[UK] ‘Highland’ order discussion

[Marsh_UK]

I test drove an M3 Performance last week and loved it, I almost bought an LR on the current 0% finance but got caught in the crossover to Blackhorse and the price went up £100 a month.

I then convinced myself that it’s still a great deal and again almost reserved a ready for delivery LR but a friend of mine said I’m best waiting for the ‘highland’ refresh when I spoke to one of the Tesla salesman he said it’s unlikely to come to the U.K. for 3 years, is this right?

 

[WllXM]

Highland is projected to be live, first in Fremont for Q3. There might indeed be a delay in getting RHD models, as this was the case in the past, but I believe it would be in months rather than in years.

The short answer is down to what you are after : if you want to bag a great deal, with 5k to up to 10k off a new model, and the 0% financing, you have to seize it now on the current inventory. (People believe that’s the reason why the 0% offer requires people to take delivery before 31/08)

If you are in FOMO over the new features, potential new self driving hardware, and facelift that the new model will offer, which will eventually make the current one look ‘dated’ in the eyes of some, and you are prepared to pay more for that privilege (both in terms of % APR & RRP) and able to wait, then wait…

It’s basically like buying a new iPhone the week before the September keynote…

 

[Marsh_UK]

That’s a great way of putting it, thanks for your response.

 

[TheSharkbites]

You are going to wait an age for a new M3 Highland, only one factory has shut down to retool, and they will only shut one factory down at a time to retool so there is always output. RHD production will be lowest priority I reckon it will be a significant timeframe before RHD cars are produced as demand for LHD will be masssive so they will produce for that demand first.

 

[Chris CG]

On the M3 forum it’s gone very quiet on the new Highland refresh (who’d have though it, Tesla delays) and if the Cybertruck (Worldwide) and MS refresh (UK) are anything to go by, Tesla work on their own timescale - usually years behind promises (both hardware and software).

I got an M3P in September last year (replacing a March 21’M3LR) and love/d them both. If I were doing the same again now I’d possibly wait for the highland BUT fully expect it could be a large number of months (think the original 3 was about 18-24 months before it came to the UK after launch so that type of delay from when Highland’s eventually launched wouldn’t surprise me one bit!).

Ultimately you need to decide if a) you can wait an indefinite amount of time and have a current car you’re happy with or b) you’re happy to possibly have the ‘old’ model in a few months time (although I personally reckon it’ll be many months).

 

[Marsh_UK]

On the M3 forum it’s gone very quiet on the new Highland refresh (who’d have though it, Tesla delays) and if the Cybertruck (Worldwide) and MS refresh (UK) are anything to go by, Tesla work on their own timescale - usually years behind promises (both hardware and software).

I got an M3P in September last year (replacing a March 21’M3LR) and love/d them both. If I were doing the same again now I’d possibly wait for the highland BUT fully expect it could be a large number of months (think the original 3 was about 18-24 months before it came to the UK after launch so that type of delay from when Highland’s eventually launched wouldn’t surprise me one bit!).

Ultimately you need to decide if a) you can wait an indefinite amount of time and have a current car you’re happy with or b) you’re happy to possibly have the ‘old’ model in a few months time (although I personally reckon it’ll be many months).

I’m happy to wait I have a car I own outright and I’m in no rush to change, if it wasn’t for the current stock offers.

 

[Durzel]

Because I’m pessimistic I’m imagining the main benefits of Highland will be in Tesla’s favour, rather than ours - e.g. manufacturing simplicity, reduction of parts, etc.

It will look slightly different but I don’t think it’ll be radically different. It’ll be enough to tell at a glance, though, and it’ll make the older cars look slightly dated.

Personally, I wouldn’t buy a new M3 at this present moment in time, but I’ve been wrong plenty of times. There’s nothing wrong with getting one now if it works out best for you.

 

[Chris CG]

I’m happy to wait I have a car I own outright and I’m in no rush to change, if it wasn’t for the current stock offers.

I paid the full £64k for mine (red exterior and white interior (which I’ve seen as low as £56k)) and don’t regret it a bit - mainly because at the point I changed I’d paid £49k for my M3LR and got £50.4k part-ex, 18 months and 8k miles later).

To remain competitive, and with the Highland supposedly costing less to manufacture, I suspect they’ll be roughly the same price as now without the discounts when they eventually launch. Plus, a fair chunk of what you save now may well be lost come trade in time as you’ll have the older model then.

 

[aq42]

I test drove an M3 Performance last week and loved it, I almost bought an LR on the current 0% finance but got caught in the crossover to Blackhorse and the price went up £100 a month.

I then convinced myself that it’s still a great deal and again almost reserved a ready for delivery LR but a friend of mine said I’m best waiting for the ‘highland’ refresh when I spoke to one of the Tesla salesman he said it’s unlikely to come to the U.K. for 3 years, is this right?

The three years sounds fishy to me. When the Model 3 came out it was Tesla's first entry into that sector of the market and they only had the one factory. It made sense to delay RHD because they could sell every LHD they made.

Now they have four factories and all RHD Model 3s come from Shanghai. It simply does not make sense for Shanghai to be producing Highland in LHD and classic in RHD at the same time. While we do not know exactly what is changing for Highland, there would have to be inventory duplication of parts such as lights, wheels and so on, and that is not Tesla's way. Equally, if they stop producing RHD then they can't service the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Thailand etc.

