It's not a contest of who gets it or who agrees. My point is that you're getting exactly the car they promised to sell you for the price they promised to sell it to you. Car companies (and other manufacturers) come out with new versions and options all the time. I can see asking for the additional stuff you want. I don't get the whole accusatory tone using words like 'slimy' and 'up sell'.
Oh, I know it's not a contest. We can agree to disagree. I think it's perfectly fine for members to disagree with one another on a wide range of topics. You find it's reasonable for them to do what they are doing and I don't. Fair enough.
I agree with Bonnie. Getting the extra sensors without enduring the other price increases would be getting your cake and eating it too as the paperwork has already been signed (a contract is a contract).
However, if Tesla wants to do that then kudos to them for going above and beyond to cater to the customer and it doesn't hurt to ask! I say this as someone with a car that has finished production but has not been delivered to me yet. If I only placed my order a week or two later I could've gotten the fog lights, parking sensors, and sweet aero wheels...but I'm glad I avoided all the price increases sooo I'm going to just be happy with what I got.
I think the best middle ground for people in your situation that would be a win for you and for Tesla would be to charge a "retrofit" fee even though it wouldn't be a retrofit as your car isn't built yet. It would be more than the $500 but less than the $6-7,000 in other costs that you speak of.
Jonathan,
EXACTLY. I am not against a "retrofit" fee for it. Again, you have to look at it from the perspective that my car hasn't even started being produced. This would be completely different if my car already entered production like yours. But that isn't the case.
I absolutely still want the car but that is besides the point. If their configuration sales agent confirms that it's possible to change as long as I pay the new prices just to add on the PDC, then it certainly means it's possible. The problem I have is that they are asking people to pay $7,000+ for something that they can easily add on now before it enters production. When they start trying to tell you to drop other things so you can afford just the PDC yes to me that becomes a bit slimy.
I do agree that a "retrofit" fee would be appropriate but them asking people to pay that much just to add something that they have the capability, technology and ability to do doesn't make sense to me.
Also, I think it's important to mention this isn't like we want some better sounding audio package, more luxurious leather seats or cool fog lights. We're talking about a safety component here. We're not asking about this because it's cool or more luxurious, etc. We are asking this because many of us believe it's an important safety feature.
But again, I think it's fine that we agree to disagree. I'm not sure if it's ok to post URL links to the main board but here is the original URL link to the main board.
Letter to George Blankenship | Forums | Tesla Motors
Moderators, if it's not ok to post links, please edit out my post to delete the URL link.