Anyone considering delaying their purchase due to Market Downturn related to Corona virus?

[xG35]

Based on the OP’s topic, the answer you should try to answer is if your not buying the Tesla what are you doing with the money?

Wealthy mindset allows money to work for them, as such, in situation like these, they are likely to capture the opportunity and gradually buy into the market. And chances are, 12-24 months down the road, the investment will pay for the car in multiple folds.

Saver mentality, will just sit in the money and do nothing... in these scenarios, if your job is safe and cash flow decent, then enjoy a new car.

For someone who profit off this crisis, I cautious everyone to simplify this downturn. Don’t look at the stock prices, look at the global stimulus effort in such a short period of time. Stimulus tends to soften the blow for what is about to come, it doesn’t floor it.

Stay safe.

 

[TonyJag]

Thanks to all who replied to my earlier post! Your comments are much appreciated. Given the CV crisis, I have decided to slip delivery by a month and Tesla was OK with that. I won't even lose the $100 paid so far. But there are still unanswered questions and a dilemma regarding performance wheels, which I will put in a new thread.

 

[lUtriaNt]

I am however annoyed that I can’t sell my current car as it seems there are very few buyers out there at the moment. I’ve heard of people getting CarMax valuations that are dropping my 10% in just the last week or two. Really don’t want to be stuck with the extra car for long... “car owner virus”!

i had a carvana deal for my car that was 4K sweeter than carmax and tesla. I was all set to sell to them then the gov of cali shutdown essential bizz here in CA and the next day carvana was unable to pick up my car.

i panicked because i was set to get my model 3 within that week, so i blasted my car on the net (autonation, kbb, vroom) and autonation came back with the best. it was 1800 less than the carvana quote but it was doable for me so i took it, considering the economy was tanking. this all happened in the last week and a half.

 

[ElectricIAC]

i had a carvana deal for my car that was 4K sweeter than carmax and tesla. I was all set to sell to them then the gov of cali shutdown essential bizz here in CA and the next day carvana was unable to pick up my car.

i panicked because i was set to get my model 3 within that week, so i blasted my car on the net (autonation, kbb, vroom) and autonation came back with the best. it was 1800 less than the carvana quote but it was doable for me so i took it, considering the economy was tanking. this all happened in the last week and a half.

Carmax more often than not spits out some of the highest offers because they have a very strong subprime financial arm. Even if they were to take a haircut on the sale of the actual car, more than likely they will profit on the interest.

 

[SMAlset]

..... Also, these complaints are not outliers, but rather too common.....

We hear the complaints here sure, along with times when someone will post their car was great at delivery. When Tesla is producing as many cars as they are how do you judge what are “too common”? Really what percentage is that? Threads like that get more attention than my delivery was great, if people even take the time to come back and post. Way more people Posting they are waiting for their car than posting updates.

 

[OCR1]

Consumer Reports does a comprehensive survey every year to assess the overall satisfaction of new car owners. Tesla was rated #1 in overall satisfaction. This is more meaningful in assessing the overall sentiment of Tesla owners more so than reading a bunch of rant threads on this forum.

 

[Circci]

After much debate I delayed the devlieru of my vehicle. My SA advises me right now I could push out as far as September. Right now I’m just stuck in the house with no where to go so why start making payments early? The only reason I would take is if they offered me a discount on inventory

 

[Ritz]

After much debate I delayed the devlieru of my vehicle. My SA advises me right now I could push out as far as September. Right now I’m just stuck in the house with no where to go so why start making payments early? The only reason I would take is if they offered me a discount on inventory

Meh...60k one way or the other isn't going to change my life. I don't get the delay thing unless someone is really on the cusp of not being able to afford the vehicle....and in that case, why were they playing with rent money in the first place? When the economy wakes up out of the current funk and there's nothing left in the supply chain, we'll hear complaining from folks who can't get their hands on product.

I'm mostly "stuck in the house" these days as well, but the kids are on me on a daily basis to take a ride in the Tesla. I haven't decided what they like more...the performance or the fact that they can make fart noises appear at will.....

