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Tesla cuts car prices by up to $5k

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Re: Tesla cuts car prices by up to $5k

#81

Post by cptskippy »

amcoastal wrote: post #6
brianwawok wrote: post #3

Makes sense. Model Y is picking up steam. I doubt they are selling 100% production of the other models (Y is eating a bit into sales of all 3). S and X are both in need of a refresh, they have worse battery tech than both the 3 and Y and missing some of the cool Y features (heat pump, octovalve). Current wait is 8-12 weeks on a Y, and only a week or two on the rest. In line for my first Tesla (a y). It has been a ver…

Good luck! Tesla's are marvels of technology, but the lockdown they have on maintenance and repair -- which includes extremely high costs -- is enough to shy me away until we get a 'right-to-repair' law.

> which includes extremely high costs

Yes that's a Tesla exclusive...

I took my Leaf in for a recall repair and they quoted about $800 to replace all fluids and filters. They wanted $120 to swap out the $9 cabin filter from under the dash that took me all of 20 minutes to do. They encouraged me to spend another $600 to replace a door handle because of an engineering defect that was purely cosmetic and easily fixed with a dab of hot glue.

Re: Tesla cuts car prices by up to $5k

#82

Post by throwaway0a5e »

jm4 wrote: post #71
bcrosby95 wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yeah, they’re out there, but most of them are a lot newer than that. What do you think happens to a car when you're done with it? In the USA, the average passenger vehicle age in 2019 was 11.8 years: https://www.bts.gov/content/average-age-automobiles-and-truc...

It ends up on a used lot, at an auction, shipped overseas or in a junk yard depending on how long I drove it and what kind of shape it’s in. But I don’t care. The next owner isn’t my problem and I’m not going to give it a second thought. The fact is I’m not going to keep a Tesla long enough that the warranty expires and I can trade it or sell it for reasonable value in order to get a new one so the ability to get it…

Tesla cares at least somewhat about what happens out of warranty because producing junk that costs an arm and a leg to keep running beyond the warranty is not how you build the kind of reputation that lets you move downmarket which has been Tesla's stated goal since the beginning.

Re: Tesla cuts car prices by up to $5k

#83

Post by cptskippy »

ghastmaster wrote: post #79
bryanlarsen wrote: post #12

Tesla is going to get a huge amount of free publicity today. First from the SpaceX manned launch today who are going to be driven to the pad in a Model X and then later this evening from Jay Leno's Cybertruck test drive episode.

That's a very expensive way to get free publicity.

All of Elon's companies give free publicity to one another. They all somehow manage to keep in the active news cycle.

There was an announcement last week about the Boring Company in Vegas that mentioned Tesla's would be used as people movers.

Re: Tesla cuts car prices by up to $5k

#84

Post by rcMgD2BwE72F »

clouddrover wrote: post #76
rcMgD2BwE72F wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or maybe Tesla couldn't ship car to Europe for delivery in April -- contrary to the VW group, whose sales are mostly local stock and who don't have to ship the cars across the Atlantic. Also, Tesla delivers most its cars in Europe in the first month of the quarter. So comparing VW and Tesla over two periods with only partial quarter sales makes very little sense. Matthias Schmidt has known this for years, for some re…

They're car companies selling cars. Volkswagen is the world's biggest car company. It's no surprise that they're becoming the biggest EV company as well. I really wouldn't worry about it.

> I really wouldn't worry about it.

You should worry about battery production capacity. VW has been having issues and won't be able to build EV in volume for some time unless they start manufacturing them. Being the world's biggest ICE company does not help with securing battery supplies, especially when your #1 competitor keeps increasing its global lead.

Tesla has far more purchase power than VW for batteries (NB: needing them for cars and stationary storage makes you a better partner too). They have more control over their supply chain, they have big contracts with all cell manufacturers (Pana CATL, LG, Samsung...), they run their own factories, they're integrating cell and car production in all new factories, they develop their own chemistry and will soon reveal a roadmap to achieve 1-2TWh of cell production... per year (source: https://youtu.be/SG-59Os2H5o?t=2279)

Good intro on how Tesla could do that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtV9a5MW_X0

Re: Tesla cuts car prices by up to $5k

#85

Post by brianwawok »

andrewmunsell wrote: post #37
brianwawok wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reliability stats disagree with OP. So I wouldn’t read too much into his single data point. Especially wrt the 3. The X def had some issues around the falcon wings etc.

