Tesla will not Sell you vehicle without proof of residence in state where car is located.

[BitJam]

No. I've purchased several new vehicles from Texas; I live in Oklahoma and register the cars and pay the tax in OK. I did have to pay a Texas dealer inventory tax that the dealer collected at the time of sale. It was less than $100. That was the only "hiccup" so to speak.

Were those vehicles you bought from Texas Teslas? Probably not since you mention dealers. It is the dealers who paid to get laws passed banning Tesla from certain states.

I live in New Mexico where Tesla is not allowed to operate. I then found out I couldn't even buy a Tesla in Texas. I had to get my car from Colorado, over 600 miles away. The first Tesla people I talked with about this were clueless.

 

[Maybe_buyer]

Good morning, here is another data point.

I found a Model y Demo for $45700 at Tesla location in Brandon Mississippi.
If you search on Waiting for Tesla, or the Tesla WWW site for Model Y inventory available for my zip code that price is ~$2000 less than any available Model Y in my state.

I am frugal, and I can fly to MS for $250 one way, and then use Uber to get to the Tesla location , so lets assume I would spend $500 for the trip.

Let me know where you can invest $500 and get an immediate $1500 payback for spending 2 perhaps 3 days traveling.

I managed to get an employee in the MS location sales on the line, very nice guy, put me on hold 2x times to speak to DMV experts (who had worked for Tesla since day 1), then his boss.

End result is NO, state laws limit the location to selling to folks in MS, or Louisiana, only.
He suggested perhaps they could ship the car to Devon Tesla in PA.

Logistics reply is Nope, we don't have any routes that go there, and pricing would be too high for one special trip.

Searching DMV in MS you find a "travel license plate" good for 7 days to facilitate buying car, and taking to another state. (From New Car dealers only apparently not Tesla)

Confirmed, No purchase from Texas, or Mississippi, so any good deals on Demo's in those states are impossible to purchase.

Conclusion so far, I can only buy from PA, and New Jersey, don't know yet about NY or Ohio or other states connected to PA

Will keep investigating and report here.

 

[kpanda17]

Good morning, here is another data point.

I found a Model y Demo for $45700 at Tesla location in Brandon Mississippi.
If you search on Waiting for Tesla, or the Tesla WWW site for Model Y inventory available for my zip code that price is ~$2000 less than any available Model Y in my state.

I am frugal, and I can fly to MS for $250 one way, and then use Uber to get to the Tesla location , so lets assume I would spend $500 for the trip.

Let me know where you can invest $500 and get an immediate $1500 payback for spending 2 perhaps 3 days traveling.

I managed to get an employee in the MS location sales on the line, very nice guy, put me on hold 2x times to speak to DMV experts (who had worked for Tesla since day 1), then his boss.

End result is NO, state laws limit the location to selling to folks in MS, or Louisiana, only.
He suggested perhaps they could ship the car to Devon Tesla in PA.

Logistics reply is Nope, we don't have any routes that go there, and pricing would be too high for one special trip.

Searching DMV in MS you find a "travel license plate" good for 7 days to facilitate buying car, and taking to another state. (From New Car dealers only apparently not Tesla)

Confirmed, No purchase from Texas, or Mississippi, so any good deals on Demo's in those states are impossible to purchase.

Conclusion so far, I can only buy from PA, and New Jersey, don't know yet about NY or Ohio or other states connected to PA

Will keep investigating and report here.

Interesting
Seems dealer selling flexibility for out of state buyers is blocked for Tesla as they are not dealers
It should be a no for NY also as our only Tesla sales locations are just starting now on Indian reservations and this still won’t put Tesla sales in rhe dealer position, just a loophole for selling

 

[mrkalpakkam]

I just tried to buy a discounted Y from CA and wanted to drive it back to CO. Tesla sales in CA refused to sell it. Looks like recently Tesla blocked out of state buyers. There is no way to find out from the app which neighboring states are blocked unless you order a car and try to enter the registration information.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Good morning, here is another data point.

I found a Model y Demo for $45700 at Tesla location in Brandon Mississippi.
If you search on Waiting for Tesla, or the Tesla WWW site for Model Y inventory available for my zip code that price is ~$2000 less than any available Model Y in my state.

I am frugal, and I can fly to MS for $250 one way, and then use Uber to get to the Tesla location , so lets assume I would spend $500 for the trip.

Let me know where you can invest $500 and get an immediate $1500 payback for spending 2 perhaps 3 days traveling.

I managed to get an employee in the MS location sales on the line, very nice guy, put me on hold 2x times to speak to DMV experts (who had worked for Tesla since day 1), then his boss.

End result is NO, state laws limit the location to selling to folks in MS, or Louisiana, only.
He suggested perhaps they could ship the car to Devon Tesla in PA.

