ABC7 Los Angeles just reported on the EOY fiasco

[toolman335]

This is all over a $2k tax credit? People are buying Prius's instead of an M3? WOW.
Look at how much money we spend on these cars. If you want to save a fortune, buy a Prius. If you want the best car known to mankind, pony up and get the M3. The tax credit is meaningless if you can afford a new Tesla.
Buying a Tesla is painful. No doubt about it. How can anyone be surprised? You're all in here reading the messages. I hated my buying experience, but man, it was worth it!

 

[lkstaack]

I envy the people with enough money to believe that $1,800 is meaningless.

 

[Mr. Burrito]

It's not meaningless, but if you decided to order a car that is in extreme demand where people are paying more for used cars than new ones and for which there is no alternative that is remotely close from other car manufacturers, and you order it 1-2 months before said rebate is to expire, don't throw a fit when the car doesn't come in before the end of the year.

I don't know what the controversy is about. Yeah, Tesla could do a lot better job with communication during this process. But, would it really matter that much if you were notified sooner that your car is not going to be delivered by the end of the year? People would still complain. They can only produce and deliver so many vehicles. In the end, this is not a $15k Sentra, it is a car that averages $50k. Try to be realistic about the $1875 rebate - its not like the phasing out of the rebate was some big surprise.

 

[OCR1]

Here is a link to the news feed that started this thread.

Tesla buyers face deadline to qualify for federal tax credit

 

[SW2Fiddler]

Cars are being built up to the evening of New Year's Eve.

Won't somebody think of the workers!?!

 

[msm859]

It's not meaningless, but if you decided to order a car that is in extreme demand where people are paying more for used cars than new ones and for which there is no alternative that is remotely close from other car manufacturers, and you order it 1-2 months before said rebate is to expire, don't throw a fit when the car doesn't come in before the end of the year.

I don't know what the controversy is about. Yeah, Tesla could do a lot better job with communication during this process. But, would it really matter that much if you were notified sooner that your car is not going to be delivered by the end of the year? People would still complain. They can only produce and deliver so many vehicles. In the end, this is not a $15k Sentra, it is a car that averages $50k. Try to be realistic about the $1875 rebate - its not like the phasing out of the rebate was some big surprise.

Good answer. The real problem is Tesla set people up with unrealistic expectations. No other auto manufacturer is going to custom build you a car in 4 weeks. A special ordered car typically takes 8-12 weeks for delivery - often longer. Tesla should have Never even "implied" that someone who ordered in December would get there car by EOY. They also need to do a better job at communication and logistics. It is crazy not to have your VIN weeks in advance of your car being built which should give you a 2-3 day window of projected delivery. Not knowing until days or hours before is crazy.

 

[OCR1]

Good answer. The real problem is Tesla set people up with unrealistic expectations. No other auto manufacturer is going to custom build you a car in 4 weeks. A special ordered car typically takes 8-12 weeks for delivery - often longer. Tesla should have Never even "implied" that someone who ordered in December would get there car by EOY. They also need to do a better job at communication and logistics. It is crazy not to have your VIN weeks in advance of your car being built which should give you a 2-3 day window of projected delivery. Not knowing until days or hours before is crazy.

Model 3’s are not custom built. Tesla builds them in batches. They take about 3 days to build from start to finish. They probably do look at the order backlog to determine how many of each trim and color combination to build. But they know long in advance that in December they are going to build approximately 25,000 Model 3’s. So when they took the orders back in October/November and even early December they had the ability to monitor the order backlog and compare it to their planned production capacity.

I’m guessing at some point the backlog exceeded their production capacity and they were not quick enough to respond by updating the estimated lead times on the website, which introduced the chaos that is now unfolding.

 

[jasonanthony]

This is what it said for California buyers early December. Had no disclaimer... Says "will be"

Ordered dec 3 no Vin just RN number for me still as of 12/31. DC says they just waiting for me to be matched.

Sadly facing the reality that I won't get my car this year.

Stock SR+ white.

 

[Mr. Burrito]

Yeah, that message is poorly worded - bad on Tesla but there's the other message that says there are no guarantees that it will be delivered by EOY.

