Anyone else been stuck in Quality Check for a week or more?

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I also wrote an email to my sales rep the day before law signed, stating I do not want to miss out on tax credit. I did this knowing that Fisker preemptively made a binding contract. Unfortunately I did not hear back until 3 days later. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt that he was likely off those days. My mistake that I was loyal to him alone. Still, that made me miss out on $7500 (not to mention 2 months in QC…)
 
I'm going to be a realist for a minute: SEs are a small fraction of factory output and dealer sales.

It absolutely sucks that some of us will miss out on the tax credit due to the quality check delay which is not normal, but on the Mini side of things the cars will sell either to us or or someone else. The tax credit doesn't affect them.

"Doing the right thing" for us is a nice gesture, but Mini would be taking a 25% loss on the cost of our vehicles. I don't see that happening as that's a pretty big ask.

My guess is the quality hold was due to staffing issues at the factory where they had enough people to keep the line running but not do reworks on vehicles in QC until the summer shutdown and kept some working to finish them up.

The labor shortage is harsh in ALL markets right now. I've mentioned before I'm in management for a Tier 1 supplier and I've had my 2nd shift guy have to help out on the lines just this week because we cannot get enough workers even with all the extra effort we're putting in to get them. Around 30% of our workforce currently are temp workers supplied by agencies, not full-time employees of us. The turnover is tremendous, some will come in and literally leave at first break. We had 1 leave Monday after 2 hours and pointed to her Fitbit while saying it's too many steps for the pay. WTF, her station literally requires maybe 10 steps every 45 seconds.

Rant over, I want my car. Orion Highway anchored last night outside Zeebrugge, SAJSALTKJQWFJLKDFJKASDG
 
I get it - i truly do - however my MA’s response was completely tone deaf - he basically said ‘imagine how we feel - this will impact our business in a big way’. That’s not how you treat a repeat buyer. I’m not expecting MINI to sell me the car at a $7500 reduced price - BUT I do want to see what they can do - maybe free tinting and coating or something that they can do to help me out. If we had not had the bad luck of QC, all of us would have received our cars in time to qualify for the tax credit.

A huge part of the appeal was the tax credit made the car extremely affordable for me - at this point i have to assess whether or not i am willing to pay more than 20% more for a car that I have been waiting for over 5 months.

A token offer from MINI would be appreciated. But telling me I should feel for them because now they have to figure out how to resell these cars? After what we have been through in this front, we deserve better treatment than that…
 
DJCoopster said:
Mini would be taking a 25% loss on the cost of our vehicles
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I don't follow how this could be. When I bought my SE I paid the full dollar amount to the MINI dealer (MSRP), and got the $7500 refund on my taxes from the government when I filed taxes for that year. MINI didn't lose a cent from selling me the SE.

I do generally agree with your other points, though.
 
Puppethead said:
I don't follow how this could be. When I bought my SE I paid the full dollar amount to the MINI dealer (MSRP), and got the $7500 refund on my taxes from the government when I filed taxes for that year. MINI didn't lose a cent from selling me the SE.

I do generally agree with your other points, though.
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I'm saying if Mini were to make up for us losing the $7500 credit, they would be selling a ~$34,000 car for $26,500 or whatever (just very general numbers).
 
So for some of us who are still waiting for the car to arrive at the dealer, is it certain that we won't be qualified for the federal tax credit?

I was trying to ask my dealer to sign some kind of "sales contract" which they emailed me in March. I don't know if they would sign that (and keep the order date as March), or if that would be sufficient paperwork as a "binding contract"... My dealer is kind of not saying anything useful about the situation...

I am hoping at least they will give me the CT state incentive. Then I'd still buy the SE, I think. $7500 is not a small amount, and we are purchasing the SE as a second car so that amount was definitely important. But again, it's also a Mini, and I've always wanted a Mini! If this is indeed the best Mini, I guess I should take it home after all of these months of waiting.
 
Xin Dai said:
So for some of us who are still waiting for the car to arrive at the dealer, is it certain that we won't be qualified for the federal tax credit?

I was trying to ask my dealer to sign some kind of "sales contract" which they emailed me in March. I don't know if they would sign that (and keep the order date as March), or if that would be sufficient paperwork as a "binding contract"... My dealer is kind of not saying anything useful about the situation...

I am hoping at least they will give me the CT state incentive. Then I'd still buy the SE, I think. $7500 is not a small amount, and we are purchasing the SE as a second car so that amount was definitely important. But again, it's also a Mini, and I've always wanted a Mini! If this is indeed the best Mini, I guess I should take it home after all of these months of waiting.
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The dealers don't want to say anything because they will not advice on your tax situation. Some people got paperwork with the correct dates and some language that will allow them to file the tax credit, but the question is will it hold up to an IRS audit? You're taking a chance on how an auditor would interpret the paperwork language.

