Where I am, at least part of the reason for that is that the sales tax varies by county - not county of the dealer, but county of the buyer, which I think is ki

Where I am, at least part of the reason for that is that the sales tax varies by county - not county of the dealer, but county of the buyer, which I think is kind of crazy. (Yes, it makes it so that the dealers don't all cluster just over the line in the county with the lowest sales tax. Still...) So if you want the actual price (and thereby to avoid the "we told you $X, but it's actually $X+Y" mess that makes dealers look like slimy crooks), then they need enough information to tell you the actual price. You want an estimate? They might give you one, with some amount of uncertainty. You want an accurate number? You have to give them every single bit of information that affects the price.