Tesla continues to list price with gas savings/incentives and offer odd bundles

[eye.surgeon]

The whole price after gas savings smacks of cheap car salesmanship. If they're really interested in presenting the actual cost of ownership, why not have a "price after gas savings + your insurance rate doubling + new 22 inches tires every year" price.

I'm a big boy. Tell me what the car costs and I can do my own math, thanks.

 

[dsm363]

The whole price after gas savings smacks of cheap car salesmanship. If they're really interested in presenting the actual cost of ownership, why not have a "price after gas savings + your insurance rate doubling, oh and those 22 inch tires? You'll be replacing them every year so we've added that in for you too" price.

I'm a big boy. Tell me what the car costs and I can do my own math, thanks.

It's clear as day right below that disputed number and about an inch above the big red 'Order' button on the order page. Of all the controversies this really should be at the bottom of the list.

 

[eye.surgeon]

It's not that the price can't be seen. It's the perception, in my mind, that Tesla is playing the cheap price tricks of conventional auto manufacturers -- anybody up for a $99/month Jetta lease? What, the actual price is right there in the small print including the $6,000 due at signing.

 

[dsm363]

It's not that the price can't be seen. It's the perception, in my mind, that Tesla is playing the cheap price tricks of conventional auto manufacturers -- anybody up for a $99/month Jetta lease? What, the actual price is right there in the small print including the $6,000 due at signing.

If there was a * next to the price or you had to go to a different page where it was hidden in small print I'd agree. I'd hardly say that is the case here. As I posted in the images earlier in this thread it is in the exact same font size directly below this disputed number so no tricks. People can look down 2 inches and go "oh, I see the real price now" and do a little thinking. They may save more or less than Tesla's estimate.

 

[ViperDoc]

I don't really care if they advertise this way, but I have to chuckle. When I first put a deposit down on a Model S in late 2010 before they were released, they tried to convince me to just get a Roadster and then trade it in for the Model S. They guy on the phone seriously tried to sell me by pointing out the gas savings. I just laughed. At the monthly cost on the loan, the savings in gas would be a drop in the bucket. There were a lot of reasons to consider a Roadster, and about 7 months later, I did get a Roadster, but trying to claim I was "saving money on gas" was not a cogent argument!

 

[dsm363]

I don't really care if they advertise this way, but I have to chuckle. When I first put a deposit down on a Model S in late 2010 before they were released, they tried to convince me to just get a Roadster and then trade it in for the Model S. They guy on the phone seriously tried to sell me by pointing out the gas savings. I just laughed. At the monthly cost on the loan, the savings in gas would be a drop in the bucket. There were a lot of reasons to consider a Roadster, and about 7 months later, I did get a Roadster, but trying to claim I was "saving money on gas" was not a cogent argument!

They sold it to me because it's saves 50% on windshield wipers. 50%! How can you not jump at that deal

 

[evme]

As long as the final price is visible on the order page, which it is now. Tesla should continue doing what they are doing.

The importance of getting people to think about fuel costs is more important than a few blind people who can't read getting upset.

I will also disagree that this tactic is like a car salesman. Quite the opposite, how many car salesmen will give you the TCO of a car? I would argue the car salesman often times hides the true cost to own of a car and may make a gas guzzer seem cheap upfront but consumer will lose out on the gas.

Pushing people towards considering ownership cost is the right way to go. As long as they also list the actual price on the order page (which they do). There is also no pressure to buy so you have no excuse for not taking the time to read.

 

[dsm363]

And it's not like when you order you get to write a check for $10,000 less than the cost of the car. Then Tesla delivers the car and asks for the $10,000 in savings you didn't know about. When you buy the car you pay the full cash amount. At that point I would hope 100% of people put 2 and 2 together.

 

[tkizzy]

I agree. In so many ways Tesla are a "glass of icewater in hell," but such gimmicks don't help their brand. As the company gets bigger, incumbent auto-industry execs come on board, and incumbent ooze starts seeping into Tesla's pores. Happens with all companies...Google, Apple, etc.

I understand options pricing comes from a business perspective and average margins etc, but it would be great if Tesla remained a product-focused company. Make the right product at the right price and demand/profit should follow. Why is autopilot 2500/3000 dollars when the hardware is clearly included, and the features it has are pretty prominently promoted as a "Tesla thing" not a "If you get this option thing." Someone who isn't knee deep in Tesla lore might be forgiven for thinking their car can park itself because of their over-zealous promises. Such over-promising is forgivable if, when the features are finally available, everyone with the necessary hardware gets them. If not it's a double-slap-in-the-face to their reputation.

