'06 Credit Available even if you take it in '05?

sounds like a dealer(lier!) I would not do that!!!! unless he took 3000 off the price, then I would.

 

He's being ridiculous and unreasonable.
He can easily hold the car on the lot for 17 days.
He shouldn't be afraid that you're going to bail on the deal because:
a) 2006 Prii will not be available on the lot anywhere else in January
B) If you were to bail, he could sell it again in a minute just by mentioning its availability in a whispered voice at the back of a dark cave.

I think you'd be foolish to accept this arrangement.
You wouldn't go to jail but you'd likely lose the credit.

 

1) Give him a post dated check for Jan 2nd. See how he likes that

2) Give the dealership a $500 deposit to secure the car. Sign papers on the 2nd.

3) If you pay for it, it goes in to service at that point. Not in '06

4) You have 30 days (in Ok) to get your tag & tax from date of purchase. To pay for a car and write up the paperwork 17 days later would be a Federal offense I believe. That would be cheating the state. Crooked, etc...

Good Luck :huh:

 

Pay your full portion in cash and tell him to wait until 1/2 for the loan proceeds if you're financing. He wants to add it to Dec. sales totals but januarys a tough month also for him.

 

If he gets too hardheaded, you might let it slip that you post regularly to an easily GOOGLABLE (is that a word? ) message board read by thousands of Prius enthusiasts.
He might not want to get a bad reputation at this time. B)

 

I think what matters is when the paperwork is signed. The dealer wants it signed in December to meet his end-of-year totals but if you want that credit then you have to wait until January before you do all the paperwork. If you already placed a deposit on the car and have something in writing about picking it up in January then I don't think he can legally sell it to anyone else in the meantime, so just wait.

 

The loan is not tied to having the car. Having the car is tied to the tax credit. I can get a loan from my Credit Union, get the check, go buy the car, and they're going to want the title within about the first 30 days.

So, in your situation, I'd see if the dealer needs to be paid right now so I don't lose the car. If so, process the loan at the CU, pay the dealer a 100% down payment, then take delivery of the car on 1/2. I wouldn't even sit in the thing until 1/2.

I'd guess the dealer will hold the car for much less than 100%.

Give 'em $5000 or something. He knows it's a $3000 deal for you, and if he's a stickler on you taking delivery in 2005, then tell him to pi$$ off and go buy another car somewhere else. That guy isn't worthy of doing business with me if this is what it takes to make it happen.

 

Just thought I'd add this, which most have probably seen, from the IRS web site:

Lexus Hybrid Certified for Clean-Fuel Vehicle Deduction


IR-2005-57, May 6, 2005

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service has certified the model year 2006 Lexus RX 400h as being eligible for the clean-burning fuel deduction. This certification means that taxpayers who purchase one of these hybrid vehicles new during calendar year 2005 may claim a tax deduction of up to $2000 on Form 1040.
.....
This one-time deduction must be taken in the year the vehicle is originally used. The taxpayer must be the original owner.....


Note the language in the first paragraph, "taxpayers who purchase one of these hybrid vehicles new during calendar year 2005 may claim a tax deduction..." versus later "...deduction must be taken in the year the vehicle is originally used...".

Granted this relates to the deduction (under the old law) and not the credit but it's clear to me from the language that the IRS is assuming "the year of purchase" and "the year of original use" are (or should be) one and the same. Thus, I'd REALLY want my invoice to be dated sometime in 2006 in order to avoid the prospect of a peeing contest in the (albeit unlikely) event of an audit.

 

Got an attorney friend?

 

if you want the credit that badly, tell him, you will take the next one in line.

someone will probably take it right now and you shouldnt stand in that persons way. so what if you have to wait a few weeks after the 1st...either its worth the wait or its not. up to you to decide.

i fully agree with what the dealer is doing. and lets face it, i dont care what he said, what he is doing is for himself, not for you, i can easily see you getting screwed out of the credit with absolutely no recourse.

 

I called and spoke with an IRS representative today and he confirmed this.
"the year the vehicle is originally used" is the operative term.
If you drive the car off the lot in 2005, then you are using it in 2005.

 

Well, it definitely does not pass the smell test. The deal stinks, man.

Kiloran nailed the bottom line. If you drive it off the lot in 2005.....good-bye tax credit.

 

My car arrived last week and is in the process of being prepped and the dealer is holding it till the first of January.

I would think the dealer would not like having you drive a vehicle that is technically still his. What if you get into an accident and kill someone, would he be part of a lawsuit? What happens if you get into an accident and just wreck the car and want to walk away and get a new one? When a dealer sells the car, you become the registered owner with a temporary registration. Can he "hold" the registration legally? Also isn't the dealer participating in tax fraud by helping? If he gave you something in writing, you might use that to pressure him to just hold the car. Talk to a sales manager's supervisor. Even if the dealer was willing to do all this, what happens if he just makes an honest mistake, and you don't qualify for the tax credit.

Would you mind if he just kept it on the showroom floor to have one in stock? If he has plenty to show than he can hold the car for a couple of weeks.

Could he rent you the vehicle for so much a week to be applied if you purchase? Again if you damage it, it could become a problem for him.

 

He couldn't do that.
The tax credit is not applicable to leased cars.

 

With no other facts, the deal described by the dealeris definitely tax fraud.
The dealer is apparently pushing a 2005 sale for their 2005 sales numbers and is only helping himself. Tearing up your sales contract after Jan 1 doesn't make the dealers 2005 sales records go away! !!
Best scenario, you both don't get caught. Worse scenario....ouch! Tax fraud is not pretty.

Run, run away from this "deal".

 

I agree but there's the potential problem of having to document the year in which the vehicle was "originally used". Virtually everyone who buys a car is going to have a dated invoice, in one form or another. I doubt many would have some form of documentation showing the year in which they drove the car off the lot.

 

My dealer tried to pull this today as well.
He'd called yesterday to let me know that my package and color (#2 Red) would be arriving just after Xmas and I could pick it up January 02, 2006 as planned.

Today he called back and said that he needed me to take possession on December 30 but the papers would be dated January.
I informed him that I believed that would disqualify me for the 2006 credit, a central consideration for me when ordering back in August.
I called the IRS and confirmed this.

He countered that if I wasn't going to accept delivery in December, he'd have to sell the car to the next customer and I would get the next one delivered in my package and color.
He only gets 7 Prii per allocation and couldn't make any commitment as to when it would arrive.

I offered some flexibility if he could arrange for a dealer trade for a package #4 with an adjacent region receiving that package (worth a little extra wait).
He seemed doubtful.

I had put my order in back in August specifying earliest January delivery possible (verbal).
To his credit, he didn't try to say he never said that and he backed down eventually.

I will be picking up my #2 Barcelona Red on January 02! B)

 

Woo-hoo! Good deal!!

 

Kiloran....

Can't you agree to the DEC 30 thing.. then stall... stall.... stalll..... and then.. oops... got caught at a red light... See ya on Monday 1/2...

be waiting at the door on 1/2 when the dealership opens..

I'd say under those circumstance, they won't sell it out from under you in the one day you got in the middle.