Seller Guide
Sell A Car Located In A Different State Than Your Address
Many luxury car owners store collector vehicles in different states than their primary residence - climate-controlled facilities in Florida or Arizona, summer-only cars in Aspen or Lake Tahoe, garage overflow at vacation properties. Our match-making service handles cross-state transactions without complication. Here's how.
Why the storage state usually doesn't matter
For the buyer, what matters is: where they need the car delivered, the title is in your legal name, the title is clean. Where the car is currently stored is a logistics question for transport, not a barrier to the transaction.
Common scenarios we handle:
- NY/CT/MA owner stores collector car at a Florida facility for winter
- California owner has a second collection at a Scottsdale climate-controlled warehouse
- NJ/PA owner stores summer-only cars at Aspen or Vail
- Out-of-country owner with cars stored at a Miami or LAX bonded facility
- Family-office or trust holdings stored at a centralized facility separate from the principal's residence
Title and registration considerations
You sign over the title regardless of where the car is. Title transfer is based on your name and signature, not the physical location of the vehicle.
The buyer registers in their state of residence. Sales tax is collected by the buyer's state DMV at registration, not by the state where the car is currently stored.
Some states require notarization on title transfers (PA, MD, NC, AZ, OK). If you're notarizing while in a different state, any US notary works - it doesn't need to be the title-state's notary.
If the car was registered in a state different from the title state (you registered it in your residence state while titled elsewhere), confirm both DMV records are up to date before listing.
Transport logistics
The buyer arranges enclosed transport from the car's current storage location to wherever they want it. Transport cost is the buyer's expense. From most facilities (Miami, Scottsdale, Aspen, Las Vegas, LAX area), enclosed carriers are available with 5-10 day lead times.
Your role: provide the carrier (chosen by the buyer) with facility access details - storage facility name, address, gate code or key holder contact, your authorization for the facility to release the car.
The facility typically does a release inspection (key handover, mileage verification, condition snapshot) and the carrier does a pickup inspection (bill of lading with condition notes). Both protect the transaction.
Sales tax handling
Sales tax is the buyer's responsibility. The buyer pays sales tax based on their state of registration when they register the car after pickup. You don't collect or remit sales tax on a private party sale; the buyer's state DMV does at registration.
States that DO impose use tax on private party transactions: most states. The buyer pays at registration time using the agreed sale price (or fair market value if the state determines the agreed price is artificially low).
States with NO sales tax on private party vehicle sales: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, Oregon. Buyers from these states have a structural advantage on tax-naked private purchases.
Storage facility coordination
Most luxury storage facilities (Reliable Carriers, ColumbiaCar, Hangar 24, JF Vehicle Services, etc.) have established processes for owner-authorized vehicle release. You provide a written authorization (signed by you as the registered owner) authorizing release to the buyer or buyer's carrier.
If the storage facility has a hold (unpaid storage fees, unresolved damage claim), you resolve that with the facility before the buyer's pickup. We do not coordinate with storage facilities; that's between you and the facility.
What about offshore or international owners
If you live outside the US but own a US-titled vehicle stored in the US, the process works the same. You sign the title transfer documents in your foreign location (we can recommend notaries who handle US documents internationally). The car is transferred to a US-based buyer per their state DMV. Funds wire to your US-based account or international account depending on your banking setup.
Get started
Submit your car. Note the storage state separately from your residence state in the notes field. We will produce the market read for the car's market context and coordinate with the eventual buyer on the cross-state logistics.
Submit your car
Four steps, under three minutes. We respond within 24 business hours with the market read.