Noob Buying Questions

[mreynolds767]

OK, I am going to come off like a complete idiot but hoping someone will be kind enough to hold my hand for these...

The Tesla buying experience to me feels part liberating but also part DIY.
I am one of the few I guess who never really hated new car buying from a dealer.
Sure I had a few bad experiences with pushy sales people and up sells on useless extras but experienced enough to work my way around them.
The full service aspect of the dealer handling everything for you, I actually enjoy.
Have always bought new, the Telsa experience feels more like buying a used car IMO.

I feel like their business model alienates some buyers and if they truly want to have a car for the masses with the Model 3 (and Y) they could do a better job.

For example:
Have never shopped around for financing or bought with cash. Have always taken advantage of new car financing low interest rates from the manufacture. Tesla seems to just use one of the larger banks (Chase, BOA, etc...) so expecting I will not get as good an interest rate as I am used to with them.

I understand I can try on my own to find a credit union or similar that will give me a better rate. Put generally never enjoy shopping around for loans, getting many credit pulls, income verifications from work, etc... The loan through 3rd party without a VIN seems more of a hassle and in some cases you need to start the loan interest before you even have the car.

I see the price on the Telsa website but exactly what is not included is not clear...
I know I need to add the $1200 destination fee.
Let's say for a round figure I am at $50,000 including the destination.
I assume I need to pay the sales tax in full at time of pickup for me state sales tax (a size able chunk of change)
Why does their website not include your state sales tax once it knows your location?
Any other fees I should expect?

Does Tesla handle registering the car and getting me a license plate?

Trade in process, do I keep my car and trade it in when I pickup the new car or do I have to arrange a few days rental in some cases to sell before I buy?

If going the loan route, after I hit buy and pay $2500 ; do I consider that $2500.00 as my cash deposit? Sales Tax not included in their loan calculators I assume, so if I need to pay upfront $2500.00 plus sales tax ; I intend to have no more out of pocket and want a loan for the rest. Or may even want the loan to cover some or all of the sales tax if I can unless that scenario results in a higher rate (a dealer can usually give me all of these figures, options with rates based on money out of pocket easily)

Does insurance transfer as smoothly as it does when buying a new car at the dealer ; where they or I just call my agent and I am done. A little concerned that variances in how insurance companies treat Telsa will have me shopping around my insurance which is really something I want to do or am that comfortable with. Have an agent I have used for years.

I can see it being a situation where once you do it once and better understand it, you will never want to go back to the old dealer experience again but for the first time it doesn't necessarily feel like a more transparent process to this buyer.

Maybe I am completely wrong about this and the delivery process (taking delivery at a nearby sales/service center) is painless and they do take care of everything for you, I just don't know so am asking these questions.

 

[MikeDog77]

I would just go into a service center or store with your list of questions and let Tesla answer them. I think it is pretty strait forward but better to hear from them. If you are not close to them, just call and get your questions answered in 5 minutes.

 

[ewoodrick]

You can easily go online, order a car, use Tesla financing. Wait for a little, get notification that your car is available and then arrive at the Delivery Center with a drivers license and proof of insurance.

And not worry about anything else. Just as easy as ordering from Amazon. No need to go to a store and order (They actually have you do it online anyway)

You can also make it harder by shopping around for the best financing, then figuring out how the company is going to give you the money to pay Tesla when you pick up the car.

 

[mreynolds767]

You can easily go online, order a car, use Tesla financing. Wait for a little, get notification that your car is available and then arrive at the Delivery Center with a drivers license and proof of insurance.

And not worry about anything else. Just as easy as ordering from Amazon. No need to go to a store and order (They actually have you do it online anyway)

You can also make it harder by shopping around for the best financing, then figuring out how the company is going to give you the money to pay Tesla when you pick up the car.

Good to hear, thank you.
Can you click the buy and pay $2500.00 and then wait until you get a Vin# to apply for the Telsa financing or do you apply right away not knowing how long the car will take? I would rather wait if that is an option.

 

[ewoodrick]

I believe that you have to signup for financing at the beginning. This allows them to do all of the checking and get the approval before the car is assigned. At least this is the way it worked a year ago.
Today, cars can take anywhere from 2 days to maybe 8 weeks, dependent on what and when you order. If you get lucky, they have a car in inventory and you get assigned quickly.

 

[duckm4n]

Tesla definitely has some holes in the customer service department, mainly with communication. For the most part the experience will be similar to a normal dealership without the pushy sales and finance people, they will handle all the paperwork for you. It would be best to head to a service center and see for yourself, but I will answer the questions I can based on our experiences in VA.

