To be clear... I did not pay one penny in CA taxes or fees.
( When I registered in CO, I did pay my local tax, but it was less than CA )

Also, dealers can buy/sell/trade whatever they want between themselves.

In fact, the dealer sent me a check for $22 one month later with an apology letter saying there was some sort of $22 document fee built into the price that I didn't have to pay since I took the car out of state.

The state of CA does not even know I bought a car there. There was no paperwork required whatsoever.
The California dealer did not need to talk to anyone in Colorado at all. They didn't care where I took it, as long as it was out of state. It was out of their concern once it left the border.

Sounds like you had a dealer who didn't know what they were doing, or when it came down to it, they really didn't want to deal with you... which is sad.

 

I have yet to find a dealer that will trade a hybrid for a non-hybrid. I have called many dealers while shopping around in the fall covering 3-states -- all were firm in not giving up a hybrid for a non-hybrid. A non-hybrid for a non-hybrid -- no problem wheeling and dealing -- but a hybrid for a non-hybrid -- nothing doing. Again, that was in the fall. Perhaps things will change once they become more available.
Also, in CA, if you trade in a car, sales tax is calculated on the gross sales price of the new car. I don't know about other states, but in AZ, you can net the value of the trade-in against the value of the new car and only pay sales tax on the difference of the two values. I did speak to the State of CA motor vehicle dept and was informed that a change was made in 2007 regarding how they deal with out of town sales. All I'm saying is "buyer be ware"!
Personally, I ended ordering from our dealer. Should have it in a couple of weeks. Was shipped from KS to the convoy dealer. Looking forward to getting it soon.
Anybody have suggestions on floor mats??

 

Okay... things must have become more difficult in 2007. Sorry to hear that. It worked well for me. I did trade in an older car... but the sales tax was a non-issue since I wasn't paying any. However, when I got to Colorado I paid based on the net ( I think... I may have to double check )... because my car was $30,200 and my trade was $1000. so on the bill of sale I'm pretty sure is says purchase price was $29,200. Colorado had no idea if a trade was involved or not, and they didn't ask.

Dealers can trade something of equal value, say, a limited edition Mustang for a Hybrid... they are just choosing not to, since so few hybrids are made each year...it is in the same category as that Mustang Limited Ed. -John

 

I think many dealers just have no idea how to provide the right vehicles at the right prices. I tried in VAIN for almost 3 months just to find an FEH in my area to test drive almost a year and gave up. I had already test drove a TCH and really liked it. Needless to say..........i bought the TCH!!

 

The FEH makes a good statement for those who need to make one (entertainment types, government officials). If you really want to see a nice selection of Escape Hybrids available, check 91343, largest dealer in USA.

 

That's what I expierienced back in May. If I could find one, no one was trading. The dealer I love to work with after searching for a week said I can't get one, but I did find one. I can't trade for it, but I can buy it and sell it you you for $1k more than I bought it for which was MSRP.
I said thanks for trying, went online and found what I wanted 250miles away out of state. called and said do you have vin#, what's the best price, when can I pick it up!
I also didn't pay the state taxes there, just in my state where it's registered.

 

I don't know if this is still the case, but there were several small-town dealers around the SE that had just one. That's where ours came from (a 2-hour-ish drive from ATL). The only dealerships that had several were in IL (Chicago) and No VA.

I'd sit there w/ one window on fordvehicles.com and another on Yahoo, then search for a zipcode in Yahoo, enter in fordvehicles, and search for cars. Back up in fordvehicles.com and repeat.

I just did a quick run-through, and most of the ones I was looking at are gone, but Joyce Ford in Chicago still shows 16 (60601). IL probably has similarly asinine taxation/delivery rules as CA, but I really don't know. Our dealer in AL just had to send a form in to the state saying it was sold to someone from another state, then they mailed our paperwork to our county clerk. The county hopped right on it and called us to come pay the taxes and get a tag.

There is a loaded light blue one that shows up in inventory in Foley, AL. And a black one in Brandon, MS (though I think they showed one when we were looking that turned out to be one someone had ordered).

Anyway, good luck with it.

 

In fact the LM dealer in Anniston Alabama has a white MMH that my local dealer in south Fla tried to pry loose and sell to me, but failed. It is still there!

 

I know i looked in several areas close to where i live and could not find a FEH. I had put in an internet request with the local Ford dealer and after 3 months they said they would be getting an MMH, but i never heard back that they actually got one. I had already test drove a TCH a few months earlier and had to wait to buy one. Then i ordered one and got it in a few weeks.

 

Wow. After reading this thread I feel really lucky to have gotten my car in the color and with the options I wanted. It just happened to be one of the onse that Fremont Ford had. Some people were giving me guff about not waiting until the end of the year when the dealer was trying to make their numbers so would give me a better deal. I guess I just would have been SOL had I done that.