A TikTok video has been making waves lately by spotlighting a tricky sales tax issue that popped up during a truck trade-in in Missouri. The clip, posted by car salesman @rideorbuy3, has racked up over 33,500 views and sparked plenty of chatter about the ins and outs of vehicle transactions across state lines.
When a Missouri resident decided to trade in his truck, everything seemed in order at first. The vehicle sported a clean title from South Dakota and had a solid history report. But because the deal went down in Missouri, unexpected problems with sales tax soon emerged. Even though it looked like a straightforward trade-in, differences in state tax rules quickly turned the situation sideways.
Sales tax puzzles
When the buyer went to register the truck, he found out there was an outstanding bill of $3,300 owed to the Missouri Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). The hiccup came from the fact that, while the truck had a South Dakota title, it was registered with a Missouri address and name. This mix-up set off alarms for Missouri officials, who insisted they had the right to collect sales tax on the deal.
Things got even messier thanks to the sales tax gap between the two states. South Dakota’s tax rate hovers around 4%, whereas Missouri’s is about 9%. This big difference was a big reason why the truck was initially registered in South Dakota. As @rideorbuy3 put it, “The reason that the customer registered in South Dakota was South Dakota’s sales tax rate’s about 4% compared to where he was gonna register here in Missouri was about 9%.”
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Fixing the situation
With the hefty tax bill hanging over him, Missouri wouldn’t allow the truck’s registration until the debt was paid off. To set things straight, @rideorbuy3 ended up writing a check for $3,300 to clear the amount with the DMV. His move was meant to smooth things over, but it also kicked off a debate about who should really pay for the mess.
TikTok users quickly chimed in on whose mistake it was. Several commenters claimed that the dealership should have picked up the tab since they didn’t do the homework during the sale. One person said, “Your finance department should have caught it,” while another commented, “That’s on the business for not performing their due diligence.” A former GM employee shared, “Two decades as a GM, the dealership eats it. It’s a house mistake for not investigating addresses and title discrepancy pre-delivery.”
What this means for others
This episode shines a light on some of the problems that can crop up with vehicle sales taxes when crossing state lines. Typically, buyers pay sales tax when they register their cars, but the rates can vary a lot—from as low as 5% in some places to nearly 9% or higher in others (or even no car-specific taxes in states like Alaska or Delaware, though local taxes might still apply).
Each state lays out its own rules for what must be paid during registration, so it’s always a smart move to check the local DMV websites to steer clear of similar surprises.
Motor1 reached out to @rideorbuy3 directly via TikTok for a comment but hasn’t heard back yet. Any new details will likely help explain more about this hot topic that has everyone talking online.
This case really shows how important it is to understand the differences in state laws when making a vehicle trade-in deal—making sure every detail is handled properly can save a lot of headaches later on.
