Lesson Learned...Don't buy before fed tax credit drop

[rpat]

Just like end of 2018, buying to get your tax credit is seemingly a bad idea with Tesla. Don't forget that in Dec 2019.

Tax credit drop is more than offset by price drop + better paint. More-so for the Performance version.

Also better build quality as they won't be rushing to get things out the door

 

[smalltownguy]

*yawn*

Buy when you want to buy.

Don't forget that every car manufacturer does basically the same thing with rebates, etc.

Just take an Uber.

 

[M3BlueGeorgia]

Just like end of 2018, buying to get your tax credit is seemingly a bad idea with Tesla. Don't forget that in Dec 2019.

Tax credit drop is more than offset by price drop + better paint. More-so for the Performance version.

Also better build quality as they won't be rushing to get things out the door

Not that simple.

Depending on the configuration, most people only saw a $1K price decrease vs a US$1,875 drop in the Federal tax credit.

And Tesla did warn that the base color was switching to white, so people who wanted white could know to wait and avoid paying a $1.5K upcharge.

Except for some significant charges that affected a few purchasers, people didn't generally benefit from waiting.

Anyway, Tesla routinely mess around with their prices, so just buy when you are ready to buy and don't worry about it.

 

[MoHazee4]

I disagree that other automakers do the same with rebates...that's garbage.

Go look on the BMW lot -- that price isn't changing as frequently. Nope. Show me the data.

If you get the rebates - you could argue that money is earning interest for you. Minimal, yet - long term.

 

[jdw]

Who pays sticker price at BMW? I've owned three of them and negotiated every one. I'm pretty sure somebody got a better deal than me and somebody got a worse deal ...

Tesla just does it in plain view, not the back room, plus at least someone who bought the same car at the same time I did, paid exactly the same price.

 

[ewoodrick]

I disagree that other automakers do the same with rebates...that's garbage.

Go look on the BMW lot -- that price isn't changing as frequently. Nope. Show me the data.

If you get the rebates - you could argue that money is earning interest for you. Minimal, yet - long term.

I suspect that I could go talk to three sales people and get 3 different prices in the same day. What was your point?

 

[OCR1]

I learned a long time ago to be a buyer when nobody else is buying and a seller when nobody else is selling. If everyone is chasing after Tesla to get their cars before a tax credit expiration you can pretty much be assured that Tesla is not going to be selling at their lowest possible price.

I'm not sure why anyone would be surprised of a price drop after the tax credit reduction. History has a way of repeating itself.

 

[ewoodrick]

Just like end of 2018, buying to get your tax credit is seemingly a bad idea with Tesla. Don't forget that in Dec 2019.

Tax credit drop is more than offset by price drop + better paint. More-so for the Performance version.

Also better build quality as they won't be rushing to get things out the door

So I think that your point isn't to buy before a tax credit drop, it's not to buy before the end of quarter for which Tesla has promised a record. But then again, I'm not really sure why you are saying that. Did you have some paint quality issues? Do you really believe that they only happened to you. Did you even happen to see when your car was manufactured?

 

[Black Dahlia]

At first I didn't so ripped off. But thinking about it... Yeah, I'm starting to. Purchased June 29th, drove it home after delivery, has been parked since because I don't want to drive it till I get PPF wrapped on it. So it's pretty much like I don't own a Model 3 yet since I haven't driven it. If the paint wasn't as bad as it was, I'd have started driving it 3 weeks ago.

My Performance Model 3:

Model 3 $35,400
Performance Motor AWD $24,500
Premium Interior INCLUDED
Solid Black Paint INCLUDED
Performance Wheels INCLUDED
Base Autopilot INCLUDED
Premium Black INCLUDED
Performance Upgrade INCLUDED
Performance Pedals INCLUDED
Carbon Fiber Spoiler INCLUDED

Price as configured: $61,100.00
Price adjustment: - $2,290.00
Deposit: -$2,500
Sub-total: $58,810.00
Total: $62,170 after taxes and fees.

As configured now:

Model 3 $38,990
Performance Motor AWD $16,750
Premium Interior INCLUDED
Pearl White Paint INCLUDED (Free $1,500)
Performance Wheels INCLUDED
Base Autopilot INCLUDED
Premium Black INCLUDED
Performance Upgrade INCLUDED
Performance Pedals INCLUDED
Carbon Fiber Spoiler INCLUDED

Price as configured: $55,740
Deposit: - $2500
Total: $58,726 after taxes and fees.

