I appreciate that Tom.
I seriously blew a gasket on my local DMV contact for misinforming me. (Not the first time)
When I took it to the state level seeking answers I was explained the process, and sent the necessary forms.
There is one catch. Current Ohio code does not allow the dealer to pass on any off the costs of the service.
So it goes like this:
Customer signs an additional form.
Dealer has to fill out a few additional papers (and notarize)
Dealer has to physically send someone to wait inline at DMV to process each registration (Ohio does not do 3rd party E-regs yet)
Dealer has to pay the transfer fee. (and eat the additional man hours)
I know it does not sound like much, but I ran some quick math and estimate total additional cost per deal at ~$25. Which again, doesn't sound like much... but it would cost me an additional $18,000 annually. On a small store that runs on thin margins it's definitely something that will take serious consideration.
According to the contact I made at the state level, less than .1% of registrations are handled this way. So basically... One out of every Thousand transactions.
I can see high line stores making enough margin to justify it.
With my current knowledge, I'm not saying I won't do it, and I'm not saying I will. It is going to take some serious conversation, and number crunching.
I am glad I came across this thread though, and enough people had experienced it to make me question my local DMV and find out the truth.
Agreed.