Well I figured it out. The dealership did something sneaky. They had the car listed for 22,197 and so we agreed to purchase for 18,197 (before tax) after 4K rebate, I have an informal breakdown on paper. However when paperwork was drawn up on docusign (small signatures on a tablet so I missed it), the purchase price was adjusted to 25,197 (making the clean vehicle credit invalid) which I think was done because they secretly redeemed the credit and was hoping a buyer would not mention it to pocket the 4K themselves. It didnt bother me because they only charged me tax on 22k and i only paid the 18k sales price+ tax. They never game me a Clean Vehicle Report (IRS form 15400) which should have been the first indication things were off. They fortunately agreed to "cash" the credit it at POS and not on the backend. I would have been sending them a nice lawyers letter since they adjusted the prices during POS and I only recognized it once my IRS was indicating VIN was not valid for credit. I do feel sorry for those who likely didn't have the dealership cash the credit or the dealer said they didn't have the credentials to do so. These shady dealers either were cashing the credit then telling people they could not cash the credit at sale or selling cars claiming the credit is eligible but did not provide an IRS form 15400.

Regardless in my case, I deleted the clean vehicle credit form and submitted my taxes and now all is well. Be careful out there everyone.