Video & Pics: Tesla hides large number of Model 3

[Joe F]

It’s called logistics. If you think a train, truck or boat is going to roll or sail because your car is finished, you’re sadly mistaken.

Want a car today? Go buy one off a local car dealership like the uninformed masses do every day.

And if you feel compelled to whimp out and hit disagree, know that those who do on TMC have an ulterior motive for doing so, and are not here because they are a fan of Tesla and want the company to succeed. Which IMHO shows their true character.

 

[SageBrush]

And if you feel compelled to whimp out and hit disagree, know that those who do on TMC have an ulterior motive for doing so, and are not here because they are a fan of Tesla and want the company to succeed. Which IMHO shows their true character.

Hitting disagree without following up with a post explaining why is usually somewhere between useless and propaganda/trolling. Tesla fans can certainly disagree, and I would say that disagreements can still be valid and reasonable from people who are not Tesla fans. Not often on this forum, to be sure, but at least possible.

Note that I 'liked' your post, and followed up with the part I disagree with ;-)

 

[SageBrush]

If I were a stockholder, which I am not, I'd not be too happy about merchandize sitting on storage lots and not bringing in income.

I am a stockholder, and while I would love to see it take 1 day from finished product to cash in the bank I know it does not work that way. There are delays in delivery, all the more so when Tesla has a rapid jump in production.

This logistics bottle-neck is entirely expected and will be ironed out sooner rather than later.

 

[mhan00]

I am one of the faithful .... so I am not looking to criticize.

If I were a stockholder, which I am not, I'd not be too happy about merchandize sitting on storage lots and not bringing in income.

If I had been notified my vehicle was waiting transit, which I have not, I would not want my brand new beauty sitting on a lot where vandals, vermin and inclement weather can prey upon it.

Did upper management not associate the need for transportation in connection with the ramp-up?

They’re not being stored, or at least not long term. Anyone who thinks their car isn’t going to sit somewhere for a while after buying from any manufacturer is kidding themselves. Have you seen dealer lots and how long cars sit there? Tesla is manufacturing up to 7000 cars a week, and - fingers crossed - will soon be manufacturing much more than that. They need areas to store cars while they arrange for transport, or while they’re waiting for the planned transport to be ready to load the cars onto, which is going to happen with any mainstream car manufacturer. Outside of a crazy expensive custom car where the crazy rich owner pays a hefty premium to change things, no manufacturer is going to build a car and then put it onto its already waiting single car transport to be taken directly to the customer’s house for hand delivery. Cars are going to sit somewhere sometime waiting for various logistical matters to be taken care of at some point.

On a possibly related note: Other manufacturers are having issues with rail due to a rail car shortage right now, forcing them to store cars, too, which could be affecting Tesla too (not sure how much Tesla uses rail to ship cars versus using long haul trucks).

Why are so many Ram trucks parked at Gibraltar Trade Center?

 

[gambit48]

Does no one understand how cars are tracked for other manufacturers? They all track inventory and how much supply they have. Manufacturers literally give money to dealers, called the "holdback", to pay for inventory sitting around.

Even if there was absolutely no demand, a few thousand cars sitting around wouldn't be abnormal. GM and Ford each have nearly a million cars just sitting around. At least several hundred thousand.

And based on the 5 minute delivery policy Tesla is trying, clearly it's not demand that's causing a bottleneck.

 

[iwannam3]

Aren't these cars ones Tesla held back so they would not hit 200,000 sales in 2nd quarter? Now they are working their way through the distribution system. Still wish they had factory delivery WITHOUT California sales tax. I think a large number of customers would make the trip to CA and spend a bunch of cash in CA. Stupid legislature.

 

[Stirfelt]

"Still wish they had factory delivery WITHOUT California sales tax."

This is something I have not looked-into thoroughly enough. Are you saying that should I purchase a Tesla in my state .... I still must pay California sales tax? That would be a deal breaker.

 

[kengchang]

"Still wish they had factory delivery WITHOUT California sales tax."

This is something I have not looked-into thoroughly enough. Are you saying that should I purchase a Tesla in my state .... I still must pay California sales tax? That would be a deal breaker.

No, he meant if you don't live in CA and decide to pick up the car in CA, you still have to pay CA tax and deduct that tax when you register the car in your state.

 

[Clomer]

"Still wish they had factory delivery WITHOUT California sales tax."

This is something I have not looked-into thoroughly enough. Are you saying that should I purchase a Tesla in my state .... I still must pay California sales tax? That would be a deal breaker.

No, it means that if you travel to California to take delivery at the factory, you have to pay California sales tax.

A lot of people, myself included, would seriously consider doing exactly that were it not for the sales tax bill. I don't know for sure that I would arrange a factory delivery, but I would seriously consider it if I didn't have to worry about that tax bill. I would then spend several hundred dollars at California businesses; income that the state otherwise wouldn't have. The tax bill, however, makes the idea a non-starter and I'll just take delivery at my local delivery center.

 

[Stirfelt]

kenchang and Clomer - thank you both. For a moment I saw the image of my dream car growing dim quickly.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Now entering demand hell if all the stories coming out are true. One problem for Tesla is if the public gets the perception right or wrong that demand is low, they will less likely be interested in the car. The best way to get people to want something is tell them they can't get it.

Keep flogging that dead horse.

Tesla is barely making the P3D, and is not making the LR AWD yet.

They are still in _production_ hell.

 

[arnolddeleon]

No, it means that if you travel to California to take delivery at the factory, you have to pay California sales tax.

