These are all excellent (and valid) reasons for paying with cashiers check. My situation was a bit different, as I took delivery during the “pandemic”. I took delivery from Eden Prairie, MN (tremendous service, FYI). I made my original registration deposit via EFT, then I had a 2015 Lexus ES350 trade-in (CarMax offered $500 more, but then I was stuck without a car for my 200 mile trip to MN), so I accepted Tesla’s trade-in (I’m very aware CarMax and Carvana offered better trade-in values, but those two companies are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, so maybe give Elon and Tesla a nod for being a step ahead on that market, as a shareholder). I had the option of using my own bank/credit union, but Tesla provided me with an automatic financing quote via their MN partnership with US Bank (SKOL!). US Bank maxed my term at 60 months, so if this is coming to be a problem for some, you’ll want to explore local financial arrangements with a bank that’ll go 72 months, or come up with a bigger down-payment, or like this OP, “all-cash” via Cashier’s Check or EFT). Tesla didn’t accept Cashier’s Check in Sept’2021, it was EFT (via funds from your own bank arrangement), or US Bank financing.
So full-disclosure on my 2021 M3P order/delivery experience, I placed the order on 9/5/2021, with an “estimated delivery date” of November’2021 - January’2022). I immediately ordered the Wall Connector from the Online Tesla Store ($499 - those certainly are priced variably, based on availability - seen them from $350-$500). Called and received three different electrician estimates for install. This is huge (and strongly recommended). Get multiple estimates, and ask how they’re installing. My main panel is inside my 3-car garage (farthest wall/“utility garage”). My “utility garage” happens to be a full-size double-depth stall, so there’s 14 feet of space in front of my 3rd stall (for a boat, or in my case, a garage furnace, workbench, refrigerator, built-in cabinets for power tools, etc). All 3 electrician bids included pulling the wire behind the finished drywall (clean install). I was also fortunate that my main panel had room for expansion breakers. I have a 220A Master Panel (fed from a single 240V feed from my utility company). My home is 5,000 sq ft, with traditional HVAC (forced heat via natural gas furnace, tankless natural gas hot water, natural gas clothes dryer, and an Dacor natural gas range with an electric/natural gas convection oven. Electric 4 ton AC. I was legit concerned I’d need a second 240V drop for the Wall Connector. Electrician laughed at me. He said “you’re running a natural gas dryer, but all homes in this development are stubbed for both electric and natural gas for dryer/stove. Cheaper to install during framing/rough-in”. So he’s like, “an EV charger is nothing more than a second electric clothes dryer (apparently very common in some homes to have dual washer/dryer setups). So I had more than enough capacity. Didn’t need anything except a 60V dual-gang breaker ($60), and about 15 feet of 6-gauge copper wire (I asked him about using aluminum, he said copper was best, aluminum can run hot?). Regardless, my high bid was $1800. My low bid was $700. I had already paid for the $500 Wall Charger. I asked the $700 guy, “what steps are you skipping that are $1000 less?”. He looked perplexed. Asked me to show him the other bid, and said, “I’ll charge you $1500 if it makes you feel better?”. I liked the guy already. He looked at the other quote, and immediately noticed, “this guy is charging you $850 to file a ’new work’ form with the city for inspection. you don’t need it. this isn’t ‘new work’. you’re simply adding a breaker to an existing main panel. it’s only ‘new work’ if it’s a sub-panel, or if it’s an entirely new main panel. so this guy was charging you $850 for a form he probably wasn’t ever going to file’”.
Hired this dude. $700, installed in 45 minutes. Connected to my home internet access point. Sept 10, 2021. Months early.
Fast-forward to Sept 15 (the next week), I get an email from Tesla. “Your vehicle will be ready for pickup on 9/21”. I’m like, what happened to “Nov-Jan”?
Thankfully, I’d ordered the Wall Conmector early, and had an electrician available early. Was told Tesla doesn’t do deliveries on Mondays (they unwrap the protective paint and glass protection, install the rear trunk carbon, etc, and don’t work on Sunday). So Monday was “prep-day”. I took delivery Tuesday. Drove my Lexus to the Tesla SC in Eden Prairie, MN. Saw my grey M3P in front, connected to a charger. Parked my Lexus in a random “trade-in” stall outside. Left keys inside, unlocked (per instructions). Felt weird. Not gonna lie. Went into my iPhone Tesla app. Completed the final payment ($20k EFT down-payment, $20k trade-in on my Lexus, $21,500 loan from US Bank for 48 months, at 2.35 percent APR). When I was in the parking lot, digital key was sent to my iPhone, and self registered with the Tesla App. Now, I’m 55, and work in IT. Cisco CCIE. CISSP. Checkpoint Firewall CCSE, etc. Worked for one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world. Not bragging, just explaining that I’m not impressed ir challenged by tech, and certainly not phone tech. But this was smooth. Walked up to “my car”. Opened my app. Popped the trunk. Opened my passenger door. My folder (with purchase docs) neatly organized for me to sign, inside. Nope. I immediately began inspecting the ENTIRE car, from the outside. Every panel. Every window. After 40 minutes, I found it. A tiny “ding” the size of a half pistachio shell, on the rear passenger-side quarter-panel. Only noticeable when the sun hit it juuust right. That’s how I got this car 2 months early. Someone else declined this car the day it arrived the previous week. I was next in line. He waited 3 more months. I took delivery, and took the business card of the Tesla SC manager, and the next week, while I had the entire car wrapped in 3M 2080 Satin Dark Grey, I paid $90 for them to pop the tiny dent. Mailed the paid bill to the Tesla SC manager in Eden Prairie, he reimbursed me, in full.
Sat inside my car for probably 2 hours, read everything. Paired my iPhone to Bluetooth (so I could answer the phone, have texts read to me, dictate replies via text, etc), opted in to EVERYTHING. FSD Beta. Autopilot. Summon. Setup Spotify. TunedIn. Set my seats, rear-view mirrors, outside mirrors. All while my car was charging for my 200 mile return trip.
Made myself car-sick within 10 miles from the one-foot driving. Started out in “Sport mode” for acceleration, and “Sport mode” for steering (because, it’s a sports car, right?). Couldn’t figure out why FSD and autopilot didn’t work for the first 100 miles. Then remembered the “cameras must calibrate before some features are available”. Needless to say, I did not get 315 miles of range on my 200 mile trip home. Had to stop and supercharge in Albert Lea. Because I was having so much fun doing 60mph-120mph pulls, for the first hour. Wind resistance is your enemy in an EV. Much, I would learn.
Don’t worry about very minor issues. Tesla will make you whole. Now, if you’re missing the entire carbon fiber spoiler, or your aluminum foot pedals, yes, that’s an issue. There’s a dozen people doing final-prep on around 250 of these per day, per location. My guess is, someone bumped a coffee thermos against my rear QP. So incredibly minor, I could not imagine waiting another 3 months, over that.
Fast-forward to today, 1/12/2023. I’ve owned the car nearly 16 months. Roughly 500 days. 21,400 miles. $939 of total expenses. and one $52 cabin filter replacement and AC condenser coil cleaning. probably will spend $40 on new wiper blades in 2023, and probably new tires in 2024.
Best car I’ve ever owned. Not even close.