Best,

 

[OCR1]

I’m not looking to purchase a vehicle right now, and if I was I have no financial concerns about doing it. But at the moment I drive my car once every two weeks to the market and back. So I wouldn’t personally be very excited about getting a new car that was just going to sit around in my garage, unless I was getting a pretty good discount for doing so now. So I can understand others having some hesitations.

 

[SDM44]

I posted my reasoning a few pages back (a couple of weeks ago), but looking at it now I'm glad I bought my Model 3 when I did for a couple of reasons.

One reason regards to current inventory of new cars available right now. I realize a lot of people aren't buying new cars right now, but there are people who is and they're spending money, so I didn't want to gamble on the possibility of not being able to find a car with the spec I was willing to take, by the time I have to start commuting back to work.

Second reason being, I've been able to take my time adding accessories & mods to my car that I wanted to do upon taking delivery of it. Since I'm working from home right now, I don't have to worry about being without a car and finding a loaner to drive or asking for a ride, while I do stuff like PPF, ceramic coating, window tint, chrome delete, power frunk & liftgate kits, lowering springs, picking up new wheels and installing new tires, and other misc stuff. I just drop the car off in the afternoon and pick it up whenever it's ready, and not have to worry about taking time leaving the office to do this, or having to get a loaner car to commute in.


I understand people may not see these as adequate reasons to buy now instead of later, but it has worked out for me.

 

[Circci]

ADVICE NEEDED: so I initially had a reservation for a blue / white LR AWD M3 which I delayed due to Coronavirus since I wouldn’t be driving much anyways. I was perfectly happy with waiting until the late summer to even take delivery, until my SA advisor emailed me saying if I was looking to take an inventory car, there was a performance M3 in the same spec I wanted for 4K off the price. Sounds like a great deal right? Except the catch is that the car is listed as new but has over 6K miles on it. After talking to them further they told me originally a customer ordered it, took delivery, and then in the 7 day window they returned it. After that the car became a demo car and is now listed as new but with 6k miles on it. Why would a customer return a car if there wasn’t something wrong with it? Shouldn’t I be getting even more off? And how in the world does a DEMO car get 6k miles on it (Build date of December 2019) but it’s a 2020 model year car. I’m so torn between thinking this is a good deal and thinking maybe it’s a rip off. Should I wait and just take delivery of a LR AWD in a few months? Or go with this performance? Any advice is appreciated!

 

[mafpolo]

I almost returned mine in the seven day window. It was a "demo," but I think somebody else returned it, because it had an Atlanta address in saved as "home" in the nav system. I was going to return it, because I wasn't 100% sure I wanted the car or like the color. If there wasn't the rule of "you can't get another for a year," I would have. Nothing wrong with the car. It had 300 miles on it when I picked it up. They discounted it by $1 per mile. 6,000 miles is a lot of miles, but your warranty may start from now, you're still the first owner. And, if it has been at the service center for a while, if there were any issues, surely they are taken care of. I'd still try to push for another $500 off.

 

[toolman335]

I just quickly read through this entire thread because I have no life and nothing to do lol.
Some of your comments from 30-50 days ago aged well. Others not so much.

We're stuck in a rut and will NOT have a V shaped recovery. It is going to be a very long road back to where we were.

I am very happy with my M3, but if I didn't already have it there's absolutely no chance that I would spend $60k on it. We're not driving. There's a thread here on TMC titled "the zero mile club." We don't need cars. Unless the price dropped I don't understand why someone would buy any car. Wait for the M3 with a heat pump. Wait for a price drop. Invest in the stock market and wait a few years. What's the rush?

 

[TypeRx]

I just quickly read through this entire thread because I have no life and nothing to do lol.
Some of your comments from 30-50 days ago aged well. Others not so much.

We're stuck in a rut and will NOT have a V shaped recovery. It is going to be a very long road back to where we were.

I am very happy with my M3, but if I didn't already have it there's absolutely no chance that I would spend $60k on it. We're not driving. There's a thread here on TMC titled "the zero mile club." We don't need cars. Unless the price dropped I don't understand why someone would buy any car. Wait for the M3 with a heat pump. Wait for a price drop. Invest in the stock market and wait a few years. What's the rush?

