Buying M3. Any last advice from you'all before I jump?

[CarlsY]

I'm just waiting to jump in myself ... haven't been driving much this year, since March, or I would've already. Thinking maybe October - after battery upgrade announcement?

Only negative I can find is that the colors all suck ... I can't stand primary colors for cars, can't stand white for anything, have had so many silver cars in the past that my wife has banned them - which leaves black as the only moderately decent option - but I don't like that either.

I have four black (ICE) vehicles. They are a pain to keep clean and scratch and swirl free. I took different route for the model 3 SR + i ordered 29 Jun. No VIN yet. I'm going with white exterior and white seats. Wish me luck.

 

[Michelle_eriw]

I have four black (ICE) vehicles. They are a pain to keep clean and scratch and swirl free. I took different route for the model 3 SR + i ordered 29 Jun. No VIN yet. I'm going with white exterior and white seats. Wish me luck.

Luck.

The two colors I don't like are white and black, in that order. I currently have a grey car, the previous one was reddish, and thee one before that was silver. Guess what color I ordered?

 

[payattu]

Yes, Tesla usually throw the incentives in towards the end of the quarter for inventory cars to help boosted the numbers before earnings reports. You could wait for the incentives to come back around but there's no guarantee you'll see the car you like in stock when you're ready.

 

[Gasaraki]

We have decided to stop chasing the $1K deposit and just order. The $ will eventually be found and applied toward our purchase price. We hope. Just wondering if anyone has any advice to give before we place an order. We live in Vermont. Our closest Dealer/service is Montreal, Ca. Currently the border is closed. Grrrrrr. Next closest is near Boston. I assume that even though we have submitted a deposit, we will still be placed at the end of the line? Anyone have experience picking up a car, or dealing with the dealership in either place? Any comments welcome. Great forum. Thanks, and stay safe.

There's one in Albany, NY also. Is the border in to Canada closed? I didn't even know. I'm in upstate NY.

Get the big battery. You'll need it, when winter comes, you'll be glad you got the big battery, since you be losing 30% range in the winter.

 

[Gasaraki]

I'm in the Boston area, and looking to jump in to buy a Tesla 3 LR early Fall. Is there any reason to order in September (is end of quarter) vs waiting until October (more towards end of year)? Thanks, and really appreciate all the great info here!

If you order at end of quarter month, you might get some incentives for that month (I got free supercharging for a year) AND you'll get it quicker. If you order in October, you won't get it for 8 weeks. If you order in Sept, you'll get it in under 3 weeks. The first month of the quarter builds are all for foreign markets (Jan, Apr, July, Oct).

 

[Deep Purple]

I live in Texas. We get a big "FU" from the state and feds.

Don't care. Just. Want. Car.

 

[cdswm3]

There's one in Albany, NY also. Is the border in to Canada closed? I didn't even know. I'm in upstate NY.

Get the big battery. You'll need it, when winter comes, you'll be glad you got the big battery, since you be losing 30% range in the winter.

Depending on the amount you drive it may not make a difference for you going LR.

 

[ev2therescue]

If you order at end of quarter month, you might get some incentives for that month (I got free supercharging for a year) AND you'll get it quicker. If you order in October, you won't get it for 8 weeks. If you order in Sept, you'll get it in under 3 weeks. The first month of the quarter builds are all for foreign markets (Jan, Apr, July, Oct).

To be sure, the incentives you received were for a vehicle you purchased through existing inventory, not a new order, right?

 

[Gasaraki]

To be sure, the incentives you received were for a vehicle you purchased through existing inventory, not a new order, right?

It was a new car that they put in to inventory that day. I got the new usb-c plugs so I know it's brand new.

You have to understand, Tesla doesn't build cars for people. When you "order" a build, you are basically waiting for the new car with your options to come off the line (behind the people also waiting for the same config). So it doesn't matter if the car is an "inventory" car. Inventory cars are just cars they set aside to be placed in to "inventory".

Here is a example,
Tesla lets say builds 1000 white, 1000 blue, 1000 black, 1000 red, and 1000 grey a month. 200 of each color are set aside to go in to the "inventory" pool. You come along and "order" a red Model 3. However you are the 1100th person to have ordered a red model 3. Well you'll be waiting 8 weeks for the next batch of red cars to come out or you can tell your sales advisor, "look at the inventory also for my config". By doing that you have skipped the people who are waiting for an "order" car before you, yet the inventory car came out of the same batch of cars that came out this most recent batch.

