[flav]

i'm thinking of getting a new mini s from out of state. found one at an out of state delership. are there certain things i should be aware of when buying a car out of state. Cost? delivey? what if the car is a lemon? service times? taxes?

[flav]

also what about licence plates. if the car is delivered via truck to my house hoe do i get plates for it. usually that is done right at the dealer ahead of time. but for out of state how does that work.

[stryder]

You'd need to be more specific as to what state you live in, and if you've already decided what dealer, what state they are in.

Generally, you'll only pay sales tax to the state you live in, and the dealer should arrange (even if they're in a different state) almost all of the details, including sorting out license plates. Most MINI dealers have had a lot of experience selling out of state because there are so few dealers and relatively high demand. You'll find lots of threads discussing people's experience, though they can be hard to find with the search feature.

[flav]

stryder, wow thanks. and guess where i live. CLEVELAND too. what are the chances of that. and i'm looking at buying in new york. anybody else with some advice? and stryder, maybe you can elaborate since we live in the same city. you probably know the rules better than i do about out of state car buying.

[stryder]

You planning on buying at Mini of the Hamptons? (or one of the other ones...?) Just guessing since you said by truck.

I was up at Classic on Thursday, they said they were taking orders for July delivery at the moment, is there a reason you don't want to buy from them? or just because you can get the car earlier?

Anyway, so its pretty simple then - (I grew up in NY) you shouldn't have to pay anything extra to NY, except you'll need to get a state inspection, costs $12 or something, I forget how much. Your dealer will do it and just add it to the bill. If you plan on driving to NY to pick up your car (the other option being have it delivered) you'll need to either get your license plates first in OH, or get a temporary 30 day plate in OH. If you do indeed have the car sent by truck, then you'll just have an unregistered car in your driveway, and can take the paperwork and register it yourself at a title bureau.

In any case, your dealer should be able to help you, NY doesn't have temporary plates, so you can't get anything from there.

I'm not sure when you'll pay sales tax, either through the dealer or when you register the car in OH. Other then that, nothing really special. The cost will be whatever you negociate with the dealer, probably just MSRP, you might spend a few more days sorting out your car if you don't ever visit the dealer to pay for it, but it really should only be a couple if any. Depends how you plan to pay or who you finance through.

The only issue you might have is with service - if the car's a lemon, you'd be covered under OH's laws, but in reality you're just dealing with BMW/MINIUSA anyway, so it doesn't matter where you live or what dealer you're going to. The issue is that dealers who sold you the car (and thus made money off it) are usually more friendly when it comes to service benefits, like loaner cars. You still get the same warranty coverage and free maintenace regardless of what dealer you take the car to.