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Pricing change rant

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So I ordered my 85D March 23rd... after months of hesitating. My build came out at $102,820... I decided against air suspension, and next gen seats to keep costs down, as I felt I'd like to have the other options such as premium interior and sound package. Long story short, my build is "in queue" and the 70D gets released and all of the package pricing has changed. Now my exact same build is only $97,250 + $1,200 destination & doc fee. So after 2-3 weeks in queue my car is now $4,370 cheaper. I contact my DS and ask what my options are, and to see if I can add air suspension since I'm still in queue and if this will bump me into the new price book. Basically I was told I have no options, and they would "hook me up" with some free Tesla t-shirts and hats. I held it together on the phone, but I was ready to lose it, and thought to myself "how many damn shirts and hats am I going to get for a $4,370 price difference". If I would have waited 3 weeks to order, I could have gotten all of the options I wanted for the same price... This just really pisses me off... Now I'm paying $102,820 for a $98,450 car, feels like a typical car dealer to me now... end rant.
 
You can cancel your order, back out of the queue, and make a new order, under new price/option structure, delivery in June; transfer your deposit to the new order.

Or you can pay a $500 change fee to change whatever options you want on your current order under the old price/option structure.

I would have a talk with that DS cause it sounds like he was being lazy...
 
Cancel your Tesla order.

Maybe your local General Motors dealer can set you up with a nice deal on a Chevy Impala.

The pricing (on the GM car) won't change --- because nobody really wants one, anyway --- and the Impala is...

"Designed for those who appreciate detail. Refined for those with a passion for driving. The 2015 Chevrolet Impala delivers a level of sophistication, refinement and excitement that’s second to none."

I crack up every time I ready that quote.

Advice: Love your brand new Tesla Model S 85D. Understand that hard work and success have afforded you the opportunity to drive something that most people will never be able to drive or appreciate.

Someday, regardless of how many dollars you have, you are going to die.
 
I thought about cancelling and reordering... I just can't bring myself to wait another month for my car, the wait so far has been killing me. And I thought if I asked to add air suspension and pay the $500 change fee that would bump me into the new price book, but I was told it's too late to change anything, even though I'm still in queue.
 
I thought about cancelling and reordering... I just can't bring myself to wait another month for my car, the wait so far has been killing me. And I thought if I asked to add air suspension and pay the $500 change fee that would bump me into the new price book, but I was told it's too late to change anything, even though I'm still in queue.

I'd cancel and re-order, for certain. Wait an extra month and get the right thing. Otherwise you will regret the decision for years.
 
It's not stupid. I'm assuming you've saved up a lot of $4370s along the way to have this and other finer things in life. It bothers me more that your DS is telling you something that is not true just because he/she does not want to make that extra phone call or email.

A week ago I was in your same position, confirmed, had a VIN and in production queue. Wednesday, everything changed on the order site and I transferred my deposit to a new order and saved $4000 as well. I also agree that it will be worth the wait; air suspension is something you feel/use every second of your drive.

Regarding the second option of changing options for a fee, you have not gone into production yet; they are going to build 5000 or so cars ahead of you. So why can't they add the air option now, and make more profit on top of the $500 change fee?
 
Electric_slide:
I am sorry you are in this predicament.
That said, you need to do whatever it takes to be happy with your new car.
So if that means canceling and reordering then that is what you need to do.
You can get that option you wanted (seats or air suspension) at the minor cost of waiting a bit longer.
 
So I ordered my 85D March 23rd... after months of hesitating. My build came out at $102,820... I decided against air suspension, and next gen seats to keep costs down, as I felt I'd like to have the other options such as premium interior and sound package. Long story short, my build is "in queue" and the 70D gets released and all of the package pricing has changed. Now my exact same build is only $97,250 + $1,200 destination & doc fee. So after 2-3 weeks in queue my car is now $4,370 cheaper. I contact my DS and ask what my options are, and to see if I can add air suspension since I'm still in queue and if this will bump me into the new price book. Basically I was told I have no options, and they would "hook me up" with some free Tesla t-shirts and hats. I held it together on the phone, but I was ready to lose it, and thought to myself "how many damn shirts and hats am I going to get for a $4,370 price difference". If I would have waited 3 weeks to order, I could have gotten all of the options I wanted for the same price... This just really pisses me off... Now I'm paying $102,820 for a $98,450 car, feels like a typical car dealer to me now... end rant.

