My experience with buying an inventory car

[spentan]

I call BS on this whole thread!

Loaners were suppose to be for owners of current MS cars and not for people to jump the que. We then were to have the option to buy the car if wee liked it....

Because the loaners are open to everyone for purchase our service centre does not have any availible When you take your car in.

Good job tesla, piss off the owners!

Calling BS? as in you don't believe the posters in this thread? Or you don't agree with Tesla's policy on selling loaners?

Yes, Loaners are to be for owners of current Model Ses, but once they trade their P85 in for a P85+, who can buy that P85? you can't just limit it to S60/S85 owners, it'd make no financial sense to keep it for such a limited target audience.

The Loaner Sales policy has been changed now, as mentioned in another thread (Tesla making changes to inventory car purchase process)

Agreed, they need to keep their loaners for the service centers, but the idea is also to keep the loaner fleet very fresh (and in this case, selling them all off last year, paved the way for 2014 loaners), and keep them desirable.

 

[HankLloydRight]

I'm set up to buy a P85+ inventory car at the end of the week. It comes configured with the rear-facing seats, and I asked them to be removed, which they said they can do, but they are no longer offering *any* credit for them.. so I told them to leave them in. I don't know if this is just a local policy or from HQ, but just be aware. For a $2800 credit, I sure as hell would take them out, but for ZERO credit, leave them in. The excuse they gave me was that the rear end of the MS is "beefed up" for the rear seats, and even if they take the seats themselves out, it still did cost them more in production than the cost of the removable parts. Yeah, I know it sounds like a BS exuse, but I'm going to ask again when I go to close the deal.

 

[landover]

I'm set up to buy a P85+ inventory car at the end of the week. It comes configured with the rear-facing seats, and I asked them to be removed, which they said they can do, but they are no longer offering *any* credit for them.. so I told them to leave them in. I don't know if this is just a local policy or from HQ, but just be aware. For a $2800 credit, I sure as hell would take them out, but for ZERO credit, leave them in. The excuse they gave me was that the rear end of the MS is "beefed up" for the rear seats, and even if they take the seats themselves out, it still did cost them more in production than the cost of the removable parts. Yeah, I know it sounds like a BS exuse, but I'm going to ask again when I go to close the deal.

Yes they also told me they would take them out and credit me the difference. But that was early last month. Do you no what the total is going to be for the car? I'm going tomorrow morning to see what's left in the inventory after they made it so the loners would stay for 90 days now. I may just wait till march when they will come available.

 

[HankLloydRight]

But that was early last month. Do you no what the total is going to be for the car

Yeah, they said it was a "new" policy and that they are no longer offering rebates for removal of the seats.

I know about what the total is -- they are going to adjust it when I close the deal to adjust for any additional mileage or time.

I'm not sure how they count the 1% discount per month -- is it whole months from the in-service date? Calendar months? Pro-rated for partial months? Who knows.

 

[spleen]

I'm set up to buy a P85+ inventory car at the end of the week. It comes configured with the rear-facing seats, and I asked them to be removed, which they said they can do, but they are no longer offering *any* credit for them.. so I told them to leave them in. I don't know if this is just a local policy or from HQ, but just be aware. For a $2800 credit, I sure as hell would take them out, but for ZERO credit, leave them in. The excuse they gave me was that the rear end of the MS is "beefed up" for the rear seats, and even if they take the seats themselves out, it still did cost them more in production than the cost of the removable parts. Yeah, I know it sounds like a BS exuse, but I'm going to ask again when I go to close the deal.

Cars that come equipped with the 3rd row also have a beefed up crash barrier built in to protect the 3rd row from rear impacts (boron bar? Can't quite remember the details). So it's not BS that it costs more than just the seats and removal of the seats and a full credit may not cover the cost of the reinforcement.

FWIW, even if you get no credit for it, you may still want to have the seats removed if you have no use for them because they do take up cargo space in the rear.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Cars that come equipped with the 3rd row also have a beefed up crash barrier built in to protect the 3rd row from rear impacts (boron bar? Can't quite remember the details). So it's not BS that it costs more than just the seats and removal of the seats and a full credit may not cover the cost of the reinforcement.

FWIW, even if you get no credit for it, you may still want to have the seats removed if you have no use for them because they do take up cargo space in the rear.

Thanks. Good to know it's not all BS.

We have two adult kids, so there's now little need for the extra storage space in the back (it's already pretty huge back there). Although I do like that square duffle bag they sell to fit perfectly in that spot.

I doubt I'd use the jump seats for more than demo rides for friends (and their young kids). Also for resale value. So I don't want to remove them just for the space, unless I can still get that $2800 credit.

 

[zwede]

Wow, I made it just in time then! I bought an inventory P85+ last week (delivery this Friday). It also came with the rear seats and they gave me a $1,500 credit for removing them. Now I'm glad I didn't wait with signing the paperwork. They must have stopped the credit just days later!

