Some questions regarding trade-in and buying inventory vs new

[spincel]

Hi guys. New member here as I am looking to purchase the Model 3 in upcoming months, probably before the end of the current Tesla financial quarter. I just have some questions regarding about ordering the car as well as some trade-in experience.

1. First, I will be financing the car and probably through my bank or credit union since I have seen news about the rate through Tesla bank partner had been raised. Thus, I consider to trade in my current car so I can have a nice down payment plus better monthly payment. This could be my first time with trade-in process since I have never done any of this before when buying car.
   • At first, I went to KBB and Tesla website to estimate the trade-in amount (have not use CarMax yet but will consider that if it provides me better pricing). Tesla provided me the KBB amount but when I went to KBB website, it was better from there. So my question is that if you want to do Tesla trade-in, will the actual quote match the KBB quote or will I have to have the KBB quote to negotiate with them? How to get the upper pricing amount and not the average range from KBB through Tesla trade-in?
   • Another thing is that I am still owe half the money of the car based on the current car value quote. I can pay them off right away but would it is better to let Tesla handle that stuff with the trade-in process? How does that actually work if anyone has experienced that before?
2. Second, also regarding about the trade-in and down payment, let say my car is current value as 20k from KBB through trade-in, 22k via private sale and I am still own half of the trade-in value (10k) and I want to only use 15k as down payment. Here are 3 scenarios:
   • Scenario 1: Trade-in via Tesla using the KBB quote as 20k and let them handle the outstanding loan, that would mean I will get 10k back as down payment for the new car. Thus I would only need to add 5k out of pocket for the down payment.
   • Scenario 2: Payoff the loan, trade-in via Tesla as the same as above. Instead of getting only 10k, now I will get 20k as down payment. However, I only need to use 15k.
   • Scenario 3: Sale it through third-party by myself and getting 22k instead. Then use 15k of that to down payment for the new car. In this case, I still have to payoff the loan before selling it.
   • Which one of those would be the better case for me? The reason why I only use part of the car value is that I will have to pay tax in my state and the trade-in value does not count toward that. So that amount is pretty hefty for this particular car. By the way, I am currently living in Oklahoma.
3. My state does not currently have the service center so in order to buying new Tesla, I will either have go to the nearest service center, which is in Plano or Dallas, TX or to take delivery. I have seen stuff about the delivery and kind of worrying me but I trusted Tesla has improved a lot since then. Now if I take the service center route, I will have to drive to there (at least 2.5 hours drive and 5 hours round-trip). The bright side is that I can inspect the car more carefully and if there is any wrong, I can take directly to the personnel there to get it fix. However, I would have to schedule my trip and pray that there will be smooth experience when getting the car; otherwise, I would waste my time and money just to come pickup the car. So would you prefer to go with delivery or go to to service center for picking up if you are in my situation?
4. Since I mentioned early that I am not buying the car right away and I heard people advise to wait until the end of the financial quarter to buy the car. Since Tesla has said to raise the inventory price, is it still better to wait until that time comes as well? Should I look for inventory car by contact the showroom people right away or wait until then? Originally I targeted the Model 3 LR RWD with Autopilot and FSD as well as the LR AWD if there is one that cheaper in the inventory. Now that Tesla had revised the line up, should I just go with the new LR AWD with FSD? I compared the cost between now and previously and looks like for a custom new LR model, I will have to pay additional 2k compared to 4k previously and that is pretty enticingly. If that is the case, should I still go with inventory model or just go head with online ordering? I don't mind to wait until June since I will be travel until then. I'm also not really care much about the tax rebate stuff. It's good to have but not a deal breaker for me. As long as I can save some money when purchasing the car and the monthly payment is acceptable, then everything is ok for me.
5. If I order the car through the inventory system, how does the process different than online order? Will I go through the Tesla website to submit document like trade-in, loan, insurance like online order?

Sorry for the long post but I appreciate the feedback on this.

 

[jkfuel]

You will probably get more answers with a shorter inquiry :]

Trade in: Tesla will give you a trade in price. If you don't like it, take it to Carmax and they will match. Those are your options. Take it or leave it unfortunately. You will likely get higher just selling privately but that's the norm.

 

[srs5694]

In terms of inventory vs. custom orders, how it works is this:

1. You place an order for an exact configuration (drivetrain/trim level, interior color, exterior color, wheels). Note that FSD is a software feature that can be added to any car, so it's not relevant.
   
2. If that exact car exists in inventory near you, you're matched to it, and it's scheduled to be transported to you or your local Tesla store (or maybe you can go get it where it is, if you prefer; I'm not 100% clear on that). This is an inventory car. You'll probably get no discount on this, absent things like price changes just after you place your order, etc.
   
3. If that exact car does not exist near you, then you'll probably get a call from a Tesla salesperson offering deals on similar cars -- maybe a different color, for instance. You may be offered a discount on this car -- say, a free upgrade from black to midnight silver metallic, if you ordered the former and the latter is available. Note that this is also an inventory car. They may also offer a test-drive or showroom car for an even bigger discount. I suppose a test-drive or showroom car is technically an inventory car, but I put it in a different mental category myself, since it's been driven, or at least sat in and played with by hundreds of people.
   
4. If the exact car you wanted does not exist in inventory locally and you don't accept the offers you get in #3, then you will eventually be matched to a car that's either already in transit or that will be built in the future. You'll probably get no discount on this, just as in #2.

In sum, there's very little difference between an inventory car and a car that's built or shipped after you place your order; it's just that the latter has a more recent build date. Where things get interesting is in point #3. That's where something resembling the new-car haggling seen at most other brands' dealerships can occur, although it's typically more limited with Tesla.

You might be interested in a couple of TFL Car videos on their experience ordering a Model 3 (there's also a part 3 with some testing, but that's not relevant to this discussion):

If you don't want to do the online ordering thing, if you're in a hurry, or if you're not fussy about colors or some other options, you can also go in person or call a salesperson to search inventory to find something nearby that fits a broader specification ("blue, white, or red color," say). I've also heard of people who call and explicitly ask about test drive or showroom cars in hopes of getting a discount; apparently this sometimes works out well.