$35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now
tesla.com
tesla.com
Shifting all sales online, combined with other ongoing cost efficiencies, will enable us to lower all vehicle prices by about 6% on average, allowing us to achieve the $35,000 Model 3 price point earlier than we expected. Over the next few months, we will be winding down many of our stores,"
Bold
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 to fully remove it from my report and start with a clean state
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”
This is like mattress stores that give you a “free trial”, they know the resistance to actually doing ending your “trial” is crazy high
...also, there's a $1,200 delivery fee. Is this the new "restock fee"? it is conveniently left out of the marketing materials.
The finance has already written you a check, they’ve already done all this leg work.
You’ve already driven it, if you’re purchasing it in earnest you might have already invested in charging infrastructure for your home, a whole laundry list of friction.
Then there’s what happens to the car you returned.
I wouldn’t want to be the guy stuck with a car that went through multiple 1000 mile “test drives” with Tesla’s reconditioning track record of delivering cars with toe nail clippings in the seat rails
(traditional dealers do have offers like this from time to time, but it’s exceedingly rare they’ll actually let you keep the car for more than a few hours, and most importantly they don’t require you to buy the car first, they’ll take a deposit or let you rent the car)
I'm not sure that Tesla is saying you can't test drive it. There are other ways to evangelize the car and let people test drive it, ones that don't involve massive rents in premium retail spaces. Toyota brings the Mirai to my local Farmers Market, for example.
They could easily organize such events for the Teslas.
I even tried going with a different finance company to secure the exact car I wanted (it was an excellent offer I had driven the dealer to) and they came back with a flat no.
There’s a level of financial knowledge that’s just dangerous enough to hurt you, and I’d say this is it.
I find it hard to argue for getting a car loan when the car's value is above a certain amount. Certainly if the car provides value greater than it is worth (i.e., ability to provide mobility to/from employment location) but a Tesla is more in the "luxury" category.
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
Loans, mortgages, etc. are based on your whole credit history, and if you take out a loan it will be marked on your history and when you cancel it within the 14-day cooling off period the credit history will be updated to say it's closed.
Unless you're doing this multiple times in six months or so, it won't affect anything (maybe your credit score might go down a bit when you take out the loan but it goes back up after a few months when it's updated again normally - but a this credit score doesn't mean anything it doesn't matter).
Say, for Spain the price of the long range model is 59K€, if you remove taxes and after currency exchange the price comes to 47K$.
Add oversea shipping and the cost is not that much higher than the US.
https://insideevs.com/tesla-model-3-pricing-info-released-eu...
https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-model-3-long-range-325-miles...
Even after hundreds of thousands of Model 3s have been sold, I still get nods from other Tesla drivers and chat with people at superchargers.
Why is it supposed to be easy? If it were easy you'd have too many people buying a car "for the weekend", costing the company money and driving up prices for everyone.
Like to the tee, they literally use the example of taking the car out with your friends on a road trip as a test drive.
This move makes sense to me. They're able to shave off thousands of dollars for each buyer. Presumably most people aren't returning cars immediately or if they really care about checking the car they rent one for a day instead of the limited test drive from the dealer. So I think most buyers will think it's worth it to save a couple thousand at the cost of having a slightly harder return process.
You’re essentially saying people should fork out hundreds to test drive a Tesla (that’s the going rate for rentals unless you’re saying they hunt down someone to just give them a car) or buy it sight unseen, neither of which is reasonable for a mainstream buyer when you start talking about the “affordable” Model 3 this change supposedly allows.
I also don’t get what you mean by buyers saving a couple of thousand. They’re still paying delivery fees and such.
I was issued a check for the amount of the car, and while the check had never been cashed canceling the check and loan and having it removed from my CR took weeks
This is not the mentality that gives someone good returns on their money so I’m forced to assume people who say it can’t afford the cars they’re talking about.
