High Demand and Price Gouging on Model Y

[GMAN65]

I, like many folks on this forum, have ordered a Model Y over 3 months ago and have seen my EDD date slip 3 times already. Today, I went out to www.edmunds.com to look at Tesla Model Ys and noticed about 30 cars with less than 500 miles. I then noticed about 12 MY that seemed to have gone from Tesla Delivery straight to the dealership and selling for $10k over buying the car directly from Tesla. What is interesting about this is that dealerships seem to have a couple of cars that are practically new and are selling for used. Thus, not only are they getting you on the price of the car, they are charging you a higher interest rate if you finance. Meanwhile, there are folks in this forum that have placed their orders in June and have not received their VINs yet. This is obviously not Tesla's fault. The greedy dealerships

I am reaching out to everyone on this board to see if there is any course of action that we can take to report this issue.

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See any available used Tesla Model Ys for sale. Find your perfect car with Edmunds expert and consumer car reviews, dealer reviews, car comparisons and pricing tools.

www.edmunds.com

 

[jjrandorin]

if a car is selling as used, that means it was titled (sold to a consumer). Number of miles do not matter. Those are cars that people bought, then sold to a dealership, they are NOT being sold by tesla directly to a dealership.

So, yes, people are taking their new cars they ordered a while ago and turning around and selling them to car dealerships. The fact the cars are sold as USED tells you that.

Point your anger at the people who are doing that, or the used car market pricing in general. Its certainly not teslas fault people are taking their new cars and selling them, so dont point your anger there, at least on that topic.

There is no "action to take to report this issue" of people selling their brand new cars for a profit to dealers.

 

[nate704]

Capitalism. totally normal. people with money and willingness will buy them no matter how much mark ups are.

 

[GMAN65]

if a car is selling as used, that means it was titled (sold to a consumer). Number of miles do not matter. Those are cars that people bought, then sold to a dealership, they are NOT being sold by tesla directly to a dealership.

So, yes, people are taking their new cars they ordered a while ago and turning around and selling them to car dealerships. The fact the cars are sold as USED tells you that.

Point your anger at the people who are doing that, or the used car market pricing in general. Its certainly not teslas fault people are taking their new cars and selling them, so dont point your anger there, at least on that topic.

There is no "action to take to report this issue" of people selling their brand new cars for a profit to dealers.

As I stated previously, Tesla is not at fault. When I spoke to one of the dealerships their explanation for having a car with 26 miles was "The owner had to move out of the country so he brought the car straight from the Tesla delivery center" doesn't make sense at all. They could have canceled the order. Then he offered to sell me another Tesla MY Performance with only 70 miles.

I understand people can take their cars and sell them because of the crazy market we have right now.

 

[Pianewman]

HAHAHA! One person's capitalism is another person's "greedy." Large ticket items are NOT about satisfying the consumer, but satisfying the investor.

Supply and demand.

 

[Geech72]

This isn’t price gouging it’s just simply retail. The cost of buying a MY isn’t just the retail it’s also the price paid in time to wait until April for delivery. If someone is willing to pay a premium to forego this wait why shouldn’t someone else be able to profit from it. I could do the same thing but I am not willing to pay the opportunity cost of losing the use of my MY until I can get another one in 6 months.

 

[N1L CO2]

Simple principles of supply and demand. When is the last time you had to wait 6 months for anything? I wouldn't be surprised at all if we see at least one more $1000 price increase by Tesla for the Y in the next few months. I just can't believe I am driving around in a car that is currently appreciating in value, LOL! First time for everything I guess.

With that said, I think the used car market for the Y will stay strong for at least a handful of years with people wanting to get into it at ~$35000 range. I plan to sell mine in a couple of years after it's paid off for a 2025 version. Should provide a nice down payment on the new one!

 

[Ogre]

This is why Tesla has been able to increase prices 7 times in the past 6 months.

Super glad I got mine in February. Heck… I’ve considered reselling mine after nearly 10k miles. Problem is then I have to drive ICE until my Cybertruck gets here in… ~18-24 months.

I expect this will continue for some time. It feels like someone flipped a switch in 2021 and the whole country (planet?) decided it needs to switch to an EV. Tesla can only produce so many.

 

[whisperingshad]

Think PS5

 

[DaveORD]

Tesla can only produce so many.

Ever see Michael Keaton's movie called Multiplicity? Makes me wonder, if we had such a machine how many times could we clone a Tesla before we ended up with a Bolt... lol j/k

 

[mrwug]

Pretty much like Super Bowl tickets on StubHub going for more then face value

 

[PNWLeccy]

The consumer still has the choice between instant gratification for +$10k or delayed gratification and the torture of 3+month wait for delivery.

I'm patient so I would never pay that much more to have it sooner but there are clearly people who value getting their car earlier at a rate of ~$3k+/mo. Pretty crazy but they keep getting listed at these prices so there's enough people willing to buy at that price. Capitalism means that things are valued at what people are willing to pay.

 

[Geech72]

Pretty much like Super Bowl tickets on StubHub going for more then face value

Except in the super bowl example most of the ticket holders were given an opportunity to purchase tickets that the general population did not have; whether they be season ticket holders of the participating teams, associated with a sponsor, part of the group that hosts the event, etc. The super bowl ticket re-sellers are taking advantage of a special opportunity in order to profit. All you needed in order to reserve a Tesla model Y 3 months ago was $100.

 

[AGARG]

if a car is selling as used, that means it was titled (sold to a consumer). Number of miles do not matter. Those are cars that people bought, then sold to a dealership, they are NOT being sold by tesla directly to a dealership.

