A question regarding out of state purchase

That shouldn't be a problem, at least I don't think so. It's where the Prius is registered that should determine that. I was planning to get mine in Nevada and register it in California, but that fell through.

 

If memory serves me, a car dealer in CA reported that they were obligated by the state to collect state taxes if the car was sold on site, even if the person was registering out of state.

ymmv, just check up on taxes before you buy for the states on each side of the transaction.

 

From the DMV website:

California law considers any vehicle with less than 7,500 miles on the odometer when acquired by a California resident or business to be a new vehicle. This holds true whether or not the vehicle has been registered in another state. If you acquire a new vehicle from another state, you may not subsequently drive it to accumulate over 7,500 miles to circumvent the law. DMV cannot accept an application to register the vehicle, and you cannot register or operate the vehicle in California.

 

Last time we bought outside of Cali they only made us pay the difference in sales tax. So the car cost 18K in Nebraska and we paid like $1200 in taxes. In Cali it would have cost us $1800 in taxes so all we had to pay was the extra $600.

Wildkow

 

I just remembered what a troll said (on one of the Yahoo groups) about someone driving to Las Vegas from California. They said to NOT tell the dealer if you filled up while in Las Vegas because you just voided the warranty. A California Prius is set up for the cleaner blend of gasoline used in California, so if you fill up out of state you've ruined the system (due to the higher sulfer content). If that's true you could never move your car out of the state it's purchased.

 

Hi Aaf:

The cars are identical between states, and run just fine outside of CA

I've wondered about the warranty details as they apply to CARB compliant states, though. By state registration ? Dealer location ?

My car has the PZEV sticker on the window, even though I am pretty sure NM has not been a low sulfur state from 2004, and surely is not CARB compiant.

 

That's a great question - thanks for bringing it up. Not knowing the answer is what caused me to not look out of state.

And, if not negated, does the CA-enforced warranty apply to 2nd owners? If so, then I'd think that all of our out-of-state members should be looking to make friends inside California for a bit of I-sell-it-to-you and you-sell-it-back-to-me shenanigans for out-of-CA battery failures

This 150K warranty on all of the 'emissions control' components makes me think that buying the extended warranty in CA isn't as valuable as it might be out of state.

rick

 

The warranties should be good whether you're first or second owner. As for the 150K warranty, a lot of items aren't covered, like the engine, transmission and accessories. Take a look at the Warranty Information.

 

Same info I have.

As far as I know the Prius meets or exceeds emissions standards in all 50 states. It is only the hybrid components warranty that is different so you'd have to ask about purchasing a car from out of state.

As far as the Yahoo person Aaf quoted...I think they are a bit off. I've had no problem with my vehicle, but then I have, at the moment only purchased gas in NM. If the yahoo person was correct you'd never be able to drive your car outside California...which seems very silly to me.

Re purchasing out of state: My understanding from my NM dealer is that if a non-NM resident purchased a car in NM (no state sales tx for us residents), and quite a few do at my local dealership, then they must pay for the sales tax and their registration costs in their home state.

 

ACK! I think 90% of the people who posted a reply don't understand the OPs original question. I'm sure this is causing a lot of confusion. Let me try to clarify.

In CALIFORNIA, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) actually warrants emission control equipment for 15 years/150k miles. For the Prius, the hybrid battery is actually included under the warranty. Yes, believe it or not, the state of California will pay for repairs to the battery if it konks out before 15 yrs/150k miles. That's why the CARB warranty is such a big deal. (see: list of cars covered by CARB warranty)

As for whether or not vehicles purchased outside of California and later brought into California are covered under the warranty, I believe the answer is NO. However, perhaps someone who bought a Prius in California and received the CARB warranty booklet can look this up and tell us.

Also keep in mind that if you buy your Prius in California and then move out of state, the CARB warranty is gone!

If anyone knows differently or can confirm any of the above, please speak up!

 

Do you have a link for that (something saying that the warranty is actually through CARB)? I've never heard of any warranty by CARB, or that the state of California will pay for anything related to it. My understanding is that CARB rules say in order to be qualified as a ZEV, ATPZEV, or PZEV vehicle, the manufacturer has to warrant the components of the emissions system for 15 yrs/150,000 miles (it's 10 yrs/150,000 miles for the Prius traction battery), which is what the warranty information that came with my Prius says Toyota does. I'm not trying to be argumentative, but it would be news to me if the warranty coverage is different than what appears in the Toyota warranty booklet.