SO, let me get this straight : they gave you a pre-qualification on credit and an initial estimate on your trade in which one can use prior to an order. BUT THEN you have to pay $250 and make an order to initiate the actual process in the app to get an actual credit decision and an ACTUAL trade in offer. Complete and utter bull-crap! They gave me one trade in offer before I ordered, then after I ordered they lowered it by $3,000. AND now I learn they changed the conditions a while back so that the $250 is non-refundable regardless of their credit decision and anything else that may happen along the way. I always loved Tesla because one did not have to work with independent dealers, BUT the thing I've learned here is that those independent dealers treat you better. I'd have my $250 back in my pocket by now. Common sense would dictate one can get a final credit decision and actual trade offer BEFORE putting even $1 towards a new vehicle. Holy crap that's bad.
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Ordering Process is Bunk
- Thread starter Jeffwb70
- Start date
Your complaint seems to be about the order fee related to a decision on credit. There isnt any requirement to finance through Tesla, so a decision by Tesla credit on whether they will extend credit to someone has zero to do with ordering a car.
So, it was not something that "just changed a while back" since the order fee has always been non refundable, and it was described as such on your order before you clicked the order.
Its true that if you were at a traditional dealer you would probably have your $250 back, or they would have tried to put you in a predatory credit interest rate situation), etc. The whole outrage about the credit decision impacting the order I dont get it all because there are thousands of credit institutions, and an individual can apply at any of them, which has zero to do with ordering a car.
They didnt change it, its always been non refundable. It also says so right on the order page before you click ORDER.
So, it was not something that "just changed a while back" since the order fee has always been non refundable, and it was described as such on your order before you clicked the order.
Its true that if you were at a traditional dealer you would probably have your $250 back, or they would have tried to put you in a predatory credit interest rate situation), etc. The whole outrage about the credit decision impacting the order I dont get it all because there are thousands of credit institutions, and an individual can apply at any of them, which has zero to do with ordering a car.
It does if they are offering .99% finance. I'd ask for the 250 back as they never had to do any work on finding you a car, which is about all they do before getting your money in full. Tell them it will be a goodwill thing and you'd like to continue saving and improving your credit before buying one next year.
The point is I should be able to do the steps that are in the app after one orders regarding the financing and the trade in offers BEFORE I put forward an order fee. Why on earth are those steps that are not even possible to complete until after committing $250. That's craziness. Well, there are steps before the order, it's just they don't mean anything and can be overridden after you place the order by the "real" process. See attachment showing earlier version of agreement where $250 CAN be refunded if Tesla financing not approved.
Attachments
Thank you, I will be trying this because their offer for my trade got adjusted by $3000 after the order. I will call them on Monday and discuss it. You make a good point here.
I had never actually seen that version that has the "if not approved we will refund the order fee" statement. Thanks for sharing it (because intent is hard to tell on line this is a genuine thanks statement).
@QtownTaxiGreg 's statement is also a good one that I didnt consider in this specific instance (that tesla is offering a highly promotional rate which in effect makes applying with them highly desirable, regardless of ones particular credit situation, at least to see if you qualify for the rate if nothing else.)
They really should refund you in this instance, but Tesla does a lot of things particularly to avoid having to make any exceptions (like make it very hard to discuss anything with anyone). If you can find someone to talk to who has authority to do it, they probably would refund you, but tesla does a great job of hiding such individuals.
In any case, hope you can find someone to discuss it with.
Those people come out of the woodwork when you mention small claims. Hopefully you don't need to go as far as threatening that.
The 3000 shortfall carrot is entrapment to relieve you of 25O snackers if you ask me. Hopefully no need for that language. Just mention the out of hand one sided ammendment of the contract. But do it in email. Email is a valid form of communication. It gives you easy ammo to use in small claim.
It seems an easy win that they should be well aware of. Drop into your reply to first refusal that you need to speak to someone that you can relate to before taking it to Small Claims. They don't defend losing cases. You get your 250 back.
The 3000 shortfall carrot is entrapment to relieve you of 25O snackers if you ask me. Hopefully no need for that language. Just mention the out of hand one sided ammendment of the contract. But do it in email. Email is a valid form of communication. It gives you easy ammo to use in small claim.
It seems an easy win that they should be well aware of. Drop into your reply to first refusal that you need to speak to someone that you can relate to before taking it to Small Claims. They don't defend losing cases. You get your 250 back.
