Why did you cancel your Model 3 reservation?

[Garlan Garner]

I'll tell you what!!. I didn't realize how long 22 months was until I put down my $1k. Its only been 3 months from the reveal. Seems like the reveal ( second in line at the Chicago store ) was a year ago.

 

[sunrocket]

Well at least you are lucky to own a Model S and maybe you didn't feel as desperate (and determined) as some of us to wait.

I do however agree that Tesla do owe its reservation holders an estimated configuration date - at least a vague one. Maybe they will give an indication during reveal 2.

Yes I would love even a vague one. I reserved online 3/31 7:35pm PST (pre-reveal) and there is confusing info. on the forums that say I could be as far off as in the 100K's, or as close as the 60K's . The Tesla location says they can't help me and there is no way to tell. At 2K cars a week thats a difference of 20 weeks auugh!

 

[JeffK]

Yes I would love even a vague one. I reserved online 3/31 7:35pm PST (pre-reveal) and there is confusing info. on the forums that say I could be as far off as in the 100K's, or as close as the 60K's . The Tesla location says they can't help me and there is no way to tell. At 2K cars a week thats a difference of 20 weeks auugh!

Full production rate would be more along the lines of 8-10k per week. Of course there's a ramp-up period, but if they have the funds to have all the machinery and labor up front, anything is possible.

 

[RangerRick]

As much as I like the company, I still can't figure out why people were so gung ho about making reservations for a vehicle so far from production.

Personally it's because as soon as I rode in a Model S a few years ago, I wanted a Tesla. BUT... while I could afford a Model S if I really wanted to, I just couldn't really justify it when there are so many other things that money could go towards besides a car -- especially considering my current car works fine (VW dieselgate notwithstanding).

The Model 3, however... that I can totally justify. It's within the ballpark of my reasonably-well-optioned Jetta in price, and by the time it launches, I will probably be about ready for car shopping anyways. I'm in no hurry for a new car (other than the general impatience of wanting a new toy now that I've ordered it), so the long timeframe is optimal for me.

So then if I've already decided to get a Model 3, why not wait in line a bit and try to get it with the tax break? I'd be stupid not to. That said, as an East-coaster who ordered by lunchtime on the 31st, I read the announcement that employees and West coast would get the cars first with a bit of relief. They'll work out all the bugs before I get mine, but I'll still have a pretty good chance of getting some amount of tax break -- hopefully the full $7500 if I'm lucky.

 

[xav-]

sometimes I wish I were not in CA, that would make the decision to buy the model S much easier.

But regardless I think when they say "West coast will be delivered first ", they really mean "$70k cars will be delivered first. Those cars will be delivered to the west coast to begin with"

 

[cronosx]

So, you cancelled so you can sure you'll get the delivery in 3-4 years because you weren't sure if the delivery would be in 2 years or 2 years and half?

And since you already have a model s i stand to reason that you didn't really need the 1000$, so this is a "principle" motivation

Sorry, but i really don't understand why you did this, i'm gratefull of course.. but it make no sense, so you don't know.. if he told you that you were the number 212023 what would have changed? Tesla never make the date.. so you would have been in the same situation

 

[Winston Wolf]

In 2012, I think there were no other car manufacturer that offer a BEV. Many affluent customers were wilinng to pay for a premium for novelty and uniqueness. Now we read up in the news media that even Honda, Hyundai/Kia and VW are joining the bandwagon and suggesting 2018 as their target date for BEV's. These are all 200 mile BEV's by the way.



Selling is one part, manufacturing and quality control are total different stories.


I'm not cancelling my reservation but with the smorgasbord of BEVs coming out in 2018/19, I will definitely not have the patience to wait for the M3 to come out in late 2019/early 2020.

Yes, the competitors' BEVs look butt-ugly (thinking Korean and Japanese) but I'd rather take reliability over good looks anytime and maybe 80% of the M3's performance, especially when my household keeps cars until they're too expensive to maintain.

I'm not sure why you'd assume other manufacturer's BEVs would be more reliable than Tesla's when they have far less experience at making them than Tesla has.

 

[Genshi]

In general, while I agree Tesla has a lot of experience. Their experience in building cars, period, is limited. I'm not saying @internalaudit is 100% guaranteed to be right, just that he/she has a point about reliability over gimmicks. I love tech in my everything, but in some arenas reliability comes first.

To be fair, and this is something media generally DOESN'T point out in their reporting, Tesla takes a LOT more flack for ANY problems simply because they are on the forefront of BEVs and a lot of people have an ax to grind. Look no further than the fraudulent reports on the Model S Suspension problem from earlier this month. Or the one? two? fires they've ever had in the news. Other companies have NHTSA complaints all the time, but you rarely, if ever, see those in the news. Full on investigations? Sure. But that's not what this was. This alone contributes to what the general feeling that they have reliability issues. They do have some, but not nearly so many that they deserve to get blasted on TV, Talk Radio, etc 24/7 every time someone crashes a car.

Musk, by virtue of his place in the spotlight (A combination of his own doing, American infatuation with idolizing, and others axes being ground) means pretty much anything with Musk's name anywhere in the vicinity gets press time, and lots of it. He's the uhh.... Lebron James of the entrepreneurial world I guess?

 

[Chopr147]

While I did not cancel and at this time do not plan on it, I have convinced myself that buying an S right now is the way to go. I am in NY and probably at about 250k on the reservation list. Take half off for foreign reservations and I'm still at about 125k. East etc.... I will not see my Model 3 until spring 2018 at the earliest..........probably later than that. One more thing, tax credits will be long gone I believe.