Agree that the recovery will be long(er) and painful. Sadly, unemployment will increase further over time from existing levels. The dollar strength will continue to weaken due to inflation and never-ending debt. Also agree that excess cash into well placed investments make the most sense now (please people don't hold on to excess cash*). If you have the discretionary money and need to buy a car (yes, people need cars and will be driving again shortly), there is absolutely nothing wrong with purchasing a model 3 vs. other cars in its class. If you are arguing that anyone that needs to buy a car should be looking at <$30K expense, well, that is a different argument altogether. Everything is relative to your or my baseline.

Also, who is paying $60K for a model 3? If you choose to buy one, there is no sense in paying full cash for anything in this era of <2% 72 month loans. Minimize your downpayment and invest that money. Invest $30K and in 2-3 years I bet your investment will pay for at least 2/3 if not 100% of the cost of the model 3.

All the above said, I purchased a P3D at the end of March just as the world was falling apart. I did question whether or not I should purchase the vehicle at that time (I don't really need it LOL). If I wasn't able to secure a significant discount I think I would have ended up walking or at least deferring.

What's the rush? Well, there isn't except that the clock is ticking for all of us. Enjoy life. None of us is guaranteed tomorrow. Be smart, but don't wait for things YOU actually value and care about.

*excess cash = more than whatever your safety net is (e.g. 6 months of all expenses)

 

[Ritz]

Also, who is paying $60K for a model 3? If you choose to buy one, there is no sense in paying full cash for anything in this era of <2% 72 month loans. Minimize your downpayment and invest that money. Invest $30K and in 2-3 years I bet your investment will pay for at least 2/3 if not 100% of the cost of the model 3.

Me. That's what a performance model costs and I prefer to live a debt-free lifestyle. If you choose to borrow money, you're out the interest on the borrowed money and you potentially lose money on your "investment" of the funds not spent on the car if the value of your investments declines. (the stock market goes up AND down as many folks are now learning the hard way)

Personally, if I was of a mind to agonize over the potential investment return on the value of a car, I'd re-evaluate my financial situation and ask myself if I really needed a shiny new car. It amazes me how many people go through life perpetually leveraged up to their eyeballs. That probably doesn't lend itself to sleeping well at night.

Best,

 

[TypeRx]

Me. That's what a performance model costs and I prefer to live a debt-free lifestyle. If you choose to borrow money, you're out the interest on the borrowed money and you potentially lose money on your "investment" of the funds not spent on the car if the value of your investments declines. (the stock market goes up AND down as many folks are now learning the hard way)

Nothing wrong with a conservative financial mindset, especially depending on age. Just a reminder that your fully paid off new car purchase lost $8K-12K in value in your first couple weeks of ownership. While the same depreciation happened with a financed vehicle, one now has an ability to leverage their non-downpayment money to try and make up that loss plus the ongoing loss associated with the depreciating asset. What is almost universally guaranteed is that cars will depreciate. Sure, there are no guarantees in investing but history shows that smart money buys during times like this. Sitting on excess cash doesn't make sense. It, like a car, is dropping in value over time. Without risk you can never expect a gain. Educated risk is even better.

Personally, if I was of a mind to agonize over the potential investment return on the value of a car, I'd re-evaluate my financial situation and ask myself if I really needed a shiny new car. It amazes me how many people go through life perpetually leveraged up to their eyeballs. That probably doesn't lend itself to sleeping well at night.

I agree, with nuance. If you don't have the means to buy the car in cash or pay off the loan in full, then I agree you shouldn't be buying the car in the first place! Especially not a discretionary purchase like a model 3 (esp a P3).

If you are paying low-no interest on an auto loan, and have the intent and means of paying it off early, you should take advantage of that leverage. There is no sense in paying any more interest than you need to..and the whole point is to earn more with your $$ than whatever you pay in interest. Over-leveraging, by definition, is a losing proposition for sure. Strategic leveraging makes perfect sense though.

Back to the topic at hand, we are all at an inflection point here -- I hope that many here can take this horrible situation and use it to accelerate their retirement ambitions. In addition, we should all be enjoying our lives in the present (within our means). Defer or cancel your purchase if you don't have the financial means to own this car. It isn't worth the stress. But, if you must, find a good deal and put your money to work for you.