I went to change over the title today and wow my car is worth more than I though.Any one want to buy it?Of course this is the value that they want to tax me at.I got them to drop it to $6000 aand they said that if I could find that a kbb retail price was less they might change it .Ilooked up KBB and it is only $5575 for mine with a max of $7575 for a car with 30,000mi.I also printed out autotrader prices of cars. I am going to go back.At 7.8 percent tax it adds up.

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89 Ford F3504x4CC 7.3 IDI turboed Intercooler and running on wvo now powered by a 1997 Cumins
87 300SDL on bio and wvo killed by chevy truck 5-24-06
1999 E300TD black with gray int.

You got an 87 300SDL with 30,000 miles? Hey, where do you find gems like this? How much did you REALLY pay for it? We need pictures.

If it has 30k miles on it, its worth more then $11k. I'd pay the tax bill on that, that way if you are ever hit you will get more money for the car.

The insurance company will offer you blue book value; but you say wait a second, the county, state whatever says its worth $10,375.


"I went to change over the title today and wow my car is worth more than I though.Any one want to buy it?"

Is it a real 30k mile cherry? I'd consider paying $11k for such a car...

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I had the same trouble. They wanted to assess my 85 300SD at $9475. WA state will only accept prices from like 3 sources (kbb is one) . And its the price from a dealer they go by. Autotrader prices will do you no good. I can't remember which source I used.

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green 85 300SD 200K miles "Das Schlepper Frog" With a OM603 TBO360 turbo ( To be intercooled someday )( Kalifornistani emissons )
white 79 300SD 200K'ish miles "Farfegnugen" (RIP - cracked crank)
desert storm primer 63 T-bird "The Undead" (long term hibernation)

http://ecomodder.com/forum/fe-graphs/sig692a.png

You have a car with 30,000 miles on it. . . sure it might be nice to pay taxes on the car like it had 300,000 miles on it, but think about the karma of that. Just pay the taxes on the car for $6000 or so value, it sounds like a fair deal. . . I wouldn't make too many waves or complain.

BTW, I can't imagine paying $11k for an SDL, even with 30,000 miles. It's probably reasonable to do, but I would just start thinking about another kind of diesel for that price range. Their valuation is really skewed.

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PagodaLOVER
1967 230SL, manual
1959 180D, manual

The Virginia DMV Nazis also like to overprice used cars based on their database - they can enter the VIN to get the model number and that seems to automatically tie in to a valuation database.

However, in Virginia you can beat that with a Bill of Sale signed by both parties that shows the actual transaction price. Strangely, the same information is presented on the transfer form printed on the title itself, but they completely disregard that. However, if you print up a nice Bill of Sale from examples on the Internet and complete it, they will accept that.

The same thing goes on with the annual "car tax" in Virginia - they get the car's (high) estimated value from some database (believe they use NADA Blue Book). In this case you can't modify this figure with a Bill of Sale, however you can reduce it somewhat with a safety inspection receipt that shows high mileage. That doesn't help much. However, I am saved by the fact that their database only covers the previous 20 years. Once you get out of the database coverage it is a flat $250 valuation for everything, and Virginia exempts the first $1000 or so of value in taxation. So all the vintage 616/617 diesels are now tax free to own in Virginia!

Of course, what other car is still a commuter car (or better) after 20 years?

Ken300D

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1982 300D at 351K miles
1984 300SD at 217K miles
1987 300D at 370K miles

No mine has 103k on the spedo but it was changed do not know the real miles do not really care,It drives great and has a cherry gray interior.I would think it would have at least 200 on it.They replaced the interior and changed out the engine, actually when they got the car it was missing the engine.Was told they bought a wrecked car to get the good parts from.I did the 30k just to see what that amount would be.Was able to get them to drop it down a grand so that saved me $70.I am going to get in touch with my state reps this is not right if you buy from a lot they charge you what the sales price was but if you buy private party you are charged what they say it is worth.

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89 Ford F3504x4CC 7.3 IDI turboed Intercooler and running on wvo now powered by a 1997 Cumins
87 300SDL on bio and wvo killed by chevy truck 5-24-06
1999 E300TD black with gray int.

Here in Warshington, the DOL and DOR will accept a bill of sale as a legal basis for setting the price in a private party sale. Just download the form from the DOR website and have the seller sign it, then you're set. I bought my '84 300D for $800, but DOR said it was worth $3k. The bill of sale settled the problem just fine.

here in Mass. they tax the car based on the Original Sticker Price .. so
for a W123 diesel owner it works out to over $30K valuation.. no getting out of it!

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1984 300D Turbo - 231k....totalled 11/30/07 RIP

The same in Taxachussetts was done in Oklahoma years ago. A friend of mine had a Lincoln Town Car with no a/c, ratted interior and sorely needing a paint job, who paid more registration taxes($350) than a brand new pickup(flat rate $19).

Then "trim-rite" companies sprang up and became multi-millionaires. Folks would buy the stripped model, get a purchase receipt for tax purposes, then take it to a company that added all of the factory goodies.

After much protest, they upped the taxes on pickups to the same as cars. The only way around it was to designate your vehicle as "commercial". So if you sold cat food on weekends and put an ugly "commercial vehicle" decal on your rear bumper you could get the lower tax rate.

Not long after this "piece of art" legislation went through, a tag agent and her senator husband were indicted and spent time in the pokey.

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Sam

84 300SD 350K+ miles ( Blue Belle )

You should be able to get it dropped more than a grand. An inaccurate odometer and a salvaged engine drops the value. I forgot to mention that on my assessed value of $9475 I got it reduced to what I paid for it which was $3400. Don't let the state screw you.

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green 85 300SD 200K miles "Das Schlepper Frog" With a OM603 TBO360 turbo ( To be intercooled someday )( Kalifornistani emissons )
white 79 300SD 200K'ish miles "Farfegnugen" (RIP - cracked crank)
desert storm primer 63 T-bird "The Undead" (long term hibernation)

http://ecomodder.com/forum/fe-graphs/sig692a.png