CA Resident prefers out-of-state delivery (NOT to avoid taxes)

[tcxy2017@gmail]

Tesla does things really wierd/stupidly sometimes... When I bought all my OTHER cars, and picked up in another state, the dealership where I did the pickup, will fedex the necessary documents to the DMV in your home state, and you can go in, pay sales tax, and get your temp tags in your home state... Everytime this is how it was done, so I could get my 60 day temp tags. Then 30 or more days later when all the other paperwork is ready, you can go and pickup your plates. I've done this several times with several different cars from several different states. Tesla on the other hand didn't work this way. They will have you sign a power of attorney for the vehicle registration. (I didn't want to, but they said this is what they do, and said they would give me the temp tags directly) Anyways, becuase of this, I found I could not go to the DMV and pay sales tax and get 60 day temp tags, becuase Tesla was witholding those documents from me, becuase they were filing it on my behalf. DMV told me, if Tesla was filing on my behalf, they would need to get the temp tags for me... Well, Tesla couldn't do that, becuase the Tesla location where I did the pickup was in a different state, and they said they couldn't do that for me, so they only gave me a 14 day temp tag for the state that I did the pickup in... They told me this was a "known" issue of how out-of-state registration works, and told me that the state patrol in my state and this state wouldn't give me a ticket.... Even tho EVERY other car I purchased/pickedup in another state did NOT work this way.

Hi,

Thanks for your information, I recently had similar issue where I picked the car at CA and drove back to WA. Before you get the plate did you drive your tesla out? They just give me a one trip permit so I'm wondering will I be able to drive my tesla out.

 

[avs007]

Hi,

Thanks for your information, I recently had similar issue where I picked the car at CA and drove back to WA. Before you get the plate did you drive your tesla out? They just give me a one trip permit so I'm wondering will I be able to drive my tesla out.

They gave me a 14 day trip permit that expired before I got my plates. I tried to get a WA temp plate, but couldn't because Tesla forced me to do the power of attorney thing, so I didn't have the paper work that showed the tax paid. I went to Tesla in OR and they were of no help, just saying it's a known issue in OR/WA and assured me that the state patrol would not pull me over.

 

[avs007]

Hi,

Thanks for your information, I recently had similar issue where I picked the car at CA and drove back to WA. Before you get the plate did you drive your tesla out? They just give me a one trip permit so I'm wondering will I be able to drive my tesla out.

If you are really worried, at the DOL you can get a 7 day (or maybe it was 3 day) trip permit for I think $20. No requirements for that other than having the money. I was trying to get the 60 day temp tag. If you have the paper work you can file yourself at the DOL and pay the sales tax yourself, then you can get a 60 day temp tag. This is normally what I do, but I couldn't get Tesla to let me do this.

 

[tcxy2017@gmail]

I contacted on vehicle license office located at Shoreline, they told me they can give me temporary tag for 60 days. But Tesla already charged me more than $5000 for tax, the license office told me WA can credit the overpaid tax to me, I'm checking how can I do that.

If you are really worried, at the DOL you can get a 7 day (or maybe it was 3 day) trip permit for I think $20. No requirements for that other than having the money. I was trying to get the 60 day temp tag. If you have the paper work you can file yourself at the DOL and pay the sales tax yourself, then you can get a 60 day temp tag. This is normally what I do, but I couldn't get Tesla to let me do this.

 

[tcxy2017@gmail]

So before you got your plate, you still drive your car with expired permit?

If you are really worried, at the DOL you can get a 7 day (or maybe it was 3 day) trip permit for I think $20. No requirements for that other than having the money. I was trying to get the 60 day temp tag. If you have the paper work you can file yourself at the DOL and pay the sales tax yourself, then you can get a 60 day temp tag. This is normally what I do, but I couldn't get Tesla to let me do this.