Logistics reply is Nope, we don't have any routes that go there, and pricing would be too high for one special trip.

Searching DMV in MS you find a "travel license plate" good for 7 days to facilitate buying car, and taking to another state. (From New Car dealers only apparently not Tesla)

Confirmed, No purchase from Texas, or Mississippi, so any good deals on Demo's in those states are impossible to purchase.

Conclusion so far, I can only buy from PA, and New Jersey, don't know yet about NY or Ohio or other states connected to PA

Will keep investigating and report here.

So there's another possibility for Tesla rental...

Fly down, pick up your "rental" and drive it to a place where they can sell the rental to you.
If you like it, you buy it.
If you don't like it, you drop it off.

 

[ivyvy]

So there's another possibility for Tesla rental...

Fly down, pick up your "rental" and drive it to a place where they can sell the rental to you.
If you like it, you buy it.
If you don't like it, you drop it off.

When and which states are rental program going to be available at?

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

When and which states are rental program going to be available at?

Tesla wants to launch an in-house rental service

Tesla is hiring to launch a new in-house “Tesla Rental Program” with a pilot program coming to collision centers in...

electrek.co

For now a trial program at Tesla's Texas collision centers.

 

[Maybe_buyer]

Tesla wants to launch an in-house rental service

Tesla is hiring to launch a new in-house “Tesla Rental Program” with a pilot program coming to collision centers in...

electrek.co

For now a trial program at Tesla's Texas collision centers.

Thanks.. I will keep an eye out for that option, anything that saves money and is unconventional appeals to me. I have tons of excess PV from my ground mount array, and need to use it up driving around.

 

[WyoDude]

I am frugal, and I can fly to MS for $250 one way, and then use Uber to get to the Tesla location , so lets assume I would spend $500 for the trip.

Let me know where you can invest $500 and get an immediate $1500 payback for spending 2 perhaps 3 days traveling.

If you can pull off this scenario as described then that would be a good deal in theory only looking at that part of the process. But with Tesla this seems hard to achieve. Plus if you spend a good amount of hours over several months to achieve this, you need to factor this into your $500. I’ve seen many disillusioned “frugal” people that will spend 100 hours to save $1500 or less.

 

[danaleighton]

I live in Arkansas, 4 blocks from the Texas state line. I could go to a dealership in Texas and buy any other brand but Tesla. I assume it’s because they don’t operate dealerships. my Model Y had to be picked up in Kansas City (750 miles). our model 3 we had to go to Memphis, a 4 hour drive to get an inventory car. i asked the Texas Tesla folks if there was any way around it and there isn’t. Tesla customer service gave inaccurate information, but I was able to get a confirmation from the Memphis sales folks That I could pick up there. the ordering system even rejected the Arkansas residency, and the Tesla folks had to override it. Most people wouldn’t go to this much work to buy a car I think!

 

[stopcrazypp]

I live in Arkansas, 4 blocks from the Texas state line. I could go to a dealership in Texas and buy any other brand but Tesla. I assume it’s because they don’t operate dealerships. my Model Y had to be picked up in Kansas City (750 miles). our model 3 we had to go to Memphis, a 4 hour drive to get an inventory car. i asked the Texas Tesla folks if there was any way around it and there isn’t. Tesla customer service gave inaccurate information, but I was able to get a confirmation from the Memphis sales folks That I could pick up there. the ordering system even rejected the Arkansas residency, and the Tesla folks had to override it. Most people wouldn’t go to this much work to buy a car I think!

Yep, in Texas you can buy any car at a dealership, but not Teslas because Texas law requires a third party dealership to be involved in the transaction (due to dealership lobbying).
Why You Can’t Buy a Tesla in Texas

If you want a Tesla in Texas, the sale officially occurs outside state lines and it is just delivered to you, and you have to do all the paperwork to register it. If you are outside Texas and want to follow the same process (but not register in Texas), understandably Tesla will want to reject that, as you are using their resources intended to help actual Texas residents.

For OP, they are better off looking in states which don't have strict anti-direct sales laws, or as others pointed out look only at nearby states, which even their local store likely can move inventory from.

 

[Ed243]

This whole going to another state for discount thing doesn't make sense to me.

The whole point of direct sales in theory is that the price is fixed like an iPhone and everyone pays the same price. If everyone starts doing whatever they can to acquire discounts, then we are right back to the dealership model, in which case the selling point of direct sales is moot and why not let's just go back to having dealerships?

I understand that Tesla has increased and lowered prices a lot of times over the past couple of years. Perhaps too many times, And this probably destroyed a good deal of trust amongst people. I get that, and that sucks.

