Get full documentation, (from ebay and PO) and go to a different DMV office. If need be, have the bill of sale notorized. If you want to lie, tell them it is a beater or has a blown engine.

I have bill of sale and E-bay printouts and they would not accept them. They said, "It sold for less than market value."
Their a bunch of ass@#$%^.

Just wait till Tim Eyeman gets the property tax rollback on the ballot. In 1991 my property taxes tripled and most of the senior citizens that were my neighbors were forced to move. They could not pay the increased taxes.

Do you have any lawyer friends? They can't just say "less than market value," values change every day. This is an absolute crock. With Bill of sale and ebay transaction, they don't have any ground to stand on. The last time I checked taxes are based on the transaction price, not some created book value.

Geoff,
This is what they stand on for value of car. More bureaucratic b.s.

Why use average fair market value and not actual sale price?

Washington law RCW 82.12.010 requires use tax be collected on the average fair market value of a vehicle or vessel. Fair market value reflects the value of a vehicle according to the retail-selling price, at the place of use, of similar vehicles and vessels of like quality or character.

Actual selling price may or may not represent the average fair market value in the case of an individual selling a used vehicle or vessel. For example, a 2000 model year Cadillac that sold for $50 does not necessarily mean that most 2000 model-year Cadillac's are only worth $50.

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How is average fair market value determined?

When the purchase price does not represent the true value of the article, the value shall be determined under such rules as the Department of Revenue (DOR) may prescribe. DOR uses accepted industry standard sources for determining average fair market value; for example, National Market Reports, NADA and Kelley Blue Book.


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Why don't "condition" discounts apply to passenger cars, light duty trucks or motorcycles?

Although the RV and vessel industries do consider condition, passenger car, light duty truck and motorcycle industries do not. We do, however, capture the condition of a car, truck or motorcycle on the Declaration of Buyer and Seller Statement form. In addition, the $2,000 leeway allows for condition. As long as the purchase price is no more than $2,000 below average fair market value, it will be used to calculate use tax.


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If someone doesn't agree with the average fair market value used by DOL, what should they do?

The Department of Revenue (DOR) uses the same average fair market values as are used by DOL. The customer can visit any DOR office in Washington where staff will work with them to determine the vehicle or vessel's value so that the proper amount of use tax can be calculated.


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Since those are the laws, what prevents the general public from using them to our advantage.

I think we should all buy three wrecks for $500 a piece, give them to charity and then claim the $10,000 - $15,000 market value on our tax returns....after all, it is the book value of that particular vehicle. You know what, to be fair we will subtract $2000 from our claimed value to take into account the condition.

SORRY TO HEAR YOU ARE GETTING SCREWED BY THE GOVERNMENT!! IT's gotta somehow be Bill Clinton's fault.

I know a very wealthy doctor that still has his original 1985 190D 2.2.

One of the reasons he's well off today is that he's driven that car for 19 years and 800,000km's.

__________________
John Shellenberg
1998 C230 "Black Betty" 240K

http://img31.exs.cx/img31/4050/tophat6.gif

They do it to us in Pennsylvania too. The problem was that private sellers would sell the car for much more and then go with the buyer and lie about the price when they did the title transfer at the notary. It was done to spare taxes for the buyer and help with the transaction for the seller. The government caught on to the scam and now they ask for proof when a vehicle is sold for less than the average value of the vehicle. Just saying that you got a good deal doesn’t cut it, but I would think that official documentation of the price paid should be sufficient.

__________________
I just couldn't give up on my 1995 E320.

I think it might be like always going back to that same bad relationship with an ex girlfriend.
You feel you love them too much, or you are just too stupid to know any better.



Flickr slideshow of my 1995 E320
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24145497@N06/sets/72157616572140057/

1981 300SD
140 000 miles
3900 Canadian 2 weeks ago. ($3000 USD)

The car came with '99 SLK rims, Hella H4 headlight conversion and a few other minor goodies.

gstigler,
The local Benz dealer Barrier Motors would not appraise my car and the service advisor refused to calculate prices for work done.
He said it would have to go into their shop and at $110 an hour it would cost $800-1000.00 for an estimate of work needed.