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 naivety? That is to say, is having a car really so essential to holding down a job and accessing services in most of America (etc.) that taking out a loan to acquire a car becomes a necessary evil?
Yet all you (we) need to do is find a friend/colleague with a Model 3 and go to lunch/test-drive together. In fact, I would value my friend's frank opinion over a slimy car salesman's one.
Also does Tesla still have Tesla branded "service shop" to do car delivery/return/refund/service?
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.
If you are looking at the iron-ore-2-consumer chain of auto manufacturing for meaningful savings, it's hard to ignore the factory-2-consumer steps. Ultimately, that's a useful efficiency.
Now... "cutting out the middle-man" has a history of being much harder than it looks. You'll be following a well ridden path lined with skeletons. Just look at the factory-2-consumer markups on food, clothes...
Still... I think it's worth trying. If test drives are the bottleneck, it should be solveable somehow.
Who needs repairs? Just buy a new one; it's cheap and easy.
OK, so that last bit is BS, and it looks like there's a hidden $1,200 destination and doc fee, so the actual real price including tax breaks is $30,450 in NYC. Still not bad at all!
But including the federal tax credits and destination fee is fair I think. As far as I'm aware, no auto maker includes the destination/docs/handling fee in the MSRP. The Tesla fee amount is comparable to other automakers also (it's on the high side at $1,200; but it's not too different from Toyota's $930 and Honda's $920). Presuming your location due to geolocation is a bit too far (but that's debatable) since they didn't disclose that immediately up front.
I agree that quoting a single figure here is misleading.
And how do they determine the savings? If I am cross-shopping with a Chevy bolt, there won't be any gas savings... Surprised they put that on their, it really negatively impact my view of Tesla.
It lists 35k up front, and then lists estimated payment after incentive secondary.
Sure the U.S. is now god-blessed with the fracking miracle but the gas savings is also an option to be independent of the big oil companies. That could be worth more than $$$ to prepper-mentality Americans.
The prices didn't even go up that much in 1973 but a lot of queues and rationing went on. The 55 mph speed limit came in. It was not happy times.
If Tesla were a bit more frank they would mention this independence aspect, as it is they don't want to scare the children. Nobody knows what petrol prices will be next month so there is no way anyone can put a figure on savings. That said there are plenty of people who have swapped to Tesla and have the electricity bills to prove that the advertised savings are real.
Small typo: $3,750
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.
A credit is literally cash (assuming you have enough liability to cover it).
A deduction reduces the amount of income thats taxed. So for example if you're in a 25% marginal tax bracket, deductions are worth 25 cents on the dollar.
A credit reduces the amount of tax you owe, dollar for dollar. In addition, some credits are refundable, meaning that they're allowed to make your tax liability negative for the year, so you get benefit from them even if the credit is more than the taxes you would otherwise owe.
And to be clear, when I talk about the "tax you owe", I mean the total amount of money you need to have paid the IRS by April 15th, including payroll withholding, estimated tax payments, and so on, and not the size of check you need to mail to the IRS in early April.
so you can use a vpn/vps/etc to get the rebate?
I'd say its more likely we aren't in awe because the Model 3 has been overpromised and the "mass-market EV" feat has already been accomplished by someone else.
Of course, most people are like you in that they don't know that. Because GM is hilariously bad at marketing (and has no cult-of-personality founder promising grand visions).
If the Bolt is "mass-market EV" the definition of "mass-market" needs to be revisited.
Isn't this the car that's being discontinued?
Exaggerated E.g.
Tesla: You can only order online
HN: What if my internet is down? This is clearly a bad idea.
But my first thought was, "Wow! Should I trade in my car?"
And then, "Of course not. That'd be stupid. It's like 2 years old."
But man, had I known of this price drop, I might have waited and not bought my Mazda. (Which I love, but it isn't even a hybrid.)
that out of the way, well it is about time. it is nice to see, I still don't agree with how they present the cost on their website but I am at the point that I think it will take regulations to fix that. Telsa seems immune to criticism on that front. I am in the camp of, truth in advertising.
