Earlier quoted context omitted.
Once you drive it, you are not going to want to return it, so all this is moot for most people.
I drove a Model S. None of my cars is a Model S. I remember the “salesperson” talking about how quiet it was as wind noise whistled through the cabin like we were in a Corolla. The A4 I was driving at the time was immensely quieter at highway speeds but I nodded and played along. I’m convinced the aspirational status of Teslas means people who haven’t experienced actual luxury vechicles are buying into the hype that…
$35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now
271–280 of 741 posts
Re: $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now
#272Earlier quoted context omitted.
Rent it for a couple days on Turo. I did that recently with a Model 3 just to try it out.
So now we have to pay for test drives?
But as long as they have a huge wait list for cars, and huge numbers of people who are willing to pay for cars without testing them this makes sense.
My response to your question is "Why should I (a preorder customer) pay a premium for Tesla's business model that allows YOU to do a test drive?"
Until the demand of the wait list customers has been fulfilled, catering to the HARD SELL customer is actually making my experience worse and more expensive.
Re: $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now
#273Earlier quoted context omitted.
I understand that but we're talking three months here and a 20% drop in price for an identical product. This is not like a new iPhone. I owe the bank more than the car is worth NEW. Or close to it.[0] So effectively, Tesla has tanked the resale value of the asset. So the $3000 isn't even the half of it. I am now also depreciated by that much more. [0] I haven't done the math, I may be be slightly bellow by a few hund…
Unless you made a particularly large downpayment, you were probably already underwater on the loan. That's extremely common for the first 1/3-1/2 of the loan period on nearly any car.
Re: $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now
#274Earlier quoted context omitted.
So presumably they are hoping many $35k buyers will be tempted by the $37k which presumably has a better margin for Tesla
Especially if the range limit continues to be imposed only by the car's software.
Re: $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now
#275Interesting to point out that the $35k is the full price, which goes down when additional discounts are applied. If you get the short range model with no options, it starts out at $35k, then goes down all the way to $24,950 after including the $3,750 Federal tax credit, $2,000 New York EV rebate (clearly it's geolocating by IP address here), and "$4,300 estimated 6 year gas savings". OK, so that last bit is BS, and i…
But the Trump Tax Bill lowered everyone's refunds (largely because the IRS lowered withholding during the year), so more people have a year-end tax liability, and those that did before the TTB now have a larger tax liability, ultimately meaning more people can now theoretically benefit from the credit.
Re: $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now
#276Earlier quoted context omitted.
“Courageous” If anyone has ever had to cancel a car sale you’ll realize how much of a hassle it truely is to “return a car” Your credit report will show a loan even after it’s been cancelled for weeks. I once cancelled financing for a car due to it not being as described. Started looking for a new car and found it. Got denied for a loan because my score showed a 60k loan with 0 payments made. It took almost 2 months…
"In summary, Tesla is essentially saying “you can’t test drive it but if you don’t like it you can cancel your car search for a few months and ding your credit score for nothing”" Where do they say that? On the site is a big "Test drive" button which goes to https://www.tesla.com/drive which, I asume, will let me test drive a Tesla. Without Buying.
Re: $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now
#277Earlier quoted context omitted.
“Courageous” If anyone has ever had to cancel a car sale you’ll realize how much of a hassle it truely is to “return a car” Your credit report will show a loan even after it’s been cancelled for weeks. I once cancelled financing for a car due to it not being as described. Started looking for a new car and found it. Got denied for a loan because my score showed a 60k loan with 0 payments made. It took almost 2 months…
"In summary, Tesla is essentially saying “you can’t test drive it but if you don’t like it you can cancel your car search for a few months and ding your credit score for nothing”" Where do they say that? On the site is a big "Test drive" button which goes to https://www.tesla.com/drive which, I asume, will let me test drive a Tesla. Without Buying.
When I requested a test drive in a state with no dealerships I was directed to a store out of state.
These stores will no longer exist.
The messaging is also very clear, sometimes it’s ok to read between the lines...
We’re closing stores where you test drive + we’re pushing returns hard in the marketing = we want to move past test drives
This is a new annocument, other parts of the site don’t even have the right mileage and days for returns last I checked, give them some time before the site is consistent with the new reality
Re: $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now
#278"To achieve these prices while remaining financially sustainable, Tesla is shifting sales worldwide to online only. You can now buy a Tesla in North America via your phone in about 1 minute, and that capability will soon be extended worldwide. We are also making it much easier to try out and return a Tesla, so that a test drive prior to purchase isn’t needed. You can now return a car within 7 days or 1,000 miles for…
Re: $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now
#279Earlier quoted context omitted.
Cars have always had delivery fees. Delivering something that weighs several tons is not cheap.
That's not the full story though. When delivering to dealerships they are often delivered in a more efficient manner, so the per unit cost of delivery is lower. Even if that wasn't the case when you go to a dealership that delivery cost is part of the price. Claiming the car is $35,000 when it's literally impossible to buy it for that is a bit misleading.
Re: $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now
#280Earlier quoted context omitted.
Does it matter to the victim who is at fault? ...also, there's a $1,200 delivery fee. Is this the new "restock fee"? it is conveniently left out of the marketing materials.
Cars have always had delivery fees. Delivering something that weighs several tons is not cheap.
P.S. by "dude" I meant that the man just drove the car to the owner's place from their Fremont factory (30 min).