Another way to take advantage
Another way to take advantage of the $7,500 tax credit immediately is to lease the car. Yes, that is correct. By leasing it, the lease company takes the $7,500 credit, and passes all of it along to the lessor (you) in the form of a $7,500 decreased capital cost of the car. The trick is to first negotiate the best possible price on the car (as if you were buying it cash, or down payment and finance), then after you have the best price, tell them you wish to consider leasing it. Make SURE they use the same negotiated best purchase price, then apply the $7,500 to further reduce the capital cost, and make sure you are getting the same residual value. Reality is, if you have not leased and do not thoroughly understand the various terms of leasing (cap cost, money factor, residual, lease term, allowed miles, cost per mile for going over, etc) then find someone who does and can help. For me, I online shopped ten Honda dealers, found the best price ($8k off the $37,550 MSRP for a 2019 Touring), put $9k down, financed the balance at 4%, and will take the $7.5k back with my tax return next year. I drive nearly 20k mi per year, so I did not want to lease 3 years and then buy, so i just buy/financed the car. From my analysis of overall cost of ownership, this car is likely to be the least expensive (total cost per mile driven) of any car I've had in over 20 years!!! This is due to the $8k discount dealer discount, $7.5k tax credit, $2k air district rebate, $800 utility rebate, and low electric cost (off peak charging) and great hybrid gas mileage. Yes, I'm an engineer and analyze the hell out of this kinda stuff... Anyway, get one now before the fult $7.5k tax credit and other incentives go away (likely in the next year or more). Good luck.