Now, the value of the premium interior took a sizable hit. the remaining advantages are heated rear seats, more speakers for the stereo, satellite maps with live traffic, streaming media, and the internet browser.
so my question is, did I pay for life of the car satellite traffic and streaming? there have been hints that this was not the case. the rear heated seats and extra speakers certainly don't make up $2500 in value but if there is lifetime satellite maps with traffic that would be a selling point.
on a side note, the other area besides advertising pricing that Tesla needs to be called out on is providing parts to repair existing cars. The nightmare still exists for many owners with some being without their car for over six months.
New Prices
Cheap Interior
Standard Range (220mi) - $35k
Partial Premium Interior
Standard Range Plus (240mi) - $37k
Premium Interiors
Mid Range (264mi) - $40k
Long Range (325mi) - $43k
Dual Motor Long Range (310mi) - $47k
Dual Motor Performance (310mi) - $58k
> As a result of this change Tesla says it will be “winding down many of our stores.”
Buried lede here
Most will opt for $40k premium model. Though 37k is much better value, it's missing the core features that tickle fancy of Tesla buyers.
Standard Interior Includes:
Manual seat and steering adjustment
Cloth seats and base trim
Basic audio
Standard maps and navigation
Center console with storage and 4 USB ports
12-way power adjustable heated front seats
Premium seat material and trim
Upgraded audio – immersive sound
Standard maps & navigation
LED fog lamps
Center console with storage, 4 USB ports and docking for 2 smartphones
rear heated seats
Premium audio – 14 speakers, 1 subwoofer, 2 amps, and immersive sound
Satellite-view maps with live traffic visualization and navigation
In-car internet streaming music & media
Internet browser
Location-aware automatic garage door opener* Prices above include potential incentives and gas savings. Learn More
Weird.
The interesting part is "Shifting all sales online, combined with other ongoing cost efficiencies, will enable us to lower all vehicle prices by about 6% on average, allowing us to achieve the $35,000 Model 3 price point earlier than we expected. Over the next few months, we will be winding down many of our stores, with a small number of stores in high-traffic locations remaining as galleries, showcases and Tesla information centers."
Went down the street to Jaguar and bought an I-PACE. Sure, it's got a handful of "first gen" issues, but I have no real regrets. Given the choice between heading out of the garage in the Model X and the I-PACE, I've been choosing the I-PACE for the past week. Could be because of the novelty of the thing, but I sort of like things like Bluetooth actually working. I'll use the Tesla when I'm going far enough to need to use the superchargers. But I actually haven't used a supercharger in over a year now.
Moreover, the I-PACE however is an engineering disaster. They did not develop the motor/inverter/aero enough and wastes power. They ended up needing a bigger battery to make the thing work, costing more yet giving horrible range... Even a Model X from 2016 is much more efficient.
Model X vs I-PACE vs Audi e-tron
Model X wins by far. @120km/h Tesla is 23% more efficient than the e-tron.
Model X - 24.8 kWh/100 km (39.9 kWh/100mi)
E-Tron - 30.5 kWh/100 km (49.1 kWh/100mi)
I-Pace - 31.3 kWh/100 km (50,37 kWh/100mi)
Source: https://nextmove.de/autobahn-test-tesla-model-x-beats-audi-e...
It's interesting to also note that the Tesla Model X is the largest of the 3, and still is more efficient.
I've never had more fun driving. The GUI is NBD in about an hour. It's roomy for me, even at 180 pounds. Looks like my range will go from 310 to 325 with a software upgrade.
And it has built in emissions testing.
Also, I think the model 3 steering wheel scrolly button hat things are a little imprecise. Sort of like cheaper mice where you accidentally scroll instead of clicking but with left and right thrown into the mix.
The model S/X steering wheel controls seem a more refined.