 

[MXWing]

View attachment 494824 This is what it said for California buyers early December. Had no disclaimer... Says "will be"

Ordered dec 3 no Vin just RN number for me still as of 12/31. DC says they just waiting for me to be matched.

Sadly facing the reality that I won't get my car this year.

Stock SR+ white.

Act quickly on this one.

Will blow your budget but YOLO.

 

[jasonanthony]

Link to the story and video from ABC 7 LA


Tesla buyers face deadline to qualify for federal tax credit

 

[msm859]

Model 3’s are not custom built. Tesla builds them in batches. They take about 3 days to build from start to finish. They probably do look at the order backlog to determine how many of each trim and color combination to build. But they know long in advance that in December they are going to build approximately 25,000 Model 3’s. So when they took the orders back in October/November and even early December they had the ability to monitor the order backlog and compare it to their planned production capacity.

I’m guessing at some point the backlog exceeded their production capacity and they were not quick enough to respond by updating the estimated lead times on the website, which introduced the chaos that is now unfolding.

I have ordered 7 vehicles before to my specs -Ford trucks and Corvettes - they are "custom built" to my specs. When someone orders a Model 3 they choose colors, ranges, wheels etc. Those are custom built. There are probably 50 ways to build a Model 3. Tesla may choose to batch all "orders" that are white with P or whatever. It likewise only takes a couple days or less once started to build most cars. The way some of these threads are going it almost sounds like every morning Tesla spins a big wheel to see who gets their car. They need to hire someone who can manage production better.

 

[Mr. Burrito]

I'm guessing, in the excitement of ordering a Tesla, many did not read the actual order agreement:
"The estimated delivery date of your Vehicle, if provided, is only an estimate as we do not guarantee when your Vehicle will actually be delivered. Your actual delivery date is dependent on many factors, including your Vehicle’s configuration and manufacturing availability."

 

[toolman335]

Model 3 production is much more streamlined than it was. There aren't as many options as there used to be. They are not custom built. I bought my Model 3 in September and I picked it up 7 days later. Clearly my car was already produced. There aren't employees in Fremont waiting for orders from individual customers like fast food employees working in a kitchen.

 

[toolman335]

I'm guessing, in the excitement of ordering a Tesla, many did not read the actual order agreement:
"The estimated delivery date of your Vehicle, if provided, is only an estimate as we do not guarantee when your Vehicle will actually be delivered. Your actual delivery date is dependent on many factors, including your Vehicle’s configuration and manufacturing availability."

Correct. There's a huge difference between saying something will happen and guaranteeing it.

 

[toolman335]

I envy the people with enough money to believe that $1,800 is meaningless.

If you bought a brand new model 3 like most people in this forum have, then yes, $1,800 is close to meaningless. It's certainly not worth losing hours of sleep over. Most importantly, it's not even close to rational logic to go buy a Prius

 

[ucmndd]

I’m guessing at some point the backlog exceeded their production capacity and they were not quick enough to respond by updating the estimated lead times on the website, which introduced the chaos that is now unfolding.

My guess is what some people would call sinister but I just call pragmatic.

I think Tesla deliberately decided to shift production mix toward more profitable trims (LR / performance) based on demand and their for-better-or-worse need to demonstrate quarterly growth, profit margin, and sustainability.

I don’t have any proof but I’d bet the great majority of folks getting bumped to next year are SR+ orders, for the simple reason that there were more than enough LR and Performance orders to fill out the rest of the calendar, and they gave those cars priority.

 

[ucmndd]

I envy the people with enough money to believe that $1,800 is meaningless.

If a 4% price difference on a $50k purchase makes or breaks the numbers for you, you have no business buying in the first place.

 

[M3 Dream]

If a 4% price difference on a $50k purchase makes or breaks the numbers for you, you have no business buying in the first place.

At no point did ikstaack say it makes or breaks the purchase. But merely that $1,800 is nothing to "scoff at". And I completely agree with him.

 

[ucmndd]

At no point did ikstaack say it makes or breaks the purchase. But merely that $1,800 is nothing to "scoff at". And I completely agree with him.

Fair enough.