I have yet to find any dealership where the EV specialist knows anything about EVs *and isn’t an asshole.* I’ve been browsing cars for over a month now, and 99% of car dealers have one of two things:
1. A guy that knows nothing about EVs, but thinks he does.
2. A guy that knows things about EVs, but will outright lie to you.
Sometimes this applies to the car itself – sure, it’s got the preheat. Oh you want it in writing? Okay it doesn’t have the preheat, I admit it.
More often this applies to the tax rebates. Hyundai dealers in Connecticut were illegally applying the state and federal EV credit to cars above 50k MSRP, and when called out on it are just like “c’mon, you’ll get it.” Like dude, you’re ASKING me to defraud the IRS?
​
Today, I dealt with these assclowns: [2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E Select (autohausinc.com)](https://www.autohausinc.com/post/2021-ford-mustang-mach-e-premium)
“Qualifies for up to $7500 in tax credits.”
No, it doesn’t. The used EV credit is for 25k and below. This is 27.5. It will not get a dollar. I talked to them about this… and got willful denial every step of the way, to the point that I showed them the IRS policy, pointed out the exact wording, and told them no one on earth would be eligible for it, to which they kept telling me “not all buyers are qualified.” I’m like, no one can get a dollar back from the government for that car. Take that off your website.
The response? ” Without an application we cannot answer if you will personally qualify, but we know for a fact there are credits available for our car. I apologize if you feel mislead.”
​
I’m just so frustrated. It shouldn’t be this hard to find a worthwhile used EV under 25k or a new EV under 50k, but everywhere in Connecticut it seems the dealerships play it up and mark the new MSRPs over 50k and the used EVs around 28-33k, and almost all of them then still act like you’d still get the rebates. I’m happy to be smarter than that, but I feel sorry for all the people in Connecticut who will fall prey to the assholes at Hyundai dealerships and used car dealerships in this state.
by dlbogosian
30 Comments
Yep. Over at EV.Guide we offer a service that will call ahead to dealers and verify the knowledge of a sales person. If they pass our assessment we’ll link them with customers. Frankly, sometimes it’s hard to find anyone who knows anything. It’s clear that most of the time, they’re searching for answers while they’re talking to us and reading back answers they don’t fully understand. We always ask to get connected to “the sales person best prepared to answer questions about your EVs”.
It’s why it’s so critical to know what you want and why before you go to the dealer.
This is why Tesla is winning.
>2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E Select (autohausinc.com)
>
>”Qualifies for up to $7500 in tax credits.”
Conceivably, if all 1,200 of those miles are test drive miles or if there is some other circumstance where no one has ever purchased that vehicle (see [IRS FS-2023-22, page 3, A8](https://www.irs.gov/pub/taxpros/fs-2023-22.pdf#page=3)), then that car could qualify for the new clean vehicle tax credit under [26 USC Section 30D](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:26%20section:30D%20edition:prelim)). I’m just saying.
Don’t make idiotic generalizations like this, it just scares people. The dealership where I bought my EV has competent sales people, service reps, technicians, etc. Seriously, you’re not helping.
That’s pretty much the assumption I make with every salesman, regardless of what they’re selling.
You can do enough research to make an informed purchase and a decision you won’t regret. Salesmen only have to do enough research to make a sale, or just outright lie.
Salesmen are only good for 2 things:
– Let me have a test drive
– Give me your best price
Fixed it for you:
…99% of car dealers have one of two things:
1. A guy that knows nothing about Cars, but thinks he does.
2. A guy that knows things about Cars, but will outright lie to you.
I’ve not heard on this sub any reports of anyone successfully getting the used credit. I’m sure someone has but they are keeping it to themselves. You have to find an EV that qualifies and then you have to be in a very tight income range. Those are two targets that are hard to hit.
Every dealer I’ve worked with has been nothing but a pleasure. Easy transparent upfront pricing, and knowledgeable EV specialists, most of whom drive EVs themselves.
Is that really what lightly-used Mach-Es are selling for? That seems like a screaming good deal.
People give Elon a lot of shit. And a lot of it is warranted.
But here’s one thing that he got right: He quickly recognized that the existing dealer network would not give EVs a fair shake. They would be obstructionists to the EV transition. That was a major justification behind their decision to sell direct to customers.
(Cutting out the middle man certainly helps profits too)
Last year a co worker and I requested a polestar test drive at our work. (I had bought my ev6 and he was looking to test a bunch before buying). The lady was driving with us in it before she let him drive. While she was driving she would take her foot off the gas and go, the car is charging right now when I do this! Basically saying how the car needed fuel less often than an ice car because it is always charging when you let off the gas.
We both knew about regen braking and just stared at each other and tried not to laugh
If the Direct Sales model of EV buying has taught me anything, it is that we need to know everything about the vehicle, incentives, charging, and interest rates prior to purchasing a vehicle.
This made buying an EV from a local dealership recently really easy: Walked in knowing what we were looking for, down the the option packages and specific add-ons, and looked for the EV guy who knew a bit about the vehicle we wanted. Our guy actually knew a LOT, but we walked in assuming he would know squat.
