Cancel or sell?

[Moonman]

I'm a July '17 reservation, 1 May order, long suffering patient Tesla customer. Blue, LR, FSD, 19inch, Tow hitch. No VIN, email saying delivery through August and September.

Never bought a new car and this was going to be a cash purchase and sort out my car needs for at least 10 years. I don't need this car but it would have been nice. I can keep the old banger running for a few more years.

I have come to the conclusion that there is little benefit in being an early customer and reservation holder.
- Tesla won't confirm my 5,000 supercharger miles and I hear rumours that they are only valid for 6 months (I drive around 4-5,000 / year)
- Tesla won't confirm they will apply the early FSD discount and I see they won't give it.
- The whole ordering and delivery experience has shown that Telsa holds all the cards - if you do not do it our way, you're stuffed. That does not bode well if anything goes wrong with the car.

On that basis, I've decided to cancel the order and put the money aside whilst I see what people's experience is in the first 12 months. If it's good, I may come back in the future. There may be other EV options in a couple of more years.

The question is: should I just cancel now? Should I/Could I transfer my slot to someone else? Is there a quick buck to be made by selling it on the day of delivery/day after? It would be nice to have something to show for the reservation payment Tesla has had for two years with limited benefit.

 

[dan223]

I'm a July '17 reservation, 1 May order, long suffering patient Tesla customer. Blue, LR, FSD, 19inch, Tow hitch. No VIN, email saying delivery through August and September.

Never bought a new car and this was going to be a cash purchase and sort out my car needs for at least 10 years. I don't need this car but it would have been nice. I can keep the old banger running for a few more years.

I have come to the conclusion that there is little benefit in being an early customer and reservation holder.
- Tesla won't confirm my 5,000 supercharger miles and I hear rumours that they are only valid for 6 months (I drive around 4-5,000 / year)
- Tesla won't confirm they will apply the early FSD discount and I see they won't give it.
- The whole ordering and delivery experience has shown that Telsa holds all the cards - if you do not do it our way, you're stuffed. That does not bode well if anything goes wrong with the car.

On that basis, I've decided to cancel the order and put the money aside whilst I see what people's experience is in the first 12 months. If it's good, I may come back in the future. There may be other EV options in a couple of more years.

The question is: should I just cancel now? Should I/Could I transfer my slot to someone else? Is there a quick buck to be made by selling it on the day of delivery/day after? It would be nice to have something to show for the reservation payment Tesla has had for two years with limited benefit.

The 5000 miles is something Tesla are giving you for free. If you get another referral it will extend it for another 6 months, although it isn't a crazy amount of money when you work out what it will cost you if you charged those 5000 miles at home on an EV tariff. Apparently though it seems like some people are getting offered 10k upon collection for the pain and giving you longer to use them.
They honored the early FSD discount, but won't honor that AND give you the recent discounts on top, no other car manufacture would give you an option if the price discounted after you bought.

You can't transfer your slot, and even if you did we are at the point now where a lot of people have vins assigned, those that don't seem to be because of there spec (19" wheels being the main problem), therefore I don't think transferring a slot would make any difference to someone that ordered now (if you could).

I think you have also gone past the stage where you could earn a quick buck for selling it on, as there's going to be a good few thousand around in the next few weeks, and it sounds like you won't be until a lot after then.

If you want your car quicker I would suggest ditching the 19" wheels, you might get matched straight away. If you want the 19" wheels wait, your not really gaining anything by cancelling.

 

[leewillis77]

Should I/Could I transfer my slot to someone else?

If you have no VIN or confirmed window I don't think there's any benefit to this.

Is there a quick buck to be made by selling it on the day of delivery/day after?

Unlikely given that there will be 1,000s in the country by the time you get yours (from what you've said).

It would be nice to have something to show for the reservation payment Tesla has had for two years with limited benefit.

You've helped fund the electric car revolution, and force the die-hard ICE producers hand into a serious transition to EVs. No benefit to you personally perhaps, but the future planet thanks you

 

[SirRob]

Suck it up and stick with the process - things are clearly moving along.

There's something about the last few weeks which have driven people to the borders of complete irrational lunacy. Sign out from the forums, log off facebook and enjoy the summer.

 

[zayn]

you clearly have a dilemma and the best you can do now is cancel now. It will clear your mind and help you focus on other things in your life which maybe more important

 

[Mr Miserable]

It's the tow bar that's the problem.

 

[AlternateFlux]

you clearly have a dilemma and the best you can do now is cancel now. It will clear your mind and help you focus on other things in your life which maybe more important

This was my thinking too.

If it doesn't feel right, it usually isn't right.

You can always come back if/when you feel more comfortable.

(I also echo the other thoughts about trying to flip the car as soon as you get it... A few months ago you may have made some cash, but now, probably not worth the effort).

 

[Peteski]

If you are not in a hurry, cancel and wait until the dust settles and then maybe pick up a new inventory car in 12 months time. This is not a good time to be taking delivery of an M3 if you want kisses and cuddles from the delivery team.

Forget about trying to flip it on for a profit and there is no option to transfer your reservation to someone else.

