Does anyone think it makes any difference…………….

[themacs]

That a 2015 is a car made in 2015 (rolls off the assembly line per a Tesla sales manager) even on 12/31/15.

A 2016 is a car that rolls off 1 day later on 1/1/16 etc.

Now we all know that virtually every other car made cold be a 2016 as early as 7/1/15.

People seem top still feel (as do blue books) that value is added for a "later model" like a 2014 v 2015.

Do you feel Tesla prop;e feel the same way or do most look at the "born on" date?

Yet I can assure you "regular" folks that look to purchase a used 2014 will take a 1/1/14 before a 12/31/13.

Im I just examining the issue way to closely here??

Yep I take delivery of my 2nd Tesla P90D next week LOL

 

[gizmoboy]

That a 2015 is a car made in 2015 (rolls off the assembly line per a Tesla sales manager) even on 12/31/15.

A 2016 is a car that rolls off 1 day later on 1/1/16 etc.

Now we all know that virtually every other car made cold be a 2016 as early as 7/1/15.

People seem top still feel (as do blue books) that value is added for a "later model" like a 2014 v 2015.

Do you feel Tesla prop;e feel the same way or do most look at the "born on" date?

Yet I can assure you "regular" folks that look to purchase a used 2014 will take a 1/1/14 before a 12/31/13.

Im I just examining the issue way to closely here??

Yep I take delivery of my 2nd Tesla P90D next week LOL

What other people think matters when it comes to resale value.

 

[jerry33]

What other people think matters when it comes to resale value.

And resale value only matters if you change cars frequently.

 

[Zybane]

If you had two identical cars and one says 2015 and one says 2016 on the title and are listed at the same price. Which one is the used car buyer going to pick 100% of the time? That equals better resale.

 

[BertL]

IMHO, Tesla owners know what a model year does and does not mean (even if a lot of others don't, including CR it would appear ) -- to the point, you find VIN and delivery dates listed in many sig lines here on TMC. DMV cares for registration purposes, as does insurance -- but as to if insurance cares when it comes to rates or value if one totaled their MS, I suspect only they truly know and it could vary by company. To your point though, blue book and similar traditional methods for estimating value of used vehicles use model year and mileage as some of the key indicators of value in the market... And a real Tesla owner also knows mileage may not be as big of a deal with our 100% electrics as an ICE vehicle -- only more time will be the real judge of that. To me, it's just a big subjective discussion topic that can go round and round.

...but with that being said, I purposely ordered my 90D in September to ensure I had delivery by 12/31... primarily so I could take advantage of the $1K/$1K promo that expired 10/31 and easily get my official Federal Tax Deduction sooner than later. I have purchased every one of my vehicles except the very first one in my teenage years and my MS, as early in the model year availability I could (e.g a 2013 in 2012), so it would help when it came time to sell/trade it. I conciously thought about that before ordering my MS, and decided I'd likely end up needing to trade to Tesla or sell it outright myself when the time comes... trade-in with the model-year implications may still be a challenge, but again, hopefully time will help resolve that as more used Teslas and EVs get into the market. We'll see.

 

[TexasEV]

If you had two identical cars and one says 2015 and one says 2016 on the title and are listed at the same price. Which one is the used car buyer going to pick 100% of the time? That equals better resale.

Not if the used car buyer knows anything about Tesla, and it's unlikely someone would buy a used Tesla without doing a lot of research first.

Tesla doesn't do model years. Get over it.

 

[msnow]

Yes model year is important.

 

[Nigel16494]

The year model doesn't make any difference to Tesla, I have exactly the same functions as the guy who just built except my car is a year old now. BMW, it makes a difference. If this was a BMW then I wouldn't have TACC, autopilot, updated navigation. These headline items would have been in the 2016 model not my 2015. The hard part is convincing someone used to the traditional model that Tesla is different. I have a hard time myself waking up to a much better car than I had the day before, it never happened before to me.

 

[msnow]

It makes a difference to Wall Street because they are tracking units per calendar year. For that reason alone it's important to Tesla. I also think it's important to lenders, insurance companies, the DMV and to the average Joe. Maybe we don't care so much about year but it's still important.

 

[Discoducky]

With the way Elon talks it would seem as if there is a 'new' model every week with 20+ engineering changes.

We (TMC) tend to really care about the major feature/option changes and then supply/demand/production constraints. These all add up to the stuff WS cares about, but they are very Quarter and calendar driven due to the SEC reporting fun.

 

[TampaRich]

This is just another way Tesla is disrupting the auto industry.

 

[JeffS]

I am with those that say it doesn't matter. I bought a used car born on 12/22/14. It's a 2014. I didn't care or even think about it until this thread popped up. When people ask how old my car is, I say its 10mos old.

I agree with the thoughts that Tesla shoppers by default, are a pretty studied bunch.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Just like every other car. Value is determined by many things. Primary is model year, condition, features, mileage. Everything is important when people are spending tremendous time on the internet, balancing all these factors against price.

When looking at resale books like Blue Book, NADA, etc. or internet marketing sites, everybody seem to be listing by their model year. Tesla begins theirs on Jan 1st, others tend to predate their model years as early as February to gain additonal value.

 

[Sparktz]

I agree that it matters.

 

[ecarfan]

It will matter to many people. It doesn't matter to those who understand that Tesla continuously improves their cars and pays absolutely no attention to the traditional auto industry concept of "model year". It doesn't matter to me.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Matters in states with a vehicle property tax that's year based. A 12/2015 is cheaper on tax than a 1/2016. Sold after 3 1/12 years, difference in Maine would be $60/$1k of MSRP, so $420 on a base Model S.

In Maine buying an Inventory car just after the turn of the year could allow you to skip year 1, saving 2.4% in tax, because a 2015 purchasd in 2016 would be a holdover.

 

[donv]

The "model year" thing was silly to begin with, and has just reached new heights of absurdity with new "model year" cars being delivered in July.

Kudos to Tesla for not playing that game!

 

[Canuck]

What matters more than model year is the date of release of major features, such as autopilot. That hardware was put on 2014 vehicles but after mine. Mine has taken a much larger hit of depreciation because of that -- so not all 2014's are the same. Same with parking sensors, but not to extent of auto-pilot. The next big change, more important than model year, will be auto-pilot 2.0, with more cameras and sensors, which is likely coming next year. A change to the appearance, to match the Model X front, will also likely come mid year and then the old nose cone will become obsolete and that will be bigger than model year. But the appearance change is just (hopeful) conjecture on my part.

 

[Old Man Mike]

It matters if you are not trading up to another Tesla. Trade-in value by Tesla for another Tesla is determined by days of ownership and not year produced. (This from my Delivery Specialist)

 

[luvnMyTS]

Maybe Tesla should start a new trend and reflect their cars as 2015-12 for December, 2015. or 2016-1 for January, 2016. Would make it real easy to know what you're getting as a used car buyer then.