New Spark EV pricing too low?

[SparkevBlogspot]

From Autotrader, some dealers are showing new 2016 SparkEV at $19K, $20K, $21K, ... I thought they were post incentive, but OR doesn't have state incentive. That would mean $21K in OR could not include the fed incentive; otherwise, it would be $28.5K, far more than MSRP. So the question is, are these prices of $19K to $22K in OR and MD including any incentives, or will the buyer be able to take full fed+state incentives in addition to these low prices?

Few examples below of new 2016 pricing as of Mar. 2016. Most of these low price are in OR where there isn't any state subsidy AFAIK.

$18,988, Carr Chevy World, OR
$20,314, Capitol Chevrolet-Cadillac, OR
$21,493, Ron Tonkin Chevrolet, OR
$20,366, Criswell Chevrolet of Thurmont, MD

If these prices include tax credit, it would seem these advertisements are borderline fraud as over half the US population do not have such high tax liability. Then $22K advertised is actually $29.5K, $4K over the MSRP; again, that seems false advertising.

If one can take tax credit in addition to having low price, a $19K SparkEV would be $11.5K after full tax credit. If in CA, that would be $9K for a NEW car! That just sounds too good to be true.

 

[nikwax]

let's see the ads, please

 

[SparkevBlogspot]

You can search autotrader.com. There are way too many with such low prices. Below are some links, though they'll disappear in time while the text in forum will exist "forever." They show $3500 off, but $19K + $3.5K = $22.5K, far away from $26K MSRP. It just seems too good to be true.

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?endYear=2017&zip=92833&listingType=new&listingTypes=new&showcaseListingId=423577177&trim1=SPARK%7CEV&mmt=%5BCHEV%5BSPARK%5BSPARK%257CEV%5D%5D%5B%5D%5D&modelCode1=SPARK&sortBy=derivedpriceASC&startYear=2014&makeCode1=CHEV&showcaseOwnerId=586852&firstRecord=0&searchRadius=0&listingId=424549314&Log=0

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?endYear=2017&zip=92833&listingType=new&listingTypes=new&showcaseListingId=423577177&trim1=SPARK%7CEV&mmt=%5BCHEV%5BSPARK%5BSPARK%257CEV%5D%5D%5B%5D%5D&modelCode1=SPARK&sortBy=derivedpriceASC&startYear=2014&makeCode1=CHEV&showcaseOwnerId=586852&firstRecord=0&searchRadius=0&listingId=424647823&Log=0

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?endYear=2017&zip=92833&listingType=new&listingTypes=new&showcaseListingId=423577177&trim1=SPARK%7CEV&mmt=%5BCHEV%5BSPARK%5BSPARK%257CEV%5D%5D%5B%5D%5D&modelCode1=SPARK&sortBy=derivedpriceASC&startYear=2014&makeCode1=CHEV&showcaseOwnerId=586852&firstRecord=0&searchRadius=0&listingId=425197666&Log=0

 

[FifthElement]

The car you listed from Criswell in Thurmont, MD is one that I actually looked at several months ago. I used the list price for this car to negotiate down and match at another dealer in Maryland. The price includes manufacturer and dealer incentives. I think that the dealers that carry these, especially the few remaining 2015 models want to just move them. In the last month in Maryland, the new inventory has doubled from 29 cars to over 62.

http://www.criswellchevroletofthurm...-Hatch_2LT_(Automatic)-Thurmont-MD/2540034183

 

[nikwax]

You can search autotrader.com. There are way too many with such low prices. Below are some links, though they'll disappear in time while the text in forum will exist "forever." They show $3500 off, but $19K + $3.5K = $22.5K, far away from $26K MSRP. It just seems too good to be true.

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?endYear=2017&zip=92833&listingType=new&listingTypes=new&showcaseListingId=423577177&trim1=SPARK%7CEV&mmt=%5BCHEV%5BSPARK%5BSPARK%257CEV%5D%5D%5B%5D%5D&modelCode1=SPARK&sortBy=derivedpriceASC&startYear=2014&makeCode1=CHEV&showcaseOwnerId=586852&firstRecord=0&searchRadius=0&listingId=424549314&Log=0

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?endYear=2017&zip=92833&listingType=new&listingTypes=new&showcaseListingId=423577177&trim1=SPARK%7CEV&mmt=%5BCHEV%5BSPARK%5BSPARK%257CEV%5D%5D%5B%5D%5D&modelCode1=SPARK&sortBy=derivedpriceASC&startYear=2014&makeCode1=CHEV&showcaseOwnerId=586852&firstRecord=0&searchRadius=0&listingId=424647823&Log=0

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?endYear=2017&zip=92833&listingType=new&listingTypes=new&showcaseListingId=423577177&trim1=SPARK%7CEV&mmt=%5BCHEV%5BSPARK%5BSPARK%257CEV%5D%5D%5B%5D%5D&modelCode1=SPARK&sortBy=derivedpriceASC&startYear=2014&makeCode1=CHEV&showcaseOwnerId=586852&firstRecord=0&searchRadius=0&listingId=425197666&Log=0

"Prices after all available factory rebates. Some factory rebates may require factory financing or trade-in/ownership of specific make or model vehicle. "



those are some interesting terms



FWIW, when I bought mine last year I got $3500 factory rebate, $2500 dealer cash, and above retail on my trade in. With the federal tax credit thrown in, it was our 15 year old Subaru plus $4000 for the Spark. There was a 0% financing for 72 months offer that we'd just missed out on, I might have taken that as well just for laughs.

