Buying Inventory vs. Custom Build

[PattyChuck]

Short story: I ordered my P100D a few weeks ago to upgrade from my 2013 P85 (one of the rare green ones!). Got an email from Tesla this evening stating they have two vehicle that almost exactly match my custom build (only difference is interior colors, meh, I don't care about that). One car has a little over 500 miles, the other a little over 300. The discount they're offering is attractive.

Those of you who have purchased a "new" inventory car, what was the condition of the vehicle? My wife is very concerned that these cars might have been loaners or test vehicles and that they would have been "abused". My argument is that these vehicles would be no different than a brand-new car from a warrantee standpoint, and that any issues that arise would have to be taken care of by Tesla. Still, her extreme resistance to this is the only thing giving me pause.

Thoughts?

P.S. If this has been covered already, I'm sorry. I tried searching for it but my attempts came up empty.

 

[Eclectic]

How much abuse can a car suffer in 500 miles? Ok, I admit that I've done a lot of things to rental cars in fewer miles, but I also beat on my P85D from the first mile and it never showed any ill effects.

 

[AEdennis]

Short story: I ordered my P100D a few weeks ago to upgrade from my 2013 P85 (one of the rare green ones!). Got an email from Tesla this evening stating they have two vehicle that almost exactly match my custom build (only difference is interior colors, meh, I don't care about that). One car has a little over 500 miles, the other a little over 300. The discount they're offering is attractive.

Those of you who have purchased a "new" inventory car, what was the condition of the vehicle? My wife is very concerned that these cars might have been loaners or test vehicles and that they would have been "abused". My argument is that these vehicles would be no different than a brand-new car from a warrantee standpoint, and that any issues that arise would have to be taken care of by Tesla. Still, her extreme resistance to this is the only thing giving me pause.

Thoughts?

P.S. If this has been covered already, I'm sorry. I tried searching for it but my attempts came up empty.

I don't know about you guys, but I treat the loaners as I do my own car...

And if they're not loaners, perhaps they were used at stores to demonstrate the vehicle for test drives...

 

[ChadS]

I got an inventory car with 14k miles. There were some small chips and such in the paint, but otherwise it looked great.

I also treat loaners, demos, rentals, etc the same as my car.

 

[NikeWings]

I received a similar phone call incenting me to take an inventory X P100D by Y/E but they couldn't match my build, and I decided close enough wasn't good enough.

They'll have it good as new, and you'd log 300 or 500 miles so quickly anyway. Consider it a chance to work out any kinks faster.
Exciting to get it early though, isn't it?

 

[hingisfan]

How much was the discount?

 

[wamochi]

we picked up a Q3 firesale inventory car with 600mi on the odo. pretty much flawless except for bad bug splatter on mirrors, some swirl marks from washing, about 1cm of very light curb rash on one wheel, and some scuffing of aluminum door sills. tan seats showed a little bit of dirt too. they did wax it prior to delivery but there was a lot of wax residue in the crevices.

nothing major at all, and given we are doing a 24 mo lease, they are all things we don't really care about. there were zero scratches, dings, dents, etc. i would jump on another inventory car in the future, assuming they come with a discount. really not that different from new. personally my tolerance for little things is higher given the leasing (and the fact that we got a big discount). but in a way i like that. we babied our first custom ordered Model S and it was nerve wracking. something about it not being "brand new" made me less nervous

 

[PattyChuck]

but in a way i like that. we babied our first custom ordered Model S and it was nerve wracking. something about it not being "brand new" made me less nervous

Ha, that's the exact same thought I had! I babied my P85 when I first got it and was totally frosted for about a week when it got its first scratch. Having even curb rash on the rims would settle me down quite a bit.

 

[DarkMatter]

The first few test drives probably didn't break the engine in properly. It'll use oil for the entire time you own it.

Oh, wait. Never mind. Seriously if it's not 100% like new either refuse delivery or they will make it right. In your spot I would take the inventory car in a second.

 

[Trunk Gap]

My car had 8 miles on it or something. Saved $10k as I recall. No brainer. It was brand new, flawless.

 

[DIL]

Would you get free supercharging for life by taking the inventory car before y/e? That's a nice bonus.

Do you mind disclosing the scale of the discount? If it's anything less than like 7% I would rather have a new one myself.

 

[condizombi]

Bought a p90d with 4,700 miles during the q3 fire sale. It was basically flawless, Saved me 26K, best decision I made. Just make sure it has AP2.

 

[liuping]

When I replaced my 2013 Model S 84 with a 90D, I bought an inventory car that was nearly identical to the one I configured. The only difference was Glossy vs Matt Obeche Trim. Saved several Thousand dollars and got my car much faster. No regrets from me.

Just make sure it has the V2 auto pilot, etc.

 

[liuping]

Do you mind disclosing the scale of the discount? If it's anything less than like 7% I would rather have a new one myself.

I'm curious why you would not want a inventory car that is a near perfect match to your custom design, and has only 400 miles if it was only discounted $5000 instead of more than $9000.

Inventory cars are for all intents and purposes new (tax, loan and otherwise), and you will likely put 400 miles on the car yourself in the first week or two anyway.

There is really no downside.

 

[NikeWings]

I'm curious why you would not want a inventory car that is a near perfect match to your custom design, and has only 400 miles if it was only discounted $5000 instead of more than $9000. There is really no downside.

I agree with you. In the op's case, it's only one difference and one he doesn't even care about. Easy.
Converting his wife's "extreme resistance" though, might not be so easy.

 

[highedu]

What is the formula for discount on inventory car?

 

[Visscher]

How many launches does it have on it already and what has it been limited to? I know I did 1 on the test drive P model I drove last month. And it went right back out once I returned for another test drive.

 

[S100D]

Those of you who have purchased a "new" inventory car, what was the condition of the vehicle? My wife is very concerned that these cars might have been loaners or test vehicles and that they would have been "abused". My argument is that these vehicles would be no different than a brand-new car from a warrantee standpoint, and that any issues that arise would have to be taken care of by Tesla. Still, her extreme resistance to this is the only thing giving me pause.

Thoughts?

If you are going to buy an inventory car versus a custom build, ask the salespeople if it comes with the rear cup holders and the ventilated seats. I was told that these two features are not available on inventory cars. I checked Tesla's new inventory cars and both S90Ds had Next Generations seats which means they are not the air cooled seats.

 

[PattyChuck]

I checked Tesla's new inventory cars and both S90Ds had Next Generations seats which means they are not the air cooled seats.

The ventilated seats are part of the Premium Interior Package when paired with the Premium Seats. According to the spec sheet, this build has both, so I would be very surprised if the car didn't include this option.

 

[PattyChuck]

Thanks to everyone for their feedback. I showed this post to my wife this morning, and that seemed to really calm her fears. I think she felt like a loaner car would be treated like a rental car. Just waiting to hear back from Tesla on one question. For those of you interested, the discount is just a shade over 8%.