Solar Roof, big price increase

[nicholb]

I wonder how many people will sign the price hike agreements. Their list of upcoming installations may just drop to 0. I can't see anyone with an existing agreement accepting a 40% or more increase.

 

[chitown76]

I don't think this is enforceable unless the homeowner can demonstrate they did certain things in expectation of their solar roof. Or they've already paid for the solar roof under their old contract terms, but now Tesla is demanding they fork over more money or they won't get PTO. I don't think anyone has encountered the situation in the latter example... it seems the price-hike is a thing with people still at the permitting/discovery phase of their project.

For example, let's pretend that the homeowner previously had 100% red Spanish tiles that still had 25 years of useful life. But because they were expecting a Tesla V3 solar roof on the South side of the house, they re-tiled the entire East/West/North in Black to match the specific Tesla Solar tile color. In this case, I think there may be a case with damages to claim. The homeowner would state they acted on to their detriment only because of the exact contract they had with Tesla provided a pricing incentive to replace their roof early. And now, with the deceptive pricing, the homeowner cannot afford to complete their roofing project.

But really, I don't see this scenario playing out well ... the damages seem limited to wasted time in Tesla's sales queue. Which is why I don't believe any lawyer would even homeowners by taking a cut/fee of the recovered damages. A homeowner is always welcome to just pay out of pocket for a lawyer to file some paperwork at the homeowner's specific direction out of spite.

PS, my favorite corporate litigation case was this one guy convinced his brother to file and pursue an intellectual property suit against the corporation that I was working for. The damages were minimal at best; it felt more spite-filled than anything else haha. They filed out of East Texas, which is notorious as a hub for IP cases, and the courts there often lend traction to cases that would just be dismissed elsewhere.

Anyway, the company offered to settle, but that offer was rejected. So they eventually just went to bat to win. This thing actually went trial. It tied up like 5 in house lawyers and paralegals and outside counsel for like 3 years. They plaintiff obtained countless documents during discovery, deposed a bunch of corporate employees, and just wasted a bunch of time. The plaintiff actually won the case. Damages were determined to be $1.00. The company cut the guy a check for $1.00. At least it kept lawyers employed.

---"it seems the price-hike is a thing with people still at the permitting/discovery phase of their project."---
My permitting is complete. My roof tear-off is scheduled. Tesla already performed pre-work to move my meter to another part of the house to be code-compliant in preparation for roof install. Yet, I still received a notice the other day that they were re-writing my contract with a huge price increase on solar batteries and solar roof. Not a change order mind you, just a re-repricing with no notification why. An egregious material breach of contract.

 

[no name]

i am past permit and was about to get install and they did this, how can anyone excuse this behavior. Not buying another tesla product ever.
Fanboys that will defend the company, yes you can increase prices, not just before install.

This is shady business practices

Tesla is burning its solar roof customers with a huge price increase

One customer was told his installation would go up 114 percent.

www.theverge.com

 

[Chaostheory]

I did sign. Ours went up $4k so even though I'm unhappy with the principles behind this, it wasn't a deal breaker.

 

[nicholb]

I did sign. Ours went up $4k so even though I'm unhappy with the principles behind this, it wasn't a deal breaker.

For $4k I might have grumbled and eventually signed. How much was your quote before the price hike?

 

[VaNick]

For $4k I might have grumbled and eventually signed. How much was your quote before the price hike?

Same here, but $20k just doesn't make sense...

 

[Chaostheory]

For $4k I might have grumbled and eventually signed. How much was your quote before the price hike?

It went from about $50k to $54k. 10kW with 2 powerwalls.

 

[wjgjr]

i am past permit and was about to get install and they did this, how can anyone excuse this behavior. Not buying another tesla product ever.
Fanboys that will defend the company, yes you can increase prices, not just before install.

This is shady business practices

Yeah, I don't get how they are doing it, and I also don't get which projects made the cut for exclusion from the hike.... It seems like those further along were more likely to avoid, but it is not consistent - it may have been based on internal statuses they maintain and which seem to themselves be inconsistent.

Same here, My project when up by 12K.
What's crazy, is that their materials are sitting on my driveway. We had to delay install by 2 weeks. In that window of time, prices went up(?).

And this is the most egregious example of that so far. To hike the price (without a reason specific to the job) after materials were delivered is absolutely ridiculous.

 

[holeydonut]

---"it seems the price-hike is a thing with people still at the permitting/discovery phase of their project."---
My permitting is complete. My roof tear-off is scheduled. Tesla already performed pre-work to move my meter to another part of the house to be code-compliant in preparation for roof install. Yet, I still received a notice the other day that they were re-writing my contract with a huge price increase on solar batteries and solar roof. Not a change order mind you, just a re-repricing with no notification why. An egregious material breach of contract.

I agree, in your case the sliding scale of all the possible scenarios out there, it seems for your case to be a much more clear breach of contract. But even with a clear breach, my assertion is your damages aren't going to be the cost differential between their previous quote and new quote.

Tesla did the work to move your meter to increase safety, so if you do not accept their new terms they'll probably be the ones to have eaten that cost when you decide not to move forward with the breached contract.

Your house isn't in dire straits where you need a roof or it'll be leaking next rainfall. Your house is habitable as it was before, and there is not equipment/trash strewn about your home from the construction work.

None of this is to say what Tesla did is "right". My point remains that without clear damages, there's nothing to collect. Yes you wasted lots of time. Yes you have added stress and this definitely sucks. But unfortunately those aren't damages unless you can prove the time you spent with Tesla actually cost you something in terms of being unable to sell your house, perform your normal job, etc.

 

[jboy210]

It went from about $50k to $54k. 10kW with 2 powerwalls.

Are we talking about a SolarRoof or SolarPanels. This thread is about Roofs.

 

[VaNick]

I agree, in your case the sliding scale of all the possible scenarios out there, it seems for your case to be a much more clear breach of contract. But even with a clear breach, my assertion is your damages aren't going to be the cost differential between their previous quote and new quote.

Tesla did the work to move your meter to increase safety, so if you do not accept their new terms they'll probably be the ones to have eaten that cost when you decide not to move forward with the breached contract.

Your house isn't in dire straits where you need a roof or it'll be leaking next rainfall. Your house is habitable as it was before, and there is not equipment/trash strewn about your home from the construction work.

None of this is to say what Tesla did is "right". My point remains that without clear damages, there's nothing to collect. Yes you wasted lots of time. Yes you have added stress and this definitely sucks. But unfortunately those aren't damages unless you can prove the time you spent with Tesla actually cost you something in terms of being unable to sell your house, perform your normal job, etc.

I was told anyone with a tear off date after 4/18 was impacted.

Just penned a nice e-mail to my rep asking them to reconsider, as I look for a new roofer.

 

[Chaostheory]

Are we talking about a SolarRoof or SolarPanels. This thread is about Roofs.

Roof.

 

[rspray2000]

Roof.

I don't understand how you got that pricing. Pre-increase, I was at $41k for 10 kW on a 2300 sq ft roof with no Power Walls. They want $52k now (still no Power Walls, of course).

 

[holeydonut]

I don't understand how you got that pricing. Pre-increase, I was at $41k for 10 kW on a 2300 sq ft roof with no Power Walls. They want $52k now (still no Power Walls, of course).

His username checks out.

I wonder if someone out there had their price actually go down on Saturday, but they aren't speaking up...

 

[willow_hiller]

Roof.

Is there a regional disparity in prices now, maybe? If I take my home address (in Maryland), and put in an 1,800 sqft roof with 10 kW of active tiles, the calculator is quoting me $45k for simple, $49k for moderate, and $54k for complex.

 

[browseproblemo]

Just adding data to the conversation from LA country.

~1860 sqft, 8 wt, 2 power wall = $48K
Post price hike = $66K

 

[Chaostheory]

I don't understand how you got that pricing. Pre-increase, I was at $41k for 10 kW on a 2300 sq ft roof with no Power Walls. They want $52k now (still no Power Walls, of course).

So similar to what I was quoted.​

Pricing Details​

Solar Roof $38,314.27
2 Powerwalls$19,000.00
Tax & Installation CostIncluded
Install Solar Roof + Powerwall together-$2,000.00
Solar Renewable Energy Credit-$1,005.68
Deposit-$100.00
Total Amount Due$54,208.59
Federal Tax Credit-$11,484.58
ConnectedSolutions-$6,999.75
Price after potential incentives$35,824.26

 

[trautmane2]

I don't understand how you got that pricing.

It looks like @Chaostheory has a simple roof. My guess is that is why the price did not go up as much.

 

[trautmane2]

I wonder how many people will sign the price hike agreements. Their list of upcoming installations may just drop to 0

Just guessing, but it may just reduce the installations to simple installs.

 

[wjgjr]

So similar to what I was quoted.​

Pricing Details​

Solar Roof $38,314.27
2 Powerwalls$19,000.00
Tax & Installation CostIncluded
Install Solar Roof + Powerwall together-$2,000.00
Solar Renewable Energy Credit-$1,005.68
Deposit-$100.00
Total Amount Due$54,208.59
Federal Tax Credit-$11,484.58
ConnectedSolutions-$6,999.75
Price after potential incentives$35,824.26

Makes sense why your price went up less, as it is a smaller roof.... And it looks like your roof is exactly the kind of roof Tesla wants for installs - a simple gable roof with few or no obstructions on it. It should be really quick for them to install by comparison to most roofs.

Our main roof is a similar gable style (though slightly smaller) and I think that is part of why they originally picked our project as an early east-coast install. But, we also have a couple small, one-story roof sections, and those, plus the area around the chimney, probably took far more time than the bulk of the main roof.