Can Non-California residents pick their car up in Fremont?

[smak]

How do we know we can pick up a Model III at the factory?

They're going to sell a lot more of them than the Model S. Maybe they just won't have the manpower to do it?

how does it work now, do you make an appointment at an exact time and date?

I was thinking about picking mine up, not to save any money, just for the fun of driving it back home.

-smak-

 

[22522]

The Tesla delivery mechanisms will be crushed by the volume. Factory delivery reduces the burden, makes the car an event (promoting brand loyalty while likely improving net promoter behavior) and allows for better control, and improvement of the process.

There are reasons to go the other way, but Tesla has to pay the people and the freight until you take ownership. If you get it at the factory, costs will be lower.

There are lots of good reasons to stage this at the giga factory.
1) Sales tax limited to $950 in Nevada.
2) More space, customers will not feel as rushed.
3) Easier to manage the edge of the incentives - grace period after 200K threshold is met.

 

[JeffK]

I was thinking about picking mine up, not to save any money, just for the fun of driving it back home.
-smak-

The reason I'm not considering this is that I want to get the paint protected as soon as possible. I'm afraid a cross country trip might result in rock chips. You live in CA so it's only a small distance relatively speaking.

 

[JeffK]

The Tesla delivery mechanisms will be crushed by the volume. Factory delivery reduces the burden, makes the car an event (promoting brand loyalty while likely improving net promoter behavior) and allows for better control, and improvement of the process.

There are reasons to go the other way, but Tesla has to pay the people and the freight until you take ownership. If you get it at the factory, costs will be lower.

Not really, you'd be paying CA taxes. Delivery cost is not terrible because they batch ship the cars to the destination service centers. Basically, yes Tesla costs might be slightly lower if you pick up the car, but your price might be higher (and possibly significantly so).

 

[dsvick]

The Tesla delivery mechanisms will be crushed by the volume. Factory delivery reduces the burden, makes the car an event (promoting brand loyalty while likely improving net promoter behavior) and allows for better control, and improvement of the process.

There are reasons to go the other way, but Tesla has to pay the people and the freight until you take ownership. If you get it at the factory, costs will be lower.

There are lots of good reasons to stage this at the giga factory.
1) Sales tax limited to $950 in Nevada.
2) More space, customers will not feel as rushed.
3) Easier to manage the edge of the incentives - grace period after 200K threshold is met.

Factory delivery doesn't reduce the burden it just moves it from the stores to the factory. The only part of the delivery process that could be overwhelmed would be the actual delivery specialists. The transportation network is the same as is used by all the other automakers so there would be no issues handling a few hundred thousand more. It would be a small fraction of their current volume. On the other hand, trying to do too many deliveries at the factory would certainly create a bottle neck than if you'd spread them out by sending them to the stores.

The gigafactory is another option, but would be limited in the same way, only now you have to ship them all there from Freemont first. I don't think the "more space" arguement is valid though. Yes, it's going to be a huge building but all of the space has a planned function. Manageing the number of vehicles delivered is only possible if they store them and don't deliver them. They wont have acres of indoor storage sitting there unused, and if they do it will only be for a short while. And I don't want my new car stored outside in the Nevada desert for any length of time before I pick it up either. The more likely option for trying to maximize the number of people that will qualify for the tax credit would be to shift deliveries outside of the US for a time.

 

[dsvick]

Not really, you'd be paying CA taxes. Delivery cost is not terrible because they batch ship the cars to the destination service centers. Basically, yes Tesla costs might be slightly lower if you pick up the car, but your price might be higher (and possibly significantly so).

Exactly right! Tesla's costs would certainly be lower, but the delivery cost to the consumer would be the same. Eventually, if enough people used factory pickup it might make enough of a difference that the average delivery cost could be lowered but it wouldn't be by much and it would take a while for them to determine that.

And the extra several thousand dollars in CA sales tax, not to mention all the cost associated with getting there, staying for a day or two, and then driving home (possibly across the country in some cases) makes it particularly prohibitive. Unless you're treating it as a vacation, in which case - go for it!

 

[ex-bimmer]

So what happens to international orders?
As a Canadian I'd love to do a factory delivery but not if I have to pay CA taxes.

And more optimistically, what happens if the car drives itself to my door?
Ref: "Mind Blowing AP 2.0" Autopilot 2.0

 

[RedModel3]

A lot can change between now and delivery. My bet is on California renewing the tax-free status of vacationers who want to pick up at the factory.

 

[Garlan Garner]

A lot can change between now and delivery. My bet is on California renewing the tax-free status of vacationers who want to pick up at the factory.

I can't imagine why they would do that. California government rarely does things based on anything but themselves.

 

[melindav]

A lot can change between now and delivery. My bet is on California renewing the tax-free status of vacationers who want to pick up at the factory.

it's not a renewal - the out-of-state tax exemption never happened in the first place.

 

[Skione65]

it's not a renewal - the out-of-state tax exemption never happened in the first place.

@melindav,

I know.....defeat of that bill was a complete travesty. The change came out of nowhere....horrible for those that wanted to try and 'fly in-drive out' with their 3.

Ski

 

[Garlan Garner]

@melindav,

I know.....defeat of that bill was a complete travesty. The change came out of nowhere....horrible for those that wanted to try and 'fly in-drive out' with their 3.

Ski

So wait. Is the bill "currently" defeated? Will California "charge" taxes as of right now?

 

[bonnie]

So wait. Is the bill "currently" defeated? Will California "charge" taxes as of right now?

Yes, the bill was defeated. California's position on taxing vehicles delivered in California remains the same as always: You pay California tax if you take delivery in California.

 

[Garlan Garner]

Yes, the bill was defeated. California's position on taxing vehicles delivered in California remains the same as always: You pay California tax if you take delivery in California.

Thanks. That's horrible for me because Illinois taxes are lower....and they won't give any money back for paying a California taxes.

So it would be cheaper for me to wait for it to be shipped to Illinois.

 

[melindav]

Thanks. That's horrible for me because Illinois taxes are lower....and they won't give any money back for paying a California taxes.

So it would be cheaper for me to wait for it to be shipped to Illinois.

most all areas in the US have a lower sales tax than CA, so it's not just you.

 

[NikeWings]

Yep, hardly loving our 9.5% sales tax and drooling over your tax rates, rebates, credits and what-nots. I did get an HOV pass for $22 which I thought was a bargain (although up from $8 last year).

I hope things change so many of you can pick up in Fremont, its an amazing operation. But if you plan to have paint protection added, it might be best to await shipment.

 

[Garlan Garner]

most all areas in the US have a lower sales tax than CA, so it's not just you.

Yeah, I suppose you are right.

 

[Garlan Garner]

Yep, hardly loving our 9.5% sales tax and drooling over your tax rates, rebates, credits and what-nots. I did get an HOV pass for $22 which I thought was a bargain (although up from $8 last year).

I hope things change so many of you can pick up in Fremont, its an amazing operation. But if you plan to have paint protection added, it might be best to await shipment.

Why is that? Why wait for paint protection?

 

[NikeWings]

Why is that? Why wait for paint protection?

So its smooth as a baby's bum.
Otherwise, you'll be paying to restore blemishes/chips etc and then applying the coating of choice. Most owners drop their cars off to be protected straight from the delivery day ritual, further delaying gratification by a couple/few days.

 

[Garlan Garner]

So its smooth as a baby's bum.
Otherwise, you'll be paying to restore blemishes/chips etc and then applying the coating of choice. Most owners drop their cars off to be protected straight from the delivery day ritual, further delaying gratification by a couple/few days.

So cars from Fremont don't emerge complete? That would be extremely strange.