Will Tesla “ever” give early Reservation holders priority over new S/X owners?

[dsvick]

True. The more likely scenario is that Tesla does it all on their side. Your delivery date mysteriously "slips" a week with no explanation.

And that would be fine, I'd trust their judgement of the timing a lot more than I'd trust my own. I'd screw it up and be the moron that only got half the credit because he couldn't count.

The only time it wouldn't be fine is if it were the end of Q4 and they slid me to Q1, even if I still got the full credit it would then be a year later that I'd get it.

 

[strider]

Right here ...

Since it is a tax credit it has no bearing on what anyone pays for the car, regardless of the amount of the credit that someone gets the price they pay for the car will be the same. Yes, there are things they can do with the credit once they receive it to make the financial impact of the car less, but the cost will always be the same.

I do agree we all need to be patient though. I can easily see things getting way out of hand with all the potential "I should be in front of you" and "why are they so special" comments that will undoubtedly start showing up as we get closer to the end of the year.

Argh. I see what I did there. I meant that one day a person would get the credit and the next person to get their car [the next day] would see the cost rise. I was not clear in my writing.

You can be pedantic about the mechanics of the credit but the bottom line is that a person getting the credit gets a discount on the car. PERIOD. That's why they created the thing in the first place. To make EV's cheaper. Why they made it a credit instead of a rebate is because Congress but the effect is the same.

True. The more likely scenario is that Tesla does it all on their side. Your delivery date mysteriously "slips" a week with no explanation.

I don't understand this statement. I think the intent of the post above was that if you don't have enough income to qualify for the credit you would ask Tesla to slip your date. But you imply that Tesla would do this. They would have to know your income tax situation to make this call. How would they know that?

 

[dsvick]

I don't understand this statement. I think the intent of the post above was that if you don't have enough income to qualify for the credit you would ask Tesla to slip your date. But you imply that Tesla would do this. They would have to know your income tax situation to make this call. How would they know that?

He's saying that instead of you taking the initiative and delaying your delivery that Tesla would do it so you had no choice. The reasoning being that Tesla has a much better grasp of when the 200K will be sold.

 

[ModelNforNerd]

I don't understand this statement. I think the intent of the post above was that if you don't have enough income to qualify for the credit you would ask Tesla to slip your date. But you imply that Tesla would do this. They would have to know your income tax situation to make this call. How would they know that?

Entirely different conversations, but still within the subject of the thread.

Not everyone is sliding pennies around and hoping and praying the tax credit's pennies help them afford the car.

 

[EVNow]

True . But new EV owners make up a very large subset of 'no previous Tesla' buyers. No insult intended.

So, my guess why Tesla wants to prioritize tesla car owners is
- loyalty
- familiarity
- they want poor tesla car owners to get first dibs at the tax credit

 

[strider]

So, my guess why Tesla wants to prioritize tesla car owners is
- loyalty
- familiarity
- they want poor tesla car owners to get first dibs at the tax credit

I realize you're being cheeky w/ the last one but seriously, how would they verify non-Tesla EV ownership? If telling Tesla that you were experienced w/ EV's via non-Tesla EV ownership allowed you to move up in line, someone would post that info here on TMC. Next thing you know everyone on the waiting list would be non-Tesla EV owners and demand priority.

And it's not just familiarity w/ EVs that Tesla is looking for; it's familiarity w/ the way Tesla does things. Their service mechanism is different than traditional dealers. Service Centers will likely have VERY long delays when Model 3 launches - they can't even keep up w/ S/X in many SCs as it is. They also have a tendency to not deliver things they promised to early production cars (and sometimes even to late ones but by then they've taken it off the web site - I'm looking at you, on-board music storage capability). It is safe to say that current Tesla owners will in general be more understanding to problems than non-Tesla owners. Of course there will be exceptions in both directions, but Tesla is playing the odds.

I for one can't wait until the tax credit sunsets for Tesla so we can remove money from the discussion and it can be simply about the practicalities of releasing the next vehicle.

 

[strider]

He's saying that instead of you taking the initiative and delaying your delivery that Tesla would do it so you had no choice. The reasoning being that Tesla has a much better grasp of when the 200K will be sold.

Ah, got it. Thanks for the clarification. I do hope Tesla does that. As they near the end of the quarter in which they'll hit 200k US cars they could switch to non-US cars until the quarter rolls over. Then resume US cars and crank out as many as they can before end of quarter to maximize the credit.

