I need to register my Jeep but....

[jgb0607]

I have yet to transfer the title and pay TT&L.
I bought my ZJ from a family friend whom gave me a good deal.
He was nice enough to re-register the Jeep right when I got it so I would not have to immediately pay TT&L.

My question is, what should I tell the tax office I payed for the Jeep?
I actually paid around $8500, but do not want to pay the taxes for that much. Should I just tell them I got it for $1500 as I had to fix the engine, etc?

I've never done this, so I'm not sure how much they care.
I know I could call the family friend ahead of time and let him know what I'm doing, but I want to keep him out if it.

Any insights?

[playthegame]

Just put $100 bucks on the tittle! They probably won't ask, but if they do, just tell them it was a family members and they let you have it for that!

[The_Jarhead]

Just go with the $100 dollar thing everyone does it and nobody cares. The only time you have be carefull with that is if you don't trust the person. If something happens and you try and take them to court all you are going to get is the $100 that the tittle says you paid for it.

[Puddles]

They don't question the $100 purchases. The people who sold it don't want to claim that they made much either so it works in both your and their favor.

[Lethal]

Just a word of advice... if you put down $100 and you total the car, dont be surprised if you get a check from your insurance company for $100. I have heard of this happening, but not that bad... the example I heard was real value paid 18.5K and they wrote 12K on the bill of sale... 2 months later the insurance company paid 12k on a total loss sale.

Although if you have some other receipts for the "fixed engine"
laying around then you might be all set.

[jgb0607]

Well crap, I do not like the sound of that!

I might just bite the bullet and tell them what I actually paid.

Has anyone else heard of something like that happening?

How would the insurance agency find out about what you paid on the TT&L?

[The_Jarhead]

The insurance company must by law give at least blue book value for a totaled car.
If what was posted above happened at the blue book at the time the check was cut was really 18.5K then they can leagaly fight for the rest. But if they bought the car and the blue book was 18.5 and the 12 monthes later the blue book could be ALOT less.

[Lethal]

Insurance companies are sneeky bastards!!! But really it depends on your local laws. Some counties make property tax records public... the secret is they cannot link them to your personal info. BUT guess what they can link them to - the vin on a car. So an insurance company simply does a search on the totaled cars vin, to make sure it isn't a flood vehicle and crap like that, but also to see the last known market value transaction... ie a purchase.

[Lethal]

Originally posted by The_Jarhead
The insurance company must by law give at least blue book value for a totaled car.

Yes unless they have evidence that the market for that car is less than the blue book (ie the vin tax record)... on that note most counties around where i live set your car at blue book for tax calculation purposes.

[Timber]

I don’t know what state your in but if you get it from a family member you can put down $1.00 and not pay any sales tax. As far as insurance goes put full coverage and then just have the value assets. The 1st thing I would do is call the DMV and check the law in your state. Transfer of ownership within the family have different rules in you favor. Usually a used vehicle the insurance company wants pictures and the value documented by 1 of there agents if you put full coverage on it regardless of what you pay for it.

[Lethal]

Listen, when you purchase insurance it is to make an individual whole at a time of loss. If you pay $1 for a car then what is your true loss if it is totaled? $1 right so why would they pay you more than you lost. The reason why many dont come across this problem is because insurance agents are lazy and dont check... it is easy for them to open the blue book and write the check. I have heard that the industry is starting to change because of the recent losses in the past couple years after 9/11. This is just a talking point. IMO you really dont have anything to worry about, just know that it could happen.

[jgb0607]

Ok, well thanks for the info.

The good news regarding the insurance agency is that we had a REAL BAD hail storm go through here last spring and they saw the car in order to figure out the damage.

So, if I claim that I got it cheap as it was a fixer-upper, than I have proof that the car was in fact driving and worth blue book value.

[Timber]

Originally posted by Lethal
Listen, when you purchase insurance it is to make an individual whole at a time of loss. If you pay $1 for a car then what is your true loss if it is totaled? $1 right so why would they pay you more than you lost. The reason why many dont come across this problem is because insurance agents are lazy and dont check... it is easy for them to open the blue book and write the check. I have heard that the industry is starting to change because of the recent losses in the past couple years after 9/11. This is just a talking point. IMO you really dont have anything to worry about, just know that it could happen.

, If your taking insurance out on anything it is to protect the value of as it is and has nothing to do with what you pay for it. It is to protect you if it is damaged or totaled. conversion vans are a perfect example. You have to have the value apprised because the are sold as a stock van and don’t take into account of the custom work done to them. There is no such thing as a stock conversion van. Say you buy a pick up truck for 30 grand and then you do 20 grand worth of upgrades to it, does this mean you can only get 30 grand for it if it is stolen. You have the value appraised so your covered for the 50 grand.

I paid 30 grand for my house 20 years ago and now its worth 400 grand, If it burns to the ground am I only entitled to 30 grand because that it what I paid for it. According to you I am only out 30 grand that is why I have it appraised for its current value

You buy insurance to cover the value of what you want covered and it has nothing to do with what you pay for it. Its has to do with what it is worth when you have it appraised

[blm]

Timber, I can see your point as far as a home goes, but I would have to disagree with you in terms of the "pick up truck" example. If you pay 30k for a vehicle and do 20k in upgrades, your vehicle is still only going to be worth the current blue book value to the insurance company. They could care less about the upgrades. Right? If I am wrong, that is cool because I did not know you could put upgrades into a vehicle and then get it appraised for a higher worth value.

[Timber]

Originally posted by blm
Timber, I can see your point as far as a home goes, but I would have to disagree with you in terms of the "pick up truck" example. If you pay 30k for a vehicle and do 20k in upgrades, your vehicle is still only going to be worth the current blue book value to the insurance company. They could care less about the upgrades. Right? If I am wrong, that is cool because I did not know you could put upgrades into a vehicle and then get it appraised for a higher worth value.

You absolutely can A custom motorcycle is valued at over 70 grand. nobody in the right mind would ride one without the proper coverage. and those conversion vans you buy at the dealer you have got to make sure they are appraised even with 0 miles on them because more than likely you insurance company only recognizes a stock van and you can be bumming big time if it is stolen and not recovered

The insurance company doesn’t care how much coverage you put on something, the more the merrier for them. Don’t get me wrong its not free, your premiums will go up along with your coverage. If you never have the value appraised then you will get book on a motor vehicle but it has nothing to do with what you pay for it. clearly if you are running with the barest coverage you’ll get nothing if you damage it yourself. Insurance is a service and you get what ever coverage you want to pay for

When you have something apprised it supersedes the blue book, Blue book is just a guide to generalizes the value of a vehicle as it ages and for the average car that's fine but if you invest a lot of time and money into it you need to have it covered.
You can fabricate a motorcycle from a blueprint and it won’t even have a make or model and won’t show up on any book. Same with and auto. the only way to get a value on that is with appraisal.
You know your self how many 68 Fire birds, Corvettes and Mustangs are out there running around and they book for what $800 and there worth 10 to 50 grand, you don’t think there running around without being covered for there value do ya