Although after stating the above, I would give my General Production spot to my folks if they wanted it...
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Hello!
I did send in my signed contract (by fax) and deposit for a SIG in late March - early April. I have recieved an e-mail from the European sales agent confirming that they have received my deposit.
Besides that I have not received any info regarding SIG# nor login to the owners forum...
It is now 4 months since I did this so I have started to become somewhat annoyed :frown:
Hello!
I did send in my signed contract (by fax) and deposit for a SIG in late March - early April. I have recieved an e-mail from the European sales agent confirming that they have received my deposit.
Besides that I have not received any info regarding SIG# nor login to the owners forum...
It is now 4 months since I did this so I have started to become somewhat annoyed :frown:
Nope sadly I do not have a Roadster. It's unfortunately too small for me... At 6'4" and all legs the only way for me to get into the roadster is to stand on the seat and then slide down into driving position. My legs hit the dash even with the seat all the way back... and clearance of the steering wheel above my thighs is very tight...
We're not even going to talk about what it looks like when I try to get into (or out of) one with the roof on... It's all rather undignified.
I will probably still take my local store (Santa Monica) up on their offer of lending me one for an extended test drive for a couple of hours...
Reservation Payment vs Reservation Deposit
There are two terms used in this email by Matt Zatto. I think that you can see my concern about the terms.
"You can reserve the next available production slot for a Model S by submitting a $5,000 reservation payment, for delivery in 2012. For a limited time, you can also reserve a special edition Signature Model S. This is a well optioned collector version - scheduled for delivery in late 2011. This car will be handcrafted with exclusive interior appointments that will not be available with the general production Model S. Only 1000 will be made in the United States. The reservation fee is $40,000. Both fees are fully refundable less a 1% cancellation fee. ...
Once we receive your reservation payment and a signed reservation agreement (see attached for a copy), we will confirm in writing that you have officially reserved a production slot. Over the next weeks and months you will receive updates on our company and your car.
If you are interested in our lightning quick, pure electric Roadster - we have some great news for you - the reservation deposit has been reduced to $9,900 and its only a 10 week wait for your uniquely customized sports car. We now offer financing for up to 75% of the final purchase price through Bank of America. Roadster owners see tremendous incentives on a Model S purchase. Furthermore, we will also be creating a trade-in program for the Roadster when the Model S begins delivering. ..."
So I just wanted to be sure: as far as everyone knows, the reservation payment goes towards the price of the car (approx. =$57K-tax incentive from government-$5K)?
There are two terms used in this email by Matt Zatto. I think that you can see my concern about the terms.
"You can reserve the next available production slot for a Model S by submitting a $5,000 reservation payment, for delivery in 2012. For a limited time, you can also reserve a special edition Signature Model S. This is a well optioned collector version - scheduled for delivery in late 2011. This car will be handcrafted with exclusive interior appointments that will not be available with the general production Model S. Only 1000 will be made in the United States. The reservation fee is $40,000. Both fees are fully refundable less a 1% cancellation fee. ...
Once we receive your reservation payment and a signed reservation agreement (see attached for a copy), we will confirm in writing that you have officially reserved a production slot. Over the next weeks and months you will receive updates on our company and your car.
If you are interested in our lightning quick, pure electric Roadster - we have some great news for you - the reservation deposit has been reduced to $9,900 and its only a 10 week wait for your uniquely customized sports car. We now offer financing for up to 75% of the final purchase price through Bank of America. Roadster owners see tremendous incentives on a Model S purchase. Furthermore, we will also be creating a trade-in program for the Roadster when the Model S begins delivering. ..."
So I just wanted to be sure: as far as everyone knows, the reservation payment goes towards the price of the car (approx. =$57K-tax incentive from government-$5K)?
I believe that's right. The Roadster actually exists now, so they're safe calling that a deposit. Perhaps we need to hear from our TMC legal team.
Arnold Panz
Model Sig 304, VIN 542
This is a little far afield from my normal practice area, but I think that a "deposit" is something that, if kept for an extended period of time, has to be put in escrow and interest may even have to be paid, whereas a "reservation payment", to my knowledge, has no legal meaning whatsoever and therefore Tesla can probably do whatever they want with it (i.e., essentially keep it as an interest-free loan for the next 2 or 3 years).
I am quite confident that the $5000 (or $40k for a SS) goes towards the purchase of the car. This isn't like a personal seat license (PSL) in a stadium where it gives you the right to buy the car for the full price some time later and they keep your PSL money forever. If they were trying to do that, they'd have a lot different legalese on the reservation page that we signed. Plus, in that case they wouldn't have to call it something as weird as a "reservation payment" because then they could just call it something the equivalent of a PSL.
Roadster owners who put deposits down years before production began can probably confirm that the amount of the deposit went towards the eventual purchase price of the car. Tesla does this to give themselves liquid capital (i.e. cash) to get production up and running, not to bilk their first (and best) customers. With the DOE loans, this is probably somewhat less necessary for the S than it was for the Roadster, but it can't hurt to have an extra few million dollars to play with.
Thanks Arnold. In conversations with others I believe the issue has to do with California's strict (but perhaps poorly enforced) dealership laws, where deposit has a specific legal meaning. (So there may be additional requirements/restrictions when using that term beyond the things you mention.) Whereas, as you say, payment does not.
Arnold Panz
Model Sig 304, VIN 542
That sounds about right -- I thought it would be a state law issue, and it figures that California would have some weird, onerous law to force just this sort of odd linguistic quirk to get around it. As a general rule of thumb, if there's something onerous attached to a particular word with legal meaning, just change the word and you've solved probably half the battle.
They key point is to make sure that potential "depositors" like Mark don't get scared away because Tesla doesn't make it crystal clear that the $5k or $40k goes towards the eventual purchase of the car.
Since the fee is fully refundable until you lock-in your options minus a 1% handling charge in many ways it doesn't matter. You could then just cancel and buy it directly though you would loose your spot in the line then. With the deposit handed over and a contract signed you do get access to the owner part of the Tesla site.
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