Stories from the Sales Frontlines

traindriver

Here in SC the tax on any car is capped at $300.

Yeah, the $300 cap on sales tax is nice on the purchase side, but here's what you look forward to at tag renewal time:

(cut & copied from county tax website)
Type: Vehicle
Appraised: $77,630.00
Net Taxes: $2,082.66 (includes Renewal Fee and/or Road Fee)
Road Tax: $16.00 (included in Net Taxes)
Description: 06 MERZ 4S

Type: Vehicle
Appraised: $58,333.00
Net Taxes: $1,456.45 (includes Renewal Fee and/or Road Fee)
Road Tax: $16.00 (included in Net Taxes)
Description: 06 BMW 4S

Type: Vehicle
Appraised: $28,333.00
Net Taxes: $556.29 (includes Renewal Fee and/or Road Fee)
Road Tax: $16.00 (included in Net Taxes)
Description: 06 JEEP SU

The Mercedes and the BMW are on the tax rolls as being owned by a OB/GYN group. The Jeep is mine. If I had to guess, I would say they are in the city limits. I am
not -- county only. I would like to know how they arrive at the appraised value of $28,333.
Edmunds TMV values this 06 Commander Limited 2WD at Trade $21973, Private Party $23847, Dealer Retail $25262, CPO $26053. (edmunds subtracts about $70 for the black color, -$50 for regional adjustment, and adds $616 for low miles 11,500) To be fair, the tax bill was due 7/31 but I don't think the value has changed that much since then, or has it? Dealers, what say you on RWTIV? Looks like the county thinks it is worth a good bit more than Edmunds. :sick: :mad:

im_brentwood

Well,

I do make a big chunk of my living cutting up BMWs... got an 88 735i with a blown trans to cut.. got a good B35 that's going to end up in a 535is, nice big case LSD for my E32 740i6 project, brakes that will be a nice upgrade for my 636i, and at least another $1500 in nonsense stuff to sell.

The cars I do best with are E36 M3s, E34 M5s, E28 M5s and E38s.

marsha7

ago, which I wanted to verify...

Did someone say that Hyundai (i.e. Santa Fe, Tucson, Veracruz) was a rapidly-depreciating brand???

fezo

Oh, good. I'm sure you can take enough leftover parts to make me something truly unique.

That or maybe the Vauxhall....

stealthrt

YEah thats true but many states have "property tax" owed on vehicles. Nevada did when I lived there. My vehicles are not that expensive since I don't buy new. I never paid more then $300 in property tax on a car. My house PT is only $982 a year

2000 SQ FT on 1/2 acre. Plenty is saved there to more then make up for the vehicle property tax.

7% on a car that cost $20000 is a lot of money thats three to four years of "property tax" on the same car. Finance that sales tax and its even more.

Those who have a need for a $77,000 vehicle can afford to pay the property tax which then becomes a luxury tax.

traindriver

You are tbaxxon, aren't you?

Yeah, I know other states have PT also... My real point was that what may seem like a cheap tax at first glance may not be so cheap when other taxes/fees are considered. I guess, maybe?, it works out in the end, one way or another. I am amazed when I look through the Prices Paid forums and see the $2000+ people are paying for sales tax when they buy a car. May not be so bad if they can register it for $50 year after year. Real bad if they pay high sales tax AND high PT year after year.

My house is about 2300 sq ft on about a 1/2 ?? acre. Taxes were $22XX.00 last year. High to me (considering that they would have been about a grand less a few years ago) but a pittance compared to my mother's comparable home in suburban Cleveland.

british_rover

CT has 6 percent sales tax and Property tax on automobiles. It depends on your town but it can be a 1,000 dollars or more a year on a middle priced vehicle. Property tax on my MINI Cooper S was 400 something dollars a year and my town didn't have a terribly high mill rate either.

Hey Bill Newburgh is only a couple of hours away from me in Litchfield.

stealthrt

My brother pays $9000 a year property taxes on a 2000 SF home in New Jersey!!!! Thats like paying rent if your home is paid off. You don't pay you get evicted.

I feel I get more then $1000 in services for my property taxes. Especially living 4 miles from the beach. Those who move here with large boats and motor homes are really whacked with surprise personal property taxes.

The $300 cap on cars is a good thing as many states have Sales Tax AND yearly personal property Tax.

When you read of OTD prices from SC being low it's because of the Sales Tax.

greanpea68

Hey Bill Newburgh is only a couple of hours away from me in Litchfield.

Is that Litchfield NH... I have in-laws up there.

GP

british_rover

Litchfield, CT

I am on the far eastern corner of the town though which is about as far away from the NY border as you can get.

greanpea68

Here in Mass. we pay 5% tax on the selling price minus the trade if there is one. Plus we have property tax too.

british_rover

Your excise tax is weird though. Don't you calculate it based on a percentage of BASE MSRP?

im_brentwood

I'm actually kinda between Walden and Montgomery, the actual village the shop is in is Coldenham.

Doing a tranny swap for the guy who owns UUC this weekend.. E30 Convertible, getting rid of that evil automatic

My friend Jeremy lives out by ya.. he has a couple of turbo 535s..

laurasdada

Lucky you, PT wise! My south of Boston house, a few more sq. ft. and a little more land: multiply your PT by ~5!!!

