Legally avoiding California Sales Tax

... and yet Scott that is not the case in your home state of AZ. The tax is based on prices released by the mfg which is MSRP or close. It's then reduced 16 percent/year.

I'm an AZ resident -- what is referred to in the post above that is reduced 16% per year is the annual registration fees on any vehicle licensed in AZ. I'm not sure the original $$ amount AZ bases registration on is based on MSRP or a figure they arrive at on some different basis, so I can't speak to that.

Re purchase of a vehicle by an Arizona resident, if the vehicle is purchased from a private party, there is NO sales tax when registering the vehicle, only the annual registration fee so you have an AZ plate with a current registration. If you purchase from a dealer and trade in a vehicle as part of the purchase, the sales tax is only assessed on the difference paid, no sales tax is assessed on the trade in value. Both scenarios described apply exactly the same whether the vehicle is purchased in Arizona, or out of state and then brought back and registered in AZ. Also, the same rules apply to motor vehicles and RV's of any type, whether towable or driven -- in short, anything that you must register with AZ MVD.

I have resided in AZ for multiple decades and have purchased vehicles and RV's both from private parties and also out of state, so I have learned these rules inside-out. We purchase our RV's late model used and due to the huge savings in sales tax, plus a few other reasons, we always purchase from private parties.