 

[TaoJones]

I will have 4 choices in 18-21 months:

1) Buy the Model 3 I reserved.
2) Buy a CPO or private market used S.
3) Buy a new S if larger kW & AP2.0.
4) Keep what I've got.

One of those options is not like the others . A couple different ways.

All of those options are good options to have.

 

[Reeler]

I had three M3 on order, but Tesla canceled one. I had three other Tesla cars at the time so figured I could keep the three orders going with EM's promise that we could get one M3 for each current car we owned. Oh well.

 

[StraightDave]

i didn't cancel my reservation but will buy and sell the car to a friend of mine after he decides what options he wants. I can't wait two or three years for a car, just bad timing, and it also came down to the number of service stations and the volume of new cars these service stations will have to handle.

 

[Reeler]

i didn't cancel my reservation but will buy and sell the car to a friend of mine after he decides what options he wants. I can't wait two or three years for a car, just bad timing, and it also came down to the number of service stations and the volume of new cars these service stations will have to handle.

If your state doesn't have sales tax, that may make sense. You can list him as a joint owner on the title for delivery and just remove yourself. Tesla doesn't allow transferring of reservations, but this is an end-run around things.

 

[gigglehertz]

I may have to cancel if the Tesla/Solarcity merger goes through. I'm down almost 50% in SCTY and was hoping for a short squeeze later this year or next year when they should be cash flow positive and the Riverbend factory comes online. Now I'll end up with less than 70 shares of TSLA whose 2 year price target is nowhere near enough to pay for my ≡. Having that $1k back to dump back into stocks now that both are down might help, but I'd absolutely lose any chance of getting the tax credit. Plus I got laid off, but hoping to land a city job so I can start saving up the old fashioned way. Then again if the merger falls through it could be game on again. Plus the 2nd part of the reveal could motivate me to dig a little deeper for the money. In any case it's way too early to make a rash decision of this magnitude.

 

[JeffK]

I may have to cancel if the Tesla/Solarcity merger goes through. I'm down almost 50% in SCTY and was hoping for a short squeeze later this year or next year when they should be cash flow positive and the Riverbend factory comes online. Now I'll end up with less than 70 shares of TSLA whose 2 year price target is nowhere near enough to pay for my ≡. Having that $1k back to dump back into stocks now that both are down might help, but I'd absolutely lose any chance of getting the tax credit. Plus I got laid off, but hoping to land a city job so I can start saving up the old fashioned way. Then again if the merger falls through it could be game on again. Plus the 2nd part of the reveal could motivate me to dig a little deeper for the money. In any case it's way too early to make a rash decision of this magnitude.

It's pretty much always unwise to rely on stocks for income, especially with it being an election year and with events like Brexit.

Unless you truly NEED it, I'd say the 1000 investment with the potential tax credit, assuming you have the income in 2017 or 2018 tax years, would make it more than worth it. You have nearly a year and a half to find a new job (six months to have a job before 2017 tax year assuming 2017 delivery).

If you cancel your reservation you're getting back your $1000, but potentially losing thousands especially if you intend to purchase the car someday anyway.

 

[X Yes?]

I may have to cancel if the Tesla/Solarcity merger goes through. I'm down almost 50% in SCTY and was hoping for a short squeeze later this year or next year when they should be cash flow positive and the Riverbend factory comes online. Now I'll end up with less than 70 shares of TSLA whose 2 year price target is nowhere near enough to pay for my ≡. Having that $1k back to dump back into stocks now that both are down might help, but I'd absolutely lose any chance of getting the tax credit. Plus I got laid off, but hoping to land a city job so I can start saving up the old fashioned way. Then again if the merger falls through it could be game on again. Plus the 2nd part of the reveal could motivate me to dig a little deeper for the money. In any case it's way too early to make a rash decision of this magnitude.

Sorry to hear things did not go your way. I certainly learned the lesson years ago about "all the eggs in one basket". It's easy to get wrapped up in a companies stock, when you love the product. Re claiming your $1000 is a smart move, there will be plenty of cars available, you can get one with the 'bugs worked out".

 

[Chopr147]

Ughhh! I don't even want to look at my stocks today. I am hoping to get at least a half credit by the time the Model 3 comes in. But these Model S 60 sales are taking all the credits Good luck in the job search. It sucks being unemployed

 

[proven]

Don't forget that when you ordered, and where you are in "line" is not the production order. Your reservation number (if you know it) represents when you will be asked to configure your car. When the car is produced seems to depend on your options, location, and whether you are a previous owner or employee.

It was similar with the Model X. You had a reservation number and were asked to configure your car roughly in that order. Once you ordered you got a VIN based on your options and location.

 

[FirstSea]

I can only see myself canceling my order if any of these occur:

- The upgrade for the battery sets me back more than $12k.
- I can't upgrade to AP v2.
- I end up relocating to El Paso and there is no SC there.

 

[sub]

It was discussed on the forums leading up to the model 3 release that there would be an influx of new members to TMC, this thread is full of them. I think that is great but the lack of collective knowledge on the company/ev's is a bit painful to read through.

If you can't spare 1k for a reservation to buy a 35k minimum car then you shouldn't be buying the car IMO.

I've got two reservations, stood in line to be early as well. My plan is to get a nicely optioned one first (50-60k) then buy a stripper model a little later. Only reason I would cancel either is to buy a model X. I love the Model S but it's a huge car and it's become stale to me having looked at it the last 4 years, the model 3 looks better.

As a previous owner, thanks for stepping out of line for me.