Well, as the Y now outsells the 3, they might try to just sell more Ys. But since the 3 and the Y are essentially the saloon and SUV versions of the same basic car, before too long the Highland changes will be made to the Y, and the same problems arise.

And there's a lot of chatter suggesting that Shanghai is tooling up for Highland and the change will come quite soon.

 

[MrT3]

You are going to wait an age for a new M3 Highland, only one factory has shut down to retool, and they will only shut one factory down at a time to retool so there is always output. RHD production will be lowest priority I reckon it will be a significant timeframe before RHD cars are produced as demand for LHD will be masssive so they will produce for that demand first.

There are only two factories making the M3 and whilst they haven't shutdown both together it wouldn't really make a difference because each one builds vehicles for its own specific regions/countries - China isn't going to start serving the US just because Fremont is shut for a few weeks.

 

[Stuart1714]

There are only two factories making the M3 and whilst they haven't shutdown both together it wouldn't really make a difference because each one builds vehicles for its own specific regions/countries - China isn't going to start serving the US just because Fremont is shut for a few weeks.

There is an important reason why cars destined for the US market can’t come from China at the moment as they wouldn’t qualify for the current EV tax credit on EVs made in the USA.

Interestingly though, there have been reports of Teslas recently being imported into Canada from China. I think they were reserving the US made batteries for US cars to qualify for the full EV tax credit.

I wouldn’t like to guess when RHD cars with the updates will start appearing though.

 

[Zilla91]

Wait for the new one. Once it's out the current cars will be designated "legacy" and focus will be on the new cars

 

[Jason71]

No way they carry on building the old model for long in Shanghai after Fremont starts up building Highland. Everyone will assume the new model is imminent so no one will want the old model. So they will have to do Shanghai as soon as Fremont is done in my opinion. The 3 years is just saleman BS

 

[kpanda17]

Wait
I think he is wrong

 

[bckelowna]

There is an important reason why cars destined for the US market can’t come from China at the moment as they wouldn’t qualify for the current EV tax credit on EVs made in the USA.

Interestingly though, there have been reports of Teslas recently being imported into Canada from China. I think they were reserving the US made batteries for US cars to qualify for the full EV tax credit.

I wouldn’t like to guess when RHD cars with the updates will start appearing though.

I've received my model 3 long range yesterday AWD and it's from China, I'm in Canada

 

[WannabeOwner]

Order now or wait for ‘Highland’?

When do you need a new car? Could you wait for 2 years, or possibly more? If not then buy the best deal now and start enjoying having one, rather than just looking forward to having one ... but if you enjoy having latest & newest then fill the gap with whatever.

The new car will have bugs, and probably some slipstream updates that they planned to do but couldn't incorporate initially. The bugs are normally ironed out by the time RHD arrives (but I have an early RHD UK MY, and they improved the suspension shortly after that), but I reckon that a year or so post-launch is probably the sweet spot for a new model model from Tesla - bugs fixed, and a few nice additions added

I wouldn't want to be first for anything new from Tesla (or any other automotive manufacturer).

 

[Unclepaul]

Nobody knows.

 

[qwickshot]

Nobody knows but it’s unlikely to take a considerable amount of time to get here.

Sure they’ll be an initial rush but production will catch up with demand very quickly.

It’s the model 3 not some niche £130k car that they might sell 7 a week of. They are churning these things out like washing machines and demand for the model 3 isn’t actually that high.

The biggest issue with launching the highland 3 is the model y, their best selling product and the thing most people actually want. Once the highland launches, everyone will be asking ‘so what about the model y’ and stop buying it because they think a new one will be imminent which it will be if it doesn’t launch at the same time.

Given how many shared components they have and how many of those shared components are being changed on highland, I can’t actually see them producing the existing model y for more than a few weeks after highland is done.

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

I can’t see it being 3 years. The Model X took 2 years from when the model changed and in that time they simply didn’t sell the model here, that’s not going to happen.

Factories also serve specific markets, keeping one factory open while reconfiguring another to maintain production doesn’t help, the market served by the closed factory get no cars. It might be because it makes sense to learn from one factory before doing a second, and there are only 2 making M3, but the second will follow quickly, like the previous changes have.. And finally, if highland is any good, who’d buy an old model when they know a new design is coming?

So personally I think when highland is launched it will be in production everywhere fairly quickly, the question therefore becomes, when will highland arrive? Nobody really knows.

There’s also the question on whether the improvements will be worth it. The MS and MX changes aren’t universally welcomed and the sales of those models are lower than before the update. M3s are also discounted at the moment, that’s likely to end.

 

[pdk42]

I wonder what the Highland car will bring that the Model 3 lacks? It seems to me, based on leaks, that it’s an evolutionary upgrade rather than a completely new car. It’ll get a FSD hardware upgrade for sure, and some styling tweaks, but I suspect in most other ways it’ll not move the Model 3 on a lot. I suspect it’ll still suffer from the excessive road noise of the old car, and its slightly-too-firm ride - the key things I like the least about the car. And of course, there’s the likelihood that it’ll lose the stalks; I think that could be a deal breaker for many.