I believe that the excise tax on our cars are computed by multiplying some "book value" by .6. Then a $25 mil rate. Decreases as the value of the car does, of course. Throw in a $29/year "State Inspection" fee (tax). It was half that a few years ago, but then the state mandated an "upgrade" of the testing facilities... Taxachusettes lives!

But, we do have the Patriots!

mackabee

Parody

Host: (Pat)
Ok guys, enough with the tax posts. I'm moving these to the "Tax and Property tax, and crooked politicians" thread. IF this keeps up we will have to close down this topic.

greantea86: Aw c'mon Pat! I ain't seen a customer in weeks. That new Coupe is really nice! Know anyone one that wants to buy one?

Britain's Rover: The L4R9 is the most capable off roader in its class. We can't sell enough of them!

RR_Guy: Same here. I sold one to Joan Elway the other day. Her husband was a famous rock and roller, (i Think :confuse: )

In_Brentwood: I got a buddy in Fl that loves those! We ae getting full boat for them. No discounts on those.

I'm sellingHondas: You couldn't pay me enough to deal with those type of folks. I guess it's just me. I don't have the patience.

Mackerbees: Working on my fifth one today! I'm as smooth as butter, I'm on a roll! :shades:

Joey649: Our F-950 is the best truck on the road! Take that to the bank Macker.!

laurasdada

Nice neighborhood, BR. Selling LRs there should be about as difficult as selling Red Sox or Patriots tickets around here!

Does your store also sell Jags? I'm in New Marlborough, MA late next month for a wedding (a couple of Manhattanites! Why not Central Park?!). Maybe I'll jet down and walk the lot...

houdini1

Mack, you left off my favorite car salesman. Remember Junior Samples of "HeHaw" fame? "Just call BR-5411" or something close to that.

cu503

Hi, I am posting here as I cannot find anything elsewhere, I am one of the FEW lucky 2000 S80 owners that has NOT had problems! I like the new S80, how is it as a car from a repair issue? are they selling? I keep seeing lower and lower lease offers! seems like a heck of a car if it pan be bought right? thanks to all, keep up the interesting stories!
Dave

mackabee

Yes it is. They are good cars so you can pick up a used one for a song and dance. However, if you are buying new and plan to trade two to three years from now stand by. They depreciate like a rock. Best bet would be to lease them.

cdnpinhead

"They kind of fall apart around the edges but always start and always get you home."

Uh, no. The only vehicle that left me calling a tow truck, twice, was an Eagle Vision. After 800,000 miles of driving (but only 70K on the car), I was sat beside the road a couple of times -- didn't care for it. Once was for an ignition switch "issue" and the other was for a water pump/timing belt situation.

I drove a used '65 MGB over 100K miles back in the '70's, so I know what reliability (or the lack thereof) is about -- the B never stranded me. Chrysler products didn't have it when I needed it, even compared to that MG. There aren't too many brands that that can be said of.

Happy to hear you've had better luck.

tidester

Don't forget to report your findings here back to the Volvo S80 group!

tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper

marsha7

Thanks for the info...I missed the post about your illness, but from what I read, you seem to have a challenge ahead of you...be positive and know that you will prevail...

snakeweasel

Just call BR-5411" or something close to that.

That would be BR-549

houdini1

LOL!! Thanks snake! Now that is an honest looking car salesman! Is that an original pic or did you get Mack to pose for a remake?

editor2

Which inspired the name of a fabulous rockabilly band based in Nashville. Check 'em out. (BR 549)

Off topic, sorry.

british_rover

Just LRs no Jags. There was talk about adding a jag franchise a while back but it never happened. Probably a good thing too considering how bad off Jag is now.

jescue

Just give it time- we will be back.

british_rover

Gotta say it with the Arnold accent.

I hope so I like Jags always have. Hey what do you think about the XF now that all the production pictures are out? I think they did pretty good except for the headlights. The headlights are too soft on the production model and not nearly as good as the concept.

jescue

I would have to agree on the headlights. I have heard the car looks much better in person from several people. One review actually prefers the production headlamps, we just have to wait and see. I ordered the first supercharged version this morning.

british_rover

I hope they make the front end a little more aggressive for the R models.

When will your first XFs get here?

jescue

They were aiming for December to get the demos, but looks like at least January now. The cars I am ordering this week should arrive in March. :surprise: We have three launch cars and this first allocation I got 6 to build.

epiney

You forgot:

Mackerbees: I just got into a wrestling match in the main office with lucky and unlucky over a customer from the nursing home looking for an Avalon. Unfortunately the WWE girls never showed up. After that I sent one our lot boys over to the competition to video tape the SM's signals from the tower. Of course, we'll only use the tapes in the future and not during an active negotiation.

Later this week, I'm taking one of our Pampry V6 ES models to race at Watkins Glen. It'll blow the doors off of any German sports cars. I'm going race Jesse with his 912 turbo that he had to buy from himself because those Jag Y types don't sell well enough and In_Brentwood with his modded BMW 537i. After I dust those guys off I'm taking my FH Cruiser over to Monster Jam to show Britain's Rover that this solid axle box with submarine portal rear windows will run over the L4R9.