Btw, as for the negativity earlier in the thread, my inventory car is 5 months old, 5,500 miles. Old enough that it needs to be sold.

 

[HankLloydRight]

I haven't singed the final paperwork yet (just the pre-purchase agreement), but I am also due to get my car on Friday or early next week. I'm still going to try to talk them into giving me a credit for seat removal.

 

[MassX1317]

I haven't singed the final paperwork yet (just the pre-purchase agreement), but I am also due to get my car on Friday or early next week. I'm still going to try to talk them into giving me a credit for seat removal.

I asked at the same location as you and was told no tire swaps, no more seat removal for credit.

Also there were only 2 cars under $92k, both had no discount. Must have been sales that fell through.

 

[andrewket]

I'm set up to buy a P85+ inventory car at the end of the week. It comes configured with the rear-facing seats, and I asked them to be removed, which they said they can do, but they are no longer offering *any* credit for them.. so I told them to leave them in. I don't know if this is just a local policy or from HQ, but just be aware. For a $2800 credit, I sure as hell would take them out, but for ZERO credit, leave them in. The excuse they gave me was that the rear end of the MS is "beefed up" for the rear seats, and even if they take the seats themselves out, it still did cost them more in production than the cost of the removable parts. Yeah, I know it sounds like a BS exuse, but I'm going to ask again when I go to close the deal.

Not BS.

 

[zwede]

I asked at the same location as you and was told no tire swaps, no more seat removal for credit.

Also there were only 2 cars under $92k, both had no discount. Must have been sales that fell through.

Yes, they told me the same thing regarding wheel swaps. My car has the silver 21s, and I prefer the grey 21s. But no go on that.

I noticed the same thing about inventory cars. Most of them are P85+ and $100K+. On the other hand, they have plenty of those and the older ones are right at $100K which is a sweet deal for a loaded P85+. About $20K off.

 

[HankLloydRight]

I asked at the same location as you and was told no tire swaps, no more seat removal for credit..

How do you know which location I went to?

 

[MassX1317]

How do you know which location I went to?

Because there is only one store in New England

 

[HankLloydRight]

Because there is only one store in New England

I may live in New England, but the store I went to was not.



But it's good to hear they have consistent policies.

 

[albiefett]

Btw, as for the negativity earlier in the thread, my inventory car is 5 months old, 5,500 miles. Old enough that it needs to be sold.

My inventory car was made in May of last year and I picked it up exactly a month ago with ~8,000 miles on it... So about 7 months old.

Does that mean I can feel a little less guilty about screwing over all the previous owners that needed loaners?

 

[chickensevil]

My inventory car was made in May of last year and I picked it up exactly a month ago with ~8,000 miles on it... So about 7 months old.

Does that mean I can feel a little less guilty about screwing over all the previous owners that needed loaners?

Nope! Don't you know, Tesla should keep all the old cars FOREVER! What? that car is 10 years old and breaking down? Nope! Don't sell it! Think of the loaner program!!! /sarcasm

While I don't think I would like getting an ICE loaner (cause then I would have to pay for gas... bleh), I get why they are selling them off. At the same time, now that we are well into the new year (and they are not pushing for end of quarter numbers...) they shouldn't replace out an old car until they have a new one to replace. Or swap out half of the fleet wait until full again, and then swap out the other half. Would help make everyone happy.

Hopefully we will see what this "new service center plan" is that they are supposed to be announcing soon, and it will alleviate any of those concerns.

 

[HankLloydRight]

What is the "new service center plan"?

 

[chickensevil]

What is the "new service center plan"?

I don't know. Noone does. In Tesla we trust...

There was a statement made a while back (I don't think it was "official"), that said they were going to be making a change on service which was supposed to be better for the customer. We will see if this materializes or pans out. I can't put my finger on where I saw this off hand...

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

I don't know. Noone does. In Tesla we trust...

There was a statement made a while back (I don't think it was "official"), that said they were going to be making a change on service which was supposed to be better for the customer. We will see if this materializes or pans out. I can't put my finger on where I saw this off hand...

The statement was in the Q3 letter to shareholders:

http://files.shareholder.com/downlo...d256/Tesla Q3'13 Shareholder Letter final.pdf

On page 2:

During the quarter, we made dramatic improvements in our service operations. Our investments in staffing, training and locations are beginning to bear fruit. Tesla is pioneering a new approach to vehicle servicing that we believe will revolutionize the customer experience. An announcement about this will be forthcoming shortly.

 

[chickensevil]

The statement was in the Q3 letter to shareholders:

http://files.shareholder.com/downlo...d256/Tesla Q3'13 Shareholder Letter final.pdf

On page 2:

Thanks I tend to do so much reading up on information... Not just about Tesla, my job involves a lot of research... So it can get a little tough to remember WHERE I read something haha!