Are you the first to get the official $4500 CARS incentive $$$?

probably not. most clunkers traded in are worth a bit more than 500. the original owner has to pay tax, then you'll pay tax to transfer the title.
In the end, you probably save at most 2000. Perhaps it's best to just wait a couple of months.

 

I'm not in the running for being first, but I hope to cash in on a 1994 4wd V6 Nissan pickup that has been used as our "dog hauler" for the last 7 yrs. I'm just waiting for the dealer to track down a IV with the solar roof in sandy beach. It seems to be a very limited color right now. If I miss out on the money I'm still going to buy the Prius, I've been waiting a long time to get one, and I was impressed when I finally drove one yesterday.

 

That's nice about the tax in CA, where we used to live.
Mr. Frodo loves to ride in our Prius, but we haven't let him drive yet! I'm sure he doesn't understand why!

 

The website will crash and burn akin to your basic Iranian aircraft on Monday. Eventually these deals will get done. Have good heart. We are truly lucky to have deals in place and cars on the lot to take. We have done the real paperwork and while we may not be first, we will not be the guy or gal after last.

Nifty by the way we both have a 2006 and soon a 2010 as well.

 

I was sort of thinking I should get a balloon or free hot dog or something for being their first CARS customer--or how about a free wiener dog!

 

Re: hmmmmm

I don't think my dealer did it this. I have what I think is a standard Toyota doc. It is the "Retail Installment Sale Contract". On there on line 1I is the sales tax ($2623.14) on the full amount of the car + doc fee ($26849 + $55). Further down in the "Total Down Payment" section is is an area called "Other" (6F) where they typed in "Car Allowance Rebate System" and they too off $4500.

Where does it say that we don't pay CA sales tax on the CARS amount? How should I go about getting that money back?

 

Re: hmmmmm

"what's cool is that the $4500 c4c is actually like having $5000 because there's no sales tax on it! "

Can you elaborate on this. I thought sale tax applies to the price of the car before the rebate. I am confused.

john

 

It is depended on your state. In CT, no sales tax on cars over 40mpg, yet we have to pay property tax still. I hate my town

 

My dealer called me today saying that the contract needed to be re-written and that I would get the credit for the CA sales tax on the $4500.

 

Hello rstark18,

Just puchased a car with CARS voucher just this past Friday. Dealer told me that sales tax is added prior to applying voucher. Do you know if this is a statewide CA practice? Trying to figure why it might be one way last Friday and you getting a call from your dealer today telling you that you will be getting a credit. Please give me any other details of anything you might know about this.

Thanks in advance.

 

So, anybody aware of the law in Arizona? I also saw on the Florida auto dealers association website that the Florida Tax law ruling is that the tax is figured after the 4500 is taken off also! But they didn't do that for me in AZ! Amount to about a $500 diff. I'd like that back!

 

Our dealer called late this morning to let us know they were ready to take our clunker and give us the Prius! So we drove down this afternoon and made the trade. Kinda sad to say farewell to our van, after having taken it to Europe and back--so many memories of wonderful trips. But what a guzzler!

Some surprises:

• I've already scraped the low-hanging front end three times, and have discovered it to be nearly impossible to leave our driveway without a scrape. Might need to add some concrete to the rounded curb, and hope the city doesn't catch me.
• My daughter cannot buckle herself into the back when she's in her booster seat. Haven't figured out how to solve that yet.
• The salesman told me we can interface our ipod display to the stereo via the aux input, which also functions as a usb jack. That was news to me.

Overall, we like the car a lot, though.

 

I'll ask him tomorrow where the official info is. It would be the same all through CA because it is state sales tax and applies to all of CA.

 

I think he is mistaken about the USB functionality. It is strictly audio.

 

We put a deposit down yesterday, and the dealer said they just learned Saturday that we will be taxed on the net price, after the $4500 incentive.

That's a $400+ savings for us in Northern CA.

 

Thank you LiveGreen and rstark18. Picking up my car at 5pm today. Hope my dealer got the word and will re-calculate the overall price without any hassle.

 

I don't think I'm the first, but I have finalized the sale, and I have had my car since Saturday July 25th. Signed for it on the 24th at about 2PM. Gone is a 99 Mercury Villager. 18MPG to 50MPG. I think I'm loving it.