Currently deployed to Afghanistan, but I've been car shopping for, oh, 6 months or so. Home is in the Fredericksburg area, and I'm a little torn on car shopping.

I'm leaning towards a gently used 09/10 Boxster S (looking to go about as impractical as I can for now), but most of the cars I find that I like are out of state. Should I just wait until the right car comes along in state? How bad is the hit if you buy a car out of state and bring it back? Anyone have experience with this? Can a local dealer set up a transfer from another state?

I've got no issues with a cross-country road trip to bring a car back, and my wife is on board with the idea too, I've just never bought a car from anywhere other than virginia.

TIA

Mike

 

Thank you for your service.

I've purchased out of state before, new and used. I'd prefer in state but it can work out well. Both times it has been from dealers, not private sellers so I can't comment on that path.

A carfax report is a must have as well as getting a bunch of pictures. The other way to seach for a car besides going to all the Porsche dealer sites (it is a chore to look at all their previously owned inventory) is to go to Cars.com and search that way. You can sort by car, model, color, mileage, distance from zip code etc. Once you have that info on hand you can use it to let the sellers know there are X number of cars like theirs you could buy so they know you have done your homework and are aware of alternatives.

If you purchase out of state from a dealer, they can (and should be able to) collect tax for the state you are in and apply for your states tags too. All this is done online so their finance folks should be able to do all of this and list everthing out (tax, tags, registration etc.) on the bill of sale. The car is only registered in Virginia, not the dealer state and then yours.

Getting it home you can elect to go there in person an pick it up, which also gives you the option to wait to sign all the paperwork after you have inspected it yourself. If you go that route, you could fill out all the paperwork, give a REFUNDABLE deposit to hold the car until you get there and then close the deal. If you can't get there to pick it up, you can hire a transport company to trailer it to you. With a Porsche or other high end car I'd recommend an enclosed trailer. You can go with a big trailer (multiple cars being loaded, yours potentially being unloaded and reloaded) or a smaller trailer (1 or 2 cars) that could mean your car is loaded and unloaded 1 time.

Hopefully though, there is a great set of Boxter S '09s and '10s to choose from in Virginia, Maryland or North Carolina and you won't have to go far from home to find what you want.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

Yeah, I've been doing most of my hunting on cars.com. Makes selective shopping very easy. The biggest worry I have is about sales tax. If a dealer in another state can work things out for VA tax on it, then that'd be no issue at all. It'd be nice to find something in virginia, but I'm willing to travel for the right car.

While I was home on leave we test drove at a couple different dealerships (Arlington and HBL). I was amazed when the GM at Arlington gave me the keys to an '10 that had just been returned and said the showroom closes at 4, have fun. It was really hard to walk away without buying it on the spot. Price was right, options were right. But in the end, I didn't want to pay for a car I wasn't going to get to enjoy for another 9 months.

Thanks for the advice!

Mike

 

I'd bet that any high-line dealer can and will collect and pay the Virginia tax AND submit paperwork on your behalf with the DMV for title and tags. That shouldn't be a show stopper for a reputable dealer. A GM dealer is probably willing to do just about anything to sell a Porsche off it's lot, they probably picked it up as a fluke or got a really good buy on it. They know, most buyers wandering into a GM dealership are not the typical Porsche buyer. I've seen stranger things, Chevy dealers selling cherry BMWs but it's pretty infrequent.

 

I have purchased cars from out of state and have never had any issues. I am currently staying in Leesburg, VA for work but am a FL resident. I just picked up my M5 from a dealer in MD. I had no issues with my deal where I traded my car titled in FL for the M5 titled in MD. They did all the paper work for me and collected only FL sales tax which is correct because I am a FL resident.

 

Alright, sounds like it shouldn't be an issue no matter where I buy then. I was a bit worried because I had a friend a few years back that got seriously screwed by an out of state purchase. The dealer he bought from titled the car in the state there, then when he tried to get it registered in VA, he got charged sales tax a second time on it.

Much appreciated!

 

If you've got the paperwork that proves you paid sales tax in the other state, you should only have to pay the difference, though it sounds like the dealer your buddy used wasn't very cool and screwed it all up. I've bought cars from dealers and private party our of state and in state, it's just a matter of filing the righer paperwork. My last car I bought from a dealer in NY and it was cake to walk into the DMV here in VA and get it done.

 

I just bought my car a couple months ago in TX and brought it back home to VA. I bought it from a very small dealer, but even he was able to make the transaction a "VA Sale" so that I paid him no sales tax whatsoever. The (half) beauty of VA is that the sales tax on autos is quite low: 3% if I remember correctly (easily searchable on the VA DMV site). Of course, VA has the annoying personal property tax every year, but you get hit with that regardless of where you "buy" the car.

 

Thank you for your service!!!!

You should not have ANY issues with an out of state dealer taking care of the paperwork for you to register in VA. I've got some contacts of local high end car dealers if you want me to introduce you to them, and other than that, my good friend downs the family who owns DarCars VERY WELL. Let me know by PM.

Berk

 

great... I just saw an 08 997 4S cab that's well within my price range. Thank you, cars.com, for making a decision harder.

Thoughts on lightly used 987 vs less lightly used 997?

Edit: Both S, both cabs

 

997 4S is sweet. I'd take it over the Boxster assuming it's in great condition.

 

i'm fairly certain he means the GM (general manager) at a porsche dealer... not a General Motors dealer.

 

DOH...

 

this.

Although I remember at Koons Ford in FC, we had a beautiful 997TT get traded in for a GT500, which the owner promptly sent back to Shelby for the SS upgrade.

The used car sales manager sold the pcar to Tyson's after a month on the lot. He said he has no interest in it sitting and taking up space

 

gotdamn... just saw an 06 boxster with a RUF 3.8l X51 swap. Price was right, car was beautiful.

I'll be chasing that unicorn for a while, I guess. Are there any other RUF dealers in the US other than the one in Dallas?