Even Elon has said they may have gone too far with the X, and that it was their faberge egg. I would love to have an X purely for the "cool" features like the automatic & falcon doors, but there's just so many failure points (and, of course, the cost).

Yah for sure.

Which is sad because I really want a car the size of the X. But at like 55-65k. Basically a Y+. I don’t need falcon wings nor rocket speed.

Re: Tesla cuts car prices by up to $5k

#86

Post by marssaxman »

3pt14159 wrote: post #63
anthony_r wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If this is the stated plan then I really do not understand why the stock behaves like this was the next Apple (i.e., a company with massive margins).

Because Tesla makes the best electric cars and as they reach economies of scale total cost of ownership will dominate fossil fuel cars. They need to lower prices now because Teslas are still relatively expensive compared to, say, a Toyota; but in the long run they won't need to lower prices further than a certain point. Plus Musk sees angles that few others do and a platform of mobile sensors operating around the pla…

a platform of mobile sensors operating around the planet

That is seriously creepy. Is there any way, as a Tesla owner, to prevent one's vehicle from being used like this?

Re: Tesla cuts car prices by up to $5k

#87

Post by lazyjones »

JeffL wrote: post #59
lazyjones wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a convenience and mental thing. I am more likely to go on long tours/holidays with my S knowing it's free (and bragging about it), so the calculation doesn't really work out.

Supercharging just costs a few dollars, and is way cheaper than buying gas. You can still brag about it.

I live in a country where people brag about their 1200 Km per tank diesel cars and where diesel is very competitively priced, so free SC still makes a big difference.

Re: Tesla cuts car prices by up to $5k

#88

Post by andrewmunsell »

dawnerd wrote: post #70
andrewmunsell wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a couple areas where Tesla needs help, and the two I've experience so far waiting for my Y is logistics & customer service. They've had extremely lousy communication so far with the delivery. I was originally supposed to have the car on Memorial Day, but they called the day before saying it wasn't in WA (where I live) yet. When I called back on Memorial Day and asked where it actually was, they told me it got…

It seems highly dependent on which service center and who is assigned to you. I places two orders early this year and the first one the guy didn’t really respond to my emails at all but the second one was very responsive and proactive. Regardless they really really need to work on this.

I actually have never received a pro-active contact from a human delivery specialist (so, do I even have anyone assigned to me?), via call, text, or email.

The only call I've actually gotten from them was from the actual service center telling me that the car wasn't there yet.

This morning has been a fun game of phone tag to figure out why the delivery was switched and who can confirm exactly how the car is going to be delivered :) Oddly, each person seems to have some bit of information that the other didn't have, even within the same role.

Re: Tesla cuts car prices by up to $5k

#89

Post by jjoonathan »

FireBeyond wrote: post #44
jm4 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is hardly any maintenance on them. I had a minor wind noise issue when I first got it that they took care of in a couple hours. Since then, it’s been washer fluid and tires. The kinds of routine maintenance and repair items you typically don’t want to take your car to a dealer for aren’t much of a thing on a Tesla. Then there are the big ones where you probably do want the dealer working on it. Like if some sig…

> Not to mention, a lot of the more expensive repairs are going to be covered by warranty or insurance anyway. Sure, they’re expensive, but so is everyone else. This ignores the timing aspect too. What other major manufacturers might have up to 6 weeks or more lead times for repair parts for current vehicles? > Many people who buy new cars either don’t care or actually prefer to go to the dealer. I own a new, high-en…

Yeah. Independent mechanics are a mixed bag. Dealerships aren't -- they're all bad.

Re: Tesla cuts car prices by up to $5k

#90

Post by olyjohn »

jm4 wrote: post #35
amcoastal wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good luck! Tesla's are marvels of technology, but the lockdown they have on maintenance and repair -- which includes extremely high costs -- is enough to shy me away until we get a 'right-to-repair' law.

There is hardly any maintenance on them. I had a minor wind noise issue when I first got it that they took care of in a couple hours. Since then, it’s been washer fluid and tires. The kinds of routine maintenance and repair items you typically don’t want to take your car to a dealer for aren’t much of a thing on a Tesla. Then there are the big ones where you probably do want the dealer working on it. Like if some sig…

Other than oil changes, what maintenance does the Tesla not have?

Even ICE cars these days have very little maintenance. Oil changes every 7000-10000 miles is about the only thing, and that cost is not very high.

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