How often do you adjust the steering column? I did it 4 months ago and just use my profile to drive now. Headlights are automatic..., A/C is one click to turn on and a long press to turn off.
After driving it for a few weeks, they said that they actually appreciated the overall spartan interior experience.
I would not be surprised to see them announce more price drops in the next years. They are not done making batteries better and cheaper and they seem to be very creative in figuring out ways to reduce cost in their production processes. I think it is that ability that is going to be key to their future because yes they have competition but the competition seems to have all the problems that Tesla already solved. They are ahead of the pack in terms of production capacity, processes, and battery efficiency with a product that so far seems to be selling such that they can do without the traditional overhead of having to have an industry of middlemen, sales, marketing, licensed dealers, etc. That's very disruptive to an industry trying to emulate what Tesla is doing while preserving all of that.
It's an interesting policy regardless. In sounds like it's pretty much 'no questions asked'. Any experiences with this?
I don’t know how they are making money on this. I’m inclined to believe they’re losing money, or someone is somewhere in the line.
Maybe they expect those battery costs to decline rapidly in the near future?
What do you think?
https://electrek.co/2018/11/20/tesla-gigafactory-battery-cel...
I know the Gigafactory battery production intimately. I can tell you they don’t cost less than $2.50 per cell at the moment.
If so, I would expect at least some of that better margin will flow into Panasonic’s pockets (what part, I wouldn’t dare even guess)
Wikipedia[1] says there are 2,976 in the mid-range pack and 4,416 cells in the long range pack.
If the short range has perhaps 2500, that's $6250
And it looks like 4,400 in the Model 3
Also it appears Autopilot is now a $3K add-on (vs $5K previously). And the full self-driving is back at an additional $5K and includes some of the features that previously existed in AP.
This is shameful and should be called out. Price is not the same thing as cost of ownership.
Is this some kind of intentional irony or something? Social Login force-tied to a specific company is Dark Pattern #1 in my books.
Edit: They define "dark pattern" at the top of their site:
> Dark Patterns are tricks used in websites and apps that make you buy or sign up for things that you didn't mean to.
That's exactly with Login With Twitter is. The user is presented with a simple option for logging in, but then is tricked by giving their metadata and account info that will 'sign them up' to be analyzed and targeted by Twitter for whatever purposes. Yes the TOS is probably there on social login, but aren't Long TOSs that are prompted in the middle of a user flow also Dark Patterns, as no user is likely to read them?
Can't possibly take that site seriously.
Edit 2: The darkest pattern from their site:
> We aren't great at responding to email — Twitter is best.
Yikes.
The base price of a given vehicle is $35k, and then I'd spend either $1500/yr on fuel and maintenance o, or $500/yr on fuel and maintenance if it's - for example - electric, on top the of the base price.
Spending $1000 less per year does not magically mean the car is now $34k. If anything, the price has gone from $36.5k to $35.5k for that first year.
I don't even understand the mental gymnastics you have to do, or how ignorant you have to be to not understand that.
Unless I'm taking crazy pills? Someone please correct my logic otherwise.
To be clear, I like the Model S and appreciate what Tesla has done to popularize EVs in some circles, but that’s not a ticket to be bonkers. Shady practices, obscene waits, hellish repair schedules, broken promises and a CEO who just can’t shut his mouth to save his life... it is very weird.
I definitely don't agree with Teslas practices of framing it that way, I'd rather they just show cost of ownership comparisons across a variety of cars. Especially since they can't even meet the demand they currently have, why resort to shady practices?
Haven't seen the desktop site, but on mobile the full price of $35k is clearly visible.
(with longer range than Model 3)
Only $LOW/Month*
* After large amount upfront.
I'm not sure this qualifies as "shady" when everything is displayed within the same viewport.
At least that's what it was like before; in Australia, the Model 3 configuration screen is apparently now stuck in an infinite redirect loop. It looks like it's unchanged, but I can't look at the page for more than a second.