Buy a Tesla
I’ve never walked into a dealership where a dealer knows shit about the cars. Since 2007 when I bought my first car a 10 minute Google search made me more of an expert than any dealer I went to.
They never know anything ICE or EV.
Hyundai, VW, Ford, Mazda, Subaru, Toyota, Audi, Chevy/GM
I saw a dealer advertising a Hummer EV on FB and they had a 20k mark-up over sticker on it. Consumers can’t wait to cut these greedy middle men out.
OP, I just picked up an EV6 GT from Crowley Kia a couple weeks ago. Salesman was OK, didn’t point out anything to me really except for a few things since I was already fully researched on the cars. Gave me a price and some numbers to play around with, and besides the 1 time they tried the “what can we do to get you in the vehicle today” after I said I’ll need to think about it they gave me their card and let me on my way.
Salesmen not knowing anything is not unique to EVs. I’ve purchased 5 Audis and 2 VWs from dealerships and with the exception of one guy (who was a specialist shop/dealer combo primarily dealing in VAG diesels) every time has had me giving the sales person a lecture on their own product.
Guy who I bought the VR6 Atlas from told me “I’d put premium fuel in it, especially in the summer”. Which is wrong on so many levels I didn’t even bother to correct him.
Once I was on a road trip and my A4 started knocking and the nearest Audi dealership was 200miles away, but the city I was in had a VW dealer. I had to argue with the front desk for like 15 minutes that the A4 had the same engine as half the cars on their lot before a mechanic came out and was like “yeah I can look at it” and ending up changing a leaking fuel injector seal because, shocking turn of events, they had the part number in stock.
The more things change the more they stay the same.
In 2002, I walked into the Honda dealer to buy an S2000. The first salesman that greeted me didn’t have a clue that the S2000 was rear wheel drive, only Honda RWD in a long time and that is was only available as a convertible in a single trim, nothing but color to custom order.
No wonder that it was the first S2000 that dealership ever sold.
Car sales people job is to sell you a car that makes them the most money. They have no soul.
Tesla and Rivian.
There is an easy fix for this…
Do all your own homework and research about the vehicle you want from other, independent sources. Only walk into a dealership to buy. You are not there to listen to crap, or talk about the car, you are there to buy. Make your offer and sign or leave, it really is that simple.
If a car sales guy’s mouth is moving, it’s bullshit.
When I bough my used Ioniq5, it was the first ev he had ever sold, and only maybe the third they had ever had on the lot. I taught him quite a bit about these cars and what ev drivers need to know.
I lucked out. The manager of my dealership was an owner of an EV6. She spent 20 minutes in car showing me all the tricks. I knew like OP what tax credits if any I would get. That is why I chose to lease. I was pleased to have such a nice buying experience.
Yeah dealer BS is a huge reason Tesla is winning. I bought mine and took delivery without spending more than 3 minutes talking to another soul. It was great.
I was at a Ford dealership a couple of months ago to test drive an MME. Was asking about the lack of tax credit pass through offered on leases that other manufacturers such as Hyundai and BMW were offering – and with a straight face the asshat sales guy claimed that Hyundai is not a competitor and Ford EVs were superior to Hyundai’s offerings. F’in clowns.
I’ve been on all sides of this coin. But think about it: we don’t need salespeople. Consumers will drive across town to save $100 on a $50,000 car. “We” as a market do not reward great salespeople. The ones that know everything and are genuinely your advocate simply get undercut by the dumbass pushy salesperson with sale skills (not automotive knowledge or empathy or compassion) at the next dealership.
They don’t need to know cars, because people aren’t coming to them to learn about cars. They’re coming to them for the best price.
The really good human beings in auto sales quickly see that consumers won’t buy cars from them if they’re friendly and knowledgeable. Consumers buy cars from them if they have the best price, and/or smooth talk them into buying on the spot. The end.
So they learn to do what gets them results. Not learn about the products. The guy at the last store educated them. Now they just need to be $100 less and say “if I could, would you?” and apply some pressure and sell a car.
We simply don’t reward salespeople for doing a good job. We don’t need automotive salespeople. You get what you reward.
I know quite a few car salesmen and read a lot about cars that are coming out or are out and I’d say half of them are just loan facilitators and are selling units they don’t know shit about cars. A lot of them oddly don’t really believe in EVs, they buy into a lot of the misinformation. My perception when I was buying mine was that they were acting like they knew about them but I probably could have taught him about the car he was selling to me. To his credit he said EV buyers were by far the most informed car buyers.
Don’t go into a $50,000+ purchase not knowing as much as you can. There’s a ton of great YouTubers making videos about almost every car. Also more and more of them are very pro EV
When I bought my F-150 Lightning in summer 2022, the salesman outfight told me that he didn’t even care about learning all the specs and technicalities of the truck… he said he’d never know more than someone like me that really enthused and excited about it. I kind of respected his honesty, tbh.
Car sales people know nothing about cars because the car isn’t the product any more. It’s the financing that is the product. That and the data you generate in using the car.
A dealer talking to a customer about EVs is like an old employee talking to a kid who’s be hired to do his job for half the pay.