Tesla Delivery Payment - Credit Card

[natetm3]

Hi all, a bit of an odd question I guess (as all my searches so far have turned up nothing), I notice that for Australia the Tesla delivery process involves final payment via either Bank Deposit or Credit Card.

I can't find anywhere that documents the surcharges for Credit Card payment. Does anyone happen to know? I assume the vast majority are by Bank Transfer, especially if financed? I am buying with "cash" and trying to work out the better payment method for me.

 

[Fantomsss]

Why dont you ask your delivery specialist?

I personally paid with bank transfer and initial deposit with CC. AFAIK they will add a fee on subsequent payment if via CC. Same with every other dealership I’ve used for other cars before.

 

[natetm3]

New Why dont you ask your delivery specialist?

Yes, I have, and I'm still waiting for a reply, but figured perhaps someone else had asked before hence asking here. Unless it differs between customers/orders?

 

[paulp]

I asked this same question previously and was advised that cc is only accpted for deposits. The policy may have changed as often as the pricing though, so your delivery specialist is the only one that can give you certainty.

 

[natetm3]

I asked this same question previously and was advised that cc is only accpted for deposits. The policy may have changed as often as the pricing though, so your delivery specialist is the only one that can give you certainty.

In other geographies that is true, however in Australia it has always been one of the payment options, right from the FAQ:

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the accepted methods of payment?
Final payment may be made via bank transfer or credit card. Please note, surcharge fees apply if you are processing payment via credit card. As per the Motor Vehicle Purchase Agreement (MVPA), we must receive payment 24 hours prior to delivery.

I have taken on board the advice to ask the delivery specialist but given it's one of two accepted payment methods I am pretty sure someone has come across this, so I'd still like to see what the feedback is from the community.

 

[paulp]

In other geographies that is true, however in Australia it has always been one of the payment options, right from the FAQ:

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the accepted methods of payment?
Final payment may be made via bank transfer or credit card. Please note, surcharge fees apply if you are processing payment via credit card. As per the Motor Vehicle Purchase Agreement (MVPA), we must receive payment 24 hours prior to delivery.

I have taken on board the advice to ask the delivery specialist but given it's one of two accepted payment methods I am pretty sure someone has come across this, so I'd still like to see what the feedback is from the community.

Your presumption that the faq reflects the history of tesla policy in australia is not correct. The faq is presumably current policy, and its reasonably clear from it that cc is acceptable now. My comment was that it wasnt in the past when I asked the question.

 

[natetm3]

Your presumption that the faq reflects the history of tesla policy in australia is not correct. The faq is presumably current policy, and its reasonably clear from it that cc is acceptable now. My comment was that it wasnt in the past when I asked the question.

How new do you think it is? I've seen that exact wording in Nov or Dec last year, so it's at least 6 months from my own reading hence why I thought perhaps there might be someone here who has something to offer but I am starting to doubt that anyone here wants to do anything except challenge the basis of my question or refer me to my delivery consultant.

I certainly didn't come here to pick a fight but I guess this is not the place to ask about the Tesla order process...

 

[paulp]

Welcome to the forum.
Everyone is referring you to your delivery specialist simply because that is the only way to get the correct answer on a tesla policy that is changeable. I asked the question around august last year which is outside the time window you have suggested for your observations. I merely advised you of the answer I was given at that time..... I have nothing to gain in telling anyone anything other than what I was told then, and it could also be that I was given the wrong advice by my delivery specialist.
At the time of delivery of my model s’s in september, in the space of 1 week the cost of the cars and the delivery charge changed 3 times causing significant confusion at tesla. I’m very certain that if anyone knows the answer to your question they will happily advise you.

 

[Dilz]

When i paid and picked up my car (in Nov 2018), i had to make a final payment of $20k. i was advised if i payed via credit card it would incur a 3% fee (It may have been 5%).

So i ended up transferring from my account 48 hours prior. They bank with HSBC, so unless you have an HSBC bank account, 2 days to clear on most occasions.

Hope this helps.

 

[Icey]

I paid VIA CC, took the 3% hit, and got a metric ton of qantas points thanks to AMEX and a double point promo.

 

[shanelord]

I paid VIA CC, took the 3% hit, and got a metric ton of qantas points thanks to AMEX and a double point promo.

