New price adjustment to upgrade Sr to SR+

[drosass]

Hi all,

I have a question , I purchased my car 2 weeks before the recent price change, after I hear about it I reach out to tesla to see if I was able to uograde my SR to Sr+ for the new price, I was told to set up a service appointment, however when the service Centereach out to me they say the only option they have is the one for 5k and there is not option for the 3k which is the difference in the new price. In any case, do you guys have any ideas as to how to proceed in this situation, they told me to call the sales manager but they say that since I'm out of my return window there is not much they can do.

Thanks for reading.

 

[gigawatt1010]

Tough situation, sorry you're going through it. Sadly, these sudden price changes have happened so many times in the past and put customers in the same boat as you. I don't recall a standard solution that Tesla offered in the past.

At this point, you're at their mercy and perhaps sweet talking the sales adviser may make them do what they used to call a goodwill. Long time ago when it was just the Model S, Tesla will bend over backwards to please you. Unfortunately, the tide had shifted.

 

[jjrandorin]

no other car dealer / manufacturer offers "retroactive price refunds". When you buy a honda or toyota from a car dealer, if your neighbor got a better price the day before you bought your car, you cant go back and demand the dealer refund you the difference. I am still super confused on why people think that is somehow 'what should happen" when they buy a tesla.

 

[BEPA400]

no other car dealer / manufacturer offers "retroactive price refunds". When you buy a honda or toyota from a car dealer, if your neighbor got a better price the day before you bought your car, you cant go back and demand the dealer refund you the difference. I am still super confused on why people think that is somehow 'what should happen" when they buy a tesla.

You should re-read the original post. He’s asking to upgrade Sr to an Sr+.
If it used to cost x to upgrade, then they bump the price of Sr+ up OR down y, keeping the price of the sr the same, it does not seem crazy to think the upgrade price between the two would also change a bit. Maybe not fully x + y but I would think it would at least move in that direction.

Irrespectively, he’s not asking for any refund, sounds like he’s asking to negotiate the price of an extra purchase, which anyone anywhere has a right to do.

 

[drosass]

no other car dealer / manufacturer offers "retroactive price refunds". When you buy a honda or toyota from a car dealer, if your neighbor got a better price the day before you bought your car, you cant go back and demand the dealer refund you the difference. I am still super confused on why people think that is somehow 'what should happen" when they buy a tesla.

Tesla is not like other companies, at least that is what I wanted to think, is not like I'm asking for a discount on hardware, this is just software 3k as opposed to 5k. In any case thank you for your condescending answer.

 

[jjrandorin]

Tesla is not like other companies, at least that is what I wanted to think, is not like I'm asking for a discount on hardware, this is just software 3k as opposed to 5k. In any case thank you for your condescending answer.

Condescending? Saying "I am confused as to why people expect retroactive refunds" is condescending? That word means " displaying or showing a feeling of superiority". Mind explaining how being confused about you expecting a refund for a car you purchased 2 weeks ago is condescending?

In any case, maybe the best course of action would be to wait and see if tesla decides to offer the upgrade for a lower price to existing owners at a later time.

its likely that they do that, which would be for all people who own SR cars who want to update to SR+. They take a while to work out the kinks on stuff like that.

 

[jjrandorin]

You should re-read the original post. He’s asking to upgrade Sr to an Sr+.
If it used to cost x to upgrade, then they bump the price of Sr+ up OR down y, keeping the price of the sr the same, it does not seem crazy to think the upgrade price between the two would also change a bit. Maybe not fully x + y but I would think it would at least move in that direction.

Irrespectively, he’s not asking for any refund, sounds like he’s asking to negotiate the price of an extra purchase, which anyone anywhere has a right to do.

He wants a discount on the SR to SR+ upgrade because the delta difference is 3k now vs 5k when he purchased his car. No its not crazy to think they will change the price eventually but they gave him an answer on the current situation and the question was "how to I proceed (implying proceed to get it for the 3k price)".

The answer to that is simply "wait, and see if they offer it for the reduced price later". Its not out of the realm of possibility they do so, it makes sense they would, but the fact that the OP purchased their car 2 weeks before the price cut is just bad luck on his / her part, and nothing to do with this really.,

 

[SlimJim]

I would wait until SR+ becomes $33000.
And ask for $2000 refund as you ask to upgrade to SR+.


/smart

 

[BEPA400]

He wants a discount on the SR to SR+ upgrade because the delta difference is 3k now vs 5k when he purchased his car. No its not crazy to think they will change the price eventually but they gave him an answer on the current situation and the question was "how to I proceed (implying proceed to get it for the 3k price)".

The answer to that is simply "wait, and see if they offer it for the reduced price later". Its not out of the realm of possibility they do so, it makes sense they would, but the fact that the OP purchased their car 2 weeks before the price cut is just bad luck on his / her part, and nothing to do with this really.,

This is Correct.

Your first statement that he was asking for a retroactive refund was misleading and indicated you didn’t read or understand the original post.

 

[M109Rider]

Tesla is not like other companies, at least that is what I wanted to think, is not like I'm asking for a discount on hardware, this is just software 3k as opposed to 5k. In any case thank you for your condescending answer.

It always sucks to buy anything, then the price drops.
This is not exclusive to Tesla, but still sucks. It’s a part of the risk of buying anything.

I agree, Tesla is not like other companies, which is a very good thing.

That Doesn't mean that as a different company, they should give money back.

The comment “This is just software” illustrates that unfortunately you really don’t understand the value of software.
The value of software is EXACTLY the same as the value of hardware.

Just like hardware, someone spent money to make it, so they sell it to make that money back with profit.
It’s the simple.

 

[drosass]

It always sucks to buy anything, then the price drops.
This is not exclusive to Tesla, but still sucks. It’s a part of the risk of buying anything.

I agree, Tesla is not like other companies, which is a very good thing.

That Doesn't mean that as a different company, they should give money back.

The comment “This is just software” illustrates that unfortunately you really don’t understand the value of software.
The value of software is EXACTLY the same as the value of hardware.

Just like hardware, someone spent money to make it, so they sell it to make that money back with profit.
It’s the simple.

I am offering money, but I guess staying in the SR version is not such a bad thing after all, thanks for the comment.

 

[jjrandorin]

Our current society seems to place much less value on "digital" goods vs physical ones, because of ease of distribution of digital goods, etc. Whenever I read asomeone say "its just software", I know thats how they feel. I am not a software engineer, but do work in IT, so I know the value of digital goods.

In any case, its not like I dont understand why the OP would be frustrated. It sucks to buy something then have it go on sale right after your return period is over. That doesnt mean that there is something wrong with the company for not honoring a request to reduce pricing on the item for you though. It doesnt man that they "need" to offer the upgrade for the same delta.

It would be a nice good will gesture, but its certainly not something they have to do. Outside of this specific OPs request, whenever tesla changes pricing, there is usually this outpouring of consternation about "what about meeee I just XXXXXX" that drove my original response, which in fairness was not "exactly" what the OP was saying.

Same principle, but not the exact same thing. To be fair, nothing wrong with the Op for asking to pay the same delta as exists now, I would do the same. Once they said "sorry, there isnt currently anything available to do that", I would just wait. There isnt really "any other way to pursue this" other than wait... because they are not obligated to do anything at all for previous purchasers.

it would suck, I would be annoyed, but I would understand it.

The OP just has to "hope" that tesla eventually reduces the price delta or runs a special upgrade or something. Alternatively, if the OP made a good connection with someone in management at their local Delivery center, they could reach out to them and see if there is something they can do, but its unlikely. Tesla takes a while to get its act together on this type of stuff. Its likely that eventually they offer a reduced price upgrade, as the cost of the software is already sunk costs, and they could get additional money out of people by reducing the upgrade price to the new price delta..

TL ; DR ...

Just wait, and likely the price will be reduced "later".

 

[PNWLeccy]

Whenever people say "it's just software", despite being in the tech industry, i mostly agree with them. Developing hardware requires lots of upfront cost as well as an ongoing cost to produce. Software usually has a smaller upfront cost and a largely nominal ongoing cost so that scaling is infinite compared to hw. Tesla does pay their developers to continue to develop their SW but that fixed/stable cost is not impacted by whether they have 500 customers or 500,000 (customer service is another discussion).

That's why Tesla typically values FSD very low for trade-in's. It has value to the customer but no real inherent value to Tesla. They can just update any car with it because the SW already exists. Just like pushing SR to SR+ upgrade costs Tesla nothing.

 

[drosass]

Whenever people say "it's just software", despite being in the tech industry, i mostly agree with them. Developing hardware requires lots of upfront cost as well as an ongoing cost to produce. Software usually has a smaller upfront cost and a largely nominal ongoing cost so that scaling is infinite compared to hw. Tesla does pay their developers to continue to develop their SW but that fixed/stable cost is not impacted by whether they have 500 customers or 500,000 (customer service is another discussion).

That's why Tesla typically values FSD very low for trade-in's. It has value to the customer but no real inherent value to Tesla. They can just update any car with it because the SW already exists. Just like pushing SR to SR+ upgrade costs Tesla nothing.

Thant's my point, I can see the value in paying 3k for the software upgrade but 5k is just not worth it (for me). I was convincing my wife to buy a model Y by the end of the year but after this incident is not going to happen. I now is not worth arguing and that 3k or 4k is nothing for Tesla so I just going to let it go.

 

[EnrgyNDpndnce]

Just be patient and before long Tesla will likely make this change. As long as they intend for the new price delta between SR and SR+ to remain steady for a while, it is very logical for them to make the change you want. So why don’t they make it now? Well because there are likely dozens or more people who just recently pulled the trigger to upgrade from SR to SR+ at the $5k price. So if Tesla changes that upgrade to $3k now, all those people will start griping and ask for a $2k refund. By delaying this change for several months they can minimize (although not eliminate) the blowback from recent upgraders.

 

[drosass]

Just be patient and before long Tesla will likely make this change. As long as they intend for the new price delta between SR and SR+ to remain steady for a while, it is very logical for them to make the change you want. So why don’t they make it now? Well because there are likely dozens or more people who just recently pulled the trigger to upgrade from SR to SR+ at the $5k price. So if Tesla changes that upgrade to $3k now, all those people will start griping and ask for a $2k refund. By delaying this change for several months they can minimize (although not eliminate) the blowback from recent upgraders.

That actually makes a lot of sense, thanks for the comment.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

I am offering money, but I guess staying in the SR version is not such a bad thing after all, thanks for the comment.

I'd pay money to downgrade from AP to regular old cruise control, so yes, it's not such a bad thing.

 

[vickh]

Just be patient and before long Tesla will likely make this change. As long as they intend for the new price delta between SR and SR+ to remain steady for a while, it is very logical for them to make the change you want. So why don’t they make it now? Well because there are likely dozens or more people who just recently pulled the trigger to upgrade from SR to SR+ at the $5k price. So if Tesla changes that upgrade to $3k now, all those people will start griping and ask for a $2k refund. By delaying this change for several months they can minimize (although not eliminate) the blowback from recent upgraders.

I agree. OP trying to negotiate exceptions with Tesla like trying to negotiate/reason with IRS. But once EVERYONE has the option you'll be able to do the upgrade. They have a bureaucratic rule driven culture when it comes to money.

I'm in the same SR boat and hoping they drop the upgrade fee or at least AP costs soon

 

[MP3Mike]

Tesla is not like other companies, at least that is what I wanted to think, is not like I'm asking for a discount on hardware, this is just software 3k as opposed to 5k. In any case thank you for your condescending answer.

It isn't really just software. As it also unlocks more capacity out of the battery that they will have to warranty.

 

[sonicP3D]

What's the SR price after the recent price adjustment? Is it sub-35k or still 35k?