I understand I can try on my own to find a credit union or similar that will give me a better rate. Put generally never enjoy shopping around for loans, getting many credit pulls, income verifications from work, etc... The loan through 3rd party without a VIN seems more of a hassle and in some cases you need to start the loan interest before you even have the car.

Getting a third party loan isn't as difficult as it sounds. User T3slaMecca has even compiled a list of the best rates. If you don't want to deal with that the current Tesla lending rate is 3.75% which isn't that bad.

Any other fees I should expect?

Besides taxes you will also have to pay a registration, titling fee, and any other fees your locality has. They really should give you an estimated sales tax amount. All the fees and taxes are paid to Tesla at the time of delivery.

The sales tax in MA is based on MSRP + Destination - Trade. The deposit is just a deposit so there shouldn't be any additional taxes on it. You will have to estimate the loan amount, but you will get a final Motor Vehicle Purchase Agreement with all the fees listed. For our cars it was Total(MSRP+Taxes+Fees) - Deposit - Down Payment - Loan Amount.

Does Tesla handle registering the car and getting me a license plate?

Tesla files the DMV paperwork for you, you just have to sign a Power of Attorney for them to do so at the time of delivery.

Trade in process, do I keep my car and trade it in when I pickup the new car or do I have to arrange a few days rental in some cases to sell before I buy?

Trade in is like any other dealership. Tesla will give you an offer price. If you decide to go with them just drop it off when you take delivery. I've read that they will match Carmax quotes as well if you want to get the most value.

Does insurance transfer as smoothly as it does when buying a new car at the dealer ; where they or I just call my agent and I am done.

Exactly the same as getting a car from anywhere else. Insurance is unique for everyone. Get a quote from your agent and see if the costs are within your limits. It does pay to shop around.

 

[Chasingmars]

If you like the "dealer experience" you could just visit the showroom... there's no haggling though you won't have that dealership pleasure, your substitute "did I really get a good deal?" anxiety comes from seeing the price changes on the website after you order - but these are much more transparent and smaller in magnitude than the usual haggling experience!

As to your specific questions - the "new car financing low interest rates from the manufacture" is a bit of a game... they are low on models that need incentivizing but there's often a hidden cash value the manufacturer will give you if you don't use their financing to "hide" the actual cost of borrowing in the favourable interest rate... On actual non-incentivized vehicles they are making a profit on your loan, when I shopped most of the other EV's in the market for example (none of which in my market are being pushed by manufacturers so there loans are un-incentivized) the loan rates I was quoted were all significantly worse than what I got from Tesla's approach (which interestingly, was slightly lower on delivery and signing that what I was quoted on order, a nice bonus).

Specifics: Tesla M3SR+: 3.45%, Kia e-Nero: 3.99%, Nissan Leaf+ SL 4.69% Hyundai Kona-EV 3.99%, Honda Clarity 5.99% (your market may differ). Tesla's rate (actually, they use RBC and Scotia in my market so my loan is RBC's rate really) is about the same as I would have expected a car loan from my bank would have been, all on similar amounts/terms except the Clarity which was a significantly less expensive vehicle.

Yes the $2500 online is your cash deposit, you then tell them later how much you want to additionally pay in cash and how much you want to finance at least a few days in advance of deliver (they told me the online system for that was problematic so send it by email). In my case, they hadn't updated my file but they took care of it smoothly at time of delivery (while I had a second nesspresso ) and got it corrected quickly.

I don't know specifics of where you are but where I am, I just called my insurance ahead of time, let them know when I was going to pick up the vehicle, and they sent me a proof of coverage letter to show at my delivery, I did this as soon as I had a forecast delivery date. My delivery was actually earlier than scheduled, so I had to call them the day of delivery again but they sent me an updated letter immediately. Contrary to Internet reports that insurance would be expensive, shop around if it is - my insurance for the tesla was actually cheaper than my wife's significantly less expensive Toyota Highlander, and then, nice surprise, they applied a $100/year discount to BOTH vehicles EACH (without me even asking or knowing about the program) because I'd "gone green" and bought an EV. Colour me impressed with my provider.

Sales Tax - Some of my financing included the sales tax (i.e. I put less down than my taxes totalled and financed the rest). Can do that here, not sure what the rules are where you live.

I don't know about fees where you are but I had a fee delta of all of $12 and change on my registration which I paid by credit card. They replaced the vehicle for me, and handled my new registration, just like a dealer would. I didn't get to keep and transfer my old plates because here we have snazzy green ones for EV's so the old one's stayed with my trade in.

