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$35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now

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Re: $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now

#451

Post by sjm-yc-acct »

natch wrote: post #249
sjm-yc-acct wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's their modern one, Mazda 3 (oddly enough). I was kind of joking with my original comment, because this was an economy car--but it actually is a nice design: http://gtcarlot.com/data/Mazda/Protege/1999/12552040/Dashboa...

I see how it’s a joke. Looks almost exactly like an old Camry.

In all seriousness, and hopefully more constructively--there really is a lot to like about the Tesla Model 3. We have been looking for a new car for a while, and we did consider the Model 3. I just wish they had retained some more of the instrumentation/controls like the speedometer in front of the driver.

I've been thinking about this more tonight and in a way, the clean minimalistic interior design of the Model 3 is more like the Protege and the "old" Camry than other modern cars. Obviously, the Tesla also has the advantage over these cars of not having a tail-pipe.

Re: $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now

#452

Post by Avshalom »

npunt wrote: post #207
xienze wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It can be somewhat misleading at times but I get the rationale. “Somewhat misleading”? Acting as though money saved on gas reduces your purchase price somehow is just straight up lying. The car still costs $35k when you sign on the dotted line, gas costs don’t factor into that at all. If you want to talk how much it’ll cost you after n years of ownership, talking about gas costs is perfectly valid. Purchase price th…

Disagree. Electric vehicles have a very different cost structure than gas vehicles. For vast majority of buyers this will be their first electric vehicle and market education needs to be done. There's 90+ years of gas vehicle culture education to un-do here. Total Cost of Ownership is a legit (and even preferred) way to represent cost in most industries. It's just not common in consumer purchasing. This is a variant…

But again. The car costs 35000 it doesn't cost 26000. You can't buy it for 26000. There is no amount of driving that will make the car cost 26000.

Re: $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now

#453

Post by et2o »

jeffparsons wrote: post #377
BoorishBears wrote: post #136

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…

It's naiveté, by the way.

It generally makes little to no sense to pay cash for a car. Auto financing is cheap, and so there is is significant opportunity cost if you don't invest the money instead into something that appreciates. Also, inflation.

Re: $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now

#454

Post by ntsplnkv2 »

gwbas1c wrote: post #426
donarb wrote: post #404

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Middlemen help you buy a car from competing dealers. Buying only from Tesla means you can’t negotiate for a better price.

The US is the only country that follows this scheme, and it's only certain manufacturers that let their franchises get away with that. Next time try buying a Honda or a Subaru. There's almost no wiggle-room in price.

Haggled significantly on a Subaru just last year.

Honda in the past. They may not move as much, but they definitely move.

Re: $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now

#455

Post by thisisit »

BenoitEssiambre wrote: post #37

"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…

Cars are a high value purchase for many people. So "online only" is bold as well as fraught with many potential issues.

Though on that point I hope they don't go the extra mile of savings by going "email only" support that companies like Google, Uber etc do.

Re: $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now

#456

Post by sowbug »

mrfusion wrote: post #264

Why not close the stores and get creative with the test drives? Pay existing owners a small fee to let prospective buyers drive their car. Have an app to coordinate. Or have tesla employees bring out a bunch of cars to a Walmart parking lot every Saturday. It doesn’t seem like you need expensive retail space just to cordinate test drives.

Pay existing owners a small fee to let prospective buyers drive their car. Have an app to coordinate.

That was part of the intent of the referral program: rather than relying on a dealership network with expensive real estate and expensive marketing, encourage happy owners to sell by word of mouth.

Unfortunately Tesla inadvertently killed the program by picking a too-valuable top prize with the wrong incentive (a $250K Roadster in exchange for a lot of referrals by a single owner, limiting the network effect, rather than a smaller award for a smaller number of referrals spread across many owners). Plus there was no limit on the number of top awards, with some people achieving multiple Roadster awards.

Re: $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now

#457

Post by briandear »

FireBeyond wrote: post #313
BoorishBears wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Agreed. I had a 2016 A4. Went to Austin for a conference, was in a 2016 Model S. Road noise was better in the Audi. And in my current car, compared to a friend's new S? No comparison, mine is far quieter, despite being a V8 (Jaguar XJ) thanks to in cab active noise cancelling and others.

I have a Q7, $20k cheaper than the X and far nicer; Tesla can’t even get CarPlay. If I am paying $100k+ for a car and it has less connectivity to my devices than a KIA, that’s a problem. During the time I own the Q7, the gasoline expense isn’t going to exceed the markup for the X. I like Musk’s vision, but Teslas are the Honda Civic of the Silicon Valley crowd.

Re: $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now

#458

Post by joshfraser »

Interesting to learn they've been artificially handicapping the range, speed and top power via software until now.

"We’re also excited to announce that we’re implementing a number of firmware upgrades for both new and existing customers. These upgrades will increase the range of the Long Range Rear-Wheel Drive Model 3 to 325 miles, increase the top speed of Model 3 Performance to 162 mph, and add an average of approximately 5% peak power to all Model 3 vehicles."

Re: $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now

#459

Post by eweise »

jeffparsons wrote: post #377
BoorishBears wrote: post #136

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…

"Is it possible that living in a city with functioning public transport has sheltered me to the point of naivety"

Apparently yes.

Re: $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now

#460

Post by skandl »

Everyone in the comments crying "I'd never buy a car without a test drive first" as though you need dealerships to offer a chance to drive their cars. Why not order a test drive experience online to appear at your door, just like we do every day with Uber and Lyft?
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