Salespeople Misinformed About My Inventory Model S Purchase

[CarlK]

I'm curious to know what dealership bought your car.

 

[PlanB]

I'm curious to know what dealership bought your car.

Me too. I have been contacted by several dealerships wanting to buy my P85. Seems they are a hot commodity now.

 

[Valkryst]

Ilux motors. They contacted me after I put a craigslist post up.

 

[eco5280]

Did you make money even after sales tax?

 

[AnxietyRanger]

An early solution suggestion I made, to those disappointed by their recent Tesla purchase experience, was to give yourself permission to swap the car sooner than planned. I'm glad that people are at least exploring that option now. It really can help in my past experience, even if there may be some (or even a lot of) monetary hit. In the end, happiness is more important than money.

But I get it this is not applicable or the solution for all.

 

[breser]

Did you make money even after sales tax?

He didn't pay sales tax, there's no sales tax on new alternative fueled vehicles in Washington state.

 

[eco5280]

He didn't pay sales tax, there's no sales tax on new alternative fueled vehicles in Washington state.

Argh. I live in the wrong state :-D

 

[Bighorn]

Argh. I live in the wrong state :-D

If I'm not mistaken, CO has a $6000 credit, so no room for complaining

 

[eco5280]

Sort of - if they do it right, and if you end up owing more than $13,500 at the end of the year (minus $7,500 for federal). I didn't get a penny for my Nissan Leaf last year because of how they calculate it and because I STUPIDLY calculate my taxes to break even at the end of the year or get a small refund. I'll be vastly underpaying my taxes for 2015 to ensure I get both credits with my Tesla you can be sure!

 

[ggr]

Sort of - if they do it right, and if you end up owing more than $13,500 at the end of the year (minus $7,500 for federal). I didn't get a penny for my Nissan Leaf last year because of how they calculate it and because I STUPIDLY calculate my taxes to break even at the end of the year or get a small refund. I'll be vastly underpaying my taxes for 2015 to ensure I get both credits with my Tesla you can be sure!

The federal (don't know about state) rebate depends on the total amount of tax paid, or pre-paid, during the year. It has nothing to do with the amount of the final cheque you have to write in April. If you earned enough to care about adjusting your withholding, you should probably be able to get that rebate, or at least part of it. I believe you could even re-file your last years tax to get the money for your Leaf.

 

[eco5280]

Thankfully I got the federal (I leased so it's taken into consideration) but not a cent for the state since I didn't owe them money, I got a refund this year.

 

[ggr]

Thankfully I got the federal (I leased so it's taken into consideration) but not a cent for the state since I didn't owe them money, I got a refund this year.

OK, since this is widely misunderstood, I took the trouble to look up the Colorado state law for you. This applies if you purchased the car. http://www.colorado.gov/cms/forms/dor-tax/Income67.pdf

REFUNDABILITY
For tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2010, but prior to January 1, 2022, the innovative motor vehicle credit
and the alternative fuel vehicle credit are refundable. The credit is first applied against the income tax liability of the
person who purchases, leases, or converts the qualifying motor vehicle. If the credit exceeds the tax due, the excess
credit will be refunded.

So long as your total tax owed to Colorado last year (including all those prepayments) was bigger than $6000, you should still be able to re-file your state tax and get some credit for your Leaf, and you'll still be able to claim your Model S. It has nothing to do with how big a cheque you write, or refund you would otherwise get. It only depends on your total tax liability for the year.

Now I went back and looked further, and noticed in the worksheet that you have to deduct the value of any other credits, including the federal one. So it looks like, since you got the federal credit, they won't give you anything. But it isn't because you got a refund cheque.

 

[breser]

Now I went back and looked further, and noticed in the worksheet that you have to deduct the value of any other credits, including the federal one. So it looks like, since you got the federal credit, they won't give you anything. But it isn't because you got a refund cheque.

I don't think that's accurate. He said he leased. If so the leasor got the tax credit but passed it through by way of lower lease payments.

No idea how Colorado's tax credit applies to leases but the impression I get is that he didn't directly get the federal credit.

 

[eco5280]

No - the dealer took the credit and figured it into our math for the lease (which BTW was a friggin' steal, I got a fully loaded Leaf SL for around $200/month. I'm spending less than $8k TOTAL for 2 years of driving this. They are GIVING those things away) I used TurboTax. For a few grand it may be worth my time to do my taxes manually for the state and see if it works out differently if I do it old school by hand.

 

[Electroman]

If you didn't pay any down payment then your total expense is only $4400 for 24 months. Amazing deal.

But if you paid down payment so that your lease expense is a total of $8k then your effective monthly payment is $333. I would say you could have done a bit better.

 

[eco5280]

There was a downpayment. I got a $38,500 car ($31,000 after federal rebate) for less than $8k over 2 years. I could have done better? That's a 75% residual. Anyway, it's neither here nor there, the lease is nearly over.