Custom build vs inventory?

[brjr]

Can anyone tell me how i can determine if my Model 3 that i took delivery for on June 29 was from inventory or custom built. My salesman tells me i am not entitled to the factory incentive for the free one year of supercharges because my car was custom ordered and not out of inventory. But i ordered on June 17 and received the car 10 days later? Does that seem rather quick for a custom order.
Is there any to find out whether or not my car came from inventory? Any where in the paper work or on line?

 

[jjrandorin]

"out of inventory" in this case likely means it was "sitting at the delivery center". Its entirely likely your car was not at a delivery center, but "en route" to one, so not "in inventory at a delivery center".

There isnt any way to know where the car was when you ordered it, no. Even knowing the exact "born on" date doesnt tell you if tesla had actually put the car into inventory (in fact they are telling you they didnt).

 

[holmgang]

"out of inventory" in this case likely means it was "sitting at the delivery center". Its entirely likely your car was not at a delivery center, but "en route" to one, so not "in inventory at a delivery center".

There isnt any way to know where the car was when you ordered it, no. Even knowing the exact "born on" date doesnt tell you if tesla had actually put the car into inventory (in fact they are telling you they didnt).

ive "tracked" lots of cars when purchasing mine, and vehicles "in inventory" (as shown on website) may even not have arrived at any delivery center. might not even be in the country or continent of delivery.

basically, a completed car -- with VIN -- thats not yet matched to a buyer, but earmarked for or en-route to a delivery center.


anyway, no public has access to the full history of a VIN, so no way for OP to prove what he prove.

 

[jjrandorin]

ive "tracked" lots of cars when purchasing mine, and vehicles "in inventory" (as shown on website) may even not have arrived at any delivery center. might not even be in the country or continent of delivery.

basically, a completed car -- with VIN -- thats not yet matched to a buyer, but earmarked for or en-route to a delivery center.


anyway, no public has access to the full history of a VIN, so no way for OP to prove what he prove.

Correct, but every car manufacturer may mean something different... especially when they attach incentives to "purchasing from inventory" which many more car manufacturers do than tesla.

Lots of times there are BMW incentives for taking a car from dealers inventory (there are ways around it on an ordered car with a cooperative dealer) for example.

 

[brjr]

Correct, but every car manufacturer may mean something different... especially when they attach incentives to "purchasing from inventory" which many more car manufacturers do than tesla.

Lots of times there are BMW incentives for taking a car from dealers inventory (there are ways around it on an ordered car with a cooperative dealer) for example.

Thanks for the reply. What is 'OP' ?

 

[ucmndd]

This is entirely based on whether you clicked "buy" through the custom order form or the available inventory site.

All Model 3s are batch produced. There is no effective difference in how or when they are built. But the incentive was only for available inventory, so unless you bought through that portal, they're not going to give you anything.

 

[jjrandorin]

Thanks for the reply. What is 'OP' ?

OP in this context = "original poster", or the person who started the thread (you, in this case)

 

[Michelle_eriw]

Thanks for the reply. What is 'OP' ?

"OP" is Original Post (or Poster).

 

[Gasaraki]

Did you talk to a sales advisor on the phone? If you worked with someone and they said that they found a match for your build at this location etc, then it's an inventory car. If you just went online and "custom built" one, then it's not an inventory car. Inventory cars can also be bought via the new inventory page. So it depends on how you bought your car.

New & Used Electric Cars | Tesla

 

[brjr]

I don't want anyone to think i am being argumentative, but i don't want to lose out on the incentive when there is a principle involved. Never mind that fact that i took a 1200 mile trip a week ago and next week i am driving from Cols Ohio to Seattle and back. There is money to be saved here?
Latest detail:
I did not order on line. My sales rep handled all computer interaction. The document produced was dated June 15 and it included the VIN, Reservation No., and... the odometer reading, 15 miles. Doesn't that mean the car had been driven?
There was another field 'Accepted by customer on 6/15/2020'
And the last detail is that i contacted Tesla Support and the person i spoke to said the car was produced on 6/14/2020. It already existed.
So what does anyone think?

