Just did some digging on where it actually makes sense to buy a car, and honestly the state you live in matters way more than I thought. So I found this analysis that looked at new and used car prices, sales taxes, and dealer fees across all 50 states to figure out the cheapest state to buy a car.

Turns out Oregon is sitting at the top of the list - zero sales tax plus ridiculously low dealer fees around $350. Montana's also a solid pick with no sales tax either, even though cars there run like 15% above national average, the tax situation makes up for it. New Hampshire rounds out the top 3 with no sales tax and car prices actually 5% below average. The data showed that states with 0% sales tax on vehicles have a huge advantage, which makes sense when you're dropping $45k-$50k on a purchase.

Interesting thing I noticed - some states like Hawaii and Virginia have decent car prices but get hurt by higher dealer fees and sales taxes. Alaska's another wild one, cars are super expensive there (20% above average) but they've got the lowest dealer fees in the country at like $315, so it balances out. If you're actually shopping around for the cheapest state to buy a car, seems like you should prioritize no sales tax states first, then look at dealer fees. The gap between the most and least expensive states could literally save you thousands of dollars. Definitely worth checking your state's situation before committing to a purchase.