Iowa charges fee for new registration of 5% statewide on vehicles, with no local add-on. A trade-in does reduce the taxable price, which is real money on the deal.
Type your own numbers and see the same car priced as cash and as a loan, with the taxes and state fees for Iowa. Nothing you type leaves this page.
To see a lease, pick a vehicle. A lease is priced on one car: what it is expected to be worth at the end (its residual) and the leasing company's money factor change by model and by month.
An estimate on the numbers you type, not an offer of credit or a quote from any dealership. Starting loan rates are Rateous's rates for each credit range and term; they are not an offer from any lender. The documentary fee starts at an example figure, the state's legal cap where it has one or $599 where it does not, not any dealership's fee; each dealership sets its own. Taxes and state fees are estimates for Iowa; the dealership's paperwork and your motor vehicle agency have the final numbers. Nothing you type is sent, saved, or used to check your credit.
Iowa imposes no sales tax on vehicles; the one-time 'fee for new registration' ($10 + 5% of purchase price) applies at titling, with no local add-on.
Manufacturer cash rebates applied to the purchase price and trade-in allowances are both excluded from the purchase price.
Leases of six months or more: the lessor pays $10 plus 5% of the total lease price up front.
On a $35,000 new car with a $37,000 sticker, registered in Des Moines, no trade-in: the same figures the calculator above uses. The dealership's documentary fee is its own and is not included.
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Title fee | $30.00 |
| Registration (est., value based) | $364.00 |
| In all | $394.00 |
Iowa taxes a lease up front: the tax on the total of all your lease payments is due in full at signing, not spread across the payments.
Pick your city for the exact combined rate where you register, plus what title and registration run there.
5%. Iowa applies one rate statewide on vehicles, so it does not change from city to city.
Trade-in value of a vehicle subject to registration traded toward the purchase is excluded from the purchase price (321.105A(2)(c)).
On a $35,000 new car with a $37,000 sticker, registered in Des Moines: Title fee $30.00, Registration (est., value based) $364.00, about $394.00 in all. Annual registration = 1% of the vehicle's value (list price) plus $0.40 per 100 lbs of weight (Iowa Code 321.109). A $35,000, 3,500 lb car: $350 + $14 = $364. Value depreciates on a statutory schedule after year 7.
Yes, at $180. Iowa Code 322.19A: documentary fee may not exceed $180 and must be included in the advertised price.
Iowa taxes a lease up front: the tax on the total of all your lease payments is due in full at signing, not spread across the payments.