FSD pre vs post delivery - cost, tax and insurance questions

[BentheRed]

Hi, I ordered my M3 SR+ in October and FSD was a $6k option. On my account page it continued to show $6k price for before AND after delivery even after the increase to $7k. Since the before and after delivery price was the same I decided to wait until after delivery so I could evaluate basic AP. Of course you’ve probably guessed that the day after delivery the FSD upgrade cost showed $7k. I’ve tried contacting support to ask what happened to the $6k price I was promised for after delivery FSD, but basic support fobbed me off to Sales, and Sales sent me to Support - I.e. I got the runaround :-(

Question 1) can anyone point me to the dept at Tesla who will consider my grievance? Namely that with a Dec 1st delivery date confirmed my account still showed FSD post delivery at $6k, which influenced my decision to not order prior to delivery. Even if the answer is “no, it’s $7k” I at least want to feel I’ve spoken with someone above the usual support intern who says “no” by default.

Q2) if I order FSD now at $7k it’s taxed at 8.25% Texas sales tax rather than the 6.25% new car tax. Why is that? It’s another thing I wish I had known before delivery- heads up for those waiting to order FSD after delivery! Any other “pre vs post delivery” things to consider? What about insurance? If I had paid for FSD with delivery would it be included if I needed a replacement car, but not if I paid for it as a later upgrade? Does anyone have experience with Tesla allowing FSD upgrade to follow the person rather than the VIN in the case of a replacement car?

 

[jjrandorin]

FSD does not follow you, it stays with the car. I am also wondering where you were "promised" a 6k price after delivery? A price on a website is a "promise" to purchase the item at that price during that internet session. You could literally close your browser and open it again on any shopping website (like amazon) and the price could change.

 

[rdcisneros3]

The price of FSD increased on November 1st. My understanding is that if you'd ordered it on October 31st at 11:30pm, it would have been $6K. If you'd ordered it on November 1st at 12:30am it would have been $7K. I don't believe original order date or delivery date would have any effect on the price; it's all about the November 1st date.

My assumption about the tax rate is that ordering FSD with the car would add it as an option/upgrade that applied to the original order and therefore was rolled under the purchase price of the car and taxed at the new car rate. It makes sense that purchasing it separately would have it subjected to normal sales tax rates just as any other aftermarket or post-delivery upgrade you add to the car.

 

[BentheRed]

FSD does not follow you, it stays with the car. I am also wondering where you were "promised" a 6k price after delivery? A price on a website is a "promise" to purchase the item at that price during that internet session. You could literally close your browser and open it again on any shopping website (like amazon) and the price could change.

I can appreciate this POV - personally I’d like to think buying a car is a more stable process than buying on, say, eBay - we shouldn’t have to hit “refresh” to check the price is still the same. Anyway, I’d just like to have this conversation with someone at a higher level of support within Tesla rather than the default “sorry can’t help you” response from front line support

 

[BentheRed]

The price of FSD increased on November 1st. My understanding is that if you'd ordered it on October 31st at 11:30pm, it would have been $6K. If you'd ordered it on November 1st at 12:30am it would have been $7K. I don't believe original order date or delivery date would have any effect on the price; it's all about the November 1st date.

My assumption about the tax rate is that ordering FSD with the car would add it as an option/upgrade that applied to the original order and therefore was rolled under the purchase price of the car and taxed at the new car rate. It makes sense that purchasing it separately would have it subjected to normal sales tax rates just as any other aftermarket or post-delivery upgrade you add to the car.

I ordered on Oct 20th and my account showed $6k price for FSD, along with “$6000 if added after delivery” (I took a screenshot), all the way up until delivery date of Dec 1st. It did not change to $7k after Nov 1st.
Thanks for the tax comment - this isn’t clear during the delivery process, so heads up to those with an order who are considering FSD as an aftermarket option. I suppose this could work in the favor of those in States that don’t have sales tax?

 

[jjrandorin]

Tesla makes it difficult by design to "have a conversation with someone higher up than the line level people". There is no easy way to do this that I am aware of (again by design in my opinion, to avoid the confrontational nature of people asking for exceptions to their policies).

In my opinion (which is worth exactly what you are paying me for it, lol), your best bet would be to physically go to a tesla store and have a chat with one of the managers there, and see if they can escalate on your behalf. I dont think that will go anywhere but you could try. Alternatively, when you call any tesla number, you are going to get a call center type line level employee who will state they will escalate FOR you, but you will not get to talk to the decision maker yourself.

 

[OCR1]

The price has been $7K since November 1. If it was showing up as $6K that was presumably a mistake. Had you purchased it you likely would have gotten the $1K discount but since the published price has been $7K since November 1 I don’t see where you have a strong position here. I’m sure it’s frustrating, but you can’t expect Tesla to honor a mistake that you didn’t elect to go with.