Profile picture for user Vitaliy Katsenelson
by Vitaliy Katsenelson
Mon, 04/09/2018 - 13:35
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I put a $1,000 deposit on a Tesla Model 3 the day it was announced. At the time I thought of the Model 3 as a smaller, cheaper version of the Model S. So a few days ago I stopped by a Tesla store to check out the Model 3. I was at the store not as an investor evaluating Tesla’s latest product but as a buyer, ready to buy.
The shopping experience ended up being quite odd. Tesla’s Denver store did not have a Model 3 in the showroom or available for a test drive. I was told they will not get one for several months — the Model 3 is infamously behind schedule. But still, Tesla is producing thousands of cars: Why not send 100 to their stores so people can see and drive before they buy?
I thought it was also odd that when I asked a salesman to show me pictures of the Model 3, he did a Google search. He did not even have pictures of the car on Tesla’s internal site (the one he used to show me pricing options). Tesla’s external site also doesn’t have photos of the Model 3, just a few videos.
When in you are in a showroom that has only the Model S and Model X on display, it is easy to imagine that the Model 3 is just a smaller version of the Model S. It is not. In all fairness, Tesla CEO Elon Musk was clear about that when he expressed the concern that the Model 3 would hurt Model S sales. The Model S is a luxury car with a soft suspension; the Model 3 is a smaller, utilitarian car with a hard suspension.
Also, at $35,000, the basic Model 3 is truly basic. If you want a semi-decent car with leather seats and safety sensors, the price quickly jumps to $55,000 (all-wheel drive won’t be available until late 201
. If you order a Model 3 today, there is a chance you may get tax credits (which could be as high as $12,000 between federal and state), but this completely depends on Tesla’s production schedule, which so far has been disappointing. If your car is delivered after June, the tax credits rapidly decline and then disappear.
When I put down the $1,000 refundable deposit, I was making an emotional but semi-rational decision: I gave Tesla an interest-free loan to reserve my place so that in the future I could make a rational decision to buy the Model 3 or not. As that time approaches, it’s clear that it’s hard to commit $50,000 to a car that is unseen and undriven.
More..............
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-09/why-tesla-car-shopper-sped-away-model-3
Realist - Everybody in America is soft, and hates conflict. The cure for this, both in politics and social life, is the same -- hardihood. Give them raw truth.
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