I just love the threads that start talking about the price of the $%$# car, and then descend into confusion because of the talk of fees, taxes, and the like. Fees CAN vary, taxes are GUARANTEED to vary. Therefore not useful to people reading this kind of thread who are 1. not dealing with that dealer, 2. not living in that state.
The other view is futile, because it states that somehow the final amount of money paid by anyone, anywhere, can somehow be equated. And it can't!
The money paid at the dealership for the car, exclusive of taxes, is relevant. When we bought our Passat, I did it over the Internet, with Suntrup VW in St. Louis. In my e-mail (to them and a bunch of other dealers) I specified: "Your quote must be OUT THE DOOR. No fees, no delivery charges, no nothing extra. If you add one nickel to your quote when we come to pick up the car, we will leave immediately, and NO SALE." No problem. They gave me a quote, I agreed, we picked up the car, and nothing extra was added. The point is that I knew what I was going to be paying beforehand, and could compare it to what others had paid for the same car in this forum.
If sales tax (or, in some places, property tax, highway guardrail tax, soft shoulder tax, whatever) is collected at the dealer, as it may be for in-state sales, then simply exclude it from the post. These expenses may be relevant to the individual in calculating the overall cost of purchasing the car, but only that. Our Passat was bought out of state (in MO), so we paid sales tax when we registered and secured an IL title and plates. Taxes, title, plates, and fuzzy dice hanging from the mirror are not the price of the car, and what I paid is almost certainly different than what most other people paid who are reading this post, so— just don't do it!