How much can a power liftgate cost them anyway? Tesla should make as many of the cool features standard as possible at the current entry-level prices. If the entry price was significantly lower, such nickel and diming would be understandable but at a realistic entry level price of around 80,000 after all fees etc, it would be great if they just made every Tesla great. Especially software-limited features.

It would be awesome if options were more about aesthetic and material choices and priced accordingly - eg interior color/trim materials. The ideal is for every Tesla to have the same tech. That would be unique to the auto-industry, and Tesla is the perfect company to champion this approach.

 

[snooper77]

It's definitely wrong to subtract gas price from the car price. Does a Tesla become cheaper just because another propelling mechanism, namely gas cars, are more expensive?

No. They might as well claim buying a Tesla *makes* you money just because flying an airplane for the same mileage is much more expensive.

What they really should do is tell us that owning a gas car for the same mileage costs xxx USD *more* than a Tesla. But not the other way around.

 

[stopcrazypp]

I think the current compromise is okay. Before, I believe you had to click another button to show the actual price. I don't think a person actually seriously ordering a car would be misled (because they will look more closely), but I have seen examples of people who took only a cursory glance think that the MSRP of the car is actually $10k lower than what it is because of the gas savings thing (although it might be during the previous design).

Elon however, has said the gas savings thing is staying.

 

[dsm363]

The fact that people buy a 15mpg car and then freak out when gas prices spike proves that total cost of ownership is not a factor in their decision. If Tesla has to highlight this to get people to think about it then that's not a bad thing. As long as they are upfront what the actual cash price is (they are) then it's a non-issue.

 

[TomServo]

In the ICE world what would be the equivalent advertising, and how would that be viewed?

 

[Chuq]

In the ICE world what would be the equivalent advertising, and how would that be viewed?

In Australia car prices are advertised as "drive away no more to pay" - that is, the cost advertised includes the car, all taxes, registration, delivery fees, etc.

 

[Troy]

This seems to be fixed now. I think the change happened today. Maybe the topic title can be updated.

 

[OverZealous]

This seems to be fixed now. I think the change happened today. Maybe the topic title can be updated.

It's still showing at the top of the design studio for me:

 

[Troy]

It's still showing at the top of the design studio for me

The right panel is fine. That was never the problem. The problem was when it used to show the low price under each model without showing the actual price. For example, 85D base price is $85,000 and it used to show $67,500. Notice how "After incentives and gas savings" had a lighter font color. It was very misleading and looked like a cheap bait and switch tactic.

 

[jborak]

Yeah, I would've paid 1k just for black headliner, I didn't need all of the other premium interior packages features. A few other car companies do the same thing when it comes to black headliner. That's the only sore point I have. I also don't know why $2500 for next generation leather seats when BMW charges $1400 for their leather seats.

I think there's still an "early buyer" premium Tesla uses. But if you're enthusiastic about EVs and Tesla you'll pay it, like most of us did

I also don't like that you now have to order a $5,000 package, including the Alcantra headliner, just to get the power liftgate. This reminds me of normal car industry option packaging as well.

 

[OverZealous]

I'm not sure I see the difference: if you click between the main packages, the price on the right switches from $57K to $67K to $87K: the "gas savings and incentives" are still rolled into the first price you see. Then you finally scroll down and it's suddenly $17K more.

Just pointing out that they haven't really "fixed" it. Hell, I'd argue it's worse, because you can't even compare the difference in base price between the 3 major models.

 

[green1]

Yeah, I would've paid 1k just for black headliner, I didn't need all of the other premium interior packages features. A few other car companies do the same thing when it comes to black headliner. That's the only sore point I have. I also don't know why $2500 for next generation leather seats when BMW charges $1400 for their leather seats.

I think there's still an "early buyer" premium Tesla uses. But if you're enthusiastic about EVs and Tesla you'll pay it, like most of us did

The part that really confuses me, is that they don't build cars "on spec" like normal manufacturers, they wait until you order it. They also brag about how advanced and automated their factory is. As such, it should be dead simple for them to implement true choice of every individual option. A system as advanced as Tesla claims their production line to be, shouldn't care about groups of options, and should be able to make each car truly custom.