Model 3 model year

[MnInvsve]

hi everyone,

new to the forum. i am in the process of taking delivery of my model 3 and was wondering if anyone could shed some light on model years. I know that it doesn’t mean much on Teslas and that Tesla bases the designation on when the car was manufactured, bu and all things being equal, I’d rather get a 2018 over a 2017.

I got my VIN assigned and the 10th digit is “J” which according to the decoders on teslatap and electrek corresponds to a 2018 MY car, however on the proforma paperwork which was provided to me by Tesla, it is listed as a 2017 car. Does anyone know which one is true? Is the proforma paperwork simply a template which could be incorrect?

Thanks!

 

[Sabinanners]

I am not sure either

1. Heard on one site (can’t recall which) Tesla will have to revise VIN above 3000 to 2018 model year
2. Mine was 313x and when I used a VIN free lookup it showed 2017, plus AAA said the system showed 2017, this when I go to pick it up I am going to ask and inquire.

I too would rather have a 10 day old car (1/10/18 delivery) show new car instead of 1 year old, which is what it currently shows.

 

[gizmoboy]

Tesla doesn't really "do" model years, but since most other systems force it on them, the VIN is used to infer it. People can tend to get a little twisted up about it, but it's one of the prices of going with a maverick.

 

[Sabinanners]

Tesla doesn't really "do" model years, but since most other systems force it on them, the VIN is used to infer it. People can tend to get a little twisted up about it, but it's one of the prices of going with a maverick.

I think Model year is a standard associated with vin

Here is the article on 2018 vins
Tesla Model 3 VINs point to over 2,000 units produced in 2017

Here is the twitter quote,”VINs 3027-3840 were changed from MY2017 to MY2018 and check digit calculation has been corrected for VINs 3841-8362.”

 

[dsvick]

Tesla began issuing 2018 VINs on/after 22 December. So it is entirely possible that you have a 2018 VIN on a car that was manufactured in 2017. Which isn't much different than other manufactures where you can get the next model year several months before the end of the current year.

 

[cpa]

We configured on Christmas Day. We receive our vehicle on Jan. 12. The proforma Purchase Agreement says the car is a 2017.

The last part of the VIN is HF0037XX.

 

[mattjs33]

Tesla doesn't really "do" model years, but since most other systems force it on them, the VIN is used to infer it. People can tend to get a little twisted up about it, but it's one of the prices of going with a maverick.

Federal regulations require it, champ. Tesla can't "maverick" their way out of having to play by the rules. It's pertinent to myriad regulations that the NHTSA requires, which are changing all the time, and associated with specific model years. The "people" who might get twisted up about it happen to be the federal government, and they don't really care how special you think your car company is. Huge fines are the result of noncompliance. Fines I don't think Tesla can really afford.

 

[gizmoboy]

Federal regulations require it, champ. Tesla can't "maverick" their way out of having to play by the rules. It's pertinent to myriad regulations that the NHTSA requires, which are changing all the time, and associated with specific model years. The "people" who might get twisted up about it happen to be the federal government, and they don't really care how special you think your car company is. Huge fines are the result of noncompliance. Fines I don't think Tesla can really afford.

Well, sport, I assume you're being an obtuse ass to troll on purpose.

But assuming you're not...

The notion of a model year may be a federally-mandated construct, but it is essentially irrelevant to a manufacturer who continually updates their product without regard to arbitrarily clamping features to a given model year.

As such, model year is irrelevant when discussing Teslas because it is not precise enough to indicate the things that "model year" is usually a proxy for (like what version of feature X, what body style, what part number, etc.).

The certainly causes concern to folks who attribute the value of their car to a given model year, captain, and can cause folks distress, but it is nonetheless not very helpful in the discussion of Tesla models.

If you care, the official model year is encoded in the VIN, and you can do with that anything you like (such as comply with federal regulations).

Hopefully, this answer (like I though my original) is more responsive to the OPs intent than yours was.

 

[mattjs33]

His concern was that he was going to end up with a 2017 as opposed to a 2018 car. In a few years, when he goes to sell it, there will be an assumed one greater year of depreciation in it, if it's VIN'ed as a 2017. It affects future values, and insurable value, both of which I think are pertinent to his query.

I'm not at all interested in whether or not Tesla is the champion of the people because they do something as novel as "continuously improving the product". Lots of companies do that with little fanfare. It's why production dates happen to be so important in the automotive aftermarket.

