Will the inflation reduction act increase the sale value of the Energi?

[Nervous but Excited]

The Energi has a 7.2 kWh battery pack, which means that - starting next year - used sales would qualify for up to $4k of subsidies from the Inflation Reduction Act when the sale is made through a dealership. Surely this will increase the resale value of the car to those selling their used Energi's to the dealerships? On the other hand, it might decrease the value of the car if you try to make a private sale as the dealerships would effectively be able to offer the buyer a $4k discount that you will not be able to offer.

 

... Any thoughts?

 

 

[oldbeyondmeasure]

The vehicle price must be under $25,000 and the credit is the *lower* of $4,000 or 30% of the vehicle price.

But there are income caps on eligibility: $75,000 for single filers, $112,500 for head of household and $150,000 for joint filers. So I wonder whether the dealer is going to offer me the full $4,000 more because not all buyers will be able to claim the credit.

Kelley Blue Book says that my 2017 C-Max Energi Titanium is worth about $19,000, so I suppose most of the potential buyers at the dealer would qualify for the credit and the dealer might in turn give me a better offer. But it won't happen until dealers find that customers are willing to pay more for used EVs. That will take some time. (I am also assuming an honest dealer and salesperson, etc. My experience is that some are and some aren't. I am reminded of the time when I tried to buy a new Honda CR-V and all the dealers wanted at least $1,000 over MSRP. But that is a rant for another day. Here I suspect that the dealers will try to offer me no more than the private-sale price so that they can keep as much of the $4,000 for themselves.) 

[adam1991]

It certainly increased the value of the car to me as a buyer.  I bought from a Mazda dealer; I figured they don't really know about this new law and all the cars affected by it.

 

Eventually every dealership will know this used plug-in tax credit thing very well and will price their cars accordingly, but probably not yet.

 

Regardless, they won't offer you any more money to trade one in.  They'll just take it at the lowest price you'll let them then mark it up even more knowing that there's a tax credit for the next buyer.

 

On 9/20/2022 at 2:39 AM, oldbeyondmeasure said:

Here I suspect that the dealers will try to offer me no more than the private-sale price so that they can keep as much of the $4,000 for themselves.

yup.