A lot of people, myself included, would seriously consider doing exactly that were it not for the sales tax bill. I don't know for sure that I would arrange a factory delivery, but I would seriously consider it if I didn't have to worry about that tax bill. I would then spend several hundred dollars at California businesses; income that the state otherwise wouldn't have. The tax bill, however, makes the idea a non-starter and I'll just take delivery at my local delivery center.

There was an attempt to pass a law to make this possible but I believe it either got vetoed or never made it pass the assembly. I can only find articles about the state senate passing it: New bill in California would eliminate sales tax for out-of-state Tesla buyers and encourage deliveries at the Fremont factory

 

[RayK]

When you consider the traditional (i.e., old) process of buying a car from a dealership, you may come to realize that Tesla is probably doing it the right way by stockpiling cars in these temporary storage lots. For example, if you are looking for a specific vehicle with the color, interior and exteriors options you desire and it's not already in your local lot, more than likely that dealer can look on their computer and see if your configuration is at another local, or even remote, dealer. If so, they can then arrange to ship/swap cars. If one is not available, then you'll have to submit a custom order just like we've done with the Model 3. I'm assuming that you won't have to wait the 2+ years some of us here have.

Tesla can't do it this way at the moment since, 1) their stores/galleries don't have room to store the same amount of cars as a normal dealer (100's) and 2) they probably can't build a car with specific options one-at-a-time without having it affect their production goals. A related reason for these huge storage lots is the feeling I get, aka IMHO, that they also support a desire to game the system for maximizing the number of customers that can qualify for the full federal tax credit. Since we now know that the $7500 credit will last to the end of this year, Tesla is trying to deliver as many vehicles as they possibly can (e.g., 5-15 minute delivery schedule). Tesla's problem now is matching up demand with supply, along with trying to maintain QC.

From reading several horror stories here about people still waiting for their cars after ordering them months ago, and reports about what I consider infant mortality fails, I really hope that these are outliers. It's a given that reading posts on forums like this highly magnify negative experiences over positive ones. If you're satisfied with your ordering and delivery process and your car is defect-free and performing as expected, you'll be out driving it around enjoying yourself, rather than signing onto a discussion forum and saying how great the car is. And yes, there are outliers in this case as well .

 

[RayK]

There was an attempt to pass a law to make this possible but I believe it either got vetoed or never made it pass the assembly. I can only find articles about the state senate passing it: New bill in California would eliminate sales tax for out-of-state Tesla buyers and encourage deliveries at the Fremont factory

I believe that if you live in CA and buy a vehicle out-of-state in order to avoid paying sales tax (Oregon), you'll be hit with a tax when you register your car in CA. Which I guess is one of the reasons why I see a couple of cars at work that continue to have non-CA plates after being here several years.

 

[arnolddeleon]

I believe that if you live in CA and buy a vehicle out-of-state in order to avoid paying sales tax (Oregon), you'll be hit with a tax when you register your car in CA. Which I guess is one of the reasons why I see a couple of cars at work that continue to have non-CA plates after being here several years.

Indeed you must. You have 20 days to register your vehicles after you establish residency (California Relocation Guide & Moving Guide | DMV.ORG). The fines are pretty stiff if you are caught.

 

[iwannam3]

I believe that if you live in CA and buy a vehicle out-of-state in order to avoid paying sales tax (Oregon), you'll be hit with a tax when you register your car in CA. Which I guess is one of the reasons why I see a couple of cars at work that continue to have non-CA plates after being here several years.

Oregon used to have the highest per capita rate of Ferrari registration in the US. They kept them garaged in CA and drove relatively few miles so weren't caught for out of state plates. Used to be $11/year! RV dealers in Oregon would register your RV in Oregon for you until they got busted.
Business | Vehicle Registration In Oregon Under Fire -- Washington, Other States Want Tighter Controls | Seattle Times Newspaper

 

[CSFTN]

pro Tesla here ...
Acquaintance just returned on a long motorcycle ride. Tells me that he drove past the upset NY "Tesla factory" so I'd guess that the solar panel factory. Said the parking lot was overflowing with new Teslas, many wrapped in white plastic. If so, then there are stashes/distribution holding lots throughout the country.

 

[voip-ninja]

It’s called logistics. If you think a train, truck or boat is going to roll or sail because your car is finished, you’re sadly mistaken.

Want a car today? Go buy one off a local car dealership like the uninformed masses do every day.

And if you feel compelled to whimp out and hit disagree, know that those who do on TMC have an ulterior motive for doing so, and are not here because they are a fan of Tesla and want the company to succeed. Which IMHO shows their true character.

Actually confrontational all or nothing cheerleaders like yourself make sober rational people like me consider canceling my order.

Threads at other car fan sites point out exactly this kind of hostility as a reason they are avoiding Tesla.

 

[Stirfelt]

I have been reading with interest all the reports of stockpiled M3. I have read the explanations, and I take no issue with that.

Why? why not put an M3 in the various sales centers around the country?
By brother owns an S .... while visiting earlier this month we were going to drive to the Houston sales center where he bought his ... fortunately we called first and were told they do not have a single example to look at.

Tesla invited me to configure recently ..... I have only seen one M3 and that was at a distance. There is no way I am going to configure without sitting in one, and hopefully driving one.

 

[Runt8]

Actually confrontational all or nothing cheerleaders like yourself make sober rational people like me consider canceling my order.

Threads at other car fan sites point out exactly this kind of hostility as a reason they are avoiding Tesla.

Not sure making a big purchasing decision like a new car based on what someone says in an internet forum is what I call “rational.”