Colorado new car mileage limit

[COCyclist]

Interesting detail I learned about new car sales in Colorado that I thought I'd share.

In Colorado, a car can only be sold as new if it has under 1500 miles on the odometer. What's the practical difference between a car with 1499 and 1500 miles? No tax credit!

Tesla in Denver currently has at least two cars in stock with more than 1500 miles (only one showing in the inventory page.) The Tesla rep says they're not available for sale! They're being used as demo vehicles and will eventually be shipped for sale in another state that has a more lenient new car law.

 

[Silicon Desert]

That's interesting. So if there is a car in Colorado with 1499 miles that was flooded out in a storm, or has the bumpers knocked off from a fender bender, then it is still "new". What kind of law makers do we have in America these days? yes, yes, I am just being weird today.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Interesting detail I learned about new car sales in Colorado that I thought I'd share.

In Colorado, a car can only be sold as new if it has under 1500 miles on the odometer. What's the practical difference between a car with 1499 and 1500 miles? No tax credit!

Tesla in Denver currently has at least two cars in stock with more than 1500 miles (only one showing in the inventory page.) The Tesla rep says they're not available for sale! They're being used as demo vehicles and will eventually be shipped for sale in another state that has a more lenient new car law.

Yeah, there was a lot of talk about the 1500 mile limit back in 2016 when the Colorado tax credit was $6000. I haven't seen it mentioned recently, so it's good you brought it back up.

 

[Probllama]

Interesting detail I learned about new car sales in Colorado that I thought I'd share.

In Colorado, a car can only be sold as new if it has under 1500 miles on the odometer. What's the practical difference between a car with 1499 and 1500 miles? No tax credit!

Tesla in Denver currently has at least two cars in stock with more than 1500 miles (only one showing in the inventory page.) The Tesla rep says they're not available for sale! They're being used as demo vehicles and will eventually be shipped for sale in another state that has a more lenient new car law.

Is this for EVs only? Because as far as I know ICE cars can be bought our leased as new regardless of their mileage as long as they were never titled.

 

[COCyclist]

Is this for EVs only? Because as far as I know ICE cars can be bought our leased as new regardless of their mileage as long as they were never titled.

No idea, but it doesn't seem like something that would be specific to EV's. I do have the impression Colorado is more restrictive on this than many other states. Maybe it was being abused in the past and they introduced a regulation to deal with it?

From a practical standpoint, it wouldn't matter if an ICE car couldn't be sold as new other than perhaps some difference in warranty and possibly financing. It's the tax credit elimination for an EV that makes it such a big deal to me.

 

[Probllama]

No idea, but it doesn't seem like something that would be specific to EV's. I do have the impression Colorado is more restrictive on this than many other states. Maybe it was being abused in the past and they introduced a regulation to deal with it?

From a practical standpoint, it wouldn't matter if an ICE car couldn't be sold as new other than perhaps some difference in warranty and possibly financing. It's the tax credit elimination for an EV that makes it such a big deal to me.

Manufacturer incentives only apply to new cars and more importantly only new cars can be leased through the captive bank so it matters a great deal for ICE cars. Local Mercedes and BMW dealers advertise leases on demo/loaner cars with more than 1,500 miles on them so this new car rule must be EV only...

 

[COCyclist]

Manufacturer incentives only apply to new cars and more importantly only new cars can be leased through the captive bank so it matters a great deal for ICE cars. Local Mercedes and BMW dealers advertise leases on demo/loaner cars with more than 1,500 miles on them so this new car rule must be EV only...

Interesting. I'm only going by what I was told by a Tesla sales manager. Seems really strange to have a lower limit on an EV. Maybe he's wrong, in which case it's costing Tesla money, or (purely speculating) there are different rules for miles on a car sold directly by a manufacturer vs. a dealer.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

It's the same rule for EV and ICE vehicles:

A new motor vehicle, is defined as “any motor vehicle being transferred for the first time from a manufacturer or importer, or dealer or agent or agent of a manufacturer or importer, and which motor vehicle has heretofore not been used, and is what is commonly known as a ‘new motor vehicle’”

For the purpose of administration of the Motor Vehicle Dealers and Salesperson Licensing Law, a “new” motor vehicle shall be deemed to be a motor vehicle sold by a Colorado licensed motor vehicle dealer, as defined in the Act, who is franchised by the manufacturer of that make of motor vehicle to sell such motor vehicles. Said motor vehicle shall not have been used as a demonstrator or for private use, or for any other purpose which would indicate “use” in the strict definition of the word “used.” A motor vehicle which has been used by a dealer solely for the purpose of demonstration to prospective customers shall be considered a “new vehicle”, unless such demonstration use has been for more than Fifteen Hundred (1500) miles.

New motor vehicles may be exchanged between dealers enfranchised to sell the same make of vehicle by a proper assignment of the Manufacturer's Certificate of Origin.

Only wholesalers or “new” motor vehicle dealers franchised by manufacturers to sell their motor vehicles will be allowed to sell “new” motor vehicles, and only then if they have not previously been sold except by the manufacturer to such dealer

https://www.sos.state.co.us/CCR/GenerateRulePdf.do?ruleVersionId=2129

 

[Probllama]

It's the same rule for EV and ICE vehicles:


https://www.sos.state.co.us/CCR/GenerateRulePdf.do?ruleVersionId=2129

Thanks, very helpful! Must be a recent rule change but good to know!