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drcross | 3 years ago

>no customer service

I own a Tesla and have had no problems with customer service.

What I do have a problem with is negotiating a price for a vehicle from a slimy dealership agent who have a litany of techniques to increase their profit for no good reason. On the Tesla website the price you pay is the price that everyone pays.

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pexabit|3 years ago

Maybe I am wrong about this, but the price you pay at a dealership is the spot price for a car now and here. The price you pay on the Tesla website is for a car some time in the future, some times an indefinitely far off time in the future. I suspect the spot price for a Tesla now and here is also fluctuating, opaque, and subject to negotiation.

Am I wrong?

Sohcahtoa82|3 years ago

> The price you pay on the Tesla website is for a car some time in the future, some times an indefinitely far off time in the future.

FWIW, the delivery estimates displayed on the Tesla web site for cars currently in production are pretty accurate. Also, if you order a Performance/Plaid model, you get to the front of the queue. ;-)

> I suspect the spot price for a Tesla now and here is also fluctuating, opaque, and subject to negotiation.

In that case, you're buying a used one from a dealer, so that would be true.

The annoying thing with dealers though is that when it comes to Tesla, they often have no clue what they're actually selling, or they're trying to rip off naive customers. I've seen them try to sell base Model 3's for $55K. For just a couple thousand more, you could get a brand new Model 3 Performance delivered in 2-4 weeks.

plasticchris|3 years ago

Sort of, at least last summer if you wanted a car here and now there was a premium attached but you could order one for msrp and indefinitely far in the future is pretty accurate as to when it would arrive.

KptMarchewa|3 years ago

In times of smaller demand, Tesla also had inventory on hand that they sold right now.

On the other hand, dealerships also sold future cars - and sometimes still do - when you want to have something customized.

So, there's no difference besides difference in demand.

arcticbull|3 years ago

I agree their pricing model is good, but that has nothing to do with the value proposition of dealerships - just their approach to pricing. Ford could mandate flat pricing overnight to all their dealers too. It's just never been in corporate's interest, until now. For example a MacBook costs the same at BestBuy as it does at an Apple store as it does at apple.com

I'm hardly a Musk fanboy, in fact I have strong negative opinions about the, er, gentleman, but this push towards flat pricing and allowing sales directly to individuals is imo an unequivocal good. If the price everyone pays is the same online and at the dealerships then dealerships can prove their value to the customer - or not.

pexabit|3 years ago

Ford could do this, but cars are expensive assets that are hard to move around and so subject to changes in local demand, macroeconomic circumstances, etc. Ford would not be able to successfully push flat pricing onto its dealers, because the dealers discover the price that clears their local market.

listenallyall|3 years ago

Tesla (and fixed-price car sellers like CarMax) are profiting handsomely squarely off of your inability, unwillingness or fear of negotiating. They just bake the full profit right into the up-front price and wait for people like yourself, happy to pay full price. Your loss.

kortilla|3 years ago

Do you negotiate when purchasing a toilet at Home Depot?

Sohcahtoa82|3 years ago

> They just bake the full profit right into the up-front price and wait for people like yourself, happy to pay full price. Your loss.

As opposed to the haggling model where they expect to sell a car for $55K but put a $60K tag on it knowing people will haggle it down to $55K and think they got a good deal.

It's an absolutely shitty model, and it's saddening that you're falling for it.

idop|3 years ago

> I own a Tesla and have had no problems with customer service.

Good for you, really. That doesn't invalidate the countless horror stories that prop up on those forums multiple times a day.

pvaldes|3 years ago

I assume that some of those at least could be fake. Not easy to know it.