No wait - buy it now - P85's?

[andrewket]

How To Get A Tesla Model S Right Now - Business Insider

If this is true, why I have I been waiting months for my fully loaded, multi-red P85? Where are these cars?

 

[DJ Frustration]

I suspect this "secret inventory" will be like the spots you could buy on the Signature waiting list in September 2012 when it was supposedly sold out. You won't find the inventory listed for sale on any Tesla website. The author of the piece didn't specify how people can skip the line either. I suspect an off the record conversation with Corporate Sales will get the doors magically opened.

It would be nice if Tesla took a queue from Apple and not only announced a new program/product but announced when it will go live in stores. If I was a journalist on the service announcement conference call from last week, my question would have been, "When do you plan to have all the Service Centers stocked with Loaner Model S and Roadsters?"

 

[FlasherZ]

This isn't "secret inventory". These are the orphaned cars, plain and simple, as detailed by the writer. The former reservation holders forfeited their deposits, and Tesla now gets to sell their cars. This was discussed in other threads, it was simple - call to the service centers and stores and ask if they have any orphaned cars for sale. Tesla even posted on the TM forums that there were a few on the floor in Menlo Park for sale.

And, for the record, the waiting list for Signature wasn't any sort of a secret society or "who you know" type thing either. The Tesla web page said that Signature was sold out, but you could email ownership@ to be put on the waiting list. You were then promoted based on those who dropped out -- or, in the case of brianman's favorite topic -- some slots were reallocated to the US from Canadians who didn't sign up.

I reserved my S, e-mailed ownership@, and a couple of weeks later when they sent out "time to configure" e-mails, I got a call asking if I wanted a Signature slot.

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If this is true, why I have I been waiting months for my fully loaded, multi-red P85? Where are these cars?

I suspect even if you called every service center and sales center in the country, you would not find a multi-red P85, but would find plenty of blues, blacks, and whites.

 

[SCW-Greg]

Btw, I was politely reminded by store staff that these are not "orphaned" cars, as no Tesla is ever orphaned... but instead "inventory" cars.

I considered buying the demo/test drive unit (at a discount), but also got to see a list of inventory. Not sure if the inventory was from our localized area, or if the list was a national list.

You can go to your store and ask to look at this list, assuming you're truly in the market, and they'll share it with you. I would presume you could call if there isn't a convenient store near you.

In the end there wasn't a perfect, or close enough match to what I desired, so I finally locked in my configured Model S, and it's now in production.

@FlasherZ, probably exactly right, every color I saw on the list, was anything but red, just the common colors.

 

[andrewket]

Btw, I was politely reminded by store staff that these are not "orphaned" cars, as no Tesla is ever orphaned... but instead "inventory" cars.

I considered buying the demo/test drive unit (at a discount), but also got to see a list of inventory. Not sure if the inventory was from our localized area, or if the list was a national list.

You can go to your store and ask to look at this list, assuming you're truly in the market, and they'll share it with you. I would presume you could call if there isn't a convenient store near you.

In the end there wasn't a perfect, or close enough match to what I desired, so I finally locked in my configured Model S, and it's now in production.

@FlasherZ, probably exactly right, every color I saw on the list, was anything but red, just the common colors.

The article specifically mentioned red as being available. <shrug> It would be nice if Tesla had these listed on the website somewhere.

 

[ElSupreme]

I was at the Atlanta store. They have an 'orphan' 60kWh vehicle that they are using as an loaner, not sure what color. They also have 2 roadster loaners, and all the sudden I want to bring my car in for service.

But I was specifically told the person could not secure financing and forfeited their deposit. And that they were going to use that car as a loaner until they got their P85s from the factory.

 

[Spells]

This isn't "secret inventory". These are the orphaned cars, plain and simple, as detailed by the writer. The former reservation holders forfeited their deposits, and Tesla now gets to sell their cars.

Were this the case, they wouldn't all be loaded P85s, unless they are upgrading every single one that gets orphaned.

 

[nanimac]

Btw, I was politely reminded by store staff that these are not "orphaned" cars, as no Tesla is ever orphaned... but instead "inventory" cars.

i was interested in one of these cars and the tesla rep called it an "orphan"! Lol...if you have an existing reservation and you're car hasn't been built yet, Tesla will make it pretty easy to cancel your res and get into one of these orphans. I almost bought one since i was tired of waiting for my car to be built but decided in the end to keep my res as the "orphan" didn't have all the options I wanted.

 

[EarlyAdopter]

These are no doubt part of the 80 totally speced out P85 + all options loaners. With them having just rolled off the assembly line one could consider them "inventory" cars with no miles.

 

[FlasherZ]

Were this the case, they wouldn't all be loaded P85s, unless they are upgrading every single one that gets orphaned.

