Official Dealer Stock Thread - Who Has Uncommitted Inventory on Their Lot?

[reeler]

I just checked my early-November order status and my delivery is now at the beginning of 2017. My Colorado tax incentive goes from $6K this year to $5K next. Plus, the new administration could mess with the Federal tax rebate. I WANT MY BOLT NOW!!!! :x :x

Any dealer with uncommitted stock prior to the end of the year anywhere in the nation has a sale if they can post below. I know others are similarly situated so lets get the word out on where these cars are available!!!!!

 

[Anonymous]

Similar boat here trying to take advantage of the dying CO credit. Taking delivery of CPO Model S this month (replacing my 2014 i3) and looking for a 2nd EV to complement. Seems unlikely to find a Bolt before end of year here in CO?

 

[reeler]

Similar boat here trying to take advantage of the dying CO credit. Taking delivery of CPO Model S this month (replacing my 2014 i3) and looking for a 2nd EV to complement. Seems unlikely to find a Bolt before end of year here in CO?

I am hoping to get a Bolt in Oregon since they have no sales tax nonsense. Getting it to Colorado will be an ordeal so I will probably ship it. But the original plates will be Colorado for this so I get the tax rebate.

 

[user 387]

Similar boat here trying to take advantage of the dying CO credit. Taking delivery of CPO Model S this month (replacing my 2014 i3) and looking for a 2nd EV to complement. Seems unlikely to find a Bolt before end of year here in CO?

I am hoping to get a Bolt in Oregon since they have no sales tax nonsense. Getting it to Colorado will be an ordeal so I will probably ship it. But the original plates will be Colorado for this so I get the tax rebate.

If you ship a car from a dealer in CA they will not charge CA sales tax. If you drive it off the lot they will. I know this for a fact as I am a WA resident and bought a car in Orange County last spring.

 

[reeler]

If you ship a car from a dealer in CA they will not charge CA sales tax. If you drive it off the lot they will. I know this for a fact as I am a WA resident and bought a car in Orange County last spring.

But, I could drive it home from Oregon in theory. I have a L2 240V portable charger that does 10KW. Still 240 miles or less between each 9 hour charge would be painful. Would it take a week to drive from Oregon to Colorado?

 

[Schnort]

Or pay $500 to ship it.

Or use the DCFC options (not sure if there's any on your route)

 

[user 387]

If you ship a car from a dealer in CA they will not charge CA sales tax. If you drive it off the lot they will. I know this for a fact as I am a WA resident and bought a car in Orange County last spring.

But, I could drive it home from Oregon in theory. I have a L2 240V portable charger that does 10KW. Still 240 miles or less between each 9 hour charge would be painful. Would it take a week to drive from Oregon to Colorado?

Yes, it would take the better part of a week. There are no DC fast chargers between Portland and Salt Lake and none between Salt Lake and Denver.

Counting hotels, your time and hassle, it would be much cheaper to ship it. Then you can buy it from any OR or CA dealer.

 

[oilerlord]

Yup, California dealers are required to charge sales tax on cars that customers take delivery on in that state - regardless of the state or country that you reside in. To get around it, the car has to be shipped out of the state. I've also arranged for CA dealers to drive cars to Vegas where I've taken delivery at a hotel, with a notary public present for signing. Unless you plan to make a vacation out of driving it, it usually makes sense to ship it because whatever savings you get by driving are usually absorbed by hotel stays, fuel, and most importantly - your time.

I bought my B250e from a Mercedes dealer in Nevada, and had them ship the car to a dealer in Missoula, MT ($600). Keep in mind that the receiving dealer won't do this for you as a favor - there has to be a reason for them to accept the car. What I typically ask for is an oil change, but this being an EV, I had to get creative. I asked for a safety inspection, for which they charged me $60. When the vehicle arrived, I borrowed a buddy's truck and drove from Edmonton, AB to Missoula with a $50 u-haul vehicle trailer rental. Unless I was buying a Tesla (and had superchargers on the route), I wouldn't even consider driving instead of shipping an EV. Too much trip planning, and wasted time.

 

[WetEV]

Unless I was buying a Tesla (and had superchargers on the route), I wouldn't even consider driving instead of shipping an EV. Too much trip planning, and wasted time.

Hmm.. The West Coast Electric Highway, from San Jose California to Seattle. Total distance 850 miles. Longest run without charging available is about 114 miles. Largest issue is many of the CCS chargers are 24kW units. That turns a 40 minute add 50% charge session to an hour and 20 minutes to add 50%. But if it was all 50kW units:

850 miles at 4 miles per kWh would take 212.4 kWh. 4.25 hours charging at 50kW. 8.8 hours charging at 24 kW. With L2 charging overnight, would only need 450 miles of DC charging, or 2.25 hours.

At 50kW charging rate: Would take 15 hours from San Jose to Seattle rather than 13 hours. Two days either way. With L2 overnight and starting with 100% and ending at 10%.

At 24kW charging rate would be somewhat less attractive.

Cost would be a plane flight, one or two nights in hotels, meals, charging... Not out of the question.

EV Planning would be mostly to find hotel near midpoint with L2 charging nearby. Lots of hotels in Grant's pass near an L2, but don't have one. Hilton Garden Inn in Springfield OR looks ok, but might be pricy. Motel 6 in Oakland, OR. At least 4 other options. This is not planning a Leaf trip.

(edit: fixed some math)

 

[ginforce]

So even if you ordered it this year they can reduce your tax credit based on when you receive it? Messed up

 

[oilerlord]

Unless I was buying a Tesla (and had superchargers on the route), I wouldn't even consider driving instead of shipping an EV. Too much trip planning, and wasted time.