So, yes, people are taking their new cars they ordered a while ago and turning around and selling them to car dealerships. The fact the cars are sold as USED tells you that.

Point your anger at the people who are doing that, or the used car market pricing in general. Its certainly not teslas fault people are taking their new cars and selling them, so dont point your anger there, at least on that topic.

There is no "action to take to report this issue" of people selling their brand new cars for a profit to dealers.

I can see both sides of the story, I used to work in car sale long time ago. It is an emotional purchase for a lot of people. also, don't forget a $58k sticker price Tesla will cost you like $63k out of door after paying for Tax, Title and license. So if the person sold it to dealer for what they paid out the door and then the dealership tacked on $5k for their profit you are at $10k above sticker price.
I ordered a MY LR in June or July and still no car and now saying March 2022 for delivery. I ended up buying a Mustang Mach E for the time being. When my Tesla comes one of the cars will be sold. If Mach E it might have 6,000 miles if Tesla it will have < 1,000 miles. I did not intent to buy and sell the Tesla but they are unable to tell me when I will get my car and I still need something to get from Point A to B, so I had to buy another car. Whichever car I decide to sell off I will try to get what I paid for it Out the Door (not the sticker price), and it could easily make it way to a dealer and be listed for more than the sticker price in that case.

 

[Ogre]

The consumer still has the choice between instant gratification for +$10k or delayed gratification and the torture of 3+month wait for delivery.

I'm patient so I would never pay that much more to have it sooner but there are clearly people who value getting their car earlier at a rate of ~$3k+/mo. Pretty crazy but they keep getting listed at these prices so there's enough people willing to buy at that price. Capitalism means that things are valued at what people are willing to pay.

Not that simple. Sometimes its is a choice of paying a premium for a car now versus not having a car at all for 3 months. You might buy something else and flip it, but then you have to deal with the nonsense of buying 2 cars.

Just a couple examples off the top:

Your car gets totalled and you just got an insurance payout.

You just got repatriated and don’t have a car in country.

Your lease is expires soon and you didn’t realize the wait for the car you want is 5 months.

 

[mark95476]

There was an old thread with someone offering to buy a recent reservation. I think the OP said they wrecked their car and needed a replacement.

That or maybe or flip it for quick $. I wonder if private sales are getting more than $10k over new.

I, like many folks on this forum, have ordered a Model Y over 3 months ago and have seen my EDD date slip 3 times already. Today, I went out to www.edmunds.com to look at Tesla Model Ys and noticed about 30 cars with less than 500 miles. I then noticed about 12 MY that seemed to have gone from Tesla Delivery straight to the dealership and selling for $10k over buying the car directly from Tesla. What is interesting about this is that dealerships seem to have a couple of cars that are practically new and are selling for used. Thus, not only are they getting you on the price of the car, they are charging you a higher interest rate if you finance. Meanwhile, there are folks in this forum that have placed their orders in June and have not received their VINs yet. This is obviously not Tesla's fault. The greedy dealerships

I am reaching out to everyone on this board to see if there is any course of action that we can take to report this issue.

Used Tesla Model Y for Sale Near Portland, OR - Special Offers | Edmunds

See any available used Tesla Model Ys for sale. Find your perfect car with Edmunds expert and consumer car reviews, dealer reviews, car comparisons and pricing tools.

www.edmunds.com

 

[PNWLeccy]

Not that simple. Sometimes its is a choice of paying a premium for a car now versus not having a car at all for 3 months. You might buy something else and flip it, but then you have to deal with the nonsense of buying 2 cars.

Just a couple examples off the top:

Your car gets totalled and you just got an insurance payout.

You just got repatriated and don’t have a car in country.

Your lease is expires soon and you didn’t realize the wait for the car you want is 5 months.

Totally understand that some people might need a vehicle right away due to situations out of their control. I think the term instant gratification might imply a lack of restraint/irresponsibility but I meant it more literally.

If someone needs a MY right away, they pay a premium to get the specific vehicle they want, when they want it. As much as it would suck to not be able to get the car you want, the logical choice would be to get another vehicle that IS available right away, if they needed it. At the end of the day, the MY is just a mode of transportation, the same way a prius is.

If I needed an item for an event and they offered free shipping w/ 10 day shipping or expedited shipping for +$20, I would have the choice of paying for expedited shipping to get it before the event or find an alternative that I can pick up in person.

 

[brian.c]

This is pretty much happening across the board at this point. I will happily sit on the sideline until all this crazyness goes away. I am in the market for computer components, markup on ebay is about 200%, can't get new at this point. Also would like to get a truck, used Tundras listed for 10k over MSRP of a new one. New Tundras listed with $15k dealer markup... Rav 4 prime, listed at dealer for $57k, $15k over MSRP. If you really want it, I guess some people will pay. I don't need anything bad enough to spend over the normal list price... Once this all resolves, those willing to spend the extra will take a big hit.

 

[MatildaModelY]

Sold my 2018 Model 3 LR for more than I paid for it, after using it for almost 3 years. Upgrade to a Y was a no brainer.

 

[thinktwice]

This isn’t price gouging it’s just simply retail. The cost of buying a MY isn’t just the retail it’s also the price paid in time to wait until April for delivery. If someone is willing to pay a premium to forego this wait why shouldn’t someone else be able to profit from it. I could do the same thing but I am not willing to pay the opportunity cost of losing the use of my MY until I can get another one in 6 months.

Exactly. You can just as easily blame consumers for purchasing them at these prices. If no one was willing to buy at these prices, they wouldn't be selling them this high.