 

[jjrandorin]

I don't want anyone to think i am being argumentative, but i don't want to lose out on the incentive when there is a principle involved. Never mind that fact that i took a 1200 mile trip a week ago and next week i am driving from Cols Ohio to Seattle and back. There is money to be saved here?
Latest detail:
I did not order on line. My sales rep handled all computer interaction. The document produced was dated June 15 and it included the VIN, Reservation No., and... the odometer reading, 15 miles. Doesn't that mean the car had been driven?
There was another field 'Accepted by customer on 6/15/2020'
And the last detail is that i contacted Tesla Support and the person i spoke to said the car was produced on 6/14/2020. It already existed.
So what does anyone think?

No, the car had not been driven because it had 15 miles. Just because the "car existed" doesnt make it an inventory car. You are asking for opinions, you bought a car that was not in inventory yet but had been made.

Just because the car exists doesnt mean it has actually been put into inventory somewhere yet. It was likely in transit to be put into inventory when it got there. You already know that tesla does not consider this an inventory car because they told you it didnt qualify for the inventory car incentive.

Unless your rep told you "I found one in inventory at this location, and there will be a fee to move it" or "I found this one in inventory at your delivery center, want that one?" you bought a car that was not an inventory car.

So, no I dont believe you will win any argument with Tesla on this, and there is nothing that I am aware of that you can go back and try to "prove" to tesla itself that "this was an inventory car" because even though it was made on 6/14 they had not advertised it as inventory as of yet.

 

[ucmndd]

I don't want anyone to think i am being argumentative, but i don't want to lose out on the incentive when there is a principle involved. Never mind that fact that i took a 1200 mile trip a week ago and next week i am driving from Cols Ohio to Seattle and back. There is money to be saved here?
Latest detail:
I did not order on line. My sales rep handled all computer interaction. The document produced was dated June 15 and it included the VIN, Reservation No., and... the odometer reading, 15 miles. Doesn't that mean the car had been driven?
There was another field 'Accepted by customer on 6/15/2020'
And the last detail is that i contacted Tesla Support and the person i spoke to said the car was produced on 6/14/2020. It already existed.
So what does anyone think?

I understand your frustration, but again, when the car was produced is frankly immaterial to your argument.

Did you order the car exactly the way you wanted it through a sales rep, specifying range, color, options, etc? If so, you have a custom order, and it so happens Tesla was able to do you a solid by matching up your exact configuration to an already produced car and delivering ahead of when they said they could. The fact that they were able to deliver a car to your exact specifications earlier than they promised doesn't make you eligible for an incentive that was designed to match people up with the "leftovers" at the end of the quarter and boost sales.

Did your sales rep say "hey, we have a blue one coming in on the next truck I can match you up with, how about that?" That's an inventory car.

Did your sales rep tell you to expect the supercharging incentive?


Any mileage below 50 on the documentation/sales contract is "brand new car".

 

[MyDogIsYuki]

Just my experience. I did everything online and did a custom order on July 11th in the Toronto area. Wait time was predicted as 5-9 weeks. Was called a week later and told my car was in. Picked up on the 20th. Build date is something like June 7th. It had about 30km on it and I haven't stopped any defects so I don't know why it would have been kicking around in inventory nearby. I just consider it a mystery but I am happy I didn't have to wait. Midnight Silver SR+ with base wheels and no FSD so it might be a common config.

 

[Gasaraki]

I don't want anyone to think i am being argumentative, but i don't want to lose out on the incentive when there is a principle involved. Never mind that fact that i took a 1200 mile trip a week ago and next week i am driving from Cols Ohio to Seattle and back. There is money to be saved here?
Latest detail:
I did not order on line. My sales rep handled all computer interaction. The document produced was dated June 15 and it included the VIN, Reservation No., and... the odometer reading, 15 miles. Doesn't that mean the car had been driven?
There was another field 'Accepted by customer on 6/15/2020'
And the last detail is that i contacted Tesla Support and the person i spoke to said the car was produced on 6/14/2020. It already existed.
So what does anyone think?

No. It does not mean the vehicle has been driven. They always put more miles on the documentation for situations like moving the car, loading it on a truck, etc, etc.
If you went with a sales advisor to place your order but they didn't personally look at the inventory for you, then it's most likely a built car. There's no way for you to not know it was an inventory car if it was. He/she would have said to you that "I have found a car at 'location' that matches what you want. I can have it shipped to the nearest delivery center or direct ship to you". If they just took down what you wanted, then it's an order.