Trade in was the easiest I've ever experienced. After I picked up the Tesla, I drove it to where I parked my old car, transferred my baby seats and other stuff, handed the Tesla guy the keys to my 10 year old much abused, loved and hard driven Volvo, and drove off with my Tesla. They never even inspected it - if I had a very nice example, I probably could have done better on it selling it used, but in the state it was in, I consider the price I got for it quite good, and they won't loose money selling it at auction to someone who is probably going to part it out anyhow... point is, it's painless, but the more your old car is worth the more you should think about private sale. There's absolutely no negotiation on trade in value, accept the value they quote online, or don't (I've heard however in some markets they will price match some trade in quotes, didn't apply in my case).

Like many things Tesla, you just have to not worry, and take the risk on something a bit different... it IS a different process, and there's some waiting (though not as much as I had expected), and ... it is BETTER after you adjust to it not being the same, in my opinion.

 

[raptor5244]

For example:
Have never shopped around for financing or bought with cash. Have always taken advantage of new car financing low interest rates from the manufacture. Tesla seems to just use one of the larger banks (Chase, BOA, etc...) so expecting I will not get as good an interest rate as I am used to with them.

I understand I can try on my own to find a credit union or similar that will give me a better rate. Put generally never enjoy shopping around for loans, getting many credit pulls, income verifications from work, etc... The loan through 3rd party without a VIN seems more of a hassle and in some cases you need to start the loan interest before you even have the car.

As you enter your information online you can have Tesla provide financing or you can select 3rd party financing. Sometimes you get get better rates for auto loans at your bank. For example, Bank of America offers up to a .375% discount depending on your status with the bank. If you don't want to shop then you can just let Tesla do it but you may not get the best rate available. May not matter much if you are one to pay off the loan early.

I see the price on the Telsa website but exactly what is not included is not clear...
I know I need to add the $1200 destination fee.
Let's say for a round figure I am at $50,000 including the destination.
I assume I need to pay the sales tax in full at time of pickup for me state sales tax (a size able chunk of change)
Why does their website not include your state sales tax once it knows your location?
Any other fees I should expect?

The sales tax is calculated once you complete entering in all the information. Your state laws, rates and trade-in will all factor in so you won't see that until you continue through the online process. Other fees, include things like tire fee, battery fee, registration and title fees, maybe 400-500 worth.

Does Tesla handle registering the car and getting me a license plate?

Yes, if you decide if you want to transfer your tag or get a new one. It is one of the questions you answer in the process.

Trade in process, do I keep my car and trade it in when I pickup the new car or do I have to arrange a few days rental in some cases to sell before I buy?

If you decide to trade your car you will be presented with an offer from Tesla. If you accept that offer they will disclose that the offer is good 30 days and 1000 miles. If you trade it in to Tesla, you just drive it there and they transfer your tag and away you go in your new car.

If going the loan route, after I hit buy and pay $2500 ; do I consider that $2500.00 as my cash deposit? Sales Tax not included in their loan calculators I assume, so if I need to pay upfront $2500.00 plus sales tax ; I intend to have no more out of pocket and want a loan for the rest. Or may even want the loan to cover some or all of the sales tax if I can unless that scenario results in a higher rate (a dealer can usually give me all of these figures, options with rates based on money out of pocket easily)

$2500 is the deposit on a credit card and they apply that deposit as a downpayment on the deal. You decide how much more you want to put down if any. Sales tax on the deal will be calculated based on the factored described earlier.

Does insurance transfer as smoothly as it does when buying a new car at the dealer ; where they or I just call my agent and I am done. A little concerned that variances in how insurance companies treat Telsa will have me shopping around my insurance which is really something I want to do or am that comfortable with. Have an agent I have used for years.

You simply call your insurance agent and provide them with the VIN and they will add the car to your policy. Most insurance companies offer automatic 14-30 day courtesy coverage on new car purchases anyway. In my case, Tesla just had me sign an affidavit stating I would provide insurance within 30 days.

The whole process is pretty straightforward and the online system will walk your through it. Like others have mentioned you can go to a service center and they will walk you through it.

 

[Dana1]

OK, I am going to come off like a complete idiot but hoping someone will be kind enough to hold my hand for these...

The Tesla buying experience to me feels part liberating but also part DIY.
I am one of the few I guess who never really hated new car buying from a dealer.
Sure I had a few bad experiences with pushy sales people and up sells on useless extras but experienced enough to work my way around them.
The full service aspect of the dealer handling everything for you, I actually enjoy.
Have always bought new, the Telsa experience feels more like buying a used car IMO.

