What happens after reservation?

[Jaspal]

I reserved the Model 3 online on April 3rd and got the reservation confirmation 1 day later. I know that some people may have questions regarding what will happen next and what the time frame is looking like. I have a couple questions and they include:

1. What takes place after reserving?
2. When do you think we will be able to choose and customize certain features?
3. When does finance come into play? (When and How do we finance the car ?)
4. Time Frame of delivery. (Taking into account when you preordered and who has priority).

 

[Dan Detweiler]

I'm sure there are much more educated people than myself but I will give it a go from what I have been told talking with people at my local dealership.

1) Can't answer that one because I haven't reserved one yet!
2) Choosing features will not become available until they are close to production. Lat next year from what I am told. It will also be done in batches based on regions of the country starting out west and moving east, then Canada and North America and then abroad.
3) Financing will take place on your own I assume unless you wish to take advantage of Tesla's financing. No idea how that would work. I plan on using my credit union.
4) Who knows? As it sits now, deliveries are hopefully going to begin in the last quarter of next year. Again, moving west to east.

This is what I have been told in conversation with my local dealership. Others may have been given other information.

Dan

 

[Jaspal]

I'm sure there are much more educated people than myself but I will give it a go from what I have been told talking with people at my local dealership.

1) Can't answer that one because I haven't reserved one yet!
2) Choosing features will not become available until they are close to production. Lat next year from what I am told. It will also be done in batches based on regions of the country starting out west and moving east, then Canada and North America and then abroad.
3) Financing will take place on your own I assume unless you wish to take advantage of Tesla's financing. No idea how that would work. I plan on using my credit union.
4) Who knows? As it sits now, deliveries are hopefully going to begin in the last quarter of next year. Again, moving west to east.

This is what I have been told in conversation with my local dealership. Others may have been given other information.

Dan

Thanks for your reply Dan. Back to the financing point you made. I was actually trying to say that, do we pay online when we configure our car or at the dealers? Are they going to deliver the vehicle or do we have to pick it up?

 

[Dan Detweiler]

Not sure how Tesla handles that part of it. Maybe some S or X owners can chime in with their experiences. I assume that payment has to be arranged when you finalize all the options and configuration you want, before it goes to production. I also assume that part of it must be done at a dealer, but again, I could be wrong.

Dan

 

[Jaspal]

Thanks for answering some of the questions I had.
Jazz.

 

[teslaliving]

If its like the S and X then there are stages:

1) Reservation
2) Open for configuration
3) Order
4) Confirm - auto confirms 14 days from order or you can confirm instantly to speed things up a bit. After confirm you get a VIN pretty quickly (same day for me)
5) Delivery date assigned (first real contact from a Tesla employee) (this is when you can work on financing as you now have a date etc)
6) Arrange on payment terms (some back and forth with Tesla for details)
7) Car goes into production (3-5 days to produce)
8) Car finishes production
9) Transportation to delivery spot and adjustment to delivery date (mine was a bit earlier than original date)
10) Delivery!! W00T

Along the way you should do things like get a plug installed where you'll charge, figure out finances/financing, get a chargepoint card, order any extras like all weather matts, etc.

The times for all these are different with every car/build as well as whatever crazy scheme they're using for rollout.

 

[TrevP]

Yep, that's pretty much it. Thanks for posting it. If you don't mind I'll add it to the FAQ section.

 

[teslaliving]

Yep, that's pretty much it. Thanks for posting it. If you don't mind I'll add it to the FAQ section.

No problem.

 

[Van Shrider]

This is a loaded question that could have a loaded answer.

Elon said that deliveries START next year. At no time did he say the number per week that would be delivered.

Theoretically if you deliver 100 the first week, you have for filled the stated commitment!
The number per week projection would be a great question for those that attend the shareholders meeting.

 

[TrevP]

We might get more answers provided we don't have another vegan uprising or genius CEO application from the attendees

In all seriousness Tesla has a habit of doing "token" deliveries in the single digits at the last possible moment of their predicted delivery dates but real production really doesn happen until a couple of months later at the earliest.

I'm hoping with the 3 given the current backlog that they discontinue this tactic.

 

[Van Shrider]

Do you think this is why the Tesla employees and SpaceX employees might get the run at the production schedule...to make them the beta testers, instead of us?
Sounds logical.

 

[TrevP]

The idea of Tesla employees getting first dibs is a motivational one. If you know you're building a car that could be yours you'll be more apt to take quality seriously.

Secondly, current Tesla owners getting priority is good because they've more forgiving of issues being early adopters. People who have never owned a Tesla before wouldn't be as forgiving of early issues. It could sour their opinion of the company and Tesla can't afford that with the 3.

 

[teslaliving]

This is a loaded question that could have a loaded answer.

Elon said that deliveries START next year. At no time did he say the number per week that would be delivered.

Theoretically if you deliver 100 the first week, you have for filled the stated commitment!
The number per week projection would be a great question for those that attend the shareholders meeting.

In the past that would mean a couple cars on 12/31/17. With all the interest in the 3 and the simpler car hopefully it will be a lot more aggressive.

 

[Dan Detweiler]

So, am I correct in saying that final payment/financing arrangements aren't due until shortly before delivery? Just wondering if financing needs to be in place when you configure your car. Thanks in advance.

Dan

 

[teslaliving]

So, am I correct in saying that final payment/financing arrangements aren't due until shortly before delivery? Just wondering if financing needs to be in place when you configure your car. Thanks in advance.

Dan

Payment is due at delivery and not before. The deposit becomes non refundable at a point but the payment is t needed until you pick up the car. That's usually cashiers checks, bank checks and the like and can be a mixture if you're financing part and paying part.