In CO - you can claim the state tax credit for a car that has not yet been titled in the state. I have to think that it must be also under 1500 miles? If not, then there is a huge hole for taking a good chunk of cash even for newly-registered used EVs in that state. Buy a used Leaf from CA for $13,000 and bring it to CO and get $6000 back... Ugh. Bad plan if so (for the taxpayers' sake).
If the car has not been titled in CO, it is eligible for the state credit, whether new or used. From top of page 4 of MorrisonHiker's
link above:
Used vehicle purchases
No credit is allowed for the purchase of a used electric, plug-in hybrid electric, or gasoline-electric hybrid motor
vehicle if a credit was previously claimed for the vehicle by any prior owner. Any credit claimed for the purchase of a
used vehicle must be accompanied by a "Vehicle History Report" showing the vehicle was not previously registered
in Colorado. A “Vehicle History Report” can be obtained from any of a number of third party companies that offer
such reports. An internet search for the phrase "Vehicle History Report" should provide a listing of companies that
can produce this report. A used electric, plug-in hybrid electric, or gasoline-electric hybrid motor vehicle must meet all
of the criteria listed at the top of page 3 in order to qualify for the credit.
On gm-volt.com, there was discussion of a CO used car dealer that specialized in bringing used, never-registered-in-CO Volts into the state for this very reason.
This document (section 12, top of page 10) says the dealer must title it in their name before selling to the purchaser as a used car:
Vehicles with more than one fifteen hundred (1500) miles of demonstration use shallbe considered "used" vehicles. Such "demonstrators" and other motor vehicles which have been used by a dealer prior to their sale shall be titled in the dealer's name and sold as "used" motor vehicles.
For a car with over 1500 miles, I can only see 2 solutions - either Tesla titles it in their name, and sells it used to the CO buyer using Tesla's title, or the buyer takes the MSO, titles it in another state that allows non-resident registrations/titles (preferably w/out sales tax), waits for the title to arrive, and then registers it in CO as a used car. The first one is simpler, but puts the Fed credit at risk, depending on their view of "original use". The second should secure the Federal credit, but is a lot more complicated. If you were financing the car, the bank would probably blow a gasket over it.