It is a surreal feeling you can place an order for a car, to your specifications and not have to negotiate the price from the comfort of your home with just a few clicks and a $100 deposit. It wasn’t always $100, in the past, Tesla accepted $2,500 but was fully refundable. The current $100 deposit is non-refundable.

Between the order and delivery, you have some tasks to complete which the Tesla Account section will navigate you through. The time you have depends on the delivery which can vary widely. Tesla does advertise the approximate wait time to delivery but this can very. There’s been instances where Tesla is able to match a vehicle THE SAME DAY and where people have waited weeks and even months beyond their original estimated delivery window. I do believe otherwise, most deliveries happen within the window.

Registration Details

Upon placing your order, you need to complete your registration details. This includes verifying your name, address and contact details. This is important as it will allow them to know where to deliver your vehicle and to check against their database to see if they can match you with a vehicle.

Driver’s License

Next, you will be asked to upload the front and back of your driver’s license. The driver’s license should be current and not expired.

Insurance

This will vary depending on your state insurance regulations. In some states, like California, you can use your existing insurance. Some states will require you to have your new car’s VIN (vehicle identification number) before you can get a quote and upload your insurance. Otherwise, you can upload your current insurance as a placeholder until you are required to purchase insurance. Again, check your state.

Trade-in

You will be asked to enter the details if you plan on trading in a vehicle. Trading in a vehicle may seem to be a great non-hassle way to sell your car and count it against your downpayment for your Tesla. However, similar to other car dealers, you will not get the best value. It also seems to appear to become worse in terms of value you will get from your trade in. Tesla is not in the business of selling used cars especially non-Teslas. If you want maximum value, you should sell your care through private party. Next best would be to try companies such as Carmax, Vroom, SHIFT, Carvana and other used car chains.

Payment Method

Buying a car is no chump change. Kudos to those who can pay cash. To the rest of us who need to finance, you can easily get a quote from Tesla finance by going through their process through the Tesla portal. As long as your credit report isn’t locked, you can get a quote with in 2-3 days. Therefore, it may be wise to wait till you get a VIN before you go through this step. If you want Tesla to match a quote you found outside, you may email autofinance@tesla.com and ratematch@tesla.com.

Wait

This is the hard part. You wait. As of Aug 2021, the wait is even more long. At the time this blog was written, the estimated delivery date for a Model Y LR is Jan. 2022. Performance is 6-7 week so just short of 2 months.

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Then on Saturday, Tesla took many by surprise by removing the SR RWD option from the vehicle configurator online. Many people thought it was a glitch and that it would come back shortly. On Sunday, showrooms were told the change was permanent and that’s all the info they had. We posted an alternative way to order by requesting for an inventory vehicle but that will be exhausted shortly.

Many people turned to Twitter where Elon Musk is extremely active and occasionally does answer questions about SpaceX, Tesla or other ventures when not posting memes. Jason LRRWD Y (@jgrano305) managed to get a response from @elonmusk himself on Twitter. This was Elon Musk’s response.

It is still available off menu, but I don’t think the range, in many drive conditions, yet meets the Tesla standard of excellence

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 22, 2021

This tweet gave a lot of people a sigh of relief as it hints that the SR RWD Model Y was still available just not through the website. If you recall, the $35,000 Model 3 was available only through “off menu”. It was a stripped down version of the Standard Range Model 3 that was available through the website. People assumed that it was the same process where they can still order the SR RWD Model Y by calling Tesla or in person at a showroom.

However, a few people tried this and found that the only option available was inventory vehicles. Today, Tesla held a all hands meeting with their front line staff to re-affirm that the SR RWD Model Y was NOT available to order off menu and to redirect customers to inventory vehicles or AWD options.

What a disappointment!

Later the same evening, @jgrano305 inquired if this means they will produce the much awaited LR RWD Model Y? Here is Elon’s answer:

We have too much product complexity already

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 22, 2021

The answer is cryptic but it hints that Tesla has no immediate plans to offer another trim but will focus on what they have.

My take is that Fremont is over capacity and they want to streamline the production lines as much as possible. SR RWD Model Y was a test and very soon they realized that the benefit did not warrant another trim. I suspect things may change whey GigaTexas opens towards the end of 2021 or early 2022 but that may be too far away for those who have been waiting for LR RWD from two years ago.

The post Elon tweets on Standard Range Model Y and challenges with current lineup appeared first on Link Tesla.

Something weird is happening. Tesla dropped the Model Y Standard Range RWD from the configurator on the evening of 2/20. They also reduced the LR AWD price by $1000.

Is this the end of the SR RWD experiment? Does this explain why Tesla dropped the price by $2000 to clear inventory? Will this mean the introduction of LR RWD? Or perhaps this is just a glitch while the site is being updated.

Thoughts?

I happen to have a test drive scheduled today for the SR. Will update afterwards to see what they say.

Update: At TMC.COM, user _tb_ posted to say they received a text from a Tesla CSR (customer service rep) to say that they are no longer offering the “custom standard range RWD Model Y” and also affirmed that they are “definitely” not making it. There are several reports from Tesla Facebook groups that also confirm that the SR Model Y is a long term change and not a glitch.

There is also mention that Tesla will honor those with existing Standard Range orders but will not accept any more new ones. But once the inventoried vehicles are exhausted, that is it.

For those with LR AWD orders, Tesla traditionally will automatically reflect the price change so your order will be reduced by $1000. Unfortunately for those that already took delivery or the LR AWD, Tesla will not refund you the $1000 difference.

The post Tesla drops model Y SR and decreases LR AWD price appeared first on Link Tesla.

Tesla dropped their Model 3 Standard Range+ by $1,000 and their Model Y Standard Range by $2,000. The Model 3 SR+ is now $36,990 and Model Y SR went from $42k to now $40k ($39,990)

The performance for both Model 3 and Y increased $1,000. Model 3 Performance starts at $59,990 and Model Y Performance is now $60k ($60,990).

What prompted this? Is it sluggish sales by the SR? Or the news of a possible tax credit halt sales momentum? Or is it the possibility of introducing the LR RWD for the Model Y?? (unlikely)

The post Tesla drops price on Model 3 + Y Standard Ranges and raises Performance appeared first on Link Tesla.