The issue is that they will NOT take any money off in place of the promotional finance rate. I am set to purchase a Y. But the thing most holding me back is this ridiculous $250. I am not going to buy unless I get the .99% financing. I have a credit score above 800 but I have been retired for over a decade and we live on the return of my investments. Plus I take money out of the market only every couple of years to help with a lower tax burden. Luckily I did not in 2023 so will still qualify for the $7,500 as would not have last year. We took money out in 2022. But it also means my income in 2023 was low. So I really have no idea if they will accept me or not.
Very fair point on the rebate not being available in lieu of promo financing as most other manufacturers at least have something for those that want to pay cash. And they must make a mint on that $250; especially in this case where I have heard they are countering in many cases when the .99% is not approved with higher rates. Again through, the process to apply for that before the $250 is put in and after are two unrelated things. Silly.
Look at your AGI figure
Look at your AGI line 11 of the 2023 1040 return you filed, this is the figure used to determine if you qualify or not. The credit is done at the point of sale which is much better than previous years as being retired you more than likely did not owe Uncle Sam at least $7500 at years end. Let's say you owed $2,000, the most you would recoup would be $2,000. I too am retired and a live mostly off of previous investments. My credit score is in the 770/780 range and received the approval for 0.99 % with yesterday's mY standard RWD application.
I agree with your frustration, and it is not right to have the customer input money to know if they qualify or not for financing, and perhaps they should provide a rate range based on pre-qual info. This is possible and Tesla has yet to develop this. of course there are always other financing options that you can go with, but if the 0.99% is the way that this purchase worked for you, then they shouldn't keep the fee. Its just bad business and doesn't incentivize you to come back around once things change to receive an approval. The keeping of the fee for people who cannot get finance approval doesn't make them want to come back around once they think they can get approved. It'll scare them away for risk of losing another $250.
With regards to trade-in, you can get an estimate before placing an order by going to tesla.com/tradein.
With regards to trade-in, you can get an estimate before placing an order by going to tesla.com/tradein.
That is exactly what they told me at the Tesla location when I asked about this PRIOR to placing the order. I did exactly that and they came back at a price $3k higher than what it came back at after I did the process in the app. I don't even think they look at the initial trade in data that you do up front when they give you the actual one. In fact I never even got to the step of applying for the financing because they messed this trade part up which messes the financing part up as well. I will call them soon but there is not a rush as the original order was not set to arrive until later in June anyway.
emiliorescigno
Member
How long did it take to get approval? I actually just did a resubmit as did not get a decision. I discovered I really did not fill out correctly. I really can't stand phone apps and wish it was on a computer instead. I had not filled in the Other Income properly.
My other issue with it is the fact we paid off our home but we do have a relatively small home equity loan. So had no idea how to fill out the mortgage question. I tried to call them several times but have not been able to get through. It just indicates they are too busy and call back another time.
I also did not realize you could put $0 on the downpayment. It has $4250 or something like that.
The only reason I am doing any of this is because I am a major geek and want to play with the self driving software. I would never be buying one if not for FSD. The entire process is a major turnoff. Plus I was shocked on just how bad the builds are of the Teslas. I am lucky that the Tesla lot has over 10 that are exactly what I want to buy. So I get to go through them and find one that has a decent build.
BTW, really appreciated you replying to my original message.
Had to laugh about your computer vs phone app comment, I'm the same way. Approval wasn't long, less than an hour. I'm assuming as the 0.99% deadline approaches they are getting busier, and approval times may take longer. I helped my daughter with an application back in February, and also personally applied in March with a successful application. I ended up cancelling my March order and took the $250 hit as I decided it wasn't the prudent thing to do back then. Just couldn't pass up the financing promotion, $7,500 tax rebate, as well as a $2,000 state rebate this time around, it just made to much sense to do so.
Concerning the application what I found difficult was answering the income question as it only lets you choose 1 answer even though you may have multiple sources. I ended up choosing investment income over SS as I believed it would be better for ratios. Since I was approved quickly this leads me to believe the banks jump right to credit score and do not flag on income percentage.
Regarding your home mortgage line, I would have entered either $0 or $1. Who knows if they would look into detail on your credit report they could see your mortgage loan was paid off.
Good luck, hope you're approved. Have you had the opportunity to actually drive one? I drove my daughters' and what a great experience!
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