The Tesla Experience: Pt.1 The Purchase

In America we have what are known as dealerships. All car companies, save one, have them. You go there to buy a car. If you have everything in order and they have what you want it can be a very quick, one stop process, and an expensive one. In this scenario you are buying the car from the dealership. Those of us who have been through this have all marveled at the long list of extra charges that seem to populate every line at the bottom of the sale contract. Tesla is different.

Also note, our experience was a bit prolonged as well since we were in on the ground floor. Two and a half years ago my wife and I sat on our bed after watching the Model 3 unveiling and pushed a little red button on a tablet screen that instantly sucked a thousand dollars from our bank account. (fully refundable) It claimed that this would hold our place in line for a car that had yet to be built. In exchange we received a Reservation number and a nice card and a litho of the designers original sketch rendering of the Model 3. I laughed at the time about this being the most expensive piece of art I had yet purchased. That was difference number one.

We received a few updates over the two years from Tesla, but most information would come from mainstream sources or Tweets from Tesla or Musk. The last update was to tell us the delivery window had slid a few months due to “production hell.” That was February. Our new delivery date was no longer July. Still, at the end of June we got notified that our number was up and the “design studio” was now accessible. I won’t spend a lot of words on details you can see for yourself by doing the order process. No, you are not buying the car unless you give them money. It’s free to play. We took our time and reviewed everything on our end before committing to the order process.

Basically, The car is the car. Top of the line, all options, long range battery, RWD. Not a lot of “designing” to do. You got to pick the color. Black no charge. All others come extra. Two wheel choices stock or $1,500. Extra. When we placed our order the white interior was not available, you got black with a rough finish Oak dash panel. There was no dual motor AWD or performance versions or the $35,000 210 mile range base model. You got the basic safety package. Autopilot is $5,000 extra. Full autonomous is was $3,500 extra on top of that and not even a thing yet. Fill in some basic info necessary for the transaction and press the blue button to fork over another $2,500. For you Matrix fans out there, yes, those were the button colors and they were pill shaped. Yes, all $3,500 would apply to the purchase price. They were specific in stating that once the vin number was assigned the $2,500 was not refunded, just the initial $1000.

Blue button pressed end of July, we were notified by email that our personal sales assistant would contact us shortly with our delivery date. When we ordered it said 2 to 4 months. Beginning of August (five days after we ordered) I get a phone call from Alyssa who would like to discuss the delivery details of our new Tesla. Alyssa tells us that they are selling Model 3’s faster than anyone was ready for and to avoid long hold times Email would best facilitate this process. She also gave us a little heads up that if we waited for the dual motor or performance units our delivery date would be pushed out even farther and we would run the risk of missing the tax rebate as they had exceeded 200,000 units in the first quarter. It was her advice to lock this in while the process was still running relatively smoothly unless we really wanted one of those other units. AWD? Not needed. Performance? Driving record doesn’t need it. And since the original delivery date was late July and we would be picking this up the end of August the wife would be happy too.

So, after the initial shock of the really quick turn around time wore off I was making calls, sending emails and Edocs to arrange details, drivers license images and insurance info sent. We were sent a Vin number, they were sent a certified pre approval, we were sent a Monrony, and directions to the Highland Park Delivery center and a 10am appointment on the 29^th to meet our new Tesla. Exactly three weeks since we electronically signed the purchase agreement. The certificate of Origin shows its build commence date (vin assigned) as 8/7/18. Now here’s the cool. 21^st century part of the process. After that brief first contact call with Allyssa, all communication, document sharing, the purchase agreement, loan signing and insurance was all done electronically. The only things I had to physically sign or handle in person were for the DVM. Strangest car purchase I have ever experienced.

What was our cost of admission? $57,000 plus a $1,000 (we got 200 off) for the transportation and delivery prep, temporary Illinois tag and documentation. Our credit union had no problem extending the loan and collecting the sales tax, $3,200. The DMV was amazingly accommodating for a nonstandard sale. So we only had to pay them the EV premium and a yearly registration and personally handle the Certificate of Origin for the car. Yes, Wisconsin charges EV’s an extra $100 a year at tag time to help recover what they lost in gas taxes over the year. Like I told the lady at the DMV, $100 bucks is a bargain when you consider 32.9 cents a gallon tax times 12 gallons a week times 52. SOLD! The certificate of origin thing was new to me. Never seen one of those before. I will tell you this much, from the Purchase agreement signing on the 7^th until pick up on the 29^th was the longest two weeks of my life. (cue Carly Simon's "Anticipation") LoL.

A very different way to buy a car.