[philcollison]

I want to buy a 2010 Golf TDI w/ DSG in time to take advantage of the $1700 advanced lean burn credit. My understanding is that the car must be put into service prior to 12/31/2010 but that it also must be purchased prior to the end of the calendar quarter following the quarter in which VW (or is it VAG?) sells its 60,000th qualifying vehicle under the program. Numbers are supposed to be reported NLT 30 days following the quarter close. I contacted VW for the current sales total number and they said "they don't have the resources to answer" and that I should contact the IRS. The IRS has numbers posted for the Jetta TDIs through the end of 2008 (12,000+) under qualifying "hybrid" models, but no update since then. IRS-posted numbers for the lean burn cars list only BMW (no VW, Audi or Mercedes). I contacted the IRS and they had no explanation, simply suggesting I "check back with the web site periodically". Any helpful suggestions from the community?

 

[chittychittybangbang]

I got an estimate directly from VW that they had sold 2/3 of the way. Remember that there was a sales bubble when the cars were introduced because they hadn't been sold for a while and during cash for clunkers.

My informal guess is that it will run out sometime next year. I've been checking the IRS site and there haven't been updates of late.

 

[buzybee]

If the cars went on sales 13 months ago and 2/3 have been sold, that's 40,000 cars or about 3,000 a month. That means that 6-7 months more if sales continue at the current rate. That means the full credit will probably end 2nd quarter before being reduced. I'd say it's a sales success but if you look at the sales figures I think they are grouping VW and Audi sales together.

 

[philcollison]

I saw the 37-40K estimate under the (excellent BTW) tax info portion of the main site. However, it would be nice to have this confirmed. It looks like the job falls to the IRS (not VW) to post the numbers, but the info they post is a mish-mash. Don't they know they have compulsive over-planners such as your humble OP who need this info?

 

[grizzly]

IIRC VW and Audi are put under the same category. I would think VW would know the numbers in a week. What takes the IRS so long who knows.

 

[Bluemojo]

IIRC VW and Audi are put under the same category. I would think VW would know the numbers in a week. What takes the IRS so long who knows.

It's the government anic: