Should I be upset about receiving a 2018 car?

[Arizona Willie]

Ordered a new P3D in late January and just received my VIN indicating it was built in 2018. Should I be upset about this? Seems like I’m immediately losing a year of resale value.

Yes, you should. When you go to trade it in, KBB ( Kelly Blue Book ) will rate a 2018 lower in value than a 2019 with the same milage. It's a fact of life.

They tried that with me and I refused to accept a 2018 and I got a 2019.

Fanbois who think Tesla can do no wrong will claim it makes no difference but it sure as hell does in the future.

 

[Arizona Willie]

The whole model year thing doesn’t make any sense. If you buy a 2019 Honda Civic in late 2018, it’s considered a 2019 even though it was built in 2018. At least Tesla is being honest by using actual build date.

Tell that to Kelly Blue Book. They will rate a 2018 being worth less than a 2019 no matter when it was made.

 

[Scott7]

But, given 100 years or so of history, I think everyone is pretty well comfortable with the concept of the new cars coming out in the fall.

It's probably safe to assume you've noticed by now that in their decision making process, Tesla does not assign much value to "this is way it's been done before" as a justification for nearly anything they do, for better or worse. Sometimes that approach works out really well and other times it fails. I find it refreshing given how incredibly slow this industry changes, but that's just my opinion.

With regard to big changes however, sometimes it's better just to go to the next year, so that the consumer can identify what's what.

I agree that this is a con with approach to major changes.

My point about the legacy manufacturers model years being "nonsense" was that it literally doesn't make sense; Did the manufacturing plant teleport into the future to bring you that "2020" car you bought in 2019? Yes, I know it's semantics, but dates already have a specific meaning.

I understand the point on KBB values, but KBB built their system around how legacy car manufacturers do things. A manufacturer making decisions in order to fit into the KBB model strikes me as precisely backwards of how it should work. Maybe the market will figure this out and adapt and maybe they won't--Transitions are often bumpy!

 

[pierreMTL]

Tesla say the year do not count it is the same car but when you trade it in the year count even the month.
On Dec. 20 I trade in my Model S P85 for a Model 3 LR Red AWD 19 in. wheels and EAP, after 30 days I did not receive the car and they re-evaluate my trade-in and depreciate it $1,900.00. So I gave them back the car to avoid another depreciation and at the time I was offer a model year 2018 and I was OK with it as long as they can deliver it before Feb 15th and they could not. So I decide to wait for a 2019 and as of today I am still waiting.
So to every one that say model year do not count, if it is not true for a trade-in it should be the same on a new car.
Telsa make great car, I enjoy my Model S for almost 4 years and I love the update you get on a regular basis, it make your car feel new every time but Elon should get a VP in charge of sale, transportation and delivery, this is there weakest point.

 

[devlodha]

Tesla say the year do not count it is the same car but when you trade it in the year count even the month.
On Dec. 20 I trade in my Model S P85 for a Model 3 LR Red AWD 19 in. wheels and EAP, after 30 days I did not receive the car and they re-evaluate my trade-in and depreciate it $1,900.00. So I gave them back the car to avoid another depreciation and at the time I was offer a model year 2018 and I was OK with it as long as they can deliver it before Feb 15th and they could not. So I decide to wait for a 2019 and as of today I am still waiting.
So to every one that say model year do not count, if it is not true for a trade-in it should be the same on a new car.
Telsa make great car, I enjoy my Model S for almost 4 years and I love the update you get on a regular basis, it make your car feel new every time but Elon should get a VP in charge of sale, transportation and delivery, this is there weakest point.

You nailed it!

 

[srs5694]

My point about the legacy manufacturers model years being "nonsense" was that it literally doesn't make sense; Did the manufacturing plant teleport into the future to bring you that "2020" car you bought in 2019? Yes, I know it's semantics, but dates already have a specific meaning.

You could say the same thing about "fiscal years" in business (and I believe government) accounting -- they don't begin/end the same time as calendar years. This isn't to say you're wrong in any philosophical way, but as a practical matter, that makes at least two realms in which the numbered year of something doesn't line up with the calendar year.

 

[Scott7]

You could say the same thing about "fiscal years" in business (and I believe government) accounting -- they don't begin/end the same time as calendar years.

That’s a good example with one key exception: In that case everyone agrees to follow the same rules. With car manufacturers, they could release next years car pretty much any time this year.

 

[mattjs33]

I never knew there could be so many people upset that a car manufacturer would release next year's model early, giving you a chance to not take as big a depreciation hit. Every day I learn something.

 

[jrs_66]

I have an ‘18... and it still runs

 

[OCR1]

This seems like a silly conversation to me. Who would choose to purchase a 2018 car if Tesla had plenty of 2019s available and didn’t offer you any incentive to go with the 2018 model? Tesla is hoping that they can clear their 2018 inventory by assigning the cars to people who don’t know any better. If you’re reading and posting in this forum you are far more educated than the average consumer. Eventually they will find people to take their remaining 2018 inventory, but we don’t need to be a part of that group of people.