Moving cross country

[jjanders]

Hello,

I am planning on purchasing a new(er) car in about 4-6 months. However, in August, I will be driving/moving cross country with my girlfriend from Connecticut to Seattle, Washington.

I'm trying to decide if it makes more sense to buy before the move, or after.

Things to consider:

- My current car (02 Protege) runs well, but around the time of the move it will need new tires, brakes, perhaps a new clutch as well, so I'd rather try to get it traded before I need to spend the time/money on these items.

- Sales tax in CT is 6% vs. 8.x% in Seattle/King County

- It'd be nice to have a nice new comfy ride for the trip/experience, though I'm not sure if it is too "grueling" for a new car (could buy it a month prior and break it in first though)

- Buying a new car right before a 3,000 mile trip is sort of "wasting" 3,000 miles of the new car, I could just buy when I get to WA.

- Not sure how the DMV works in Washington, as far as trading in/selling an out-of-state vehicle. May be less hassle to do everything in CT beforehand, then I only have to worry about license/reg for one instead of two.

Thoughts? Other things to consider?

 

[sniperruff]

sounds much more comfortable to ship whatever you have and take the plane. cross country trip is no fun if you have a bunch of crap in your car and have to watch out for thieves.

a leisurely cross-country sounds like a lot of fun though.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Buy the car in Washingotn. Connecticut gets snow and Washingotn hardly gets any so if you buy used it will be in better shape.

 

[dud]

Also, most manufacturers DO NOT recommend running a new car at consistent highway speeds (55+) in the first 500 or so miles of use. Buy the new(er) car in Washington state.

 

[alimoalem]

wait so are you getting a NEW car or a newER car? if it's newER, why would you need to break it in?

i'm really not someone to ask for something like this (not that u asked ) but if you do consider sniperruff's recommendation (flying), there are a couple credit cards out that'll let you buy one plane ticket and take a travel companion free (basically buy 1 get 1 free plane ticket). the cards themselves aren't bad either. if you actually consider this, PM, cause i don't always check up on threads.


...ok upon further reading, it may not be too beneficial to u to get the credit card solely for benefits but it might be. up to u to decide.

 

[jjanders]

Originally posted by: sniperruff
sounds much more comfortable to ship whatever you have and take the plane. cross country trip is no fun if you have a bunch of crap in your car and have to watch out for thieves.

a leisurely cross-country sounds like a lot of fun though.

True, though I live on the coast of CT, we get very little snow compared to inland.

As to the other posts, I haven't decided if I'm going brand new or 1-2 years old. If I did get new I would buy it a month prior to leaving as to break it in first, I wouldn't buy it the day before I left then cruise @70mph for days right away.

 

[Thump553]

If you are considering a hybrid, CT does not charge sales tax on hybrids-nice to save $1400+ right off the bat. This exemption is expiring, either in June or October '08. Look it up if you are interested.

Another thing to consider is that some (a lot?) of states will charge you the additional sales tax if you buy a car out of state shortly before registering it in WA. Again, look this up before deciding.

If you buy now, breakin should not be an issue.

 

[jjanders]

Originally posted by: Thump553
If you are considering a hybrid, CT does not charge sales tax on hybrids-nice to save $1400+ right off the bat. This exemption is expiring, either in June or October '08. Look it up if you are interested.

Another thing to consider is that some (a lot?) of states will charge you the additional sales tax if you buy a car out of state shortly before registering it in WA. Again, look this up before deciding.

As to your first point, found this:

"Effective Date: The exemption under Conn. Gen. Stat. §12-412(115) for purchases or leases of hybrid passenger cars is effective for purchases or leases occurring on or after October 1, 2004, and on or before September 30, 2008.

The exemption under Conn. Gen. Stat. §12-412(110) for purchases or leases of high miles per gallon (mpg) passenger motor vehicles is effective for purchases or leases occurring on or after January 1, 2008, and on or before June 30, 2010."

Interesting. Was thinking about a Civic hybrid but the additional cost didn't seem worth it to me. Sales tax exemption would help a bit, but it's still $5K more. Good to know, though.

As to your second point, never heard of that, I'll have to try and look that up. That seems pretty lame...

 

[Viper GTS]

WA is one of those states, a buddy got nailed for tax when he had to replace a totalled vehicle shortly before moving to WA. IIRC the cutoff was 6 months.

Between that and the fact that we don't salt roads on the west coast & I think the scale is highly in favor of buying in Seattle.

Viper GTS

 

[IronWing]

Used car prices are generally higher in the west than in the east. You get less rust but you pay for the honor.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Originally posted by: ironwing
Used car prices are generally higher in the west than in the east. You get less rust but you pay for the honor.

Buy from Carmax then...that way everyone pays the same price. (even though you don't have any leverage when it comes to haggling)