I guess you could always drive the Mini to the audit, let the auditor drive the car, then show them where you put your deposit down and agreed to buy/order it and beg for mercy after you put them in a good mood from the drive. lol
 
Ugh, sounds complicated! I guess I'll just have to accept the fact that I won't get the tax credit, like right now. I like physical buttons and knobs; so even if the next gen Mini electric will be sold in the US, I won't be considering that. (meanwhile, I'm listing more reasons in my head to JUST GET this SE)
 
Xin Dai said:
So for some of us who are still waiting for the car to arrive at the dealer, is it certain that we won't be qualified for the federal tax credit?

I was trying to ask my dealer to sign some kind of "sales contract" which they emailed me in March. I don't know if they would sign that (and keep the order date as March), or if that would be sufficient paperwork as a "binding contract"... My dealer is kind of not saying anything useful about the situation...

I am hoping at least they will give me the CT state incentive. Then I'd still buy the SE, I think. $7500 is not a small amount, and we are purchasing the SE as a second car so that amount was definitely important. But again, it's also a Mini, and I've always wanted a Mini! If this is indeed the best Mini, I guess I should take it home after all of these months of waiting.
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When I went in and did the purchase agreement 2 weeks ago it has a spot for the CHEAPR state rebate, which the dealer takes care of, so unless your dealer doesn’t participate in the state rebate you should at least get that. I believe (note the “I” there) that if you have a signed purchase agreement (the standard form for all purchase in CT, at least I’ve always seen it at purchase time) with your VIN on it that you should qualify, as long as it was before the enactment of the new law. I wouldn’t feel comfortable claiming it with just what I had before (emails and a credit card statement with a $250 deposit). But again, that’s just my thoughts.
 
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My MA screwed up the tax calculation and his business manager fixed it, hence the cross outs.
 
So this might be a question for a different forum, but I feel bonded to my "Stuck in" group. I am now wondering what the resale of the SE might be in 1-2 years. I think I snuck in the last base model (Signature) from the factory. So I was thinking a $30k car, minus State and Fed incentives, would be a $20k car, which would have been amazing. Now with just state and local, it is a $26k car, which is not bad. I have solar and it will be my commute car for 40 mi round trip daily. No gas is very appealing. Is anyone bold enough to speculate on how the value will hold up? This MINI might just be a place holder for me now until my next EV. There just are not very many other choices on the market right now.
 
DJCoopster said:
The dealers don't want to say anything because they will not advice on your tax situation. Some people got paperwork with the correct dates and some language that will allow them to file the tax credit, but the question is will it hold up to an IRS audit? You're taking a chance on how an auditor would interpret the paperwork language.

I guess you could always drive the Mini to the audit, let the auditor drive the car, then show them where you put your deposit down and agreed to buy/order it and beg for mercy after you put them in a good mood from the drive. lol
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Unfortunately I am a federal employee and in a category where my returns are subject to close scrutiny. Any attempt to ‘beat the system’ on my end could be grounds from termination. This situation has put me in a real bind. It’s like the universe is conspiring against me from buying this car - between supply chain issues, war in the Ukraine, QC, and now this - maybe I should be paying more attention to all of the signs….
 
wally3 said:
Unfortunately I am a federal employee and in a category where my returns are subject to close scrutiny. Any attempt to ‘beat the system’ on my end could be grounds from termination. This situation has put me in a real bind. It’s like the universe is conspiring against me from buying this car - between supply chain issues, war in the Ukraine, QC, and now this - maybe I should be paying more attention to all of the signs….
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As a retired fed subject to higher IRS review, I agree with you. A coworker was suspended a few days for a $17 math error. It went down from the district director to the manager etc.

You need more of an assurance. You could get a PLR, but that will cost more than the rebate. If it was me, and I was still at the service, I would file my return without the credit, then probably file a protective claim with the credit. The reason for the claim would be pending further information. That puts the decision in the IRS hands.
 
Tommm said:
As a retired fed subject to higher IRS review, I agree with you. A coworker was suspended a few days for a $17 math error. It went down from the district director to the manager etc.

You need more of an assurance. You could get a PLR, but that will cost more than the rebate. If it was me, and I was still at the service, I would file my return without the credit, then probably file a protective claim with the credit. The reason for the claim would be pending further information. That puts the decision in the IRS hands.
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Hmmmm - not sure i totally follow - but will message you later do we don’t tie up the thread.
 
Eric Larson said:
So this might be a question for a different forum, but I feel bonded to my "Stuck in" group. I am now wondering what the resale of the SE might be in 1-2 years. I think I snuck in the last base model (Signature) from the factory. So I was thinking a $30k car, minus State and Fed incentives, would be a $20k car, which would have been amazing. Now with just state and local, it is a $26k car, which is not bad. I have solar and it will be my commute car for 40 mi round trip daily. No gas is very appealing. Is anyone bold enough to speculate on how the value will hold up? This MINI might just be a place holder for me now until my next EV. There just are not very many other choices on the market right now.
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That actually would be an excellent separate thread. There are so many facets to explore from the small battery to the unique nature of the car as basically a converted F56.
 
Aquavir said:
Welcome to New York Morning Cecilie!
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It looks to me like Morning Cecilie is waiting for the Clover Ace to leave so that she can dock at the place where cars can unload. There are 2 tugs maneuvering the Clover ACE. I'm watching and refreshing intently.

MC.webp
 
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