That's not what I said. I said they were orphaned cars. Person <A> reserves the car, configures the car and signs the pre-MVPA which makes their deposit non-refundable. Then, for whatever reason, person <A> can't come up with the final payment but Tesla has built it. Tesla as a result keeps person <A>'s $5,000 deposit and has a manufactured car to sell.

It has nothing to do with the service loaners (although, as mentioned, they might be using them temporarily as loaners or demonstrators).

Tesla had several of these months ago in various cities. It wasn't a secret, you could call them and they'd tell you what was on hand.

 

[EarlyAdopter]

That's not what I said. I said they were orphaned cars. Person <A> reserves the car, configures the car and signs the pre-MVPA which makes their deposit non-refundable. Then, for whatever reason, person <A> can't come up with the final payment but Tesla has built it. Tesla as a result keeps person <A>'s $5,000 deposit and has a manufactured car to sell.

It has nothing to do with the service loaners (although, as mentioned, they might be using them temporarily as loaners or demonstrators).

Tesla had several of these months ago in various cities. It wasn't a secret, you could call them and they'd tell you what was on hand.

The article mentions the inventory cars have the Performance Plus handling package. This option only just became available, therefore it's highly unlikely they're orphaned cars. These have to be the for-sale service loaners.

The article also mentions there are a few non-performance cars available. These could very well be orphans.

 

[FlasherZ]

The article mentions the inventory cars have the Performance Plus handling package. This option only just became available, therefore it's highly unlikely they're orphaned cars. These have to be the for-sale service loaners.

Wouldn't be the first time a reporter was wrong. There have been cars available with no wait for several months now if you're willing to take what they have.

 

[drkaap]

I just purchased one of them. P85, Red w tan, carbon fibre, fully loaded. the VIN is 7693, not sure how old that translates out to. I was specifically looking for Red. They told me that all the MS's in red were fully loaded P85's. I was told that I should get it in 1-2 weeks at most.

 

[Spells]

This isn't "secret inventory". These are the orphaned cars, plain and simple, as detailed by the writer.

Were this the case, they wouldn't all be loaded P85s, unless they are upgrading every single one that gets orphaned.

That's not what I said. I said they were orphaned cars. Person <A> reserves the car, configures the car and signs the pre-MVPA which makes their deposit non-refundable. Then, for whatever reason, person <A> can't come up with the final payment but Tesla has built it. Tesla as a result keeps person <A>'s $5,000 deposit and has a manufactured car to sell.

I may have been unclear. Your scenario does not make sense if, as the article states, all the cars are loaded 85s or p85s. If this was exclusively an unloading of orphans, one would expect to see 60's in there, as well as cars that weren't loaded.

 

[Benjam]

I just purchased one of them. P85, Red w tan, carbon fibre, fully loaded. the VIN is 7693, not sure how old that translates out to. I was specifically looking for Red. They told me that all the MS's in red were fully loaded P85's. I was told that I should get it in 1-2 weeks at most.

If you wouldn't mind sharing, what sort of a discount did they offer on yours compared to website pricing?

 

[Rowlock]

Data point for you guys:

Called the Menlo Park store out of curiosity, to see if they had anything that was a reasonable match for my ordered P85. Apparently the inventory cars generally don't include the Perf Plus pack yet, since those haven't been coming off the production line for long enough to build up any significant levels of available stock.

Supposedly the odds of finding a Perf Plus car should increase pretty quickly in the next month or so, if that's what you're looking for, if results with other models are any indicator. Might give 'em another call in a couple weeks and see how it's going... :smile:

 

[drkaap]

Nothing, I was told that you get a discount of 50 cents per miles for inventory vehicles that have > 100 miles. Mine only has 25 miles on it.

I figured would be minimal considering the current demand but geez. Not even enough for a tank of ga..... Uh, a ride through an auto car was...... Uh, a bottle of Rain-X

I was told that my car was produced to be the main showroom vehicle for one of their very soon to be opening stores. It was already at the location when I bought it. I asked them if they planned on keeping it on the showroom floor. The response was 'No, it's your car now. It's our problem to get a replacement there'. I was told that the car will get a full inspection with replacement of any part that is not in absolute 'new' condition and then will be shipped to me.

 

[K Hall]

Congrats drkaap, it's good to see Birmingham getting some Model S's. Flasher is correct. There is inventory available today to anyone who wants to buy it now as configured. I plan on buying our second MS this way as there is a good selection and the wait is minimal.

There will also be demos available in the near future but these cars are all new waiting on a home.

 

[Lou in SoCal]

Was told by the Costa Mesa service center that they had two new loaner cars that were purchased shortly after they received them.

 

[rogbmw]

Was told by the Costa Mesa service center that they had two new loaner cars that were purchased shortly after they received them.

With all the good press, loaners may not have the chance to be loaners very long....