At the last annual meeting, Elon Musk talked about how Tesla is trying to make the car buying experience better. And, I agree they have in many ways.
However, there's still one area in which Tesla does the same annoying practice that all other car manufacturer's do - not telling you what the car is actually going to cost you.
When I viewed my order, it gave me a PDF file, which shows my cost as $93,600. However, the legal paperwork I signed shows a total of $111,587.76. That's a difference of $17987.76. That's more than 19% higher! One can buy a decade's worth of gasoline with that money.
What accounts for this difference?
- Exclusion of $7500 Fed Tax rebate
- Exclusion of $990 "Tesla Personal Delivery" fee
- Exclusion of $180 "Final inspection, prep, and coordination" fee
- Exclusion of $8565 Sales Tax
- Exclusion of $664.76 Vehicle License Fee
- Exclusion of $81 "Registration, Transfer and Titling" fees
- Exclusion of $7 California Tire Fee
To me, this is worse than the fees airlines tack on to their ticket prices - a practice which upset people enough that there's a law going into effect to change that. To be blunt, it's sleazy of all car companies, including Tesla, to exclude the delivery and inspection fees, since you can't get the car without paying them. Hey, maybe they should tack on an electricity fee if I want the car with a full battery. Similarly, it's not right to subtract a tax rebate, but not add taxes you do pay.
Now, I am more understanding with the sales tax and registration fees since those are outside of Tesla's control, but if Tesla is really serious about making the car buying experience top-notch, they'd include a preview of those costs before you click the final commit button. If you compare to ordering something from Amazon.com, the Tesla experience is worse. I thought Tesla doesn't want that to be true.
I understand Tesla is doing these things because of consumer price sensitivity, and that all other car companies do the same thing, but apparently Tesla is not groking how much of a shot to the stomach that this perceived price increase at purchase committal is. Tesla has stated they want to be vastly better, and in this regard, they're not.
However, there's still one area in which Tesla does the same annoying practice that all other car manufacturer's do - not telling you what the car is actually going to cost you.
When I viewed my order, it gave me a PDF file, which shows my cost as $93,600. However, the legal paperwork I signed shows a total of $111,587.76. That's a difference of $17987.76. That's more than 19% higher! One can buy a decade's worth of gasoline with that money.
What accounts for this difference?
- Exclusion of $7500 Fed Tax rebate
- Exclusion of $990 "Tesla Personal Delivery" fee
- Exclusion of $180 "Final inspection, prep, and coordination" fee
- Exclusion of $8565 Sales Tax
- Exclusion of $664.76 Vehicle License Fee
- Exclusion of $81 "Registration, Transfer and Titling" fees
- Exclusion of $7 California Tire Fee
To me, this is worse than the fees airlines tack on to their ticket prices - a practice which upset people enough that there's a law going into effect to change that. To be blunt, it's sleazy of all car companies, including Tesla, to exclude the delivery and inspection fees, since you can't get the car without paying them. Hey, maybe they should tack on an electricity fee if I want the car with a full battery. Similarly, it's not right to subtract a tax rebate, but not add taxes you do pay.
Now, I am more understanding with the sales tax and registration fees since those are outside of Tesla's control, but if Tesla is really serious about making the car buying experience top-notch, they'd include a preview of those costs before you click the final commit button. If you compare to ordering something from Amazon.com, the Tesla experience is worse. I thought Tesla doesn't want that to be true.
I understand Tesla is doing these things because of consumer price sensitivity, and that all other car companies do the same thing, but apparently Tesla is not groking how much of a shot to the stomach that this perceived price increase at purchase committal is. Tesla has stated they want to be vastly better, and in this regard, they're not.