 

[Model 3]

Service Centers will likely have VERY long delays when Model 3 launches - they can't even keep up w/ S/X in many SCs as it is.

Just a little bit of information on this:
From here in Norway there was the first reports about that the SCs could not keep up, and had VERY long delays. Now it seems like most of the service centers has caught up and you can get an service in just a few weeks, and even get "drop in" for simpler things. Yes, there is still a few that hasn't caught up yet. But I think they will be in good shape when the TM3 arrive. So it seems clear that Tesla has prioritized this in the expectation of the "flood" of TM3 that will come.

 

[ModelNforNerd]

Just a little bit of information on this:
From here in Norway there was the first reports about that the SCs could not keep up, and had VERY long delays. Now it seems like most of the service centers has caught up and you can get an service in just a few weeks, and even get "drop in" for simpler things. Yes, there is still a few that hasn't caught up yet. But I think they will be in good shape when the TM3 arrive. So it seems clear that Tesla has prioritized this in the expectation of the "flood" of TM3 that will come.

Not speaking from any personal experience, since I'm not a current owner, but the Eastern Massachusetts/Southern NH/Southern Maine area will be in dire need of at least one more Service Center before Model 3's start showing up on the East Coast.

I'm basing that on geography and predicted numbers, I have no insight into how efficient the existing Service Centers in Watertown and Dedham are being run.

 

[xxxotic]

Not speaking from any personal experience, since I'm not a current owner, but the Eastern Massachusetts/Southern NH/Southern Maine area will be in dire need of at least one more Service Center before Model 3's start showing up on the East Coast.

I'm basing that on geography and predicted numbers, I have no insight into how efficient the existing Service Centers in Watertown and Dedham are being run.

 

[xxxotic]

I made my deposit in the afternoon before they had the reveal. About two months ago my neighbor got a new model S. He said he went to make a deosit on a model 3 and then decided a few days later to buy a Model S after his wife said he should buy one instead of waiting. Will be interesting to see which one of us gets the car first since I ordered first but he bought a model S later on. Or since we live on the same street and are only 1.25 miles away from the dealer maybe we will get them at the same time.
I also asked the dealer if Tesla stockholders got priotity since I bought stock the day after it went public and they said no. I was one of the first people in the state to get a Lotus Elise which the Tesla roadster was based on and had to wait over 2 years after leaving my deposit to get the car so hopefully this wait wont be as long.

 

[ummgood]

Keep in mind too that among Model 3 buyers there may be a higher likelihood of some buyers not even benefiting from the full 7500 as JeffK mentioned, I don't think you'll see a lot of cancellations from people who don't make the 7500, plus aren't you already committed? I expect there will be some mad as H people posting on the forum come early April or July 2018 though!

There are so many ways people can benefit from the tax credit. For example let's say you have an IRA or old 401k from a previous job and you won't get the full tax credit. Then you roll enough of the IRA/401k over into a Roth 401k so you'll get the full tax credit. Then you basically moved a bunch of money over into an account you don't have to pay taxes on later so that helps your tax situation.

I might finance the entire model 3 and since I can afford the payment I might roll over 30k or so into a Roth. Then my EV tax credit helps me in the future when I'll be on a limited budget.

 

[shrspeedblade]

That's a very good point ummgood, I assume someone would have to plan for it in advance and move into the Roth prior to the end of the year the credit is claimed, correct?

For me on the Volt it was all the self employed work on the side: it was a nice feeling knowing those 1099s weren't going to stick it to me at the end of the year!

 

[EVNow]

I realize you're being cheeky w/ the last one but seriously, how would they verify non-Tesla EV ownership?

Identifying non-Tesla EV ownership is not rocket science

One could ask for - for eg. - a copy of the registration. I'm sure folks at Tesla can think of something - or ask Space X folks if its too difficult for them

Hey, I'm just trying to prop up used Leaf values !

 

[ummgood]

That's a very good point ummgood, I assume someone would have to plan for it in advance and move into the Roth prior to the end of the year the credit is claimed, correct?

For me on the Volt it was all the self employed work on the side: it was a nice feeling knowing those 1099s weren't going to stick it to me at the end of the year!

Yes. Plus there are some limitations so you'll definitely have to talk to a tax adviser before trying something like this. I just brought it up because there are ways to increase your tax liability which some people don't think about. So if you are getting your Model 3 early enough to qualify for a full tax rebate then don't throw that money away. You can do some legal things with your taxes to increase your tax liability and possibly make things nicer in the future if you can't have the money now.