It seems concerning that outright dishonesty in consumer-facing material for large purchases might reasonably be considered par for the course.
What an abject failure of industry leadership.
Good thing they weren't kind enough to include the amortized battery replacement costs or other differentials in operating costs, like a comparison between their repair and maintenance schedule to an industry average.
The price w/gas savings included at least makes it easier to compare against standard petrol vehicles.
It's kind of hard to rip on Tesla when the standard dealership model is nothing but shady advertising and sleazy sales tactics. They could get rid of the asterisk mark / learn more link and it would still somehow be more honest than going to any car dealership in the United States.
Sometimes I feel like Tesla gets judged in a vacuum. Kinda weird.
Model 3:
(50 kwh battery)
* (0.166 $/kwh for Los Angeles residential power)
/ (220 mi range)
= 3.8 $/100 mi of fuel
Average ICE sedan:
(3.00 $/gal average regular gas in LA)
/(30 mi/gal)
= 10 $/100 mi of fuel
So it's a reasonable number if you're a Californian who would have bought a BMW instead of a Model 3. For everyone else, it's likely too high.
Nicely done math. Based on Toyota etc.’s marketing claims I guess. In which case it might be around $6/100 miles (guesstimate) versus Tesla $3.8/100 miles.
On the flip side: you don't have to deal with dealerships, which are _much worse_
You just configure the car, give your credit card information, and done. This is unlike most other manufacturers which, even if they do give you a quote, will then hand you off to shady salespeople.
I must just be out of touch.
It's completely unethical.
I guess computers should be considered free given that they enable so much productivity.
* Not sure if the low range model 3 is software limited.
After, my impression of Tesla is that it's incredibly shady and manipulative, and I have a great deal of anger at it because this page is disgustingly deceptive.
You've got to get a reasonable estimate of how much less likely I'm going to purchase a Tesla in the future, but before there was a nonzero chance I would, while in this moment I feel like I'll never purchase one. That's negative value, there.
Big question is, does Tesla make a profit at that price?
$8K more for 50% more battery. Or $24K for an entire large battery. Big markup there.
I see it more as them wanting to show again that they could build up a huge order backlog as that something that pretty much no other car company can do. That would help them with the market and potential future loans.
This was in reference to the Ford Model T which was introduced at $850 in 1908 and was brought down to $300 in 1925.
"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."
Unwinding an auto loan, getting back your traded-in vehicle, etc. All of this seems non-trivial to me.
Carvana does the same thing (in fact: they already are doing the whole "buy the car online, return if you don't like it, we deliver to your house" model).
They could pay it off immediately for you?
> getting back your traded-in vehicle,
They could give you the cash value of it? Also, does Tesla even accept trade-ins?
> etc.
What else?
- Recognize and respond to traffic lights and stop signs.
- Automatic driving on city streets.
Option Selected: $5,000
But in the projects I did, it was some dumb sales recommendation system. These people are doing it with self driving cars.
If those features ship before 11:59PM Pacific time on December 31st, I’ll be surprised.
(And I say this as a fan who owns two of the things.)
https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-to-pay-march-convertib...
I mean that maybe if the bond owners see that Tesla is (really?) about to deliver the 35k model they'll opt less for cash and more for stocks? (therefore Tesla would have less problems with liquidity)
Woah. Elsewhere [0] it's describe as a fleet of mobile trucks. Don't they know that it's illegal/against community rules to service vehicles in a driveway or (for city folks) on the street?
For any major warranty work, I can take my new vehicle from just about any other brand to the shop, they give me a free loaner vehicle while it's being worked on. I would be outraged if my only option was 'fix in my driveway after we get the parts, meanwhile you just wait there'
Fail.
[0] https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/28/18245296/tesla-stores-clo...
The Tesla store in the mall near my house is fun. My kids love going there and sitting in the different models, and my son knows how to trigger all the Easter eggs, like making the X falcon doors dance.
