b) If you give them a cheque, it's upon delivery. Not sure what happens if you go through their financing.
I did a thing we called the Pre MVPA. Then about a week before delivery I docusigned what we called the MVPA. After that was signed I wired the money and got the car about a week later.
Yeah once you sign the final paperwork they send you a mail with a link to a page on their site where you can wire in whatever cash you're going to use for the sale. Anything left is expected in a check at delivery.
The "varies by state" think NigelM mentions is correct. I live in VA, and they are delivering my car to the Service Center in MD for pickup. They cannot accept money there, so I FedEx'd my loan check to Palo Alto, and am doing a bank debit of the remainder of my down payment. I told my DS: "Well you expect us to be rather trusting about this, don't you?"
It's not listed as Delivery Charge anymore, it's listed as "Destination and Regulatory Doc Fee" on my MVPA. And yes you pay it whether you pick it up in Fremont or...well they don't really do deliveries anymore unless you live far away from a service center.
My payment process was surprisingly laid back. I had home delivery and before the car was sent out from the service center, the DS asked for loan paperwork. I FedEx'ed that in and a few days later I got the car. I financed 50K so there was still a significant chunk o' change left to be paid and nobody ever asked me for it. The car was delivered to a Lowes near my house since my street is kind of tight. The little devil in me told me to wait until Tesla asked for the money, but I was so pumped up with awesomeness after driving the car home, I went right to the computer and paid the balance.
It is $1170 in California. Go to "My Tesla" and you will see your car per your configuration. Then click on "View Design" and you will see an itemized list of all charges before tax, registration/license, etc.
FWIW, when I picked up my Model S 4 days ago I brought in 2 checks, a personal check for about 30% of the cost, and a check from Alliant for about 70%. No problem.