 

[Mrbrock]

I just ordered my Red MYLR today (yay!). My preference is to take delivery in another state for purposes of doing a little roadtrip and driving back home to CA. It seems this is a complicated topic, especially for taking an out-of-state Tesla delivery without a traditional dealer network. I've searched the forums, and while there is discussion, I didn't really see much success. So I thought I'd ask a specific question.

As background, I've done this twice with BMW. I picked up a 3-series as European Delivery in Munich and shipped it back to CA after a week+ of driving. Another time we picked up a different 3-series in Spartanburg, SC and drove across country back to CA. In both cases the car was paid for in CA ahead of travelling to meet the car on the other end. So these things can be done, but the question is whether it can be done with/through/around Tesla.

So...simple question...has anybody who is a CA resident successfully taken delivery of a Tesla in a different state without paying double sales tax? If so, in which state did you take delivery? And how did you navigate the DMV system to make this happen?

Thanks!

This was possible because BMW has manufacturing plants in both places so the vehicle was still sold to you in CA, just "shipped" from one of their plants. Unfortunately, Tesla does not operate this way. Their drones that file paperwork file it in the state of registration unless Tesla is not able to sell directly in that state and then they fill for ownership change in California and arrange for you to register and pay taxes in your state of registration. While other dealers offer this luxury, Tesla does not, nor are they required to. As others have seen, it is a nightmare to do things differently from how Tesla wants you to do it. For better or for worse. It is what it is.

Also as other have asked, why not just take delivery at home and drive the trip you want to drive but just make it a loop covering more places?

 

[avs007]

So before you got your plate, you still drive your car with expired permit?

Yes. Tesla assured me that the state patrol for both OR and WA were aware of the issues/limitations of the current statutes that prevents many people from being able to acquire temporary tags, and assured me that the state patrol for either state would not issue me a citation. They told me to continue to display the expired trip permit.

 

[avs007]

This was possible because BMW has manufacturing plants in both places so the vehicle was still sold to you in CA, just "shipped" from one of their plants. Unfortunately, Tesla does not operate this way. Their drones that file paperwork file it in the state of registration unless Tesla is not able to sell directly in that state and then they fill for ownership change in California and arrange for you to register and pay taxes in your state of registration. While other dealers offer this luxury, Tesla does not, nor are they required to. As others have seen, it is a nightmare to do things differently from how Tesla wants you to do it. For better or for worse. It is what it is.

Also as other have asked, why not just take delivery at home and drive the trip you want to drive but just make it a loop covering more places?

I know the original post was old, but just to add information for others with the same question... If you are registering in CA, there are a few states I know of (from experience), that will not collect sales tax from you. Oregon, since they don't even have a sales tax.... WA will not collect sales tax from you at time of sales, becuase the department of licensing (what we call DMV here), is the entity that collects sales tax, at time of registration. TX I think operates like WA, as when I bought my other car there, I didn't have to fill out any special paper work, and was going to just drive my car home. (I ended up shipping it becuase of a snow storm in the rockies). Kansas, you just have to file a form with the department of revenue, and get a KS trip permit to show you are taking the vehicle out of state. After I did that, my experience was just like with Texas.

 

[Jlambrose]

Hi. I’m having the worst time trying to also lease my vehicle here in Chicago. I’m a California resident with a California driving license, and Tesla is not budging. Two days before picking up my Tesla Y Performance, I was told that I couldn’t lease my vehicle if I were taking possession in Chicago. Before I purchased the vehicle, I asked the guy twice if I could register my car in California, and he said I could pick up my vehicle anywhere in the US if I wanted. I have spoken to the Main Manager Kellie P over the Tesla locations in Chicago, She said it was Tesla's policy that my vehicle could not be leased and registered in CA. I even called the DMV, who informed me that it didn’t matter where I had the car delivered if I had a CA license and permanent address. I have emailed the Manager three times to get answers, and I'm not getting anywhere and need some advice, please. If I live in CA and travel for work, why are they giving me the worst time to lease the car. Please help as the vehicle is here. I have already purchased insurance and cannot lease the car here in Chicago. I only have the option to finance, third-party finance, or lease in Chicago, where my taxes will be through the roof. Help!!!!!!