At the same time, I have zero use for the store now that I’m an owner, and I had zero use for the store in actually making my purchase. The test drive that I did finally do of the TM3 (after I had already put $3,500 down and was entirely certain I would be buying the car) was actually underwhelming because I didn’t get nearly enough time with the car to really appreciate it, nor get to drive it in any kind of interesting terrain.
Actually driving my own TM3 on the other hand blew me away from nearly the first moment and still does.
I wonder how many owners are like me in that with the massive quantity of YouTube videos and reviews, already knew with certainty a TM3 would be their next car without actually needing to drive it? BTW, I’ve never had that with another car, and never would have dreamed of buying a car without driving it, before Tesla.
At the TM3 base-range $35k starting price, I think the vast, vast majority of people who “trial” one will keep it. This is particularly true if you’ve already made any kind of actual arrangement to charge it at a decent kW rate.
I would add that they need to have a trial mode of the full auto-pilot functionality, and also perhaps the ability to pay monthly for auto-pilot software subscription rather than bumping up the sticker price. This would also help with reducing sales tax and excise taxes I think.
I just hope the car-buying public is ready for this. Tesla will rely heavily, extremely heavily on word of mouth without a way for people to easily get in and touch and test drive a model with no commitment. Luckily I give test drives to everyone I know who I can talk into it, and I’m guessing most owners act the same in an effort to evangelize.
But as they try to go more mass market and compete with the Accords and Camrys, as they have less of the evangelical early adopters, will that target market a) have the charging infrastructure readily available, and b) really be willing to buy purely online and sight unseen?
I want this to work, and fear that it won’t. They are pushing so damn hard to get to that $35k price point with any kind of margin left over. If they had another year of process improvements maybe they could do it even with the stores. Without a store they can pull forward a profitable $35k TM3 several months at least. So it makes perfect sense while still being a huge gamble. Wild ride.
(Copied from the other post about the same news)
Even though I timed it incredibly poorly (I have none of the sensors that new cars do), it is still an amazing car, even after almost 5 years of ownership.
IMO, it's the best car buying experience I've ever had -- no negotiating, no hidden extras, just clicking through some features and settling on a delivery date.
https://3.tesla.com/model3/design?redirect=no works for me to prevent this behaviour.
I'm not likely to buy a car without a chance to drive it first (even if I can return it "free", there's still a lot of time/effort in getting a loan, registration, insurance, etc)
But I'd be happy to pay $50/day to rent it for a weekend to give it a good test drive.
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.
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.
That giant iPhone in the middle of the Tesla 3 puts a crick in my neck just from looking at the pictures.
I think the people who want the performance version should get a dashboard, or the option of one. I'll bet a $3000 optional dashboard would sell like hotcackes.
OEM and aftermarket activated charcoal cabin filters (not the paper kind) to remove diesel and other exhaust fumes.
I think some luxury cars have them (Porsche?) but I think the rest of us should as well. They might sell like hotcakes too.
https://mazdasla.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Mazda-Proteg...
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...
It does make a few operations annoying but overall it works well and most people adapt pretty quickly.
https://www.stoddard.com/media/catalog/category/IMG_1365.jpg
Early 911 interior.
I am making a bold prediction. Tesla may or may not go under water, but when they are short on funds Apple will acquire them.
Apple’s whole brand is built on making the best hardware and software and weaving them to a great user experience.
With billions of dollars in the bank, Apple would be stupid to not do it.
Next Tesla 2021 newsflash, we will continue to operate service centers but in order to reduce costs further we will no longer be able to come to you.
Has anyone done this?
15%? 20%? 25%?
For reference, General Motors reports less than 10%. Toyota, 18%.
The battery cost is the problem. I suspect that it's only a matter of time before a Tesla with all the amenities can be had for $35000. Good for them...
