So my Y is coming in on Thurs... a few things I’ve learned so far (in Texas).
(1) Tesla was about $5K low on my trade-in offer from low Kelly Blue Book. I doubt that‘s the norm -- but I had a special edition (Kona Iron Man), and CarMax was $5K higher. In Texas there’s a $1,000+ tax benefit to selling to Tesla direct, but it was still better for me to sell to CarMax.
(2) While you fill out the forms for financing and trade-in, their system gets a little confused quirky. All of a sudden their financing looked way expensive, and the payment leaped up. I figured it out — basically, when I added a trade-in, there was a $13K payoff (on a car work $23K trade-in). Since they hadn’t made the offer on the trade-in, they just stacked the liability on top of the cost of the car, and my payment was looking to be like $1,100/month. Once the offer came in, it all corrected itself. They should try to fix that.
(3) Tesla financing came in and looked pretty good on interest rate. So I’m happy with that.
(4) Their process is a bit quirky as they’re not-a-dealer. So 3rd party financing through some places (like Chase) weren’t going to work (they only finance through dealers). There’s little things like you have to get insurance for the VIN before you can get the car delivered. (Every other time I’ve bought a car, you have 30 day grace on your old insurance, so this isn’t a deal). I get why (they explained it to), it’s just something unusual.
(5) With most cars, you get the taxes/licensing bundled into the deal and what you pay at the time is it. With Tesla (in Texas), you buy the car, then the state sends you a tax bill 30 days later for another $4K. Surprise. This isn’t really explained well in the online process (until I expect when they show up with the car), and against it’s not how most cars work. (Where you bundle all that in with the price of the car and the loan). If you’re cutting your finances close, you might want to factor that in, and not put as much down so you have that buffer.
So far, I’m excited about the car, have the Power Adapter wired for L2 charging at home. And am selling my car a few days early. (We have two, and I’m heading out of town until delivery). The experience so far hasn’t been bad. Just there are a few quirks or surprises over all the other cars I’ve bought. But I haven’t had to haggle, and play the back and forth with the guy running off to talk to his manager about everything, and making me waste hours buying a car. So while I think the process could be polished a little, I’m feeling like it might end up a lot better than most new car experiences.
(1) Tesla was about $5K low on my trade-in offer from low Kelly Blue Book. I doubt that‘s the norm -- but I had a special edition (Kona Iron Man), and CarMax was $5K higher. In Texas there’s a $1,000+ tax benefit to selling to Tesla direct, but it was still better for me to sell to CarMax.
(2) While you fill out the forms for financing and trade-in, their system gets a little confused quirky. All of a sudden their financing looked way expensive, and the payment leaped up. I figured it out — basically, when I added a trade-in, there was a $13K payoff (on a car work $23K trade-in). Since they hadn’t made the offer on the trade-in, they just stacked the liability on top of the cost of the car, and my payment was looking to be like $1,100/month. Once the offer came in, it all corrected itself. They should try to fix that.
(3) Tesla financing came in and looked pretty good on interest rate. So I’m happy with that.
(4) Their process is a bit quirky as they’re not-a-dealer. So 3rd party financing through some places (like Chase) weren’t going to work (they only finance through dealers). There’s little things like you have to get insurance for the VIN before you can get the car delivered. (Every other time I’ve bought a car, you have 30 day grace on your old insurance, so this isn’t a deal). I get why (they explained it to), it’s just something unusual.
(5) With most cars, you get the taxes/licensing bundled into the deal and what you pay at the time is it. With Tesla (in Texas), you buy the car, then the state sends you a tax bill 30 days later for another $4K. Surprise. This isn’t really explained well in the online process (until I expect when they show up with the car), and against it’s not how most cars work. (Where you bundle all that in with the price of the car and the loan). If you’re cutting your finances close, you might want to factor that in, and not put as much down so you have that buffer.
So far, I’m excited about the car, have the Power Adapter wired for L2 charging at home. And am selling my car a few days early. (We have two, and I’m heading out of town until delivery). The experience so far hasn’t been bad. Just there are a few quirks or surprises over all the other cars I’ve bought. But I haven’t had to haggle, and play the back and forth with the guy running off to talk to his manager about everything, and making me waste hours buying a car. So while I think the process could be polished a little, I’m feeling like it might end up a lot better than most new car experiences.
