Disappointed in Tesla's pricing on paint

[daniel]

No one gets into any other car and think they are in the future.

Actually, When I bought my Prius in 2004 I joined a chat board devoted to the car and pretty much everyone there thought they were pioneers and early adopters. The amount of self-congratulation was impressive.

But I do think that electric transportation is the future, and Tesla is the leader.

 

[MXWing]

Actually, When I bought my Prius in 2004 I joined a chat board devoted to the car and pretty much everyone there thought they were pioneers and early adopters. The amount of self-congratulation was impressive.

But I do think that electric transportation is the future, and Tesla is the leader.

You are right. Too much hubris. I even started watching a new documentary called Knight Rider. Seems the Model S can’t even keep up with something in the 80’s?

 

[MaryAnning3]

I think Elon should give the cars away for free.\

 

[timk225]

At some point when 3 pricing was being made, it was decided that black paint is free and white ( red, blue, silver, etc) costs extra, be it 1000 or 1500 or whatever the initial premium price was.

Then later, some paint prices are boosted by 500 or 1000. What changed?

1. The paint got more expensive? I don't believe that, for the amount of paint Tesla needs, I'd like to know what a gallon of each color costs them. Surely it is less than $100 per gallon.

2. Tesla sees that many people are buying non-black colors, so they jack those prices to MAKE MORE MONEY, plain and simple.

For the amount of money Tesla charges for paint, we should not be seeing any surface on the car anywhere that is not body color.

 

[Koflach]

The process for achieving the level of quality that they wanted from the different colours was deemed to be more expensive than originally thought. It's a pretty simple concept.

 

[ChrisH]

The process for achieving the level of quality that they wanted from the different colours was deemed to be more expensive than originally thought. It's a pretty simple concept.

Lol but clearly the paint is still garbage quality - at least the paint “jobs” have been.

 

[daniel]

The paint job on my Model 3 is fine. I do think it's a bit of a cash grab to charge more for blue than for black. I cannot imagine that blue paint is $1,000 more expensive or costs $1,000 more to apply, or any combination of the two. However, Tesla is a commercial corporation operating in a market economy, and like any company trying to make a profit, it will charge what it can where it can, and we consumers have the choice to buy or not to buy. Tesla is so far ahead of the competition that if you want the best, you have to pay, and if you want a color, you pay.

 

[Fobble]

The process for achieving the level of quality that they wanted from the different colours was deemed to be more expensive than originally thought. It's a pretty simple concept.

The question is why other manufacturers charge the pearlescent or metallic options for merely $500-$800, including European cars, which are known for over charging for options?

 

[daniel]

The question is why other manufacturers charge the pearlescent or metallic options for merely $500-$800, including European cars, which are known for over charging for options?

Because we're willing to pay. They've still got more people on the waiting list than they can build cars for. Don't like the price? Someone else will pay it. Free-market capitalism 101. The original investors took a very big risk when they started Tesla, and they want a return on that investment. I don't begrudge them that, since before Tesla your choices for an EV were a used RAV4EV, which were nearly impossible to find and cost an arm and a leg, an NEV, a Zap Xebra, or a backyard DIY conversion. Tesla is the industry leader, with the best cars, and so they can charge a premium.

 

[SageBrush]

To all the people complaining about the color surcharge compared to company X:
How do you know that the color surcharge was not simply added to the car X base price ?

 

[Fobble]

To all the people complaining about the color surcharge compared to company X:
How do you know that the color surcharge was not simply added to the car X base price ?

I am sure manufacturers would not do that, because base price is the first thing everyone will compare from brand A to brand B. Options are the one they normally sneak in to jack up profits ...

As many said, Tesla over charges on pretty much every option they offer, but paint is probably the more extreme. I guess because they can

 

[Kichwas]

Actually, When I bought my Prius in 2004 I joined a chat board devoted to the car and pretty much everyone there thought they were pioneers and early adopters. The amount of self-congratulation was impressive.

