Poor "ownership experience"

[ModelS1079]

I find that sometimes I wake up in State A, but after a good cup of coffee arrive eventually in State B, before I even get into the car.
Sir Bader, we are sorry you found yourself in this mess. If you were any less specific with details I would not be sure we were talking about a Tesla.
Others might and I would suggest you call Ownership and ask for Walter. He solves pretty much all problems. Peace in the Middle East next on his list.
It sounds like the initial error was Tesla's and i can certainly understand your frustration.
Could you please follow up with us on this thread when the car is under your feet and accelerating 0-60 in about 5 seconds?
We would all appreciate hearing how all resolves.

 

[mdelpin]

I am a bit confused here. We picked up our car in MA , even though we live in NH. We were not required to pay any sales tax as NH does not have any. We were told we needed to register the car ourselves which to me is no biggie since I have always done that. Am I missing something here?

 

[Electric1]

I have to say, I have found Tesla to be absurdly responsive to me. I reserved almost exactly four years ago, got my car in December, and every step of ten way they have been responsive, helpful, generous and honest.

That doesn't mean there weren't bumps, but compared to Lexus, Toyota, Ford and VW, they have been head and shoulders above any car buying experience I've had. I don't want to sound like a fanboy, but seriously, is it possible your tax sheltering created a challenge? I'm going to guess to registered in VT and live in CT where there is property tax on the car.

+1 on Mike
I have had homes (and businesses) in two states for years. Until now, every time I try to buy, register and insure a car in state the second state, where it belongs and should be registered and insured, I have had nothing but trouble. The DMV, even with two lawyers involved, couldn't get it straight. Jeff Liu, the NE regional delivery mgr (and BTW the guy who "sold" me my reservation) assured me that I would have no problems this time. I rolled my eyes and hoped for the best, figuring that I would be driving somethig else for weeks after my temp tag ran out. Inagine my shock (and pride in TM) when my permanent plates arrived at my door via fedex less than two weeks after I picked up the car! IMHO

Agreed also, there are bumps, but none very serious or without someone trying hard to fix them. There are also very different experiences (over 8K by now) and with forums such as this, I venture to say that our expectations are shaped with each post we read.

 

[FlasherZ]

I think the point of many posts here is that the laws vary with regard to registration and taxation very, very widely.

Tesla is learning that with the various registration snafu's that are happening -- tickets because of a CA temp permit, navigating state DMV bureaucracies, etc. They're trying to help but it's impossible to keep track of them all.

Some states require sales/use tax to be submitted with the registration, some require it at time of sale, some require it on delivery. Some allow bona fide dealerships to handle it differently than private transactions. In Illinois, "standard" registrations can be handled by some dealerships or local DMV (SOS) offices, while "electric" plate registrations must be sent to Springfield. It's a tangled mess, and dealers have an advantage here in that typically, they're local. This is where Tesla's model makes things more difficult. They'll get better at it but it'll take some time until they get full familiarity with it.

It is compounded when a purchaser wants to do something doubly complex, like purchase a car in state A to avoid sales tax but register it in state B to avoid personal property tax.

(And it should be noted that in 80%+ of these cases, the law forbids that type of manipulation and expressly tells the owner which state it must be registered in, but enforcement of those is pretty lax. When I was in the SF bay area, the number of people moving in who ignored the California requirement that registration be transferred to California within 15 days of importing the car was quite high.)

 

[aznt1217]

Sorry to say it but I think it's a troll post. Plus spaces and use of punctuations are your friend.

 

[smartypnz]

Sorry to say it but I think it's a troll post. Plus spaces and use of punctuations are your friend.

Interesting that the missing spaces are almost exactly the same distance apart. Due to wraparound at end of line?


Sent from my First Alert Smoke Detector

 

[ModelS1079]

Help - what exactly is a Troll post?
I suffer geekopenia.

 

[neroden]

I think the point of many posts here is that the laws vary with regard to registration and taxation very, very widely.

Tesla is learning that with the various registration snafu's that are happening -- tickets because of a CA temp permit, navigating state DMV bureaucracies, etc. They're trying to help but it's impossible to keep track of them all.

Bluntly, Tesla needs 50 employees, one expert in each state. Well, really it would be possible to have one employee cover several states, for states with relatively low reservation numbers, but the point is they need a specialist assigned to each state, and each customer needs to be assigned to someone who knows their state's laws. The people at HQ in California, as of February, didn't know the rules for ANY of the states except CA.