I'm fully aware of how to decode a VIN, in fact that's why I came here in the first place years ago, to share that information regarding Roadsters. You certainly cannot do "anything you like" regarding VINs, or Model Years encoded within.

 

[stopcrazypp]

His concern was that he was going to end up with a 2017 as opposed to a 2018 car. In a few years, when he goes to sell it, there will be an assumed one greater year of depreciation in it, if it's VIN'ed as a 2017. It affects future values, and insurable value, both of which I think are pertinent to his query.

I'm not at all interested in whether or not Tesla is the champion of the people because they do something as novel as "continuously improving the product". Lots of companies do that with little fanfare. It's why production dates happen to be so important in the automotive aftermarket.

I'm fully aware of how to decode a VIN, in fact that's why I came here in the first place years ago, to share that information regarding Roadsters. You certainly cannot do "anything you like" regarding VINs, or Model Years encoded within.

Federal law is one thing, but some of the vin decoders seem to be showing what are designated as 2018 cars by Tesla (with the J in the 10th digit) as 2017 cars. The issue isn't at all with federal compliance anyways, but rather the practical effects of that.

 

[gizmoboy]

His concern was that he was going to end up with a 2017 as opposed to a 2018 car. In a few years, when he goes to sell it, there will be an assumed one greater year of depreciation in it, if it's VIN'ed as a 2017. It affects future values, and insurable value, both of which I think are pertinent to his query.

Certainly is, though depreciation isn't as simple as model year; it's features, it's when in the model year the car was manufactured, it's all kinds of other things. But MY certainly factors in and is relevant.

But to maximize resale value for your Tesla, you're going to need to sell to informed consumers because those looking solely at MY are likely going to over-devalue a car.

I'm fully aware of how to decode a VIN, in fact that's why I came here in the first place years ago, to share that information regarding Roadsters. You certainly cannot do "anything you like" regarding VINs, or Model Years encoded within.

I think you misunderstood what I meant by "you can do anything you want." You seem to have inferred "Tesla can play with VINs all they want," but what I meant was "people can use whatever information a VIN provides however they want."

 

[mattjs33]

Certainly is, though depreciation isn't as simple as model year; it's features, it's when in the model year the car was manufactured, it's all kinds of other things. But MY certainly factors in and is relevant.

But to maximize resale value for your Tesla, you're going to need to sell to informed consumers because those looking solely at MY are likely going to over-devalue a car.

This is the problem Tesla is going to have as they move beyond True Believers and into "regular people" in their quest to become mass market and be one of the big boys. Mass market cars don't demand that people "get" them. The average car owner doesn't care, will never go on a forum about their car and can't be expected to know this stuff. And a 2017 is a year older than a 2018, no matter when it was made or whether it's Version 4.8.20 or whatever. Ask an insurance adjuster.

Federal law is one thing, but some of the vin decoders seem to be showing what are designated as 2018 cars by Tesla (with the J in the 10th digit) as 2017 cars. The issue isn't at all with federal compliance anyways, but rather the practical effects of that.

Any VIN decoder that decoded a VIN with a 10th digit of J as a 2017, I would discard immediately. It's the most basic element of a VIN beyond the WMI.

 

[gregincal]

This is the problem Tesla is going to have as they move beyond True Believers and into "regular people" in their quest to become mass market and be one of the big boys. Mass market cars don't demand that people "get" them. The average car owner doesn't care, will never go on a forum about their car and can't be expected to know this stuff. And a 2017 is a year older than a 2018, no matter when it was made or whether it's Version 4.8.20 or whatever. Ask an insurance adjuster.



Any VIN decoder that decoded a VIN with a 10th digit of J as a 2017, I would discard immediately. It's the most basic element of a VIN beyond the WMI.

Even with regular cars after a few years a one year difference in model year when the features remained the same doesn't matter nearly as much as the mileage when it comes to price. We bought my wife's 2015 Honda CRV in November of 2015. If we had waited a couple months we could have gotten a 2016, but it was identical. Who cares? If people care they can always delay ordering their car until the new year. Now pre or post autopilot makes a huge difference in Model S resale prices, even though they have the same model year.

 

[stopcrazypp]

Any VIN decoder that decoded a VIN with a 10th digit of J as a 2017, I would discard immediately. It's the most basic element of a VIN beyond the WMI.

If I understood correctly, the AAA decoder shows the car as 2017 too. This seems to be mainly a problem with the cars in the transition period where Tesla changed the model year (but check digit was not corrected).