I feel like their business model alienates some buyers and if they truly want to have a car for the masses with the Model 3 (and Y) they could do a better job.

For example:
Have never shopped around for financing or bought with cash. Have always taken advantage of new car financing low interest rates from the manufacture. Tesla seems to just use one of the larger banks (Chase, BOA, etc...) so expecting I will not get as good an interest rate as I am used to with them.

I understand I can try on my own to find a credit union or similar that will give me a better rate. Put generally never enjoy shopping around for loans, getting many credit pulls, income verifications from work, etc... The loan through 3rd party without a VIN seems more of a hassle and in some cases you need to start the loan interest before you even have the car.

I see the price on the Telsa website but exactly what is not included is not clear...
I know I need to add the $1200 destination fee.
Let's say for a round figure I am at $50,000 including the destination.
I assume I need to pay the sales tax in full at time of pickup for me state sales tax (a size able chunk of change)
Why does their website not include your state sales tax once it knows your location?
Any other fees I should expect?

Does Tesla handle registering the car and getting me a license plate?

Trade in process, do I keep my car and trade it in when I pickup the new car or do I have to arrange a few days rental in some cases to sell before I buy?

If going the loan route, after I hit buy and pay $2500 ; do I consider that $2500.00 as my cash deposit? Sales Tax not included in their loan calculators I assume, so if I need to pay upfront $2500.00 plus sales tax ; I intend to have no more out of pocket and want a loan for the rest. Or may even want the loan to cover some or all of the sales tax if I can unless that scenario results in a higher rate (a dealer can usually give me all of these figures, options with rates based on money out of pocket easily)

Does insurance transfer as smoothly as it does when buying a new car at the dealer ; where they or I just call my agent and I am done. A little concerned that variances in how insurance companies treat Telsa will have me shopping around my insurance which is really something I want to do or am that comfortable with. Have an agent I have used for years.

I can see it being a situation where once you do it once and better understand it, you will never want to go back to the old dealer experience again but for the first time it doesn't necessarily feel like a more transparent process to this buyer.

Maybe I am completely wrong about this and the delivery process (taking delivery at a nearby sales/service center) is painless and they do take care of everything for you, I just don't know so am asking these questions.

I know I need to add the $1200 destination fee.
Let's say for a round figure I am at $50,000 including the destination.
I assume I need to pay the sales tax in full at time of pickup for me state sales tax (a size able chunk of change)
Why does their website not include your state sales tax once it knows your location?
Any other fees I should expect?

You will always pay sales tax, etc. Multiply sales price by tax rate, eg, .0625

Does Tesla handle registering the car and getting me a license plate?

Yes

Trade in process, do I keep my car and trade it in when I pickup the new car or do I have to arrange a few days rental in some cases to sell before I buy?

Better off trading it in yourself but they’ll quote a CarMax price. They don’t want to deal with your car and won’t usually give a competitive price to encourage you to work that out yourself.

If going the loan route, after I hit buy and pay $2500 ; do I consider that $2500.00 as my cash deposit?

Yes. This is exactly like every car sale and loan that’s ever happened. If you want the sales tax financed to ask the bank for more money. In Texas it would be sales price * 1.0625, plus destination. Subtract down payment. You’ll get a purchase agreement with the money to the penny. That’s what your bank gets. They’ll fund whatever your approved to and you cover any remainder.

Does insurance transfer as smoothly as it does when buying a new car at the dealer ; where they or I just call my agent and I am done. A little concerned that variances in how insurance companies treat Telsa will have me shopping around my insurance which is really something I want to do or am that comfortable with. Have an agent I have used for years.

Your agent should handle this. Talk to them for quote. You’ll provide a binder to Tesla.

I can see it being a situation where once you do it once and better understand it, you will never want to go back to the old dealer experience again but for the first time it doesn't necessarily feel like a more transparent process to this buyer.

I ordered mine on my iPad during an episode of Lucifer during a commercial break.

Good luck and enjoy!

 

[M3BlueGeorgia]

If you are a Credit Union member, use them for the car loan as it will be cheaper.

Tesla don't seem to care whether you use "their" financing or use your own. Take advantage of this to find the best rates.

Trade-ins are also done online.

 

[gigawatt1010]

Tesla only uses two FI's... US Bank and Alliance Credit Union. The shopping experience is so easy! Everything is laid out and calculated and all you have to do is review and click buttons.

I always joke that I bought my existing inventory X using Apple Pay. It's actually partially true. Sales advisor emailed me a link to the inventory car that I liked, opened email on my iPhone, clicked on the link and clicked "pay with Apple Pay" for the $2500 deposit.