Stop complaining and start promoting if you want Tesla to survive!

[Dudemcnally]

I wouldn't be retired right now if I let institutions manage my money.

You're spending your retirement doing free online advocacy for Tesla? Man, to each their own, I guess!

 

[Atari2600]

It has been two days and still waiting for my Early Access Program invitation from buying FSD.

 

[StealthP3D]

You're spending your retirement doing free online advocacy for Tesla? Man, to each their own, I guess!

Not doing free work, just speaking my opinions like everyone here. At least, everyone that's being sincere, I know a few are not.

 

[tccartier]

80,000 miles in on my 2012 S85 Signature. Still grinning! No complaint with the car here. Now timely service part's availability.. that's another story. That said.. thus far I've had no issues that rendered the car unusable.

 

[Glamisduner]

I'm glad people disagree with my post about not recommending a tesla. I feel I should possibly take some of it back.

I would recommend the base 3 for my parents who don't drive much or care as much about their cars but are interested in the tesla experience and already know what I have been through. But it is hard to make a blanket statement that I would recommend a tesla. I tell people I love the car and it's great, but I have had allot of QC issues and very long times to get them taken care of. At one point I contacted a lemon law lawyer and he said he thinks I have a case, but I decided not to lemon the car since I would have only been replacing it with another 3 that would likely also be full of paint defects, dents, or scratches like the current one was. Little did I know major price drops were coming.

The simply tell people I love the car and it is amazing, but I'm hesitant to recommend it because of all the price ping ponging, Massive price drops, fake FOMO, delivery and service center issues I have had etc. I tell them it's a great car, but they need to realize that buying a tesla is not like buying another car. Parts availability is a major issue, high insurance rates, limited places being able to repair the car, long service center waits, having to possibly accept some defects, and even securing a loan can be a different car buying experience. But often they are more concerned with the electric aspect of longer refueling times and limited charging stations.

 

[PhaseWhite]

Refused? You think he is gutting his growth company and ruining his brand because he "refuses" to do what SHOULD be a routine financing (if all were kosher)? Odds are he CAN'T raise here, or he would have months ago.

No, it's known publicly that the Saudi wealth fund initially approached Tesla seeking to buy 5% stake in new shares. That would have given Tesla over 2.5B in cash but Musk told them to buy on the open market instead.
Source:
Subscribe to read | Financial Times

Recently we've heard publicly Baillie Gifford, one of the largest shareholders say it was willing to invest more money.
Source:
Tesla's third-largest shareholder says it's willing to pump more money into the company

Tesla could even do a public offering now, but the terms won't be nearly as good now as they would have received back when the stock was at 360.

There's no reason they can't, and as you see others have offered so my assumption that Musk refuses to do so seems reasonable.

 

[happyzod]

Refused? You think he is gutting his growth company and ruining his brand because he "refuses" to do what SHOULD be a routine financing (if all were kosher)? Odds are he CAN'T raise here, or he would have months ago.

It's been documented that the Saudi's invested 2 billion in Tesla stock. There was talk in private that they wanted to do this via equity raise rather than the open market.

 

[StealthP3D]

No, it's known publicly that the Saudi wealth fund initially approached Tesla seeking to buy 5% stake in new shares. That would have given Tesla over 2.5B in cash but Musk told them to buy on the open market instead.
Source:
Subscribe to read | Financial Times

Recently we've heard publicly Baillie Gifford, one of the largest shareholders say it was willing to invest more money.
Source:
Tesla's third-largest shareholder says it's willing to pump more money into the company

Tesla could even do a public offering now, but the terms won't be nearly as good now as they would have received back when the stock was at 360.

There's no reason they can't, and as you see others have offered so my assumption that Musk refuses to do so seems reasonable.

Thanks for bringing real facts to the table. It does seem there are some of the same unsupported theories the bears on Seeking Alpha are always promulgating as fact getting repeated here by people claiming to be Tesla owners.

Personally, I'm not opposed to Tesla to raising more capital with which to expand more quickly but I like the fact that it's not being done recklessly or in a way that would jeopardize Tesla's future. It's a fine line between tackling the challenges at hand and over-extending the company which could make them more vulnerable to an economic downturn, etc.

But I do get a real kick out of the short-sellers who can't seem to decide if Tesla needs to raise more money or if that would be a huge negative. They seem to vacillate back and forth. They desperately want them to (so they can say, "see, they are spending other peoples money") but they are deathly afraid of just how much they might raise and how it might propel them into the stratosphere as far as increased production capacity, share valuation, etc. So they say Tesla "can't" raise more, which makes zero sense. The only thing they know is they want Tesla to fail but, with the release of each new successful model, that seems further and further away. The Model 3 was particularly damaging to them in that the car is so good. No recalls, no major endemic failures, nothing but dust specks in the paint, body scratches and panel gaps.

I'm a compassionate guy but I don't feel sorry for them.

 

[rickjames]

I'm glad people disagree with my post about not recommending a tesla. I feel I should possibly take some of it back.

I would recommend the base 3 for my parents who don't drive much or care as much about their cars but are interested in the tesla experience and already know what I have been through. But it is hard to make a blanket statement that I would recommend a tesla. I tell people I love the car and it's great, but I have had allot of QC issues and very long times to get them taken care of. At one point I contacted a lemon law lawyer and he said he thinks I have a case, but I decided not to lemon the car since I would have only been replacing it with another 3 that would likely also be full of paint defects, dents, or scratches like the current one was. Little did I know major price drops were coming.

The simply tell people I love the car and it is amazing, but I'm hesitant to recommend it because of all the price ping ponging, Massive price drops, fake FOMO, delivery and service center issues I have had etc. I tell them it's a great car, but they need to realize that buying a tesla is not like buying another car. Parts availability is a major issue, high insurance rates, limited places being able to repair the car, long service center waits, having to possibly accept some defects, and even securing a loan can be a different car buying experience. But often they are more concerned with the electric aspect of longer refueling times and limited charging stations.

My insurance went DOWN, car had no issues at delivery and I was a MAR 18 delivery, no issues with service center wait (and SD is slammed), my loan for 50% of the vehicle took 10 minutes? at the bank, etc. My car is early production and has no flaws other than the interior a pillar missing clip which is pretty wide spread. Charging and all that is subjective and based on lifestyle/location.

About the only thing I can 100% agree with you on in terms of fleet wide problems is parts availability. I had to wait about 14 days for bumpers to arrive at Van Nuys and get QC checked at that site only to have to wait another few weeks for an appointment that got pushed until the week of Christmas which I declined. I call Tesla back in January and Van Nuys no longer does body repairs? That is unfortunate.

Bottom line is this ownership thing is a YMMV experience, just as it is with every other consumer product on the planet, other vehicles included.

 

[rickjames]

Not a damn thing? No Support? Fix it yourself when there are no parts available except by taking it in for service Really? The tax credits should not affect pricing of the car, it was supposed to be an incentive for purchasers to save money (make it more affordable to purchase transitioning technology).

Wait the tax credit should not have affected the price of the car but all the tools on this forum say it should be subtracted from the price of a used one? Which is it?

 

[Daniel in SD]

Since all the threads are complaining and trolling now I'll ask the question: Do we really want Tesla to survive?
Arguably I would be better off if they went through Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

1. They could get rid of all the FUSCers. Shorter waits at superchargers!
2. Maybe the new owners would allow you do buy parts like you can with a normal car.
3. Maybe the new owners would sell Teslas through independent dealerships so we wouldn't have to hear complaining about constant price changes. MSRP would stay constant but dealer incentives would change and everybody would be blissfully unaware like they are with normal cars. Dealerships would also provide a place to stock parts so you wouldn't have to wait for them.
4. As long as the bankruptcy judge keeps the warranty in place like they did with GM and Chrysler this doesn't sounds like a horrible scenario.
5. We would no longer have to hear people complaining about shorts, the company would be in a a much better financial position!
6. Elon Musk could focus on going to Mars, something he is truly passionate about. I think he'd be a happier person.

 

[Glamisduner]

Wait the tax credit should not have affected the price of the car but all the tools on this forum say it should be subtracted from the price of a used one? Which is it?

Wait the tax credit should not have affected the price of the car but all the tools on this forum say it should be subtracted from the price of a used one? Which is it?

Good points, I have never agreed with teslas mechanism of showing pricing, but it was necessary to understand the Total Cost of Ownership.

 

[Dudemcnally]

It's been documented that the Saudi's invested 2 billion in Tesla stock. There was talk in private that they wanted to do this via equity raise rather than the open market.

Whoa boy, I think you're info is a bit stale.

 

[Glamisduner]

My insurance went DOWN, car had no issues at delivery and I was a MAR 18 delivery, no issues with service center wait (and SD is slammed), my loan for 50% of the vehicle took 10 minutes? at the bank, etc. My car is early production and has no flaws other than the interior a pillar missing clip which is pretty wide spread. Charging and all that is subjective and based on lifestyle/location.

About the only thing I can 100% agree with you on in terms of fleet wide problems is parts availability. I had to wait about 14 days for bumpers to arrive at Van Nuys and get QC checked at that site only to have to wait another few weeks for an appointment that got pushed until the week of Christmas which I declined. I call Tesla back in January and Van Nuys no longer does body repairs? That is unfortunate.

Bottom line is this ownership thing is a YMMV experience, just as it is with every other consumer product on the planet, other vehicles included.

Right, different experiences, don't expect me to promote based on mine. This is part of the problem with blanket statements.

 

[Stirfelt]

I get it ..... that most comments on forums are made by owners with problems.
But relentless negative comments do wear on prospective buyers enthusiasm for the vehicle.

That said .... there seems to be fewer negative comments about the paint and fit and finish.
Does that mean that improvements have been made in those areas"

We all want Tesla to survive.
Personally, I think it is a mistake to bring out the Y ... and talk about a pick-up, and the heavy hauler
until the 3's assembly faults have been corrected. (Hopefully they have - see comment above)

 

[Garlan Garner]

That's where you're misrepresenting what Tesla actually said. They never said it would always cost more, they said the current price when paid with purchase is $X, the current price if purchased separately is $Y.

They didn't say they would never adjust the pricing at a later date. How many times do we need to go over this very basic fact?

Tesla is saying the same thing right now.

Purchase it now but it will be more expensive later. Do you believe them?

 

[StealthP3D]

That said .... there seems to be fewer negative comments about the paint and fit and finish.
Does that mean that improvements have been made in those areas"

Well, the quality improvements to the body were largely made last spring. The reason you see so many less negativity about it is because the bears got tired of harping on minor body issues once they realized people were buying them in droves anyway. They have moved on to other FUD techniques.

 

[Garlan Garner]

Well, the quality improvements to the body were largely made last spring. The reason you see so many less negativity about it is because the bears got tired of harping on minor body issues once they realized people were buying them in droves anyway. They have moved on to other FUD techniques.

That's not true at all.

The reason there is so much less negativity about it is because TESLA fixed the minor body issues.

 

[StealthP3D]

Tesla is saying the same thing right now.

Purchase it now but it will be more expensive later. Do you believe them?

Of course I believe them. They are offering a limited time discount. You can bet your only pair of shoes the price will go up when the sale is over. After that, all bets are off. Eventually, it might end up as low as $1500 (for FSD being added to EAP) but I would be surprised if they drop it that low.

The main takeaway is that Tesla, like all companies, is in charge of their pricing. You don't know where it's going long-term and, frankly, neither do they. Because it depends upon market conditions.

 

[StealthP3D]

The reason there is so much less negativity about it is because TESLA fixed the minor body issues.

That's absolutely a contributing factor, maybe the primary factor. But I have also seen a lot less "fake" outrage over panel gaps and body paint issues by people who are not even owners. Their FUD campaign wasn't having the desired effect of drying up sales.