So I would tell all the Seattlites not to patronize Barrier Motors in Bellevue, WA. I have been their customer for 10 years. Go figure,
their a no service dept. I went there because the Dept of Licensing said "Go to the dealer and get an appraisal." They told me they only appraise cars traded in for another car. They gave me the Kelly Blue book price. This is leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

:
The funny thing is that Pep Boys said they would give me an appraisal of repairs for $24.99 after I left Barrier and called them.
:p

I understand that in the past probably many deals have been declared at a lower price in order to save tax. Nevertheless it is not a good policy to punish all the honest buyers for that practice. In my opinion this is not a respectful way to treat people. In the end it will motivate more people to be dishonest in the future.
Bruno

In Rhode Island I had the same happen to me with a 300CD. I got some forms from the state, produced some supporting doc from Kelley Blue Book, printed out the auction pages, had a mechanic write up a couple of estimates (after having him do some initial work). Sent the whole thing in and about 3 months later I got a 200 or so refund. If you bought the car through an E-Bay dealer you might be able to get a clean bill of sale on their company letterhead and accomplish the same.
I did have to have my statements (the state form) notarized but this was only to notarize that it was me signing the statements. A PIA but better the 200 in my pocket :-)

I bought my 1985 190E 2.3L 8vlv for $4500 Canadian on April 2002 with around 240,xxx km on it and a new engine, well almost new, it apparenlty had half the milage of the entire car on it, PO messed up the original engine while doing a timing chain.

I did a lot of work on the car, but not that it really needed it, I just wanted to cause I love the car so much. Since I do all the work on it myself, I only pay for parts, the rest is a labour of love. Everyone who has seen my car is now considering getting one just like it.

xp

__________________
1985 190E 2.3L - a constant project.

Barrier Motors in Bellevue, WA has some of the highest asking prices around. I have several freinds that were long time customers until I showed them they could save over 10k by coming to S. Cal for the same car.

I bought a 1988 300E with 109K miles...immaculate for $5000 on ebay....its a wonderful car, needs a front transmission seal and a timing chain gasket but the car looks and drives like new. Even though it was a $40,000 car when new I may have paid about $1000 too much. I just bought a 1986 560 SEL for $3000 on ebay also. I LOVE this car. 180k miles, drives and looks wonderful...cracked windshield which I will replace and needs some work on the self leveling suspension which I am doing now...and painting the wheels but it certainly well worth $3000. It is amazing how much of a car you can get by buying an old mercedes...yes you may have to fix a few things...but you can't buy a used Cavalier for that amount! I figure I have about $110,000 worth of Mercedes sitting in my driveway for about $8,000. Not a bad deal. As far as the DMV and getting the run around on taxes on the value of the car. I have a real problem with that. Simply because how many times should a car be taxed? Everytime it changes hands it is re-taxed. Thats CRAZY. Mercedes rock...and whatever you paid for yours...is money well spent! Life is short and you can't take your money with you...Never seen a Uhaul at a funeral home yet!

Bruno said, "In my opinion this is not a respectful way to treat people. In the end it will motivate more people to be dishonest in the future." I might add the revenuers think were all crooks!

Their fair market value was $1100 more than Kelly.

Success at last, armed with my favorite body shop estimate, Pep Boys estimate, Kelley Blue book that said, "Deduct for reconditioning." and Fastlane's prices. I appealed to a supervisor and they charged me tax based on the bill of sale and a E-bay printout of the auction. They told me I saved over $450 by doing this.

The unfortinate thing is that this took about 9 hours to get with all the running around I had to do. Apparently they figure that most people will cave in and pay them. I would rather put the $450 in the car than pay these crooks!