BDD
Active Member
Last summer Freestone and I fished a small stream; we met at a spot along the way and I loaded my gear in Freestone's vehicle and off we went. Freestone has a Honda Element; I had never been in one. As we went off road to look for creek access, the road was getting worse and I made an comment about if it got worse, we might want to walk without have 4-wheel/all-wheel drive. She looked at me funny and said something about the Element having being all-wheel drive. I had no idea and was blown away. Later on, I started noticing things that I really liked in a fishing vehicle. I liked the all-weather flooring, the storage space in the back, the fact that the seats fold up or can be even removed for additional storage. Knowing that it was all-wheel drive, combined with all the other features...well, I thought it would make a good fishing vehicle. It offered lots of space, could tow a raft or pram trailer, could haul a boat on the roof, got decent mileage. I started thinking more and more about it that fall, I decided it would make a very nice fishing rig. The problem was they stopped making them in 2011; I started looking around Thanksgiving and looked for about 3 months for one with relatively low miles. I found a few but most were on the east coast.
I finally started seeing a few around here, or at least within a half day drive. I found a few around late February/early March and each one sold before I could see it in person. I could see there was a decent demand for these vehicles and it seemed like clean ones with relatively low miles were snapped up pretty quick. Around the third week in March I saw two in the Portland area; one had 60,000 miles and the other had 14,000 original miles. I test drove the higher mileage one first and I'm sure would have been very happy with it. But I just couldn't pull the trigger without seeing the other one first..which I did and wound up buying. This was right when things started getting serious with Covid so I made the purchase and was in and out within like 20 minutes with the rig I had been looking for for quite some time. Five months later, after getting a roof rack and wiring trailer lights (already had a hitch receiver) and changing the oil for the first time, I have been very happy with it. Thanks @Freestone for taking me crick fishing and showing me your Element.
They extended the normal title transfer and registration because most licensing agencies were shut down. Finally on Friday April 24, I found there was a private licensing agent in Ellensburg that was open; the one in the court house that I used for the past 15 years was still closed. Wanting to finish the transaction, I masked up and visited the other place. I traded in a CRV on the Element and wrote a check for the remaining balance. After filling out the paperwork, the gal said the grand total for sales tax and other fees was like $1700. It seemed higher than I expected but wanting to minimize my time in an office space, I wrote a check and away I went. Over the weekend, I reviewed the paperwork and it turns out, I was charged sales tax on the trade-in value, which turned out to be like $800. I masked up and went down the following Monday, April 27 to asked about the transaction and they agreed, I was overcharged about $800. So here it is, with a good start on August and I have still not seen anything from the government, not even so much as an acknowledgement on their behalf. I have stopped by the licensing office and called the number they gave me a couple times to no avail. The worst part is they have sent me three other licensing notifications on other vehicles that are due and I can't help but wonder if the role was reversed, would they be as patient with me as I have been with them?
Anyway, love the vehicle but not real happy with the 3+ months for the refund. I feel fortunate I don't need that refund to buy groceries or pay the electric bill but there might be folks out there in a similar situation who can't wait three months. In a case like this where the problem was clearly upon the government or its licensing agency, I'm thinking there should be a quicker way to resolve the issue.
I finally started seeing a few around here, or at least within a half day drive. I found a few around late February/early March and each one sold before I could see it in person. I could see there was a decent demand for these vehicles and it seemed like clean ones with relatively low miles were snapped up pretty quick. Around the third week in March I saw two in the Portland area; one had 60,000 miles and the other had 14,000 original miles. I test drove the higher mileage one first and I'm sure would have been very happy with it. But I just couldn't pull the trigger without seeing the other one first..which I did and wound up buying. This was right when things started getting serious with Covid so I made the purchase and was in and out within like 20 minutes with the rig I had been looking for for quite some time. Five months later, after getting a roof rack and wiring trailer lights (already had a hitch receiver) and changing the oil for the first time, I have been very happy with it. Thanks @Freestone for taking me crick fishing and showing me your Element.
They extended the normal title transfer and registration because most licensing agencies were shut down. Finally on Friday April 24, I found there was a private licensing agent in Ellensburg that was open; the one in the court house that I used for the past 15 years was still closed. Wanting to finish the transaction, I masked up and visited the other place. I traded in a CRV on the Element and wrote a check for the remaining balance. After filling out the paperwork, the gal said the grand total for sales tax and other fees was like $1700. It seemed higher than I expected but wanting to minimize my time in an office space, I wrote a check and away I went. Over the weekend, I reviewed the paperwork and it turns out, I was charged sales tax on the trade-in value, which turned out to be like $800. I masked up and went down the following Monday, April 27 to asked about the transaction and they agreed, I was overcharged about $800. So here it is, with a good start on August and I have still not seen anything from the government, not even so much as an acknowledgement on their behalf. I have stopped by the licensing office and called the number they gave me a couple times to no avail. The worst part is they have sent me three other licensing notifications on other vehicles that are due and I can't help but wonder if the role was reversed, would they be as patient with me as I have been with them?
Anyway, love the vehicle but not real happy with the 3+ months for the refund. I feel fortunate I don't need that refund to buy groceries or pay the electric bill but there might be folks out there in a similar situation who can't wait three months. In a case like this where the problem was clearly upon the government or its licensing agency, I'm thinking there should be a quicker way to resolve the issue.
2018-05-28_02-05-07