Cancel it and Re order... this is simple enough. If you think TESLA cares about you, they don't so... look after yourself first. I took possession of my car and with the new price in affect I would have premium and 21inch wheels included. So no need to tell you I don't have those.
Yet I did buy the right car.. I love my P85D..
 
Buying luxury and sophisticated item you never win, there always will be better and nicer item tomorrow. Buying MS that cost $100K, $4K is not that much, comparing to buying Impala @ $27K. I think if you can afford go for the best, because in 3 years you car will lose about 50% of its initial price.
 
Many other forum members have successfully changed their not-yet in production car to the new price book and options. It can be done. It sounds like you don't have the best DS. I'd escalate. Be firm, but polite, on what you want.
 
I wish we would read here about Tesla doing the right thing more often with regards to these erratic price changes. One could argue that although the car may be $4k cheaper today than a couple of weeks ago, the cost to manufacture today certainly has not increased/decreased significantly so why not do the right thing and offer a refund for the price difference for someones car which has not even completed the build process? Wouldn't that be nice to read about now and then?
 
I know it seems stupid to complain about $4,370 when we're talking about Tesla's... but I needed to complain... thanks for reading
It's not stupid at all. Don't let the jerks here make you feel that way. I ordered the day the 60D/85D came out and really felt for people who either just got their cars or who's cars were far enough not to allow changes.

I would contact Tesla with your desired changes. They may waive the fee for you.
 
Can you do customer service roulette? That is, call the main number and pitch your case. If they won't make the changes, just call right back and see if you get another rep. This is surprisingly effective for changing air travel reservations and anything else where the CSR has a bit of discretion.

Unless, of course, they transfer you to the DS when you call. I was in the queue for a P85+ when the D announcement came and I called immediately (as did a million others, I reckon) to change it right away and they were awesome. That may be an edge case, though, where they were expecting a torrent.

Still worth a try.
 
I wish we would read here about Tesla doing the right thing more often with regards to these erratic price changes. One could argue that although the car may be $4k cheaper today than a couple of weeks ago, the cost to manufacture today certainly has not increased/decreased significantly so why not do the right thing and offer a refund for the price difference for someones car which has not even completed the build process? Wouldn't that be nice to read about now and then?

I'd imagine that's because you already have recourse. You can just cancel, and re-order at no extra cost, other than pushing back your delivery date a few weeks.

It may seem like a pain, but this is simply what happens when you have a company constantly updating their product...some people are going to be affected negatively. Personally, I'd say people should be happy that it's so easily rectified.
 
I'd imagine that's because you already have recourse. You can just cancel, and re-order at no extra cost, other than pushing back your delivery date a few weeks.

It may seem like a pain, but this is simply what happens when you have a company constantly updating their product...some people are going to be affected negatively. Personally, I'd say people should be happy that it's so easily rectified.

That's why I made the point about the apparent value to the OP of the delivery one month earlier being the $4,370. He said he simply couldn't wait another month, and that's a choice he can make -- he can trade a month of waiting for an additional option and a bit of cash back, or get the special order he placed sooner.

This happens in the retail world, too - some stores give a pricing guarantee, but there's always a cut-off and there's ALWAYS someone who would have made a different decision with future knowledge. Even when a store with a 30-day price-matching policy has the person come in who bought something 32 days before the price change, and says "but it's only 2 days!"

Relatively speaking, Tesla has a pretty lenient policy here IMO. They could say that once design is completed you've committed, as every car is a special order (aside from inventory lots). Their leniency is your ability to cancel and re-order under the new pricing scheme.

The best thing to do is to think of your decision is choosing between having your product a month earlier with less features, or a month later with the features, at the same price (including opportunity costs). It takes the emotion of $4k out of it.
 
I wish we would read here about Tesla doing the right thing more often with regards to these erratic price changes. One could argue that although the car may be $4k cheaper today than a couple of weeks ago, the cost to manufacture today certainly has not increased/decreased significantly so why not do the right thing and offer a refund for the price difference for someones car which has not even completed the build process? Wouldn't that be nice to read about now and then?

They are also refunding or adjusting the sale price on my order to reflect the correction in the new Premium pkg from $5000 to $3000. Not exactly the same situation, but kind of is.