I did the exact same thing

 

[raynewman]

You can probably pay by pay-pal

 

[natetm3]

When i paid and picked up my car (in Nov 2018), i had to make a final payment of $20k. i was advised if i payed via credit card it would incur a 3% fee (It may have been 5%).

So i ended up transferring from my account 48 hours prior. They bank with HSBC, so unless you have an HSBC bank account, 2 days to clear on most occasions.

Hope this helps.

Perfect, thank you!

 

[natetm3]

New I paid VIA CC, took the 3% hit, and got a metric ton of qantas points thanks to AMEX and a double point promo.

I did the exact same thing

Caught a lucky break there! At double points you'd pretty much break even, although Amex did drop their point value significantly recently. I don't think I will pay with card as 3% is too high for me, but it's good to know beforehand so that I can consider options. May as well get something when handing over those dollars!

 

[Icey]

My only issue was i only had a 12k limit, so I had to pay 12k, pay it off in the app and do it a few more times.
The next day my card for declined for fraudulent activities as it could be construed as money laundering and they needed to advise the federal police, I just laughed, the next day it was working again and I've never heard from the cops.

 

[natetm3]

Strange, I get what they are getting at but your execution would have been terrible for a money launderer the reason I say that is that money launderers use a technique where they try to stay under the Austrac reportable transaction limit of $10K, so they usually send out a bunch of 9K transfers in rapid succession. Sending a bunch of $12K transfers would not do much for a money launderer given it's over the reportable threshold, but I guess you still tripped a switch somewhere with those transactions.

 

[cynix]

I paid VIA CC, took the 3% hit, and got a metric ton of qantas points thanks to AMEX and a double point promo.

Does this really work out to be profitable? Qantas points are valued around $0.01/pt, and assuming you get 2 points per dollar spent (after doubling), you're still paying more in surcharge.

 

[Icey]

Does this really work out to be profitable? Qantas points are valued around $0.01/pt, and assuming you get 2 points per dollar spent (after doubling), you're still paying more in surcharge.

Got enough points for 2x business class tix to US and Euro and a few hotels as well.
It depends how you use the points. Use them in the Qantas Store and they are worthless, upgrades and classic rewards are the best use of points.

 

[natetm3]

Does this really work out to be profitable? Qantas points are valued around $0.01/pt, and assuming you get 2 points per dollar spent (after doubling), you're still paying more in surcharge.

Double points promo doesn't mean 2ppd, each card is different, and Amex in particular has higher redemption values. Until recently a lot of Amex cards transferred to local airlines at 1.5ppd, which would have given you 3ppd, or about 3.3c/per dollar (QFF/VFF points are worth about 1.1cpp in terms of "buying" them from someone, not based on redemption value, there has to be some margin there or nobody would risk getting banned from these programs for buying/selling them) per dollar during a doubling promo, so you'd be up that small amount. Some sites which value the points will push them up even higher to 1.4cpp but this is based on "average" redemption values.

Add to the fact you can't just buy them at that value and have to "earn" them - any actual buy rate directly from an airline would be several cents per point, plus the fact you can get in the range of 4c of value out of them if you use them wisely, yes it can be profitable. But it generally requires quite a bit of knowledge/acquired sense around how to execute it. I would not recommend it to everyone, but this is how I do seek returns from large payments, by looking at the margins involved and calculating any benefits.

Just as a general calculation, I could not make 3% work. It's much higher than any margin I would even start negotiating on or trying to work around. I acquire at between 0.8-1.2cpp depending on the card used. So I'm out myself, unless some magic offer landed in my inbox which brought it down by 2.2%, which is very unlikely.

 

[paulp]

Got enough points for 2x business class tix to US and Euro and a few hotels as well.
It depends how you use the points. Use them in the Qantas Store and they are worthless, upgrades and classic rewards are the best use of points.

Thats very true, but lets take a $60k car. CC surcharge at 3% is $1800. Depends on the card, but on amex that might get you 90,000 qantas points. One way business class to melb to singapore will cost around $2400 one way. Alternatively you can use 320,000 (minimum) points. Paying for points at 3% makes zero sense. Plus, if you buy that business seat you will get points for flying, making the 3% even worse.
Points are great value when you dont have to pay a surcharge. At 1% its neutral at best, although points upgrading to business from economy is very good value.