🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Dec8.214733.28642@cs.ucla.edu> coleman@rocky.cs.ucla.edu (Mike Coleman) writes:
>I'm planning to buy a pickup in Missouri and drive it back to California where
>I'm a resident.  So far, I'm unable to find anyone in either state who will
>write me insurance for this trip.  Agents in Missouri say it must be insured
>in California, and agents here say they won't insure it without physically
>Any ideas?
>Mike

Hey Mike, there are a couple of solutions, although I am questioning
why you would want to buy the pickup in Missouri, anyway?  I hope it
is CA-emission equipped.  If not, then you are going to be faced with 
the extra registration fees, etc, that will negate your cost savings.
However, I am assuming that you have a reason for buying the truck
in MO, namely family.  If so, then register the truck in your name
in MO, with their address as your residence.  Then get insurance in
MO.  Don't mention anything about living in CA.  Then you have no
problems, with the exception of also having to get a MO drivers
license, in case you get stopped in CA, and are questioned about why
you have a CA license with a MO truck.  To synopsize, [1] get a drivers
license in MO; [2] buy the truck there and register it there, to an
address of a friend or family member; [3] get your insurance there without
mentioning living in CA.  Remember your "legal" residence is now 
technically in MO.  
	This will work, as I know of friends who are doing this right
now.  It's OK as long as your paperwork is straight.  You may have to 
pay vehicle property taxes in the registered state, and every 4 years
or so you will have to renew your drivers license in the registered
state, but the savings compared to CA can be enormous.  For example, 
a license plate in NC is a flat $20 a year for every car.  They have
a maximum amount of sales tax on the purchase of a vehicle, which
used to be $250, although I think it has been raised in the past couple
of years.  Their property tax rate on the vehicles is the same as for
other property, about .67 per $100 valuation.  Liability insurance
for a person over 25 with no points for a vehicle as you describe in
NC is approximately $220 a YEAR.  So add it up, the total expenses for
a year on a vehicle registered in NC [as an example] for taxes, plates,
etc, amounts to less than $300 a year.  In CA, the insurance alone would
run more than that, and don't even ask about the price of a license
plate on that new vehicle in CA.
	I hope this long diatribe has been enlightening.
--Keith