[bwilson4web]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43243050/ns/business-autos/

. . .
The salesman's comment suggests there is truth to reports that some dealers are gaming the system to claim battery car tax credits for themselves, as first reported by a conservative think tank called the National Legal and Policy Center.

“Many Volts with practically no miles on them are being sold as ‘used’ vehicles, enabling the dealerships to benefit from the $7,500 credit supplied by the American taxpayers on each car,” NLPC’s Mark Modica said in a blog post on the practice. “The process of titling the Volts technically makes the dealerships the first owners of the vehicles, which gives them the ability to claim the subsidies. The cars are then offered to retail customers as ‘used’ vehicles."

Modica, a former Saturn dealership manager, said in an interview he was reluctant to call the process a “scam,” preferring to describe it as “gaming the system.” Though it may technically be legal, “it is not right,” he said.

I hadn't heard of this scam when Prius were in short supply.

Instead, there were waiting lists and dealer markups that seemed to match the tax credit . . . which you might not get if your income was too high.

Bob Wilson