But trying to hunt down a Tesla with discounts doesn't make much sense.

There are discounts for demo vehicles available. They are sold as new cars with a few hundred miles on them. The discounted amounts I saw were the same at various locations and states.

 

[etekberg]

There are discounts for demo vehicles available. They are sold as new cars with a few hundred miles on them. The discounted amounts I saw were the same at various locations and states.

Non-demo cars are sold at a discount too.

 

[Ritzcarlton123]

This isn’t a Tesla issue. It is a state of Texas issue.

I live in NH and have picked up vehicles in IL, NJ, and NY.

I am not allowed to pick up a vehicle in my neighboring state of MA because they also have a pay-sales-tax-at-point-of-purchase “law”.

To add onto this, technically you are able to purchase cars in MA if you are from NH but you just can't take delivery of it in MA.

The work around most dealers in MA do for NH buyers is to have a dealer rep drive the car up to NH and do the paperwork (registering and etc at NH location like a Townhall). This prevents point of sale tax being paid to MA.

The issue and reason why Tesla doesn't do this is because they simply don't have the manpower. They don't have workers to drive the car from MA to NH and meet people at the Townhall to do all the necessary paperwork. It takes at least 1-1.5 hours of driving, 1 hour at least for paperwork if no line, and they need another driver/car to pick them up and go back to MA after.

 

[TSLA Pilot]

Thank you for the replies/suggestions, I will check with inventory in New Jersey next.
I plan to purchase new Y in early 2024, just trying to get my process of purchase sorted.

Good discounted cars don't hang around long on the www sites.

Do note that the $7.5k Federal Tax Credit may drop substantially on 1 Jan so you should consider a Q3 or Q4 purchase rather than waiting until 2024.

 

[RDoc]

To add onto this, technically you are able to purchase cars in MA if you are from NH but you just can't take delivery of it in MA.

The work around most dealers in MA do for NH buyers is to have a dealer rep drive the car up to NH and do the paperwork (registering and etc at NH location like a Townhall). This prevents point of sale tax being paid to MA.

The issue and reason why Tesla doesn't do this is because they simply don't have the manpower. They don't have workers to drive the car from MA to NH and meet people at the Townhall to do all the necessary paperwork. It takes at least 1-1.5 hours of driving, 1 hour at least for paperwork if no line, and they need another driver/car to pick them up and go back to MA after.

I don't think that's true. The problem for NH residents is that MA will charge sales tax and since NH doesn't have any, there's no rebate.

 

[Ritzcarlton123]

I don't think that's true. The problem for NH residents is that MA will charge sales tax and since NH doesn't have any, there's no rebate.

I’ve purchased plenty of cars from MA and I’m in NH. The latest being a EQS SUV. The Mercedes dealer put the car on a flatbed and drove it up to my NH town hall to do the paperwork for registration. There’s no sales tax.

 

[Merle]

This is now 100% true.

The methodology has changed from last year when I picked up my Tesla in Oregon, and registered it in NJ (road trip). They are now ONLY going to sell you the vehicle IN the State that you're registering your vehicle.

Why? It was explained that they wanted to stop the people flying to States where their vehicles were configured exactly as they wanted, buying it for registration elsewhere and driving it out of State.

Sorry, but all of you who are saying that you can do it - misinformed. This is the NEW behavior. Just look at the tesla.com website and see what happens when you pick a zip code.

* Inventory obviously
* Enter a zip code
* Change the range from 200 miles to "all deliverable"

If then then proceed to "pay" for this vehicle and enter a zip code for outside of that State, it's not an option. If you go to the link for the vehicle via ev-cpo and put in a zip code for where that vehicle is not located, it's not an option.

In addition, there is no longer an option to specify if the vehicle is going to be delivered to another SC (even within the same State) from what I'm seeing. It is "that SC, pickup and that's it" without a transportation estimate.

This is not related to used vehicles, just Inventory (demo or new).

Again, this is TESLA behavior, not any other vehicle dealer, manufacturer or seller. This is NEW behavior, and your past experience(s) don't matter.

Don't believe the OP? Call Tesla and tell them you want to register your vehicle in NJ because there is no sales tax and you have an address there - but you need to pick it up in CA.

 

[LoL-Gas]

From my personal experience, Teslas registration department or representatives submitting the correct paperwork for registration to the DMV has been such a cluster f***. If anything goes wrong, good luck getting ahold of anyone who can actually help. I’d look for a vehicle in the same state just to rule out any possible issues

 

[tga]

The methodology has changed from last year when I picked up my Tesla in Oregon, and registered it in NJ (road trip). They are now ONLY going to sell you the vehicle IN the State that you're registering your vehicle.

By your logic, those of us who live in states without Tesla stores could never buy a Tesla....