Cash buyer - ACH vs. cashier’s check

[voip-ninja]

I spoke with my delivery advisor today and cleared up some things with him... yes, I’m paying cash, no I don’t have a trade in, no I don’t have to add a car I am paying cash for to my insurance policy before I am allowed to drive off with it.

He has mentioned several times it would be so much better to make ACH payment on my balance before picking up my car next Friday.

Why would I want to pay via ACH with all of the horror stories I am seeing around failed or delayed deliveries? Is there any reason I would not pay with a cashier’s check?

Now on my account in large bold letters:

 

[qwer]

Seems like having payment sorted out early can save them a lot of headaches at delivery of failed payments, etc.

The car will most likely be fine. Worst case scenario, couldn’t you still refuse delivery even if you had ACH’d the payment already?

 

[voip-ninja]

Seems like having payment sorted out early can save them a lot of headaches at delivery of failed payments, etc.

The car will most likely be fine. Worst case scenario, couldn’t you still refuse delivery even if you had ACH’d the payment already?

That’s what I want to know.

What if the car is being unloaded, is damaged and I refuse it and am waiting four weeks for a replacement? Interest free 60,000 loan to Tesla?

 

[ba2002]

Im paying with cashier's check.

 

[Eno Deb]

He has mentioned several times it would be so much better to make ACH payment on my balance before picking up my car next Friday.

Of course he'd say that because it's less work for them.

Why would I want to pay via ACH with all of the horror stories I am seeing around failed or delayed deliveries? Is there any reason I would not pay with a cashier’s check?

Only reason I can think of is that you save going to the bank. I think a cashier's check is much safer (no chance of your money vanishing in a black hole due to an error on Tesla's or the bank's end, and you keep your money until you accept the car). I used a cashier's check and my delivery guy had no problem with it.

 

[Goosby]

I had the same big, bold lettering prior to delivery and I still paid via cashiers check without incident. I’m sure it’s not the most convenient method of payment for Tesla, but it’s probably the safest and easiest method as a consumer (when paying cash).

I can’t think of a good reason, from a consumer’s perspective, to have a cash transaction settled prior to pick up.

 

[ebmcs03]

Pay with cashiers check. Inspect goods first. Tesla wants your money bad. They’re not ready. It’s better to have your cash in your hands first.

 

[NathanielHrnblwr]

Pay with a check if you want the flexibility to retain your cash if you need to refuse delivery. Once you send the ACH, you won't get refunded if you refuse delivery.

 

[ucla95]

+2 Inspect first then cashier’s check.

 

[aus1ander]

I paid by ACH simply because I’m lazy and it saved me a trip to the bank. Even if delivery is delayed, 4 weeks of interest is like 40 bucks.

There’s also this nugget in the email I got today: “As a reminder, you can easily buy a Tesla online without visiting a store or doing a test drive, and have it delivered directly to your home or work. We are highly confident that you will feel great about your purchase, which is why you can always return it within two days for a full refund.”

 

[cbutters]

I paid by ACH simply because I’m lazy and it saved me a trip to the bank. Even if delivery is delayed, 4 weeks of interest is like 40 bucks.

There’s also this nugget in the email I got today: “As a reminder, you can easily buy a Tesla online without visiting a store or doing a test drive, and have it delivered directly to your home or work. We are highly confident that you will feel great about your purchase, which is why you can always return it within two days for a full refund.”

I did ACH as well for my delivery on friday. Since I've sold my car I don't want to have to uber to the bank and back to get a cashier's check; and it takes the pressure of worrying about the money not going through out of the way early so I can focus on examining the car. You can still refuse delivery; and I made the decision on the purchase long ago, even if the car is bad, I will want them to find me another one. Yes... interest free loan and all that; but I expect 90+% of the time, things are fine and delivery is smooth. It was when I picked up my X.

 

[ConcordeSST]

I wish I could even get my portal to open up and let me make that choice. Also a cash buyer, no trade-in, scheduled delivery date the day after yours. I'm still stuck at "A delivery experience specialist is reviewing your changes and will contact you prior to delivery." (Insurance info update they have to accept)

So far, no one at Tesla has responded to me. Hopefully it will open up soon. I'd prefer to ACH early so I don't have to worry about anything else on the day of delivery.

 

[Chips]

FWIW...My credit union WONT do ACH transfer but rather say I HAVE to use one of their draft checks. They said they have had a few "bad experiences" with delivery refusals and it creates quite the headache whereas the draft has none of the negative impacts.

 

[voip-ninja]

I wish I could even get my portal to open up and let me make that choice. Also a cash buyer, no trade-in, scheduled delivery date the day after yours. I'm still stuck at "A delivery experience specialist is reviewing your changes and will contact you prior to delivery." (Insurance info update they have to accept)

So far, no one at Tesla has responded to me. Hopefully it will open up soon. I'd prefer to ACH early so I don't have to worry about anything else on the day of delivery.

So, I was at the point where edit button was gone and all documents were uploaded. Delivery adviser was kind of making a big deal out of the fact that my current insurance policy expired on 09/18 (was set up for auto renew)... and my delivery was on 09/21.

Since I was frozen out of making any changes to my documents I just emailed him a screenshot of my insurance forms for my current vehicles showing they were renewed through 09/19.