Incentives change all the time. It was just this end of quarter that they had that specific incentive.

 

[ev2therescue]

It was a new car that they put in to inventory that day. I got the new usb-c plugs so I know it's brand new.

You have to understand, Tesla doesn't build cars for people. When you "order" a build, you are basically waiting for the new car with your options to come off the line (behind the people also waiting for the same config). So it doesn't matter if the car is an "inventory" car. Inventory cars are just cars they set aside to be placed in to "inventory".

Here is a example,
Tesla lets say builds 1000 white, 1000 blue, 1000 black, 1000 red, and 1000 grey a month. 200 of each color are set aside to go in to the "inventory" pool. You come along and "order" a red Model 3. However you are the 1100th person to have ordered a red model 3. Well you'll be waiting 8 weeks for the next batch of red cars to come out or you can tell your sales advisor, "look at the inventory also for my config". By doing that you have skipped the people who are waiting for an "order" car before you, yet the inventory car came out of the same batch of cars that came out this most recent batch.

Incentives change all the time. It was just this end of quarter that they had that specific incentive.

I understand that. Though if you had received the vehicle via an "order", it seems you wouldn't have received the incentives, since based on what I'm reading in threads, incentives are only offered to those who buy "inventory" (to help move that unsold inventory).

 

[acarney]

I understand that. Though if you had received the vehicle via an "order", it seems you wouldn't have received the incentives, since based on what I'm reading in threads, incentives are only offered to those who buy "inventory" (to help move that unsold inventory).

That is absolutely correct. I don't actually think Tesla sets any Model 3 or Y's aside for inventory. I think they build say 1,000 blue cars and maybe only have 900 orders for blue, so the rest they spread across to the stores they think will sell them (or the stores that don't have any model 3's, etc) and those become inventory. Or someone cancels an order just before the VIN is assigned, that car is now no longer "needed" and will either go to the next person in line, or if there isn't a next person it will go to inventory.

You might get lucky and have your exact specs in inventory at a store near you where you can jump on whatever perk Tesla might offer to try to push those cars but more than likely you'll need to change color or wheels or something to match with an inventory. Tesla does their best to match all those cars, even inventory ones, with orders. My car was technically an inventory car in Portland when I ordered and they matched me with it within a few days and then shuffled it up to Seattle for me. Inventory Model 3's and Y's don't just hang around waiting for walk ins to buy them... they certainly will sell one same day to a walk in, but orders often get matched to them as well.

 

[Gasaraki]

I understand that. Though if you had received the vehicle via an "order", it seems you wouldn't have received the incentives, since based on what I'm reading in threads, incentives are only offered to those who buy "inventory" (to help move that unsold inventory).

This last incentive was for taking an inventory car. Not all incentives are like that. I don't know why people are arguing about this past incentive. That's done, past. Who knows what they will offer for the next incentive.

 

[Gasaraki]

That is absolutely correct. I don't actually think Tesla sets any Model 3 or Y's aside for inventory. I think they build say 1,000 blue cars and maybe only have 900 orders for blue, so the rest they spread across to the stores they think will sell them (or the stores that don't have any model 3's, etc) and those become inventory. Or someone cancels an order just before the VIN is assigned, that car is now no longer "needed" and will either go to the next person in line, or if there isn't a next person it will go to inventory.

You might get lucky and have your exact specs in inventory at a store near you where you can jump on whatever perk Tesla might offer to try to push those cars but more than likely you'll need to change color or wheels or something to match with an inventory. Tesla does their best to match all those cars, even inventory ones, with orders. My car was technically an inventory car in Portland when I ordered and they matched me with it within a few days and then shuffled it up to Seattle for me. Inventory Model 3's and Y's don't just hang around waiting for walk ins to buy them... they certainly will sell one same day to a walk in, but orders often get matched to them as well.

Umm, I just said exactly how it works and then you say you don't think that's how it works.... ok. Thanks.

 

[acarney]

Umm, I just said exactly how it works and then you say you don't think that's how it works.... ok. Thanks.

Sorry, the little nuance is that I don’t think Tesla makes any specifically to set aside as inventory. S and X might have specific cars for Inventory, but 3 still has pretty good demand and Y is really early in its demand cycle. I think the only cars that are being placed into inventory are unsold cars (likely last minute changes). The only specifically made for stores are likely cars allocated as demos...