Cascade Crew

[IROCDave]

My work is dumping some of the older yard rigs. This one has about 160K hard miles on it but runs and drives fine. Is a 1998 and has a BBC, 4l80E, air and not much else. The lift gate still works, not smoothly but works. It needs some work ( door hinges, door latch on DD, seat recovered, window cranks replaced, side mirror reatached to a spot on the door without a hole ) etc.

It was offered up to the highest bidder to our employees. No one has asked about it. My sister could use it on her property so I talked to the yard manager. If nobody inside the company wants it my sister can have it for 500.00 bucks Friday.

Not a bad deal huh?

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[IROCDave]

The fleet of 03 and 04 1 ton Duramax deisels / Allison transmissions will be coming up for retirement in a couple of years, I might have to pick one of those up if the price is right.

[91RSVert]

You could keep the motor and part the rest out and make your money back.

Sometimes I wish I would have gotten a BBC instead of the TD I got. Then I would atleast know how it works.

[IROCDave]

The 1 ton was sold to someone else, but I was offered a 2002 3/4 ton HD for about the same price. I didnt want or need it so I called my dad and asked if he wanted it. He said no so I offered it up to my other siblings.
A little voice in the back of my mind was telling me to just buy /give the truck to my dad and make him get rid of the well worn 1974 3/4 ton he has been driving for the last 29 years. I didnt ignored the little voice that is usually correct and carried on.

When I got home I started explaining what I planned to do with the truck to my wife and she bluntly reminded me that the little voice that was telling me to give it to my dad was correct and that I was, in fact, a moron ( or more precisely, A MAN?) for not doing what was right. I couldnt disagree with her.

Guess thats why she is my better half?

Any how, the truck I picked up for my dad was in great shape for having 173K on it. Single cab, long box, 2wd, 6.0 litre, 4L80E, rubber floor liner, bed liner, tool rack, exactly no options except for a CD player, AC and tilt wheel. My dad and I know the Superintendent that racked up the miles on the truck. He is a very detail oriented person and had saved every reciept for every service on the truck. All services were per GM's owners manual and performed at or before the suggested mileage. The engine felt really strong, but the 4L80E was a little sluggish.

Last Saturday my sister invited our parents to her home for dinner. I parked the truck in the driveway, Lisa put a big red bow on it and we both walked into the house. I asked my dad to come out at look at some thing that we " picked up for him". When he walked out the door I handed him the keys. The look on his face was priceless, then he shed a tear. I couldnt beleive it, he never cried, but goddam, he was.

There's alot more to the story, but I dont feel comfortable telling it on line.

All I can say is thank you to Chris T.

[iansane]

That's awesome. I was going to say that 6.0 would go well in the 'vert but that's a much better use!

[IROCDave]

I seriously thought about it out but it went to some one who really needed it instead.

[IROCDave]

So it seems that state of WA is cash strapped and has decided that they can decide the actual value of a vehicle, purchase price dosnt matter. My dad tried to swap the title and the @^&#$%^&* behind the counter ( Lee Johnson Liscensing...) told him the KBB value was 8200.00 and that he had to pay the sales tax on that amount. He called me and said he couldnt afford to pay the tax and wanted to give the rig back to me. I was pissed.

I made several phone calls and found a person willing to help at the DOL in Woodinville. Through carefull questioning she told me that the person at the counter is the one who asks for and verifies the vehicle value. There is no other verification.
I walked her through the Edmonds value calculator and assisted ( ) her with the condition and options on the vehicle. She told me to have my dad print this out and bring it in. I asked her if my dad came in today would she help transfer the title? She back pedaled. I had just walked her through the on line evaluation process and it only came up at 2500.00. I told her that my dad is almost 70 and can barely use an ATM let alone a computer. She finally said" yes, send him in, I will help, my name is Jessica". My dad was there a 1/2 later and within 5 minutes he was walking out the door with only having to pay the sales tax on what I paid for the rig. That save me about 755.00 bucks.

Long story short, if you get a good deal on a vehicle the state will try and make you pay sales tax on the dealer retail price in excelent condition. But, keep in mind, the person you talk to behind the counter is the only one you need to convince the true value to.

[Al Hasse]

Works the same if you purchase a vehicle out of state, then bring it to Washington to register it. Since Washington has a higher sales tax than most other states, they want you to pay them the difference of what the tax would have been had the vehicle been purchased in Washington. I always wondered how Washington could tax something that wasn't even bought in Washington

[chevymad]

Al, you are supposed to pay tax for anything you buy out of state. Living here on the border with oregon you hear about it once in awhile. There have been a few stings. I remember one time officers went through the records of a local stereo store and a furniture store in oregon. They went back and figured out who was from washington and then sent tax bills to everyone over the last 5 years.

[Al Hasse]

I looked and found that law, if you want to call it one. It's called a "use tax" which is normally at the same rate as sales tax. Before Uncle Sam displaced me out here, I was used to being where neighboring states had near the same sales tax rate, so the "use tax" didn't really apply. It would have been a shock registering the car for the first time, so I decided to keep the Michigan tags while still on active duty.

[aaron_sK]

Usage tax has been a thing for awhile, the problem is that since the economy went in the crapper, the state has started looking at use tax as a cash cow, and is jacking the "value" of vehicles to criminal heights. I have personally seen the state make value claims over double what vehicles were booking out at.

The good news is that you can use almost anything to devalue the vehicle. A printout from the KBB website is enough to devalue it. So is a quote for work from any shop.

[iansane]

Why are cars taxed at every transfer of ownership/sale vs everything else that can only be taxed once?

[RSFreak]

[aaron_sK]

[badbob66]

[iansane]

[chevymad]

Thankful I live in a small town and thus know the license clerk. I've never had a problem yet, though they did try to tell dad his 66 flatbed was worth $10k.

[aaron_sK]

[chevymad]

After a certain point then they are considered classic and thus have value again. They use the classic car books to figure value for them then. That's how a 66 flatbed work truck ended up being valued at $10k. He was able to get some paperwork together though and knock it back down to the $600 he actually paid.

[IROCDave]

This is exactly what I am pissed off about.

If I decided to sell a vehicle it should only be taxed on the sale amount. It should not come down to some guy standing behind a counter to determine what " It should have sold for" and then require the buyer to pay the tax on the percieved value of the vehicle. If every liscensing office had a legit adjuster working the counter than maybe it would make sense. They dont and the taxed value should be determined soley by sale price determined by the seller and purchaser.

My point is that the system is F"ed up, but their are ways around it.