-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
New Service Centers Coming To The Northeast!
- Thread starter mikevbf
- Start date
Somewhere near Southern or Concord NH would be pretty damn great. Having to drive an hour or more for service, or taking an Uber home for over an hour suuuuuuuuucks. Same with Montpelier. The nearest service center for them is roughly an eternity away.
They need a NH delivery location, no ifs, ands, or buts. They can't scale sales in northern New England by sending people to Mt Kisco, NY. That only works for the most hardcore fans.
FWIW, Tesla Energy has an office in Burlington; they did my Powerwall installation.
An Upper Valley location would be nice; there's a ton of Teslas there, and central to VT/NH.
Well, you did bring that on yourself!
(If you want to quote round trip time, I'm around 5 hours - "I feel your pain")
Another "will try to".
But what would the role of service centers be?
Just having a service center doesn't resolve the fact that vehicles are delivered from Mass, without a temporary registration, which means that residents need the MCO, then get a transit plate to get the vehicle to inspection, before they can use it. And of course, with Tesla's notorious customer service, if there's any problem in receiving the packet with the MCO, it's means more hassle.
Mass sucks as a New England base.
But what would the role of service centers be?
Just having a service center doesn't resolve the fact that vehicles are delivered from Mass, without a temporary registration, which means that residents need the MCO, then get a transit plate to get the vehicle to inspection, before they can use it. And of course, with Tesla's notorious customer service, if there's any problem in receiving the packet with the MCO, it's means more hassle.
Mass sucks as a New England base.
Most don’t pick up from Mass as they’d have to pay a higher sales tax to the state of Massachusetts or pay sales tax again when registering in their state of residence. So buyers will sometimes take delivery in NH or some have to drive to NY, I think it all depends on where you live and what mood tesla is in when your car is ready. When I got my Model Y I had a delivery specialist but I was also in contact with the SC in Mass. which I was told by the SC I’d have to drive to NY to get the vehicle but then was told by the delivery specialist the car would be delivered via 3rd party carrier.
the nice thing about having a service center in Maine is I wouldn’t have to drive 3 hours to Mass and also there aren’t many places to get stuff done like the state inspection since you can’t do that out of state and if you aren’t careful and the shop isn’t used to EVs they can crush your battery on the lift. So having an SC around Portland would be great as there are a lot of people who own Tesla’s in Maine.
the nice thing about having a service center in Maine is I wouldn’t have to drive 3 hours to Mass and also there aren’t many places to get stuff done like the state inspection since you can’t do that out of state and if you aren’t careful and the shop isn’t used to EVs they can crush your battery on the lift. So having an SC around Portland would be great as there are a lot of people who own Tesla’s in Maine.
If they have SC's north of MA, you wouldn't need to take delivery in MA. For instance, a NH SC solves most of those issues. You pick up the car with a valid 20-day NH temp, drive it home, and get it inspected. The only possible hangup is Tesla not getting you the paperwork within the 20 day window.
Tesla Mass doesn't issue temp plates because Mass doesn't issue temp plates. Dealerships have registry access and stacks of plates to issue; you pick up the car with a permanent plate. The system sucks for MA residents trying to buy vehicles out of state (2 trips necessary - pay/pick up paperwork, go get plate, go back to get car), but it's probably done that way on purpose - why would the state/Mass NADA want to make it easy for residents to buy cars out of state? It's equally messed up for non-residents buying in MA, but they don't care, because no one does that - MA tax law requires out of staters to pay MA tax when they buy a car from a MA entity (new or used, dealer or individual seller), inflating the price.
I lived in MA long enough to realize that pretty much anything the RMV does is screwed up. They are experts at finding the most inefficient and inconvenient way of doing everything.
Farmer
Member
Could a customer pick up in MA and have the car loaded right onto a flat bed of his/her own hiring at the SC, have the hauler drop it in their ME/NH/etc. driveway then register it? The only difference would be the hauler would be hired by the customer instead of Tesla.
My guess as a MA resident myself is MA laws are draconian enough to say no.
Honestly, I don't know. It depends on where the buyer takes delivery (in/out of MA). My guess is the situation you describe would be considered taking delivery in MA, then shipping. My car was shipped by Tesla (Dedham) to NH, where I took delivery.
I was told by the S.C. in Mass that if you take delivery in Mass, you pay the sales tax right then and there. I don’t live in Mass and didn’t take delivery there so I can’t confirm.
Nikxice
Active Member
This ^. I'd add VT and ME, but NH for sure. There's certainly enough demand and we also have an unambiguous state law passed in 2013 that allows auto manufacturers without a franchise dealer in the state to engage in direct sales.
Northern New England will be a limited market for Tesla until they have a physical presence in each of these states. I've spoken to many people who say they would buy a Tesla if they didn't have to deal with MA. A few years ago delivery was much simplier. Order the car, then a few weeks later drive it home from Watertown. Even then there were often plate and title problems. Fortunately, there are still prospective hardcore fans lining up. Mainstream buyers are expecting to kick the tires, experience hassle free delivery, and service, all taking place in their own state. They're even willing to drive a distance within their state boundary, but dealing with out of state motor vehicle issues is a turn-off for most.
When Tesla does fill the position of Northeast Real Estate Manager, I'd suggest someone in the know post his/her email address on this thread so we can offer our suggestions. At least they'll know we're here.