He then came back and said I needed to wait until I received a VIN (4-7 days before delivery), then call my insurance company, add the vehicle to my policy, and then send him proof.

I told him that's B.S.... you have a 14 day grace period to add a new vehicle to your policy and it's fully covered during that time. He claimed he "researched some Colorado laws" to come up with this information. Now this guy has been nothing but nice and helpful but pretty sure he's about 18 years old and has never purchased a car in his life.

Finally I called the local delivery center, got the name of a delivery specialist there, got verbal confirmation that the car does not need to be added to insurance before pick up unless it's being financed through Tesla... then email a summary of that conversation to the inside delivery specialist, then he flipped the switch on my account allowing final ACH payment.

The conspiracy theorist in me thinks Tesla is trying to nudge customers towards using Tesla financing.... I'm sure Tesla makes a full point on those loans from the banks handling them.... that's why I think that they don't release the VIN now till just a short time before pickup... this will leave the customer scrambling to get financing, unless they simply apply for Tesla's approved financing.

 

[Galve2000]

The conspiracy theorist in me thinks Tesla is trying to nudge customers towards using Tesla financing.... I'm sure Tesla makes a full point on those loans from the banks handling them.... that's why I think that they don't release the VIN now till just a short time before pickup... this will leave the customer scrambling to get financing, unless they simply apply for Tesla's approved financing.

Interesting theory.

Actually I was going to mention that a 3rd option is to get some sort of financing instead of ACH so therefore if there is a delay in your delivery you would only have fronted a small portion of the moneys due. You can then pay off the rest of the loan within the 1st month avoiding most (if not all) of the interest and get a nice spike in your credit score for prompt repayment of a sizable loan.

It is what I would have done with my model S but instead i invested this $$ and doing pretty well so far. But back in 2015 we were seeing 1.99% and even less. it's practically free money. Not sure how readily available such loans are in Q3 Q4 of 2018.

 

[ConcordeSST]

So, I was at the point where edit button was gone and all documents were uploaded. Delivery adviser was kind of making a big deal out of the fact that my current insurance policy expired on 09/18 (was set up for auto renew)... and my delivery was on 09/21.

Since I was frozen out of making any changes to my documents I just emailed him a screenshot of my insurance forms for my current vehicles showing they were renewed through 09/19.

He then came back and said I needed to wait until I received a VIN (4-7 days before delivery), then call my insurance company, add the vehicle to my policy, and then send him proof.

I told him that's B.S.... you have a 14 day grace period to add a new vehicle to your policy and it's fully covered during that time. He claimed he "researched some Colorado laws" to come up with this information. Now this guy has been nothing but nice and helpful but pretty sure he's about 18 years old and has never purchased a car in his life.

Finally I called the local delivery center, got the name of a delivery specialist there, got verbal confirmation that the car does not need to be added to insurance before pick up unless it's being financed through Tesla... then email a summary of that conversation to the inside delivery specialist, then he flipped the switch on my account allowing final ACH payment.

The conspiracy theorist in me thinks Tesla is trying to nudge customers towards using Tesla financing.... I'm sure Tesla makes a full point on those loans from the banks handling them.... that's why I think that they don't release the VIN now till just a short time before pickup... this will leave the customer scrambling to get financing, unless they simply apply for Tesla's approved financing.

Hopefully I don't have to go through all that. So far I've asked my DSA and my IDA the same question to no response. I made the mistake of putting in my insurance info exactly as it was when I ordered in late June with an expiration date of August. It has since been renewed to Feb 19. When I switched to cash payment (LightStream), it asked me to confirm all the info, and I stupidly indicated that no my insurance info is not correct and needs to be updated. Now I'm stuck. I can't understand why they don't let you update that info on your own as needed, and then only lock down right before delivery.

 

[Need]

Just in case you actually decided to pay thru ACH, it may not be available to you. I wanted to pay using ACH for my downpayment, but that option never opened up online. I even checked the day of the delivery before I drove out to the delivery center and it was not available. By then it was too late to go get a cashier check, so I paid with a personal check. It was only about $9k and they took that without any question.

 

[ba2002]

I think some internal memo re: tesla being on your insurance card prior to drive-off must have gone out - because this misinformation is pervasive across the country. Why would Tesla need me to prove I was insuring a vehicle they had no ownership interest in? State laws just require you to have coverage which you can prove with your current policy. They don't stipulate it's on every car you drive. As an above poster pointed out, you should have a grace period with your own insurance.

 

[notAnExpert]

Couldn’t you schedule an ACH payment in the presence of the delivery person, after inspecting the car? I think I read some posts that people were able to do that. I don’t remember if they were for delivery at home or at delivery center.

 

[ewoodrick]

I spoke with my delivery advisor today and cleared up some things with him... yes, I’m paying cash, no I don’t have a trade in, no I don’t have to add a car I am paying cash for to my insurance policy before I am allowed to drive off with it.

He has mentioned several times it would be so much better to make ACH payment on my balance before picking up my car next Friday.

Why would I want to pay via ACH with all of the horror stories I am seeing around failed or delayed deliveries? Is there any reason I would not pay with a cashier’s check?

Now on my account in large bold letters:

View attachment 334162

Because only a few deliveries have issues and an ACH payment makes the delivery experience better