Live data from Hacker News

$35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now

tesla.com

431–440 of 741 posts

Re: $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now

#431

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but you can normally test drive a car without paying the delivery fee.

You can test drive a Tesla without paying the delivery fee too.

How do you do this if they close “many” of their showrooms, as Musk described it?

edit: This was an honest question, and instead of downvoting, perhaps you could enlighten me?

Re: $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now

#432
post #221
post #177

Earlier 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.

I buy stuff online and at retail stores and am never charged a delivery fee. Why do cars get to inflate the price by charging extra for “deliver”?

Re: $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now

#433

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have never once paid a delivery fee for a new car. I do not know anyone who has bought a non-luxury car that has paid a delivery fee for a car. OTOH, I do know many people who paid delivery fees for customized luxury cars. The $35k Model 3, however, is not a luxury car and is barely customizable, even to the extent of available add-on packages.

Any car has a delivery fee, around $500 in my state.

I’m curious to know where you are. I think it’s twice that where I am (California). Is this just another way for dealers in different states charge different prices, while maintaining some semblance of uniformity?

Re: $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now

#434

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> then you can start picking their line items apart to go lower But why? If I want a lower price I don’t care where they have to shave it from to do that do I? I don’t care about how they’ve arrived at a price or how it’s accounted for if I just want it be lower. I say I want that price to be lower in order for me to buy and they say yes or no depending on if it’s worth it for them.

Based on your last sentence, you might be ending negotiations too early. An early “bottom-line” ultimatum leaves money on the table because the details haven’t been fully considered by the other party, so (in auto sales) the seller hedges with a higher price. A more thorough discussion can bring down the offer they are willing to accept. You don’t have to care about the details to use them in a negotiation.

I don’t get it - asking ‘can you reduce line item n by x’ is exactly the same thing as ‘can you reduce the bottom line by x’, except the former asks them to do something they may not be able to do (that’s how this conversation started - the delivery fee) and the latter lets them achieve what you want any way they’re able to.

So why would you ever use the former approach? It’s strictly worse.

Re: $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now

#435

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but you can normally test drive a car without paying the delivery fee.

You can test drive a Tesla without paying the delivery fee too.

> 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.

They are certainly pitching the idea that "buy and return" is the new "test drive". So the question is "Do you have to pay the delivery fee?"

Re: $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now

#436

Earlier 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…

> "financing for a car" ... "ding your credit score" To my mind the mere fact that someone would borrow money at all to buy _a car_ is a huge red flag against their creditworthiness / financial responsibility. But I keep reading online that people who otherwise seem pretty sensible do this as a matter of course. Is it possible that living in a city with functioning public transport has sheltered me to the point of na…

What?! You are naive. Or trolling. Or both. Car loans are much lower than S&P compounded gains. Why would you want to pay everything down while you can put it elsewhere and earn?

Re: $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now

#437

Earlier 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…

> "financing for a car" ... "ding your credit score" To my mind the mere fact that someone would borrow money at all to buy _a car_ is a huge red flag against their creditworthiness / financial responsibility. But I keep reading online that people who otherwise seem pretty sensible do this as a matter of course. Is it possible that living in a city with functioning public transport has sheltered me to the point of na…

> ... [to] borrow money to buy _a car_ is a huge red flag ...

Hi Jeff Just a polite reminder that a) there's nothing wrong with financing, it's essential to the buildup of the US and b) the average US citizen doesn't have the same income distribution that the average HN reader does.

The median price of a car in the us is $35K [1] and the median household income is $59k [2]; For most families in the US the car is absolutely essential for work, life (kids) and basic necessities of life. The median American has less than $5000 in a savings account. This is especially bad for marginalized minorities [3]. It's practically impossible for most Americans to walk in and buy a car with straight up cash, and even if they could, I would consider that unwise.

Back to debt: there's nothing wrong with debt, and some of the smartest richest people I know use debt carefully to manage cash flow.

[1] https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Till_Stowasser/publicat...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United...

[3] http://apps.urban.org/features/wealth-inequality-charts/img/...

Re: $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now

#438
post #432
post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cars have always had delivery fees. Delivering something that weighs several tons is not cheap.

I buy stuff online and at retail stores and am never charged a delivery fee. Why do cars get to inflate the price by charging extra for “deliver”?

You've never been charged shipping? That's basically the delivery fee for smaller items.

Re: $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now

#439

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the car supported carplay or android auto, this argument would make sense.

Wait, Teslas don't have either of those...?

Nope. Even Bluetooth audio is pretty basic (can't browse folders on your phone from the console).

People say there is no need for carplay because the cars built in stuff is so much better, but I'd bet that in 10 years time, the console will stop receiving updates, but phones will keep getting better...

Re: $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now

#440

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "financing for a car" ... "ding your credit score" To my mind the mere fact that someone would borrow money at all to buy _a car_ is a huge red flag against their creditworthiness / financial responsibility. But I keep reading online that people who otherwise seem pretty sensible do this as a matter of course. Is it possible that living in a city with functioning public transport has sheltered me to the point of na…

The Auto Loan industry is huge. I would be surprised if more that 20% of the population could pay 35000 cash. Most people less that 40 barely have a liquid cash of 50K. To pull out 35K and regrow that remaining 15K back to 50K would take a year for someone making 100K. Instead you could take a loan which typically go for 3% for good credit, and keep that 50K in a high interest bank account (2% or more) and pay essent…

Being poor is reading HN commentary about auto finance. [0]

[0] https://whatever.scalzi.com/2005/09/03/being-poor/

Post reply on HN