Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register
  • We just completed a significant update, but we still have some fixes and adjustments to make, so please bear with us for the time being. Cheers!

Latest Price Drop Discussion

T3SLAROD

Member
May 14, 2019
559
487
SoCal
Thats why I bought used and abused.......no stress over prices....

Think of it this way, usually when you buy a car from another brand you dont constantly look at whether car is going up or down in price. No different here.
 
  • Like
Reactions: KJD

imnotdavez

Member
Apr 30, 2019
41
56
American Canyon, CA
I have no issue with Tesla and the price drops, because it all just seem natural to me, though I do wonder if my $11K gamble on EAP+FSD will ever be fully-realized. You can only do so much with software updates, so who knows if they'll eventually find out that to achieve their full FSD vision that they'll need 26 cameras, a new type of radar, a significantly faster CPU, and a flux capacitor -- and decide that they can't upgrade older cars with the hardware.
 

dmurphy

Woof.
Dec 7, 2018
3,341
4,549
New Jersey - Morris County
It’s clear from reading the bulk of these posts that Tesla isn’t a car company so much as a cult of idiots parroting Elon. It’s seems that to the majority no price drop would be too much because of the great wisdom they’ve acquired that prices change over time.

Not parroting a damn thing ... just understand how this works.

I’ve never worried about price drops after I’ve bought a car before, not going to start now. No idea why I’d look at Tesla any differently.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jerry33

jebinc

M3 LR AWD w/FSD and white premium interior
Jun 19, 2019
3,407
1,684
Seattle area
I have no issue with Tesla and the price drops, because it all just seem natural to me, though I do wonder if my $11K gamble on EAP+FSD will ever be fully-realized. You can only do so much with software updates, so who knows if they'll eventually find out that to achieve their full FSD vision that they'll need 26 cameras, a new type of radar, a significantly faster CPU, and a flux capacitor -- and decide that they can't upgrade older cars with the hardware.

Definitely the flux capacitor... might even need to be more than 1.21 jigawatts too! :p
 
  • Like
Reactions: imnotdavez

mswlogo

Well-Known Member
Aug 27, 2018
5,965
4,572
MA, NH
My P3D- stickered at $75k (before taxes, destination, etc.). The exact same configuration today (based on this thread) would be $57k.

Granted, I got the full $7500 federal tax credit, the $2500 California rebate (which I'm no longer eligible for... blast that rebate limit ;) ), unlimited free data, unlimited free Supercharging, and $900 in subsidy from various local entities but that still leaves a little left over... which was completely made up for in YouTube revenue in the 10 months since I took delivery. I may have paid a silly amount of money for this car, but I can't complain.

There is an argument to be made for price stability and estimating future depreciated value, but how much that matters depends on your specific case and what your plans are when making the purchase.

You forgot to mention you could have had $5000 refund (plus tax) in exchange for losing free super charging (not offered for the $57K price today).

So now let's total it $75k - $7500 - $2500 - $5000 = $60,000 is what you really have to compare apples to apples. So it's $60k vs $57K.

I did a similar calculation on my P3D- and it came out that today it would cost $1000 more than what I bought it for last Sepetember. ($10K Tax credit plus $5K Performance refund).

Whether folks could have taken the tax credit or not doesn't really matter. What most people have paid (with tax breaks) is close to what it is now with out tax breaks. For folks that couldn't take advantage of tax credits you could have waited (and maybe you did), because this was a very obvious move that Tesla was gonna make.

And in long term. The best thing that could happen to any Tesla owner right now, is for Tesla to SUCCEED.

Because if they don't we are all screwed.
 

Prunesquallor

His cardinal virtue? An undamaged brain.
Dec 19, 2018
2,786
28,207
Houston/Galveston
It’s clear from reading the bulk of these posts that Tesla isn’t a car company so much as a cult of idiots parroting Elon. It’s seems that to the majority no price drop would be too much because of the great wisdom they’ve acquired that prices change over time.
Yep, you are right. You should have insisted on a guarantee that the price of the car would NEVER change until the day you sold yours. Why didn't you?
 