Only downside is that you will have to suffer your old banger for another year!

 

[dan223]

It's the tow bar that's the problem.

Quite a few people have a vin for tows, its more the 19" which a lot of people are waiting on, or probably the combination of both.

 

[Mr Miserable]

Quite a few people have a vin for tows, its more the 19" which a lot of people are waiting on, or probably the combination of both.

That's a big tow bar!

 

[Moonman]

Good feedback. Especially the sense check on the resell.

I'm going to cancel and get on with my life, perhaps not wiser but slightly more older. Sadly deflated about the Tesla experience.

Next question - how long do you think it's going to take to get the £3,000 back?!?

 

[Roy W.]

Good feedback. Especially the sense check on the resell.

I'm going to cancel and get on with my life, perhaps not wiser but slightly more older. Sadly deflated about the Tesla experience.

Next question - how long do you think it's going to take to get the £3,000 back?!?

When I cancelled my Day 1 reservation last year it took Tesla just over a week to get the money to my bank.

 

[Rhian]

I would not cancel.
You said you still want to buy the car in the future, so by cancelling you are delaying it even further.
I understand your frustration, the waiting game is horrible, I agree.
If you really want the car still, try to switch your brain off about Tesla for few weeks. We all get angry and stressed out about things that are out of our control- this is one of them.

I’m on the same boat as you, but I will not cancel my order because I want the car so badly so I can stop giving money to fossil fuel bastard companies. I want to feel less guilty everytime I drive.

I sincerely hope that your car gets delivered soon. Hang in there!

 

[tess19]

so I can stop giving money to fossil fuel bastard companies. I want to feel less guilty everytime I drive.

I sincerely hope that your car gets delivered soon. Hang in there!

I am all for next generation vehicles but without these fossil companies, you would still be on horse and cart and would not get your Amazon deliveries the next day.

 

[pjuk]

Wait for the Y instead!

If you need the car “now” just ride out this frenzy and you’ll have one in the coming months. You can always refuse delivery on the day or weeks before if you truly get fed up with waiting or reading the feedback on how terrible the car is.

As you said this is a cash purchase then the £3k doesn’t seem like an immediate necessity unless you are going to buy another car. Also no-one knows what the inventory stock will be like towards the end of the year so you could be lucky and pick one up saving a few ££ (which I highly doubt) but who knows?!

Also if prices do fluctuate you might be able to barter a better deal given the mess that everything’s been in. With the whole MS and MX price changes earlier in the year I was able to save around £15k on an inventory MX after prices dropped due to a small refresh and Tesla were happy to cancel my original order and transfer deposit to inventory stock.

 

[ewoodrick]

By the way, the Model 3 has been shipping in quantity for over a year now.

I still love mine after 15 months, it even has more features now than when I got it

 

[Peteski]

I'm going to cancel and get on with my life

I would expect you could just get on with your life whether you cancel or not. I don't really care when my M3 arrives and sounds like you are not really that fussed either. If you are only cancelling out of sheer frustration, but really want the car deep down then you might as well just sit back and let the delivery take care of itself. It's only frustrating for those on the phone to Tesla every other day, whinging on the forums, boat watching, etc, etc, lol.

 

[Moonman]

Just a quick update. Was contacted by Tesla last week by phone to finalise delivery (due Tuesday). He finally picked up the emails that I'd sent over a month ago seeking clarification over FSD price hike when I added Tow Bar and whether 5,000 supercharger miles were applied. It speaks volumes that it took until Tesla wanted to deliver the car to get answers to questions I've been asking for months.

I asked what the benefit was to me putting a reservation in 2.5 years ago and being a 1 May orderer, when others have ordered in the last couple of months and got their car. Very little sympathy or explanation from Tesla - that's how it is.

I was hoping for at least some indication from Tesla that they recognised that this was not how they wanted to treat their customers so I could have confidence that once I was fully paid up it would be a better service level. The cash was in the bank ready to go and a newly acquired private plate. The Tesla response simply made me think if anything went wrong with the car I'd be in a queue and waiting for when my "number" came up. With that, I cancelled.

The whole experience is just very sad and the bubble of being an early Tesla supported well and truly burst. I'm sure others are living the Tesla dream but it was not for me and my lifestyle.

A blue, 19inch, tow bar, FSD, black interior now back in the system!

 

[MaDProFF]

You will regret it

 

[adsheff]

I was hoping for at least some indication from Tesla that they recognised that this was not how they wanted to treat their customers so I could have confidence that once I was fully paid up it would be a better service level. The cash was in the bank ready to go and a newly acquired private plate. The Tesla response simply made me think if anything went wrong with the car I'd be in a queue and waiting for when my "number" came up. With that, I cancelled.

That's sad to hear. Yes I really think their employees could do with a few lessons in customer service. They often seem to launch straight into an explanaition / excuse without first saying "I'm very sorry about this, but". Which would go a long way. If they simply said something like "I know this isn't ideal, but we are working our hardest to make things better for you" it would give customers so much more confidence than opening with "What's happenned is you texted No on the app and so the car isn't here anymore"...