Is your state “Buyer Friendly”?

Tuesday, September 27th, 2005 at 8:24 am by terrymoto

Fellow riders,

As enthusiasts, we are constantly checking out bikes, wondering if we should add to our stable. Or maybe just trade. But unless you’re trading down, a new addition costs money.

The other day I was looking into how much it would cost me to buy a 2005 Suzuki DR650SE. The MSRP is $4999. But as we all know, one doesn’t just walk into the dealership and hand over the MSRP amount in cash. There’s also the requisite (1) tax, (2) title, and (3) tags. This can be a large chunk of change, depending upon which state one lives in. Which got me to wondering: Which states are “buyer friendly”?

So let’s do a survey. I’ll start with my state (New York). For this example, let’s assume a purchase price of $5,000 and that we’ll own the bike for one year. So, license plates are good for one year. (No fancy plate or personalized plate…just the plain one.) Copy and paste in my example and fill in the appropriate info for your state. If you are familiar with more than one state (rhino) feel free to add them. And if there are other costs that you believe are of interest, put them in the “(Comments)” section but don’t add them to the total. The total is only for MSRP + SALES TAX + TITLE + TAGS.

Let’s find out which states are “Buyer Friendly”, and which ones are “Buyer Unfriendly”.

STATE : New York
MSRP : $5000
SALES TAX : $400 (8%)
TITLE : $50
PLATE : $12
TOTAL : $5462

(Comments)
Safety Inspection : $6 - good for one year

8 Comments

Even though it’s not necessarily directly applicable to purchase price. I think the cost of insurance needs to be considered also. It can vary so much state to state, that it can become a major factor in what kind of bike someone buys. For instance your DR650 is likely much less to insure than your Bandit 1200. By the way, even though it’s a Suzuki, the DR650 is a piece of s—! (I owned a ‘97 and it hasn’t changed since) Buy a DRZ400 (street version) instead!

Comment by rhino | September 27th, 2005 11:43 am | Permalink

I’ve bought a lot of bikes over the years and my rule of thumb is that I will pay MSRP as the out-the-door price. If the bike is $10k MSRP then it’s $10k with everything included. Usually, except on small bikes which have tighter profit margins, this will leave the dealer with some profit so he can stay in business and I feel like I got some kind of deal. It also eliminates haggling over BS items like “doc fees” and inflated freight and set-up charges.

In the case of my new ‘05 ST1300 I paid slightly less than MSRP as the out the door price because the ‘06 models will be out soon. It’s possible to do even better on prices if you want to really push but the dealer is entitled to earn his living too, otherwise there is no shop to buy from next time.

Comment by Doug K. | September 27th, 2005 12:18 pm | Permalink

rhino,
Of course one should consider insurance. One should also consider loan rates, the reputation of the dealership, the opinions of people who have owned that particular model, (thanks by the way), magazine tests, etc. My attempt here was to determine just how much the state gets when I buy a new vehicle. That’s all.
Doug K.,
I like your strategy. I’ll bet it cuts down on the wheeling-n-dealing. If the dealer can’t give you what you want, you just walk away.

Comment by terrymoto | September 27th, 2005 12:32 pm | Permalink

The cost has actually gone down two dollars here in Michigan in the last year. The state has went from issuing plates from April 1st to March 31st to issuing plates according to the owners birth date. The rate went from 23.00 to 21.00 for my last plate. The rates here are as follows,
Bike- 5,000
Tax- 300 (6%)
Plate- 21.00
Title- 20.00
Total- 5341.00

Comment by Gymi | September 27th, 2005 1:00 pm | Permalink

Adding to what Doug said for Arizona, I would say that as for motorcycle specific ‘friendliness, the State is not. AZ is not friendly to any vehicle as far a lisencing goes.

Unlike my native state of Michigan ($23 when I left), it did not matter what kind of bike and/or what value…it was $23. Michigan also put a sales tax based on the purchase price, including used purchase price. My ‘99 R1 and my ‘97 Valkyrie were $1500 each…go figure.

Here in AZ though, you get sales tax not based on the purchase price, but ‘their’ assigned value. My ‘03 Caponord was about $250 for two years. The title, etc. was nominal (going from memory here). They absolutely hammer you for sales tax though at 8% on average (to make it more difficult, each city has its own tax rate).

Oh yeah - $18 for every other year emissions for vehicles older than three years old. Its also $18 / every other year “usage fee” if you vehicle is less than three years old.

Comment by angrybob | September 27th, 2005 7:37 pm | Permalink

STATE : Minnesota
MSRP : $5000
SALES TAX : $325 (6.5%)
TITLE : $17.50
PLATE : $13
TOTAL : $5355.50

(Comments)
The title cost includes:
$5.50 (title fee)
$8.50 (filing fee)
$3.50 (public safety vehicle fee)
The plate cost includes:
$3.00 (plate)
$10.00 (yearly registration tax for motorcycles)

Comment by terrymoto | September 28th, 2005 5:14 am | Permalink

STATE : Virginia
MSRP : $5000
SALES TAX : $150 (3.0%)
TITLE : $10.00
PLATE : $27.50
TOTAL : $5187.50

(Comments)
Safety inspections are required.
Emission inspection required in some counties.

Comment by terrymoto | September 28th, 2005 7:45 am | Permalink

A.B. you forgot the state of Michigan also forgives sales tax on used vehicles purchased from a family member, needless to say I have made several purchases from relatives.

Comment by Gymi | September 28th, 2005 2:58 pm | Permalink

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