KenC

Active Member
Sep 4, 2018
3,278
2,993
Maine
Darn, went to Tesla.com to see how badly I've been ripped off by lying Elon and I've been ripped off so badly, they no longer sell my car! I shoulda gotten a huge discount for buying an orphaned silver Model 3!
 

Kilotango74

Active Member
Apr 2, 2019
1,332
1,129
Palmdale, CA
Personally I am truly grateful for all the sacrifices you early adopters have made. I for one will celebrate these sacrifices when I purchase my M3P at its new lower price before the end of the year. Again, Thank-you!
 
  • Disagree
  • Funny
Reactions: UTMB and mswlogo

Nate977p

Member
Jul 28, 2017
521
526
Boston
Hello All,
I have long watched these threads and want to jump in here. As background, bought a P3D back in September, fully loaded with Blue, PUP, and FSD. In addition, all 4 rims bent withing 3 months :) Thus I think I am in the "most screwed" category if it was a pissing match... Other background, I was the first in line in the US (to my knowledge) camping outside the store for days. I would say I am a superfan. I will say, I do not feel screwed at all as I did get FUSC, which in 10 months, has saved me about $2000 over paying to charge.

But a few points I feel keep getting glossed over:

1) Comparing a Tesla to a cell phone or TV is ridiculous. There is a huge difference in price, impact on people's finances, and practicality. The root people are getting at is Tesla is tech, not a car. Sorry, but no. Tesla is competing in the automotive market not the cell phone or TV market and there are far different expectations.

2) Tesla has always touted they are better than dealers as there are no shady price tactics, this is shady. The reason being is it follows no logic and people can not predict. People typically know that certain seasons have better deals, model year changes, time on market, end of month, start of month, ext will have different deals. Also, manufacturers never change MSRP during a model year, it is a once a year affair. Bringing me to my next point...

3) Lowering MSRP is not at all the same as offering a discount or rebate. Lowering MSRP has a huge impact on people's financial position, as it instantly lowers the value of their by that amount, putting many underwater that may not have been. And more than that, that is a real cash hit as a car is an asset (100% depreciating, until proven otherwise....cough cough...doubt doubt). People did lose that equivalent amount from their net worth overnight even if there is no loan. Rebates and discounts do not have this impact on residual value of cars, at least not to nearly the same degree.

4) Yes with dealers someone may buy the same car on the same day for $10k less, BUT that is a known. Car buying is all about negotiating and researching. Everyone who buys knows that and knows there is a risk. Some people accept it and buy at whatever the dealer gives them, some will crossshop 10 dealers to get the best price possible. That is known and you choose the risk you want to take. When a company says the price is always uniform, and then changes the MSRP at random (i.e. not along traditional wisdom of model years), then the consumer has ability to assess their risk and act accordingly, it is all a coin flip.

5) Tesla is not a scrapy startup, they are a global, influential powerhouse, granted a very new one. These are not early adopter buyers anymore, these are typical car shoppers and they are being treated like early adopters; this may have flown in Model S and X days, but we are well past that now.

I love how Tesla disrupts, but they are now turning away good customers. The company is dealing with everyday people now, not just techies and superfans. And to be honest, it is very upsetting. Literally this past weekend, we were talking about trading in the GFs AWD 3 when the Y comes out as having one SUV makes sense, and my 3 has FUSC. But then this happened. Now she lost thousands of dollars on resale, that will be a real loss a year from now, and we are afraid to buy a Y as we do not want to go through this pain again. That perspective may change.

Tesla needs to have some rhyme or reason. My opinion is they should run specials, on a predicable basis, say monthly, thus they can be ever more flexible. And only do MSRP changes at year end or when they make major model changes.

Typical consumers will not take this any for long and Tesla is killing loyalty. We have 3 (2x 3, one S) in the immediate family, and between these changes and the horrid service, we would buy any other brand next time..... as long as they had the SC network, amazing performance/handling, AutoPilot, and constant updates. And their in lies Tesla's greatest advantage. They can hurt their consumers because their lead is so fast, but that will dry up, and if they do not inspire loyalty, real loyalty and not blind fandom, and soon, the established brands will come hit them hard.

