The pitfalls of buying out of state
 

Please beware of some potential complications in buying a car out of state.

There has been a short supply of A7s here in Washington State, and it would take months to get one with my preferred options. But as luck would have it, I came across the prefect specimen while on vacation in California -- Prestige, Quartz Gray, Nougat, Sport Package, B&O, etc.

The idea of driving my dream car up the coast from LA to Seattle was too much to resist so I made an offer. While the dealership prepared the paperwork I took my hungry family out for lunch and came back ready to drive.

At that point my sales person alerted me that I could not finance the car using a Washington address and drive it legally in California. After hours of trying to figure out how to make it work, I relented and started on a plan to ship the car to Seattle.

The drive of a lifetime was not in the cards, but at least I would have my dream car in a week.

While I was signing the paperwork, the finance manager assured me that I had all the necessary paperwork to register the car in Washington State.

So after two weeks and a few more unfortunate issues with the dealership, the car was finally on it's way to Seattle. I went to the department of licensing only to find out that I actually needed the title in order to register and drive the car.

I immediately called my sales person who told me he would figure it out and call back me in five minutes. I called him again several hours later and he told me it might take another week or two to receive the paperwork.

I tried in vain to speak with the finance manager, the sales manager, the general manger, or anyone who could give me any information about when the title would arrive and if there was any way to expedite the process. But after leaving multiple messages I realized they were not going to return my calls.

Perhaps my living in another state made it easier for the dealership to ignore a customer who just spent over $70K on a car. But honestly, I expected a lot more from Audi.

To make it even more frustrating, my local Audi dealership called to tell me a customer had just backed out of a Quartz Gray A7 with similar options and it was mine if I wanted it.

I could have been driving right now had I only been patient and remained loyal to my local dealer. Instead, I have no recourse to resolve issues with the CA dealership and a beautiful A7 sitting undrivable in my garage.

There's no title on a brand new car. What you're missing is the Certificate of Origin.

The CoO typically arrives at the dealership the same day as the car or certainly withing a day or two afterwards.

Did they mis-place the CoO? They're going to need to get a replacement if they can't come up with that.

I think I would be telephoning the Audi USA and get them involved.

Welcome aboard!

I don't know if CA has some special laws (anything is possible out there) - but the general way you buy a car out of state is to buy it, pay no sales tax to the selling dealer, get an in-transit license plate (you need proof of insurance of course), the dealer gives you the ORIGINAL certificate of origin, you drive home and go to your home state DMV - register the car, pay sales tax, give them the CO, and they title the car in your name (with the lien).

Thanks for the info and the welcome! I only wish I had joined earlier.

Having finally given up on getting any real answers from the dealer, I did call Audi USA this morning. They were very responsive and promised some resolution by tomorrow evening.

Fingers crossed.

Unfortunately I trusted the dealer without doing my homework. They told me they ship cars all the time and added, "we just sent an R8 Spyder to Texas this morning." Clearly they had no idea how to actually pull off what sounds like a fairly straightforward transaction.

That's exactly right. I used a 3rd party leasing company from out of the state to lease the A7 from my local dealer, and the dealer had to send the leasing company the Original certificate of the car to start the titling process, because after all, it's the bank that owns the car. I am still driving with a temp tag because the leasing company dropped the ball on the vehicle registration part. The car has been titled to the bank, but the leasing company recently just requested more info from the dealer to register the car with the Washington State Department of Licensing.

Yes all are right the CO takes the place of a title on a newly manufactured car! The CO is used to produce a title from a dealer to the DMV who then issue you your tags. Without the CO they can't process your paperwork. I bought a BMW m3 in 2008 via military sales and the CO was issued to me by BMW (since there was no dealer and I purchased directly from the factory); I presented that to the DMV who then issued a title and registration. If the car is used then the title is signed over to the new owner and then the DMV uses it to produce registration paperwork and tags. Good luck with your car! Looks similar to me! LOL

I have bought many cars out of state and had them shipped in. I always run the paper tag until all my paper work gets in. I have even had dealers give ne the mso and I have taken it to the tag office. Sorry you just had someone that did not know what they wad doing. BTW awesome car.

I know exactly how you feel, i purchased my car out of state and it ended up being my worst purchase experience to date, bottom line is, that is how Audi Dealers operate, after the sale, who cares, they have your money, lets move on to the next sucker.

Its a fact that state laws on registering cars are different in each state, they say " no problem, we do it all the time" then when something goes wrong and they say " well that has never happened before, or my favorite " you have unique circumstances".

I got my car on April 16th the 2nd day after they were released. I loved the dealer for selling me the car, but then i blow out a tire, $600.00 for a new pirelli PZero 20" tire. I called up the out of state dealer who i had purchased the car and Road hazard package for Tire and Wheels, they told me that tire road hazard contract had not been sent in yet and i should drive on a donut until the contract is finalized or i guess i could pay for it myself.

My registration came in the day after my car's temp plates expired and were only good for a month, on top of that i couldn't get these guys on the phone to save my life, i had to end up calling Audi of America.

Funny, to this day , i haven't seen the survey for my sales experience.

Now i have to search for a new car dealer for service, because we all know how you get treated if you buy you car somewhere else and go to another dealer for service.

I would never buy another audi out of state, no matter how good the deal is, just is not worth it.

I've purchased at least 10 cars out of state. Every situation is different, and some states have weird laws. Many dealers will simply collect from you your local sales tax rate, give you a temp tag and drive home. In addition, most states won't advertise it, but you can drive home with a bill of sale and proof of insurance for a probationary period (from a few to 30 days) while you get it registered.