Texas deliveries, can you pay right at pickup, or does it have to be in advance?

[Abraham]

I’ve linked up my bank account to ACH the down payment. I know we can’t open the car until we accept delivery, but can we make the payment right after I examine the exterior? I mean legally speaking, cause I know it works on the app as I’ve heard from others but they were in other states.

 

[Abraham]

Ok so I was able to answer this myself today. No issues with not paying until I saw my new Tesla. I was even a few minutes late into the appointment. After inspecting the outside, I hit Pay and the ACH went through instantly. Accepted delivery right after, and my app updated to the owner style pages.

 

[LoudMusic]

I picked up my car in St Louis in 2020 and my wife and I both got in the car and poked around before we handed over any money. I'm pretty sure the sales guy would have let us drive it around the block too.

No one should be handing over full payment of a $50k+ vehicle until they are satisfied with what they're looking at.

 

[Abraham]

That’s how it should be, but not so in Texas, thanks to our dealership lobby passing a stupid law prohibiting sales direct from a manufacturer. So now Tesla can only release/open the car after receiving full payment.

 

[TexasBrew]

There is considerably more to the dealership story, and it is not anything new, and it is not just Texas - Some of the history - Tesla US dealership disputes - Wikipedia

 

[MCNE]

Ok so I was able to answer this myself today. No issues with not paying until I saw my new Tesla. I was even a few minutes late into the appointment. After inspecting the outside, I hit Pay and the ACH went through instantly. Accepted delivery right after, and my app updated to the owner style pages.

I’m in Texas as well so that good the hear. 58k is a lot of cash to pay before you even see the vehicle and if you don’t accept I’m sure you won’t have your cash back next day. When you say ACH was that using Plaid which is ACH from what I understand. The other payment options want you to notify Tesla with the payment details.

 

[Abraham]

I’m in Texas as well so that good the hear. 58k is a lot of cash to pay before you even see the vehicle and if you don’t accept I’m sure you won’t have your cash back next day. When you say ACH was that using Plaid which is ACH from what I understand. The other payment options want you to notify Tesla with the payment details.

Agreed. No I actually skipped the Plaid option - there is a way to do that and only input bank account and routing number. The transaction immediately went through and I got access to the car. Money left my account a couple business days later.

 

[MCNE]

I’ll need to try that through the plaid option. I just confirmed cash then received some strange message about the VIN and payment which I don’t care about. I’m sure it will be fine even if it’s delayed a day due to paying day of. If not I’ll go down the list to the next vehicle

 

[azuled]

Agreed. No I actually skipped the Plaid option - there is a way to do that and only input bank account and routing number. The transaction immediately went through and I got access to the car. Money left my account a couple business days later.

How were you able to back out of Plaid and get ACH? I have tried a few times and it only prompts me to pay via wire. (Also in Texas)

 

[Abraham]

How were you able to back out of Plaid and get ACH? I have tried a few times and it only prompts me to pay via wire. (Also in Texas)

I wish I had taken screenshots of it. When you choose the Plaid option, does it give you a popup which you can then cancel?

This is the only screenshot I have but it was afterward, notice the bank icon:

 

[azuled]

I wish I had taken screenshots of it. When you choose the Plaid option, does it give you a popup which you can then cancel?

This is the only screenshot I have but it was afterward, notice the bank icon:

View attachment 986783

I can get to the Plaid bank select screen. From there I have tried two ways:
1. tap in random junk until it tells me no such bank exists and says that I can exit to add bank information manually. Doing so takes me out of the Plaid screen and after a moment the Tesla App pops up a message saying I can either "Try Plaid Again" or "Get Wire Instructions".
2. Just backing out of Plaid immediately, same result as above.

 

[Abraham]

I can get to the Plaid bank select screen. From there I have tried two ways:
1. tap in random junk until it tells me no such bank exists and says that I can exit to add bank information manually. Doing so takes me out of the Plaid screen and after a moment the Tesla App pops up a message saying I can either "Try Plaid Again" or "Get Wire Instructions".
2. Just backing out of Plaid immediately, same result as above.

“Add bank info manually” is what I remember, as well. Not sure why there’s another pop up now. Hopefully Tesla hasn’t taken that option away. May have to reach out to them.