Guide

Decode a buyback offer: the 5 numbers to check

1. The divisor. Cars divide by 120,000 in most formula states — but New York and New Jersey divide by 100,000, motor homes by 90,000 in Washington/Oregon/Georgia, Florida RVs by 60,000, and motorcycles by as little as 20,000 (Wisconsin, small New Hampshire bikes). A wrong divisor is a wrong offer.
2. The mileage basis. Most states charge you only for miles before the FIRST repair. Oregon charges return-date miles. North Carolina, Iowa and Hawaii stop the clock at the trigger event. If the offer charges you for every mile on the odometer in a first-repair state, it overstates the deduction.
3. The threshold. New York charges only miles over 12,000; Oklahoma only miles over 15,000; Michigan skips the miles between your first report and 25,000. If the offer starts counting at zero in those states, it is wrong on its face.
4. Whether a deduction exists at all. Ohio allows NO mileage deduction. Illinois, Arizona and about ten other states publish no formula — an exact figure there was negotiated or invented, and you should ask which.
5. The caps. Maryland caps the deduction at 15% of the price; Minnesota at the lesser of 10¢/mile or 10%; North Dakota at 10¢/mile; Virginia at half the IRS mileage rate; Pennsylvania at the lesser of $0.10/mile or 10%. An offer above the cap violates the statute that created it.

Run your own numbers in the checker first — it uses your state's formula and basis, and it tells you when your state publishes no formula at all. Then compare, line by line. The kit's buyback worksheet does this comparison in a table you can send back with your counter.

Information, not legal advice. Checked October 23, 2026.