Shave off another $2,300 for price adjustment if I had purchased it this weekend... I would've saved myself roughly $5,744 or almost $100 a month.

 

[vickh]

not for a black SR. That went up factoring in OTD price+ ~2K fed credit.

Now if we can only get them to give us the lower SR+ upgrade price

 

[Lunares]

At first I didn't so ripped off. But thinking about it... Yeah, I'm starting to. Purchased June 29th, drove it home after delivery, has been parked since because I don't want to drive it till I get PPF wrapped on it. So it's pretty much like I don't own a Model 3 yet since I haven't driven it. If the paint wasn't as bad as it was, I'd have started driving it 3 weeks ago.

My Performance Model 3:

Model 3 $35,400
Performance Motor AWD $24,500
Premium Interior INCLUDED
Solid Black Paint INCLUDED
Performance Wheels INCLUDED
Base Autopilot INCLUDED
Premium Black INCLUDED
Performance Upgrade INCLUDED
Performance Pedals INCLUDED
Carbon Fiber Spoiler INCLUDED

Price as configured: $61,100.00
Price adjustment: - $2,290.00
Deposit: -$2,500
Sub-total: $58,810.00
Total: $62,170 after taxes and fees.

As configured now:

Model 3 $38,990
Performance Motor AWD $16,750
Premium Interior INCLUDED
Pearl White Paint INCLUDED (Free $1,500)
Performance Wheels INCLUDED
Base Autopilot INCLUDED
Premium Black INCLUDED
Performance Upgrade INCLUDED
Performance Pedals INCLUDED
Carbon Fiber Spoiler INCLUDED

Price as configured: $55,740
Deposit: - $2500
Total: $58,726 after taxes and fees.

Shave off another $2,300 for price adjustment if I had purchased it this weekend... I would've saved myself roughly $5,744 or almost $100 a month.

That assumes you wanted white. Let's go with that for now. Don't forget you also get $1875 more in tax credit. That's a $1500 difference between configurations, not 5.7k. Why the hell would you assume you could still get a $2300 price adjustment right after a cut + at quarter start? That's asinine.

Cut that $1500 in half if you don't want white exterior.

 

[tvad]

We bought a dual motor on June 30. After crunching the numbers, I determined we would have saved $240 if we purchased after the price drop...including the Fed tax credit.

We had two weeks of use for the additional $240, so while the price drop is irksome, it's pretty much a wash.

 

[anticowboyism]

If you get the rebates - you could argue that money is earning interest for you. Minimal, yet - long term.

If you finance your purchase, and don't pay down your loan with the rebate, then you'll be paying interest on the rebate amount, not earning interest.

 

[ezevphl]

It all depends on what Tesla wants to do with the particular model you are interested in.

Three weeks ago.. LR RWD 44,900 with 3k tax credit
Two weeks ago LR RWD 45,900 1.85k tax credit
This week no LR RWD

 

[Watts_Up]

Just like end of 2018, buying to get your tax credit is seemingly a bad idea with Tesla. Don't forget that in Dec 2019.
Tax credit drop is more than offset by price drop + better paint. More-so for the Performance version.
Also better build quality as they won't be rushing to get things out the door

*yawn*
Buy when you want to buy.
Don't forget that every car manufacturer does basically the same thing with rebates, etc.
Just take an Uber.

I would say, both are right.
- End of quarter in general get some discount, but not always on the exact version, color, options you are looking for.
- Tesla would make some less profitable models (Standard and Mid range) just to push the sales numbers.
- If you can, take your time to shop around before making a decision.

In my personal case I bought, partially, to take advantage of the Federal and State Tax discount. Also I got a check from my Electricity company.
Since last year, I lost both the Fed and State tax discount, and my Electricity company get bankrupt because of been at the origin of deadly fires.
However, with all the recent Tesla price adjustments, today I would get an identical car at the same price.

So just buy when you need it and enjoy.

 

[ohmman]

Moderator note: In order to preserve the continuity of this thread, I'm locking it and suggesting that future discussion about price drops continue here.