[hilld]

No, I must be weirder than weird because I lived in 5 other states and one other country before I settled in Ca.
It turns out 6 other states besides Ca do not reduce sales tax for trade-ins, and nobody ever cracks jokes about those states - they don't dare with some of them, ha, ha. Anyway, who can say anything bad about Hawaii for example?
This is from Zacks (the first part supports your case and the second part mine):
"Trade-in Value Increase
Another way to view the sales tax reduction from trading a car -- and a favorite view of car dealers -- is that the reduced sales tax can be equated to a higher value for your trade-in. If the dealer gives you $10,000 for your trade and trading the car reduces your sales tax bill by $800, you are in effect receiving $10,800 for the car you are trading. If you sold the car on your own, you would not receive the sales tax savings, so would have to sell the car for more than $10,800 to come out ahead of going the trade-in route.
States without Tax Benefit
The state of Oregon has no sales tax, so if you live in that state and buy a car, the tax calculation is easy -- zero. In seven other states, there is no credit or sales tax reduction when you trade in a car. Those states are California, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Montana and Virginia. If you live in one of these states you calculate sales tax by multiplying the full new car purchase price times the local sales tax rate".

Hmmm, I'll have to ponder the rest of what you said as I don't do my own taxes, so I may have used a wrong word or two in previous post. All I know is that when I itemize deductions I pay less taxes than if I were to take the standard deduction, even with recent tax law changes. And sales tax and property tax are part of my itemized deductions. Maybe I should move to Oregon where things are simpler.... Nah, we're getting into cold season, and I already bought my Pro anyway. Oregon is really, really nice though....

The statement about Oregon is no longer true. As of a few years ago, you have to pay sales tax on a new car purchase. Yes, it isn't much 0.5%, but you still have to pay it.

Car and Truck Financing In Sandy, OR at Dick Hannah Ford

Simplify the process of getting a car loan by completing our online pre-approval application. The Finance team at Dick Hannah Ford is happy to help you.

www.suburbanford.net

 

[hilld]

Looks like thats for commercial vehicles, RVs, not regular passenger cars.

I wish, that applies to all vehicles. My kid lives in Oregon and he just hit with it last year. Where the posted page is hosted has the word businesses in the URL, which is somewhat unfortunate, but if you read the page, it pretty much lists all the criteria and a vehicle is in the very first box. Also, they tax the full amount, not a difference between trade in value and new purchase value.

Still better than WA state where I live, but I lived in OR for many many years.

Oregon Department of Revenue : Vehicle Privilege and Use Taxes : Businesses : State of Oregon

Two Oregon vehicle taxes began January 1, 2018. The Vehicle Privilege Tax is a tax for the privilege of selling vehicles in Oregon and the Vehicle Use Tax applies to vehicles purchased from dealers outside of Oregon.

www.oregon.gov