SteveInSeattle said:
I very much doubt that one can claim damages given that you always have the option to NOT BUY THE CAR if the fund has run out. It would be a pretty funny lawsuit, "Your honor, I chose to buy it knowing the fund had run out, but make them pay me the $5,000!"
I'm not a lawyer, though I know how to hire one, and I'm not so sure there wouldn't be a case with a reasonable chance of success, and I'd be open to being a party to it if I do indeed miss out on part of the $5k due to Nissan's mistake. Individually it's barely worth claiming, but together it probably is.
AFAIK, within the same region, Nissan stated the cars would be issued based on the order in which they were ordered (reserved?), and it looks like they are about to break that stated policy. This will almost certainly cause a financial loss to many CA reservation-holders who placed their deposit, and made their order, based on the original promise from Nissan. For any number of justifiable reasons we may have gone ahead with the purchase anyhow, but the financial loss will still have occurred due to Nissan's breach of contract.
Nissan's least expensive way out of it, AND ETHICALLY THE CORRECT THING TO DO, would be to guarantee right now make up any difference to those CA buyers who do lose out due to Nissan's mistake.
I'm sure some from other states think that we in CA should be thankful for any state rebate, but remember we pay a higher rate of income and sales tax than those in most other states so it's important that we each get the rebates that are due to us.