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Tesla opens the Model 3 reservation floodgates

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11–20 of 148 posts

Re: Tesla opens the Model 3 reservation floodgates

#12
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The deposit for a Model 3 is $1,000.

But the article isn't about offering deposits. It's about ordering.

Yes, I read the article. It was extremely unclear what you were asking, and it's definitely not the case that a full payment is required.

Re: Tesla opens the Model 3 reservation floodgates

#14
post #9

Someone tweeted this video[1] of the tent production line a over a week ago. It looks a lot less clean than the picture Elon tweeted thats in the article. I don't know if I would purchase a 35K+ car that was assembled outside in the open. Also it appears quite chaotic with chassis being transported around also in the open. [1] https://twitter.com/IspyTsla/status/1009134913881190400?s=19

I'm curious as to why you would be reluctant to buy a car assembled "in the open" ? Would you be afraid to drive it outside too ?

Because certain parts should not be exposed to the outside until assembled or they need to be cleaned again. You want clean welding joints and seems where you glue things together. Certain glues or compounds don't work well in certain temperatures/humidities, you want a controlled environment.

Re: Tesla opens the Model 3 reservation floodgates

#15
post #2

Tesla has had an extremely difficult time ramping up production of the Model 3. Hopefully they to to 700 cars a day this week. However, getting to the 10,000 cars a week (another doubling) seems impossible unless they add another factory.

I wouldn't want to make that assumption without further information.

If you are right, a lot of highly trained and paid people have made a grave mistake in their throughput estimates and might still be lying about it.

On the other hand there could be bottlenecks they know how to solve but are waiting for the tooling to be done.

Re: Tesla opens the Model 3 reservation floodgates

#16
post #13
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the article isn't about offering deposits. It's about ordering.

The order requires a $2,500 payment, not the full price.

Ah, thank you. I see now there are better articles. I'll update the original comment.

Re: Tesla opens the Model 3 reservation floodgates

#17
post #6

Last I read, Tesla is holding $985MM in customer deposits. [1] Now they are asking for, I'm assuming, full payment for cars starting at $48,000. However, the soonest one can be delivered is in "two to four months" and that's only for the trim that starts at $64,000. Plus there are now quite a few options costing in the thousands. For every 10,000 customers that place an order of the, likely, several hundred thousand…

Are any of these deposits protected? I assume when Tesla folds, they will all be lost?

Re: Tesla opens the Model 3 reservation floodgates

#18
post #9

Someone tweeted this video[1] of the tent production line a over a week ago. It looks a lot less clean than the picture Elon tweeted thats in the article. I don't know if I would purchase a 35K+ car that was assembled outside in the open. Also it appears quite chaotic with chassis being transported around also in the open. [1] https://twitter.com/IspyTsla/status/1009134913881190400?s=19

I'm curious as to why you would be reluctant to buy a car assembled "in the open" ? Would you be afraid to drive it outside too ?

As long as it isn't painted in the open I think it's ok. Although driving an assembled product in the open is a bit different still than the assembly parts.

I mean if you have a waterproof smartphone and it was made under water (I know, taking it to the extreme here)...

Re: Tesla opens the Model 3 reservation floodgates

#19
post #6

Last I read, Tesla is holding $985MM in customer deposits. [1] Now they are asking for, I'm assuming, full payment for cars starting at $48,000. However, the soonest one can be delivered is in "two to four months" and that's only for the trim that starts at $64,000. Plus there are now quite a few options costing in the thousands. For every 10,000 customers that place an order of the, likely, several hundred thousand…

> Now they are asking for, I'm assuming, full payment for cars starting at $48,000

A quick searched reveled that the final payment is due at delivery, or shortly before deilivery [1].

When you finalize configuration, Tesla asks you for a $2500 non refundable deposit (although I have heard that they refund it in some circumstances as a matter of goodwill). This deposit is the same for all models even the Model 3, as stated here [2]:

> And finally when you’re ready to place your order, a deposit of $2,500 is required which isn’t any different than placing an online order for a Model S or Model X.

The only thing I cannot tell you is if the initial deposit counts toward the 2500 deposit or the final price. So Tesla doesn’t get billions in deposits and doing that would probably cause a lot of logistical problems and the media would scream that they are scamming customers and only do that because they are about to go bankrupt.

[1]: https://forums.tesla.com/forum/forums/payment [2]: https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-model-3-design-studio-config...

Re: Tesla opens the Model 3 reservation floodgates

#20
post #6

Last I read, Tesla is holding $985MM in customer deposits. [1] Now they are asking for, I'm assuming, full payment for cars starting at $48,000. However, the soonest one can be delivered is in "two to four months" and that's only for the trim that starts at $64,000. Plus there are now quite a few options costing in the thousands. For every 10,000 customers that place an order of the, likely, several hundred thousand…

Are any of these deposits protected? I assume when Tesla folds, they will all be lost?

You can get a refund of the deposit at any time for any reason -- but no, it's not in escrow or anything. Dunno about the order payment.
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