 

[SparkevBlogspot]

I saw that about caveats, but what do they really mean? Can you take almost any car for trade in, or only for non-GM cars ("conquest"), or is it so narrow that almost no one qualify? As I noted, even without that extra $3500, they work out to $4K less than MSRP. Combined with fed tax credit, that'd still be $16K even without state subsidy. It seems too good to be true.

I wonder if anyone actually got it for that price. These are all new 2016 models, not leftover 2014/2015.

You got a hell of a deal! I think I overpaid a lot, especially considering the residual. I really want to keep the car after lease, but if things keep up like this, residual might end up costing more than buying new even without state subsidy. That is, IF SparkEV is still available.

 

[Dusty]

I could be mistaken, but it looks to me that the Oregon dealers will be cashing in the federal tax credits, not the buyers. But you get $3500 back from Chevy which brings the cost down to $15.5K for the Sparks from Carr. It wouldn't surprise me if you couldn't get the cost down further, maybe $14K. I suspect the dealer costs are around $24K. Remove $7500 tax credit = $16.5K. Subtract the $3500 cash back and you're down to $13K, so there's lots of wiggle room to negotiate.

The Maryland deal could be further discounted. The asking price is $20,366. I suspect the dealer is keeping the $3500 cash back from Chevy but the buyer gets the tax credit bringing the cost down to $12,866. Maryland has a tax rebate of $2,350 so it's possible to get a new 2015 Spark EV for $10,516 without haggling. Right now the funding is exhausted for the Maryland rebate program but it's expected to get re-nourished this summer when the next budget is approved.

Obviously car dealerships are sneaky bastards and you never know what you're paying for a car until you've haggled with them for a couple hours and see the terms written down on paper. AND, the next few months might be a great time to pick up one of the last new Spark EVs. These low prices have me thinking this will really be the final year for this great little car.

 

[nikwax]

When I bought my car, the dealer assigned the GM rebate to themselves and passed that along to me. That was very convenient for me, I wouldn't call that a trick. The fed credit is highly variable for individuals and I don't think the dealers would mess around with that.


Could just be that GM needs to sell these cars now. Last year there were shortages and they were still making deals.

 

[Cwhite]

For a purchase the registered owner is the only one who can get the $7500 tax credit (for leases the leasing company gets it)

Wentworth Chevy has it spelled out pretty clearly:

http://www.wentworthchevrolet.com/VehicleDetails/new-2016-Chevrolet-Spark_EV-Hatch_1LT_%28Automatic%29-Portland-OR/2726224413

$19495 after all dealer discounts and GM rebates, seems like only a few get the extra $1000 rebate. Most 1LT's are $20495

come to $11,995 after fed tax credit.

Smoking deal, a year ago it was $14,995.

They have 30 of them, far cry from them being hard to find a year ago. Most seem to be 1LT without the DC fast charge port (of course in Portland I have used a level 3 charger one time in a year, at Electric Avenue just to see if it worked)

 

[SparkevBlogspot]

Has anyone actually got those deals, and ultimately tax credit to result in under $13K? From $25.5K MSRP, $19K is $6.5K off, or over 25% off. That seems incredible. I don't know if there's ever been such discount on a new model years car in percentage. I saw some with DCFC, and they were listed for $20.5K. That's still outrageously (!) low at 22% off.

Another question is can one buy the car in OR at $19K (or $20.5K with DCFC) and then bring register it in CA to qualify for CA rebate + fed tax credit? If that's possible, that would make post subsidy price to be $9K (or $10.5K with DCFC)!

Inventory wise, autotrader shows about 450 cars available. Since 930 cars were sold in Apr. 2015 and 250 in May. 2015 (probably sold out), I suspect the inventory is less than what Chevy typically carry. I don't think they're "desperate" to sell them, especially since the this includes MD which was not available last year this time.

 

[Dusty]

I didn't think they could take the federal tax credit but perhaps they've figured out how. If you go to their site, Carr has 8 Spark EVS for sale. 2 are for 19K and the rest are 26k+. All of their Sparks advertise the $3500 manufacturer cash back, leading one to believe they aren't taking that amount to compensate for the 2 19K cars. This means, if they aren't taking the tax credit, a final price of $8000 for the two 19K cars ($18,988 - $7,500 tax credit - $3,500 cash back = $7,988). That's $1,000 less than what I still owe on my Spark EV.

 

[SparkevBlogspot]

($18,988 - $7,500 tax credit - $3,500 cash back = $7,988).

I don't think that's the case. I think $19K is after $3500 and whatever else, though I don't think that includes fed tax credit. Even with $21K DCFC capable one, -$7500 would make it $13.5K, about that of residual for post 3.25 year lease. But as I mentioned before, I'd like to know if anyone actually gets this deal or is this just "fraudulent" false advertising.

 

[Dusty]

($18,988 - $7,500 tax credit - $3,500 cash back = $7,988).

I don't think that's the case. I think $19K is after $3500 and whatever else, though I don't think that includes fed tax credit. Even with $21K DCFC capable one, -$7500 would make it $13.5K, about that of residual for post 3.25 year lease. But as I mentioned before, I'd like to know if anyone actually gets this deal or is this just "fraudulent" false advertising.

Well, instead of just disagreeing with me, why don't you just call them and find out. That's what I'd do if I still lived in Eugene, but my phone numbers scream "Maryland" all day long. The last three new cars I've bought were negotiated over the phone. I don't even know what my salesman for the Spark EV looks like. Not only is it an easy way to buy a car, but you can get your questions answered.

Good luck!

 

[SparkevBlogspot]

Unfortunately, my number screams deep South California with my thick SoCal accent to boot. There are no deals even remotely close to this in CA, but there are similar deals in MD.