I’ve been shopping for the last few days on Tesla’s website for a used Model Y priced below the $25,000 limit for the $4,000 used EV tax credit.
Apparently if you buy a used Tesla, there’s a $500 to $2,000 transport and delivery fee in addition to the listed price. But the website doesn’t make that clear. I’ve seen several complaints online of people buying an automobile for $24,900 and putting down their $500 nonrefundable deposit, only to find out they didn’t buy a $24,900 vehicle. Even if you drive to the location where the vehicle is sitting to pick it up, you still get charged a $500 transport and delivery fee, or at least that seems to be the complaint. I’ve been promised a couple of phone calls within minutes from Tesla to clarify the issue, but so far, crickets.
I wonder if people are having the same kind of problems with warranty claims. {{ LOL }}
Only if you CHOOSE a location that requires a transportation fee. I just chose the first used model Y in the list and it has two options for delivery, see photo below.
And if you choose the one with a transport fee, it is listed right there on the page BEFORE you make any nonrefundable deposit. Looks clear enough to me!
There’s no way for me to search on the website for vehicles with “no transportation fee”.
Also interesting that I live about 25 miles from the Tesla used car delivery center in Oregon, but they keep directing me to the two places in Washington State, 150 and 300 miles away. Not a particularly “customer friendly” experience.
The Tesla site looked dodgey enough to me that I never clicked on anything that got me as far as an invoice.
But that’s good information. If I can find a way to see a list of the inventory at the Oregon location, I’ll confine my shopping to there.
I came across this site that supposedly has the inventory at various Tesla locations, but it’s not searchable as far as I can see. {{Edit: The search function on that site appears to be working now on “price”, but lots of vehicles are listed as “No location”
Nope. Their search tools are dismal. But, in your case, you simply want to search for “model Y”, “all trims”, and then sort by price low to high. Only the first few will be under $25k, then click into each of them to see where they are located and what the delivery fee is (all used car dealers have such delivery fees, I bought a few cars from Carmax, and at least one of them had a delivery fee because it was located over 500 miles away).
Probably because that’s where those cars were located. Could be that the nearby Tesla center doesn’t have any of them available at the time of the search.
The biggest problem with their search tool is that they never come up blank. If I click “Y” and “$4000 used EV tax credit”, it shows a list of cars starting at $26,400 instead of showing blank ("no tax credit cars available) with a note underneath “click here to show non-tax-credit vehicles”.
Probably means it’s on a transport truck, on a transport train, being prepped, or just not entered into the system yet.
Interesting. I got an email from Anthony, my newly appointed Tesla Used Vehicle Advisor.
He says that Dec 31st is the last day Tesla will be honoring the $4,000 used EV tax credit.
It’s still Federal law. Maybe he means that this is the last day Tesla will process the $4,000 tax credit as a discount at the time of purchase? You’ll have to wait to file Form 8936 when you do your tax return.
Over Xmas talking with a friend of my nephews, a newly minted college grad turned marketing exec, Tik Tok is less expensive to run ads on. But my thinking, TT has kids who do not play video games. X has adults who do play.
As you indicate, the issue is relevant audience, not total users … and depending on the Supremes and TFG, the Tik Tok audience in the States may soon be zero, relevant or not.
Just found this 2020 Model 3 on Tesla’s site for $24,600 and when I put in the zip code for Owings Mills MD I get no transportation fee. Yet Tesla tells me it doesn’t qualify for the $4,000 tax credit.
As I recall, there are various other rules regarding the used clean car tax credit besides just the price being under $25k. For example, I think it also has to be a sale from the first owner. Maybe two people owned that car before it was traded to Tesla? Since it is a 2020, it seems less likely to be an “off lease” vehicle because I think their leases are usually 24 months or 36 months.
{{ To qualify, a vehicle must meet all of these requirements:
Have a sale price of $25,000 or less. Sale price includes all dealer-imposed costs or fees not required by law. It doesn’t include costs or fees required by law, such as taxes or title and registration fees.
Have a model year at least 2 years earlier than the calendar year when you buy it. For example, a vehicle purchased in 2023 would need a model year of 2021 or older.
Not have already been transferred after August 16, 2022 to a qualified buyer.
Have a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 14,000 pounds
Be an eligible FCV or plug-in EV with a battery capacity of least 7 kilowatt hours
Be for use primarily in the United States. }}
Car was sold at auction in 2023 and repaired. By “qualified buyer”, do they mean someone with an income low enough to qualify for the credit (i.e., less than $75,000/yr?) I doubt that’s someone making $15,000 worth of repairs on a used car.
I’d guess that they are trying to prevent the scenario of A selling to B for $20k and pocketing the $4k, then B selling to C for $20k and pocketing the $4k, and then C selling to D for $20k and pocketing the $4k, and then maybe even D selling back to A and pocketing the $4k. Everyone makes $4k from the govt and as far as cars, all ends up exactly the same. So the spirit of the rule is $4k one time per car.
There’s a 2020 Model Y AWD at a Buick dealer in Portland for $24,998 advertised as a 2-owner vehicle. I just emailed the dealer asking if it qualifies for the $4,000 tax credit.
My understanding is that the dealer submits a form to the IRS to collect the $4,000 point of sale rebate. And the IRS would deny the dealer the rebate if anything is amiss, so there’s no reason to lie to the buyer about qualifying.
Here’s the ruling from the IRS:
{{ Q14. A previously owned clean vehicle is sold for the first time after August 16, 2022, to an individual for more than $25,000. Will this vehicle be eligible for the Previously Owned Clean Vehicle Credit if it is subsequently sold for less than $25,000? (added July 26, 2024)
A14. No, the vehicle is not eligible for the previously owned vehicle credit and will not be eligible for the credit in any subsequent sales. Only the first transfer of the vehicle after August 16, 2022, is eligible for the Previously Owned Clean Vehicle Credit, regardless of whether the taxpayer is eligible for the credit or chooses to claim or transfer the credit. }}
When I talked to the salesman at the dealer, he said, "We don’t get into the tax credits because we’re ‘all about transparency’. Love talking to these guys – they’re such liars. {{ LOL }}
One of truly nice things about buying from Carmax is not having to deal with any of that nonsense. I’ve bought 4 cars from them and sold 2 cars to them, and each transaction went without a hitch and no nonsense in dealing with them.
And dealing with Tesla was an absolute dream. It is all done online. I chose my car, I chose my options, I clicked “buy” and left a deposit. For each stage, I received a text from Tesla about it. A week or so before the car would be available, I uploaded various paperwork (proof of insurance, info for registration, etc) to their system. A few days before pickup, I was able to submit payment via a simple ACH. Then pickup was scheduled and they added the car key into my Tesla app. When I arrived at pickup via Uberlyft (during the COVID era), I walked around the parking lot, found my car (it had a printed card with my name on it on the dashboard), entered the car, played with some features, and then drove it home. Inside the car was an envelope with the card keys. Inside the trunk was the mobile charging adapter and an additional license plate holder.
When my daughter bought her Tesla, it was similar but since it wasn’t during the COVID era, we walked inside and looked around first, and I sat in a Cybertruck for a few minutes. Then we went outside to find her car in the parking lot. And similarly she drove it home.