For even more context, it is ~ 62,000 EURO in Germany, that is "almost" $70,000. I would choose Canada instead :)
Probably to protect that margin your seeing.
If I'm wrong, a friend of mine would be interested :D
I'm going by what I've seen of people receiving orders in the last few months, over what time has it improved? If you buy one now, will the fitment compare to (for example) GM by the time it is delivered? How likely is the paint to be scratched all the way through to the base coat on delivery?
I want to believe that they can make these things right, but honestly I can not have that much faith in them given what I've seen.
They'll regret this when they find out how remote some islands near alaska are that you need to take a plane then a helicopter to reach...
Probably a good publicity stunt though.
So about $36k net CAD for the base Model 3
I like.
However, it appears they're doing all sales online? Smells like a last-ditch effort to cut operational costs. It's one thing to consider buying a $35k online sight-unseen (I never would), but are people going to shell out $80k+ for the luxury models? I just don't see how they will. Sitting in and driving a car is the most important aspect of buying one, IMO.
Thanks (local) government...
People might pay 50 bucks for a 1hr drive.
I can’t tell making consumers find alternatives to a test drive is good capitalism or bad capitalism.
For the consumer it means, that the cheapest Tesla is now available for 35k vs. 42k vor the mid-range until today. Thats 7k less and make Tesla cars available to a larger audience. While I don't like how Tesla represents the prices with savings, the effective price gets close or below 30k, which is huge.
For electric cars overall it is also important. Tesla is the largest manufacturer of electric cars and the waiting times for the Model 3 are way lower than the competition. So this marks quite some progress in the availability of affordable electric cars.
I bought a Bolt EV off a dealer lot over a year ago, and the entire transaction took about 30 minutes. The car was $25,000 after incentives ($37K MSRP -> $35k Actual, 7.5k Fed Tax Credit, 2.5k State Credit). The Bolt can reliably go 240 miles on a charge, mine has had zero issues or service visits in 35k miles of driving. Also, it's made by GM which is a real car manufacturer, supported by thousands of dealerships and service centers across the country.
That's huge.
“For 6% more money, you get 9% more range, more power, and an upgraded interior.“
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-27/musk-s-tw...
Tesla charges a non-negotiable $1,200 "Destination & doc fee" which in CA is not a fee. It is not state mandated, and is just pure profit for dealerships that charge it (explaining why the amount varies wildly per-dealership).
Google it. It is NOT required anywhere, and all cars I've ever bought, I've gotten the dealership to pay it.
If on some crazy change you actually got the dealer to line item doc fee as $0 on the contract, than they could be in a ton of trouble.
Dealers may charge buyers a document preparation service fee not to exceed $65 (or $80 if a Business Partner Automation (BPA) program participant). This fee is not required or collected by the department.
source: CA DMV: https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/fee_calc/feecalcfaq
Also, 1.2k is a LOT of fee! Boardwalk and Momentum (two large dealerships here in norcal) both try to charge doc fees around $400, not 1.2 kilodollars!
And to top it off, the RWD Long Range and Performance are getting firmware updates that give them extra speed (in the case of Performance) or range (in the case of RWD) but mine is getting... "about a 5% increase in power" whatever that means.
I get paying extra to be an early adopter (and have gladly done it). But I effectively paid $1000 for every month I had it early.
I feel cheated like Tesla just took the government money and instead of passing on savings to the customer they pocketed it.
Edit: As an aside, I love the car and would still recommend it. But I think people in my situation have a right to be a little upset.
I think when making purchases, it's helpful to be able to ask "is this a fair trade for me right now?" If it's no, don't get it. If it's yes, then when you complain to yourself or feel that you've been treated unfairly, the 2nd voice in your head should be saying "this was a fair deal that you chose to accept, be happy with it, don't be envious of better deals offered to others."
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 hundred bucks.
Edit: Removed the use of the word "underwater". Per sokolof's correct statement, it's a car, you're pretty much under water the second you drive off the lot.