Just my $.02 :)
 

MOD220

Member
Apr 25, 2019
81
17
Columbus, OH
I ordered Long Range M3, on 5/22/19, added 19" wheels, white paint, and white seats, was $53,900. Ended up cancelling the week it was ready, and damn I feel good about that. Today identical car but Performance is only $2k more...I feel bad for those who bought before the drops, especially S owners who paid $20k for Ludicrous. I see both sides, yes things change and prices go down, but Tesla is more irratic than any other company. If I had kept the 3 or bought the S I saw last month, I'd be pissed. Iphones don't even update this often, and they don't swing in price 10-20% seemingly on a whim. The used car market (even those on Teslas website) still seem disconnected to new car values, at some point, the whole market will feel this. I am now hesitant to buy either model, really prefer an S, but a big refresh could happen, as we know, guarantees of something not happening are hard to believe at this point.
 

boriszima

Member
Jul 12, 2018
660
315
Los Angeles
There are many of us here who paid more a while ago including myself. As many people said, did you pay the price you agreed on? That must meant you were happy with a purchase. Do not dwell on it. Tesla will continue to adjust prices as needed, likely keep lowering them as it gets better making cars. would i have personally waited knowing that prices will decrease? maybe, but no regrets here. Sure it maybe sucks for others, but thats what it is
 
  • Like
Reactions: Prunesquallor

Daniel in SD

Well-Known Member
Jan 25, 2018
6,281
8,933
San Diego
Literally this past weekend, we were talking about trading in the GFs AWD 3 when the Y comes out as having one SUV makes sense, and my 3 has FUSC. But then this happened. Now she lost thousands of dollars on resale, that will be a real loss a year from now, and we are afraid to buy a Y as we do not want to go through this pain again. That perspective may change.
If you're trading in your Tesla for another Tesla how does a price drop on Teslas cost you money? o_O
Seems like it will save you money on taxes...
Is there some new economic theory out there that says that sales drop when you lower prices?
 

Joshan

Member
Jan 8, 2019
516
839
Chicago
Really.... this thread again?

Every car dealer has always done this, they just hid it behind the guise of a fake price no one pays called MSRP. You and I could go to the same car dealer today for the same car and we would get two different prices.

Basing car prices on the mood of the sales person, the race or sex of the customer or any other arbitrary factor is a much better system of pricing cars. I have no idea why Tesla didn't follow that model /facepalm

If they raise the price are you going to mail them a check for the difference? Ya I thought so...
 

mswlogo

Well-Known Member
Aug 27, 2018
5,965
4,572
MA, NH
Yeah just like boats

Actually, I just sold my full inboard boat. Paid $29k for it 17 years ago (low hours). Just sold it for $19k. Not bad at all, that’s a depreciation rate of a hair over 2% / year. I think I could have got a little more, got a lot of calls on it. New inboards are crazy high right now $70 - $100k these days. I take good care of my toys too ;).
 

Nate977p

Member
Jul 28, 2017
521
526
Boston
If you're trading in your Tesla for another Tesla how does a price drop on Teslas cost you money? o_O
Seems like it will save you money on taxes...
Is there some new economic theory out there that says that sales drop when you lower prices?
Ouch good call on my point there :p. Fair enough on that point. I was thinking if we bought a non Tesla got hit by it, but good point :) other points still stand!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Evangeline

About Us

Formed in 2006, Tesla Motors Club (TMC) was the first independent online Tesla community. Today it remains the largest and most dynamic community of Tesla enthusiasts. Learn more.

Do you value your experience at TMC? Consider becoming a Supporting Member of Tesla Motors Club. As a thank you for your contribution, you'll get nearly no ads in the Community and Groups sections. Additional perks are available depending on the level of contribution. Please visit the Account Upgrades page for more details.


SUPPORT TMC
Top