.

 

[mgarbowski]

Thought I might follow up on this with an update: she ended up buying through Carvana after moving to Virginia. The biggest complication is that to buy a car in any jurisdiction you need to be able to prove you are a resident, which is difficult to do very soon after moving in. She tried to get her VA license first but the county clerks were less flexible about proof than Carvana. So first she got the car, and purchased as a VA resident even though she had a NY license. She finally got her VA drivers license yesterday and the clerk almost did not accept her residential lease as proof because the clerk didn't like how the signatures were formatted. But she is all set up now.

Thanks for the help.