Some states require sales/use tax to be submitted with the registration, some require it at time of sale, some require it on delivery. Some allow bona fide dealerships to handle it differently than private transactions. In Illinois, "standard" registrations can be handled by some dealerships or local DMV (SOS) offices, while "electric" plate registrations must be sent to Springfield. It's a tangled mess, and dealers have an advantage here in that typically, they're local. This is where Tesla's model makes things more difficult. They'll get better at it but it'll take some time until they get full familiarity with it.

The problem is that Tesla has so far not bothered to have a specialist for each state. Even when they have one -- they have one for NY, for example -- they do not automatically route all tricky queries for NY customers through the NY specialist. It's an organizational problem, caused by Tesla not *realizing* that the rules are different in each state.

It is compounded when a purchaser wants to do something doubly complex, like purchase a car in state A to avoid sales tax but register it in state B to avoid personal property tax.

(And it should be noted that in 80%+ of these cases, the law forbids that type of manipulation and expressly tells the owner which state it must be registered in, but enforcement of those is pretty lax. When I was in the SF bay area, the number of people moving in who ignored the California requirement that registration be transferred to California within 15 days of importing the car was quite high.)

 

[Trnsl8r]

Help - what exactly is a Troll post?
I suffer geekopenia.

What is forum troll Definition @ Geek Dictionary

A forum troll is a user who goes thread to thread posting false, controversial, irrelevant, or inflammatory things in order to get a rise out of the other users.

 

[jerry33]

My experience was very good, other than the minor point that I was told about the VIN number by looking at the iPhone App rather than being contacted by Tesla. After the VIN number appeared, I emailed Tesla and received the full VIN number later that day. Arranged financing from PenFed, which took a couple of weeks, called my insurance agent, picked up the car from the delivery centre, went to the Tax Office to get the title and plates, and went to the inspection centre for the sticker. All very seamless.

This was a great improvement over the last car where I had to spend nine hours with the Toyota finance person while he tried to sell me every add-on under the sun. I think it was only nine hours because the dealer was closing for the day. I don't miss the dealer experience one bit.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

Help - what exactly is a Troll post?
I suffer geekopenia.

a spot where a Troll posts under a bridge and takes your money when you try to cross his/her bridge

 

[ChadS]

This was a great improvement over the last car where I had to spend nine hours with the Toyota finance person while he tried to sell me every add-on under the sun.

Heh. The last time I bought a Toyota (a Prius in 2005), they sent me to the "finance" person (funny as I was paying cash) who started trying to sell me a list of add-ons. I listened to the first one and said "no", then when he started on the second one I told him that I was going to say "no" to every one and we could both save a lot of time by just skipping the whole thing. He looked panic-stricken and said his boss said he HAD to go through them all. I told him I wasn't going to listen to it and wouldn't tell his boss; he relaxed and we finished the paperwork and just chatted a bit. That helped a lot, but I still far prefer the Tesla way to the old dealership way. The only dealer experience I enjoyed was one where I used an auto broker with a fixed price, and all the dealer did was take my check and hand over the keys.

 

[FlasherZ]

Similar experience here. The last car I bought, I did my research. I knew the dealer invoice, the dealer holdbacks, and all of the details. I walked in, grabbed a salescritter, and said "I want to buy that car right there. *point* I will pay $xx,xxx for it, and when considering the rebates, your invoice, holdbacks, etc., will gross you a profit of $y,yyy. I think that's fair. I won't be buying any of the add-ons. I'm paying cash. If you can get me out of here by 5:30, that's the price I'll pay. Do we have a deal?" They know you mean business and at that point the BS stops and discussion starts in earnest.

Much easier than having to sit through the 4-square box and "how much do you want your payment to be?"

That said, sometimes if I have time, I like to play "spot the Carnegie sales school graduate" and "identify the salescritter role" -- is he the "closer" vs. the "upseller" vs. the "get-to-know-you"?

 

[bader]

Let me clarify...I wanted to register the car in State B, but my home address is in state A. Tesla sent me papers for state A assuming I would register it there, although I had not indicated to them that I would do so.. I notified them of the error, and when I took delivery a week later, they had prepared papers for state B, which I signed, and also wrote a check for the tax for state B. Two months later, I learned that Tesla had taken no action toward getting me registered and a license in state B, and had assumed that I had used the papers they had sent to get me a license in state A, (a state where they were unable or unwilling to do the registration for the buyer) Since Tesla had cashed my check for the tax in state B, I assumed that the registration process was being taken care of. This is definitely Tesla's error, which they have yet to take responsibility for. My temp. registration expires tomorrow, with no word from Tesla about when my car might be registered, or what I am to do in the meantime. As the title says, a poor "ownership experience"

 

[dsm363]

Can you share with us which state is State A and B? People in those states might be able to offer advice. As you are being vague, it is a complaint that is impossible to address.