Hmm.. The West Coast Electric Highway, from San Jose California to Seattle. Total distance 850 miles. Longest run without charging available is about 114 miles. Largest issue is many of the CCS chargers are 24kW units. That turns a 40 minute add 50% charge session to an hour and 20 minutes to add 50%. But if it was all 50kW units:

850 miles at 4 miles per kWh would take 212.4 kWh. 4.25 hours charging at 50kW. 8.8 hours charging at 24 kW. With L2 charging overnight, would only need 450 miles of DC charging, or 2.25 hours.

The point is you still need to ship the car out of CA to avoid paying state tax. Your 850 mile trip from San Jose to Seattle is irrelevant to the guy in Colorado that is looking to buy a car in California and ship it to his state. On a $40,000 car, 9% tax adds $3600. He can likely ship the car all the way to Colorado for 800 bucks.

This may come as a surprise to you, but there could actually be people looking to buy Bolts that don't live on the coast.

 

[roundpeg]

The point is you still need to ship the car out of CA to avoid paying state tax. Your 850 mile trip from San Jose to Seattle is irrelevant to the guy in Colorado that is looking to buy a car in California and ship it to his state. On a $40,000 car, 9% tax adds $3600. He can likely ship the car all the way to Colorado for 800 bucks.

This may come as a surprise to you, but there could actually be people looking to buy Bolts that don't live on the coast.

Colorado collects sales tax too. I don't know how things work there, but here in California you can't escape paying sales taxes on vehicles by buying them out of state. The Board of Equalization catches up with you, pronto.

 

[oilerlord]

Colorado collects sales tax too. I don't know how things work there, but here in California you can't escape paying sales taxes on vehicles by buying them out of state. The Board of Equalization catches up with you, pronto.

I have no idea how the sales tax system works between states, I've bought a couple dozen vehicles out of California, and to avoid paying CA state taxes, I've always had to ship the car out of the state. That, along with the cost of time & logistics for driving a short-range EV to Canada was a non-starter. There are always exceptions though I've usually just shipped cars to Seattle, flown one way, and drove them across the border. When you factor time, hotel rooms, gasoline, etc, shipping cars usually makes sense.

 

[roundpeg]

I have no idea how the sales tax system works between states, I've bought a couple dozen vehicles out of California, and to avoid paying CA state taxes, I've always had to ship the car out of the state. That, along with the cost of time & logistics for driving a short-range EV to Canada was a non-starter. There are always exceptions though I've usually just shipped cars to Seattle, flown one way, and drove them across the border. When you factor time, hotel rooms, gasoline, etc, shipping cars usually makes sense.

All but two states collect sales taxes, with additional levees in many counties and cities. In California, at least, the rate you are charged for vehicle purchases will depend on your home address. Most other goods are taxed based on where you buy them. I imagine other states do this more or less the same way. The states are likewise vigilant about catching sales taxes scofflaws, the main scheme in California was buying a car in Oregon (one of the two no sales tax states). That no longer works; the moment you register the car here, you are busted. If you have Oregon plates and an address that might work, for awhile.

Anyway, a couple dozen? That got my attention. Are you a broker, or some such?

 

[WetEV]

The point is you still need to ship the car out of CA to avoid paying state tax. Your 850 mile trip from San Jose to Seattle is irrelevant to the guy in Colorado that is looking to buy a car in California and ship it to his state.

On the sales tax issue, depends on state. I agree that driving to Colorado would be much more of a challenge. My point was that driving a Bolt where there are CCS and L2 stations isn't that much slower than an ICE.

 

[oilerlord]

Anyway, a couple dozen? That got my attention. Are you a broker, or some such?

Used to be. I still have my membership with Manheim, and have access to dealer auctions, along with post sales results. During the heyday of USD-CAD being the same value - I was importing on average one car per month. It was a fun hobby, and I made a few bucks doing it though my wife usually wanted to come along on the trips into the US and make them into a vacation stay at the Seattle Fairmont. That ate up a lot of the proft, but was fun nonetheless, and I had the pleasure of driving a lot of different cars.

I still have the advantage of looking up reports for what dealers are paying at auction. It's pretty easy to negotiate when you really do know what their bottom line is.

 

[roundpeg]

Used to be. I still have my membership with Manheim, and have access to dealer auctions, along with post sales results. During the heyday of USD-CAD being the same value - I was importing on average one car per month. It was a fun hobby, and I made a few bucks doing it though my wife usually wanted to come along on the trips into the US and make them into a vacation stay at the Seattle Fairmont. That ate up a lot of the proft, but was fun nonetheless, and I had the pleasure of driving a lot of different cars.

I still have the advantage of looking up reports for what dealers are paying at auction. It's pretty easy to negotiate when you really do know what their bottom line is.

A paid vacation beats an unpaid vacation. When the dollars were at so-called "parity" it was advantage to Canadians to the tune of about 30%. I spent a little time in Canada during that time period and was it ever expensive.

 

[reeler]

So even if you ordered it this year they can reduce your tax credit based on when you receive it? Messed up

Goes by when you pay for it, not order it.

 

[DucRider]

So even if you ordered it this year they can reduce your tax credit based on when you receive it? Messed up

Goes by when you pay for it, not order it.

Technically, it goes by when the Title transfer occurs. If you fully pay for a car that is not yet built and has no VIN# (and Title), no tax credit.

 

[oilerlord]

A paid vacation beats an unpaid vacation. When the dollars were at so-called "parity" it was advantage to Canadians to the tune of about 30%. I spent a little time in Canada during that time period and was it ever expensive.

These days, USD $1.00 buys CAD$1.33. If I lived in Buffalo, I'd certainly look into buying a Bolt from across the lake in Toronto.