 

[Mrbrock]

Hi. I’m having the worst time trying to also lease my vehicle here in Chicago. I’m a California resident with a California driving license, and Tesla is not budging. Two days before picking up my Tesla Y Performance, I was told that I couldn’t lease my vehicle if I were taking possession in Chicago. Before I purchased the vehicle, I asked the guy twice if I could register my car in California, and he said I could pick up my vehicle anywhere in the US if I wanted. I have spoken to the Main Manager Kellie P over the Tesla locations in Chicago, She said it was Tesla's policy that my vehicle could not be leased and registered in CA. I even called the DMV, who informed me that it didn’t matter where I had the car delivered if I had a CA license and permanent address. I have emailed the Manager three times to get answers, and I'm not getting anywhere and need some advice, please. If I live in CA and travel for work, why are they giving me the worst time to lease the car. Please help as the vehicle is here. I have already purchased insurance and cannot lease the car here in Chicago. I only have the option to finance, third-party finance, or lease in Chicago, where my taxes will be through the roof. Help!!!!!!

Just because the CA DMV says you can take delivery anywhere doesn’t mean that is Teslas policy. There are many laws they have to follow about delivery and taxes and registering that vary state to state. The answer of “you can take delivery anywhere you want” is not relevant to the question you asked. Yes yiu can AP take delivery anywhere but you need to register it where you take delivery. The Tesla person in Chicago is telling you what they can do. You don’t want to do that so they can’t help you. It sounds like you need to take physical possession in CA then drive or ship the car to IL. The cost of shipping is going to be about the same as the tax difference. Or flying to CA and driving back. Unfortunately, registering in IL will require an IL license which will void your CA one so you’d need to pay for a new CA one when you come back to CA.

Some states have a requirement that if you are in their state for more than 30 days you need to register the car in their state. Most require this for new residents but not sure how they’d view your situation.

 

[Jlambrose]

Just because the CA DMV says you can take delivery anywhere doesn’t mean that is Teslas policy. There are many laws they have to follow about delivery and taxes and registering that vary state to state. The answer of “you can take delivery anywhere you want” is not relevant to the question you asked. Yes yiu can AP take delivery anywhere but you need to register it where you take delivery. The Tesla person in Chicago is telling you what they can do. You don’t want to do that so they can’t help you. It sounds like you need to take physical possession in CA then drive or ship the car to IL. The cost of shipping is going to be about the same as the tax difference. Or flying to CA and driving back. Unfortunately, registering in IL will require an IL license which will void your CA one so you’d need to pay for a new CA one when you come back to CA.

Some states have a requirement that if you are in their state for more than 30 days you need to register the car in their state. Most require this for new residents but not sure how they’d view your situation.

Thanks for the information. Other dealers have told me that it is possible to be done; it's just a little complicated to do. I don't live in Illinois, and my permanent address is in California, but I come back and forth. I already purchased an Audi here with my CA license, so that wasn't an issue for me at all. Me saying that they told me the vehicle could be shipped anywhere is very relevant because if I had had it shipped to California, this comment wouldn't exist. I didn't have a problem with them not being able to do it; I have an issue with Tesla telling me twice that it could be done. If it weren't possible then from the beginning, I would have had the Tesla sent home to California instead of to Chicago. Now I'm here trying to figure out options to take ownership of the vehicle. Communication is critical in any situation, and the way this process has been for me is making me rethink Buying it. If this were any other company, they would be trying to figure out how to make it work, but I have been hung up twice trying to get the information I need to proceed. This isn't complicated, and tesla needs to be held accountable and or better training to their reps in the stores. Tesla isn't selling socks; they are selling vehicles, and communication needs to improve. Thanks