To cap off the week, I'll sell Mack jr a CPO Sienna with $4K front end, mop and glo, rust and dust and a reserve in the finance rate. :P :shades:

british_rover

Hey at least they give you Demos. Land Rover hasn't give us a demo for the last three launches. I wasn't around for the Mark III Range Rover Launch but I don't think we got one then either.

jmonroe

Land Rover hasn't give us a demo for the last three launches.

Do ya think that maybe it drown on its way over to see ya?

jmonroe

im_brentwood

I actually AM going to be at Watkins Glen this weekend

british_rover

You suck.

im_brentwood

You wish

grandtotal

Right now with the Canadian$/US$ exchange rate at or very close to par there is great interest in Canada in personally importing cars from the US. A few years ago the situation was reversed and a lot of cars both new and used were imported into the US either personally or by dealers.

My question is this: A number of these cars must now be being traded in by their owners, do the dealers here take the fact that a car is a grey market car into account when valuing such a car or does it make no real difference?

greanpea68

Your excise tax is weird though. Don't you calculate it based on a percentage of BASE MSRP?

Yeah each town does it a little differently but basically they do book for value for each year. They seem to use their own book value system.

greanpea68

I believe that the excise tax on our cars are computed by multiplying some "book value" by .6. Then a $25 mil rate. Decreases as the value of the car does, of course. Throw in a $29/year "State Inspection" fee (tax). It was half that a few years ago, but then the state mandated an "upgrade" of the testing facilities... Taxachusettes lives!

But, we do have the Patriots!

Good explanation on the excise tax. I am up on the North Shore.

I wished i picked up Moss in my FFL.

I don't think we are going to loose one game. :shades:

greanpea68

greantea86: Aw c'mon Pat! I ain't seen a customer in weeks. That new Coupe is really nice! Know anyone one that wants to buy one?

ROFL... That is classic Mack. :shades:

GP

laurasdada

Just down the road from my house is the (an) "Automile." A lot longer than a mile, includes a LR/Jag dealer. Saw a white/tan topped XK pulling in to the dealer this morning on my way to work, just a beautiful car...

The "Automile" includes a couple of dealerships across the street from Gillette Stadium, home of Steven Spielberg's next production, "Scenes From a Defensive Coordinator's Playbook" :surprise: Hey, that's not funny... :sick:

3-0, 13 regular season games to go. Then, like buttah through the playoffs and finally pounding the (insert inept NFC team here, e.g. Cowboys?) in the Super Bowl. The Dynasty continues, the Legend grows. And the first year I lived up here the Pats were 2-14, playing in a staduim that many high schools may have found embarassing!

I doubt they'll run the table, but let's see...

kyfdx

Sorry... the streak ends this week..

laurasdada

You mean the streak of scoring 38 points? Yeah, probably Pats 41 WKRPs 24 !

I truly don't expect 16-0. Won't be incredibly surprised if it happened though... Actually, nothing will surprise me: Sox 2004

Good luck, hope it's an entertaining game!

laurasdada

What a difference a year makes. Last year was hard work for Brady to complete a few passes. Not so much this year! First Corey Dillon, now Randy Moss. The "System" appears to be working!!!

They can lose a game or two. As long as they're undefeated in the post-season!

mackabee

"3-0, 13 regular season games to go. Then, like buttah through the playoffs and finally pounding the (insert inept NFC team here, e.g. Cowboys?) in the Super Bowl."

Don't flatter yourself Bubba, I remember a distant past when the "inept" teams were in the AFC. And that included the Patsies :P There was the mighty NFC which was considered the toughest division in football. Them Cowboys didn't look "inept" to me last night now did they?
Mackabee

P.S. got to watch the cameras on the sidelines now, make sure them Pats ain't "stealing" signals. :shades:

greanpea68

Well last year we didn't have anyone for wide recievers. This year we have WR's and plenty of them that know what they are doing. We have a running game also. I can't remeber the last time we had both good RB's and WR's with a quaterback that knows what he is doing. I may be wrong but I see 16-0 all year long!!!!

KYDX,

Are you suggesting that Carlson Palmer is going to overcome the Pats defense this weekend. It should be a high scoring game Monday night. At least that is what i am hoping for. I have Carlson as my QB in my FFL. Next question is if you don't think that Cin will beat the Pats, then who do you think will? :surprise:

greanpea68

P.S. got to watch the cameras on the sidelines now, make sure them Pats ain't "stealing" signals.

I have cameras in your dealership and I am learning all of your closes. I can see what you guys are ACVing your trades for and I think we will put $500 more in to seal the deal. It also looks like it's time to fill the popcorn machine at your store Mack Better get popping :lemon:

Your local fan with best team in the NFL...

Can you say Peyton who??? :P

mackabee

That's not vulgar, that's obscene! :shades:

kyfdx

Bengals will win.. on Monday night.. Look for me in Row 17 in the north end-zone.

Fantasy Football note: If your guy is going against the Bengals defense, play him that week..