Hello!
I have a 2013 Volt, and got note this weekend that come March we'll no longer be able to transfer the blue plates to new PHEV.
I'd like to upgrade prior to that, and I'm considering a Clarity. However... there are none for sale (wild, right?) in the Phoenix area.
Would anyone in the valley area be willing to meet up and show off your car? I'll buy you a coffee, or whatever for the hassle.
Currently Honda is only shipping Clarity to California, and we expect little if any change to that in 2020. So if buying new you would most likely need to purchase one in California.
One thing to keep in mind is if you take delivery in California you have to pay California sales tax, the rate depends on what city/county the dealer is located but it can be as high as 9%. I looked into Phoenix sales tax awhile back and it seems the tax rates there are a little lower but not much better, and they waive most but not quite all of the tax paid in California. State of Arizona has a pretty good online calculator at
https://azdor.gov/e-services/vehicle-use-tax-calculator, you can pick a random zip code from Southern California and enter that into the calculator to get an idea of the net sales tax you will pay. Prior to using the Arizona calculator you need to first go onto the California sales tax website and determine what the sales tax paid would be for the zip code in California, you then enter that amount into the Arizona calculator along with your address and the zip code of the dealer in California. A random zip code that I did on the calculator for a 35,000 sales price showed you would wind up paying about $700 more in sales tax by purchasing in California than if you purchased in Phoenix. But it very much depends on the exact location of the dealer in California as well as what city in Arizona that you live in, so you will want to use the calculator using your address to get a more accurate picture.
The alternative to avoid any additional sales tax is to do the test drive and handle the paperwork in California but don't take delivery there, instead have the car shipped back to Arizona, which should only cost a few hundred dollars for that short distance. That way you don't have to pay California sales tax and will only pay Arizona tax. But it seems like it would be a wash and wouldn't be worth the hassle, so probably might as well just take delivery in California and drive it back to Arizona.