At the time they were right. Hybrid was the pathway to electric which itself is probably the pathway to solar (there’s already a Korean company making retrofit roofs to power cars with solar - you cannot yet get your full charge... but eventually EVs that plug in will seem barbaric to us).

If they had had online forums when the Model T came out from Ford those folks would have been bragging about bringing rapid transportation to the peasants - which changed the world. And now we realize that the resulting pollution is killing that same world...

Plug in EV isn’t the end game, it’s just another step on the road.

 

[Kichwas]

I bought red... I do sometimes wonder if I should have put that money into Autopilot instead...

I did find it very annoying that they charged a premium for a color... but I gather this is a by product of a still refining assembly line... it costs them more to do runs of various colors rather than all cars the same color... so they put the burden of that on the less popular colors... but I doubt that added cost is $2500 per car... so it’s mostly added profit.

I feel less guilt helping Tesla to profit than I would helping someone like Shell...

 

[daniel]

At the time they were right. Hybrid was the pathway to electric which itself is probably the pathway to solar ...

Except that the 2004 Prius used technology that was only slightly different than that used in the 2001 Prius, or the Japanese 1998 Prius. And Toyota had a very long history of quality and reliability. Buyers of the 2004 Prius (including me) were not pioneers at all. We were buying a tried and tested and reliable technology. To call ourselves pioneers for buying the 2004 Prius would be like someone calling himself a pioneer for buying an iPhone 2 when it first came out. It was already the second generation of the concept, just a bit more efficient and with a more convenient body style. (The car, that is.)

 

[SageBrush]

Except that the 2004 Prius used technology that was only slightly different than that used in the 2001 Prius, or the Japanese 1998 Prius. And Toyota had a very long history of quality and reliability. Buyers of the 2004 Prius (including me) were not pioneers at all. We were buying a tried and tested and reliable technology. To call ourselves pioneers for buying the 2004 Prius would be like someone calling himself a pioneer for buying an iPhone 2 when it first came out. It was already the second generation of the concept, just a bit more efficient and with a more convenient body style. (The car, that is.)

Agreed.
I'll say the same about the Tesla Model 3.

 

[Tozz]

I am sure manufacturers would not do that, because base price is the first thing everyone will compare from brand A to brand B. Options are the one they normally sneak in to jack up profits ...

Yet Tesla did exactly that. The PUP is now standard, base price was increased.
Before PUP there was the Tech Package, Cold Weather Package and Premium Audio, those have been combined into one package called Premium Upgrade Package.

Tesla has a history of removing options in an effort to streamline production, but at the same time often increasing the base price as well.

 

[adaptabl]

Soon different color paint and AP may be standard, as a way to get sales once the subsidies end.

 

[timk225]

I hope Elon learns from this debacle and does not stand on a stage telling us the Model Y will start at $35,000.

If anything, he should highside the base price and call it $50,000.

Which it will probably be anyway, the X was always more expensive than the S. So if Tesla can't build a $35K 3, there's no way they can make a $35K Y.

If at some point they can offer a base Y for $47K or $45K, then good.

 

[ChrisH]

I hope Elon learns from this debacle and does not stand on a stage telling us the Model Y will start at $35,000.

If anything, he should highside the base price and call it $50,000.

Which it will probably be anyway, the X was always more expensive than the S. So if Tesla can't build a $35K 3, there's no way they can make a $35K Y.

If at some point they can offer a base Y for $47K or $45K, then good.

I remember the X was supposed to be $5000 more than the model S. Did that ever play out? A $40k-$45k model Y seems good. But we know it will range from $40 (or so) to $80k

 

[diamond.g]

I remember the X was supposed to be $5000 more than the model S. Did that ever play out? A $40k-$45k model Y seems good. But we know it will range from $40 (or so) to $80k

The base mode is 6k more expensive than the S. The P100D is only 5k more expensive. Currently. I think it was 5k at one point for the base model as well. But I suspect making the premium upgrades package standard was when the gap widened.