Secured TM3 LR from Inventory Page Last Night

[MightyDroid]

I had a reservation set for delivery between 2/24 - 3/24. Since I have 0 patience, I started refreshing the inventory page at random points in the day. Last night, I saw a TM3 LR popup with a different build (i.e., premium rims and white interior). As soon as I saw it, I hit "buy now" and paid through apple pay on my iPhone. This morning I scheduled delivery for Monday of next week in the bay area.

Wanted to share this in case some of you really wanted to get a Tesla sooner than later. I was told by a Tesla specialist that it would be really hard to get one from their inventory page since the system assigns the vehicle to the next person in queue. But, don't let that deter you if you really want to get one now.

New & Used Electric Cars | Tesla

Find new and used Tesla cars. Every new Tesla has a variety of configuration options and all pre-owned Tesla vehicles have passed the highest inspection standards.

www.tesla.com

 

[MightyDroid]

2/3/21 - Got a call from rep saying my M3LR was ready. Picked up it up today.

Ordered 2/1/21. Picked up on 2/3/21. Kinda crazy.

 

[Edsonbarron]

Was thinking of doing this but realized it was probably a rejected car due to not having the new chip. Congrats tho! Hell of a timeline

 

[MightyDroid]

Was thinking of doing this but realized it was probably a rejected car due to not having the new chip. Congrats tho! Hell of a timeline

Quite possibly. I’ve noticed it’s really important to some people. I just wanted my long range as fast as possible. Feels so good being in a new Tesla. My last one was used. Don’t recommend it.

 

[MightyDroid]

Just checked today and looks like it does have the new chip. For whatever reason, I'm glad someone didn't take delivery lol.

 

[Edsonbarron]

Just checked today and looks like it does have the new chip. For whatever reason, I'm glad someone didn't take delivery lol.


View attachment 765479

mannnn! nice!!!

 

[moyang_mm]

Did you have to forfeit the $250 from your custom-built order? Also would you mind sharing your VIN? Like 167xxx.

 

[tm1v2]

@moyang_mm You can ask an SA to assign an inventory car to your reservation. That's what I did last fall. We only paid our original order fee for the reservation, didn't pay any additional order fee.

It looks like if you just buy an inventory car using the website Tesla charges the order fee. That's annoying. I don't know if they would be willing to then refund your reservation's order fee if you went that route like the OP did. @MightyDroid did you end up paying two order fees? If so did you try asking to have your original reservation order fee refunded or credited?

 

[tm1v2]

Also note an SA can remove or add FSD from an inventory car when assigning it to your order. Inventory cars are usually listed with FSD from what I've seen, including the one I bought. The SA removed it and I was never charged for it. (The car never even showed FSD once it was assigned to my order.)

Last thing I'll mention, I was told that it didn't matter if color or options were different, they can assign inventory cars that don't match the reservation exactly. For example, different interior and exterior colors. I was willing to take either interior, but the car I saw happened to exactly match my order, so I never tested this.

I don't know if they can assign a different trim level, e.g. LR vs P.


Edit: I did ask the SA when the inventory car was built, and if they could tell whether someone had rejected it after seeing it, or if it was from a cancelled order. The answers were "9 days ago" and they were adamant it had never been presented to a customer, based on its location history. They said most likely the person failed financing. They also could have simply cancelled their order or released their car assignment before delivery for their own reasons. According to that SA failing financing is not uncommon...I guess a lot of people are stretching to buy a new Tesla?

When I bought the car there were no major feature changes underway (not like MCU3 vs MCU2 situation right now), so unless it was really old (it wasn't) I wasn't worried about missing out on anything new. (Actually Tesla had been on a steady mission of removing Model 3 and Y features...older might have come with more features like radar and passenger lumbar. And much newer than my car would have come with even less, like no front USB ports or at least no data connection for them.)

 

[lUtriaNt]

Inventory cars are usually listed with FSD

this is not true for the majority of the cars i see in inventory. i get notified immediately when a vehicle is in inventory. now MOST of the demo cars i've seen have fsd which makes sense.

SA's , at east in 2020, can assign anything to your reservation if they can get a hold of the vin and take it out of a certain section that all SA's can see. i learned this from an sa i used in 2020 because i was so ignorant to how this system all worked i asked dumb questions. if an SA say they cant do this or that, its possible they just dont feel like jumping through hoops for you. some SAs just do the minimum whereas other will go the extra step.

 

[moyang_mm]

@moyang_mm You can ask an SA to assign an inventory car to your reservation. That's what I did last fall. We only paid our original order fee for the reservation, didn't pay any additional order fee.

It looks like if you just buy an inventory car using the website Tesla charges the order fee. That's annoying. I don't know if they would be willing to then refund your reservation's order fee if you went that route like the OP did. @MightyDroid did you end up paying two order fees? If so did you try asking to have your original reservation order fee refunded or credited?

The problem of asking an SA to link an inventory car to an existing order is that these inventory Model 3 sells really fast. When you see an inventory Model 3 and try to call an SA, it's 99% that the car is gone when the SA pick up the phone. If you really that want that car, you need to pay (another) $250.

I have asked Tesla if it is possible to refund $250 in this scenario, they said no.

 

[tm1v2]

I do think I got lucky with my local sales center staff picking up the phone and getting the car assigned to me quick. Once the sales lady picked up she was on it! It was a non-demo car and those do go fast from what I've seen.

I think it also helped that I was buying a P, which had only a 1-2 months ETA for new orders anyways, so less incentive for buyers to bother snagging from inventory vs longer ETA for LR or especially SR+.

 

[Josh740]

this is not true for the majority of the cars i see in inventory. i get notified immediately when a vehicle is in inventory. now MOST of the demo cars i've seen have fsd which makes sense.

SA's , at east in 2020, can assign anything to your reservation if they can get a hold of the vin and take it out of a certain section that all SA's can see. i learned this from an sa i used in 2020 because i was so ignorant to how this system all worked i asked dumb questions. if an SA say they cant do this or that, its possible they just dont feel like jumping through hoops for you. some SAs just do the minimum whereas other will go the extra step.

where do you sign up to get notified of the inventory cars?

 

[lUtriaNt]

there is a discord server. if you go to the performance waiting room and search for "discord" you will find the link.