Is price negotiable ?

I just configured my TMS yesterday and I realized that how to pay it will be decided when delivery, such as cash or finance. Anybody has experience on negotiating price with Tesla ?

Since they do not touch and discuss price with you when you finalize configuration, they can be firm without any price discount at delivery, correct ? Because if you do not take it, you lose $5000.

Price is not negotiable. On the other hand, I haven't yet heard of anyone losing his $5k if he had a good reason to cancel.

Elon and all the board members, etc. paid full price. This company is just starting and needs its cash flow.

Remember, it's a different kind of car company. No salesmen, no haggling and no games = fixed price.

(at least till the next price increase)

It might be. For example, if Tesla were to negotiate a higher price, lot of the Kool-aid chuggers on this board would be fine with it.


Had to think about that a moment, then I cracked up!

Rather than give extra money to Tesla, I would just buy more stock!

You can negotiate at a traditional dealer because essentially they buy from the manufacturer, so there's wiggle room, plus they have stock sitting around waiting to be bought! Tesla is making to order, has many people still waiting for their car, and has NO dealers--you're buying direct. So, no, you can't negotiate your Model S price and I doubt you ever will be able to; it just wouldn't make sense.

IMHO this is a good thing, however; there's little (if anything) worse in the traditional car-buying experience than TRYING to "negotiate" an exaggerated price down to the realm of reality. I don't negotiate the price of eggs , books, clothing, etc.; I'll be happy if/when the car negotiating experience goes away forever. Okay, it IS gone for me, since I bought a Tesla Model S ;-)....

We have to think that Tesla adopts a different business model than that traditional car manufacturers. In this new business model, everything is conducted online, no middle sales people involved, thus the offer of the product price is firm and whether acceptance is totally upon your decision. Although I negotiated so called good price in buying ICE cars many times before, I have no complaints to accept TM's new way of selling Model S (lacking negotiation on price process).

Having been a car salesman, I like the wheeling and dealing at a dealership. If you understand the ‘game,’ do your homework you can come out way ahead. I spend more than a little time buying/leasing cars for my family and close friends. I think TM’s on-line, no haggle sales approach is good for TM and the customer. Also, keep in mind, traditional auto dealerships make most of their profit on undervaluing your trade-in.

I love my 'S,' simply the best new car I have ever bought, also the most expensive – by a wide margin! I am not complaining, I think the $77K MSRP for my loaded 60kWh (less $10K in federal and CA state rebates) makes my ‘S’ a fair deal. If MS were sold through a traditional ICE dealer network, the dealers would add a $20K ‘market value surcharge’ on top of the MSRP. Feel better?

Once you sign the MVPA, you have agreed to buy the vehicle at that price.

Do you negotiate how much you pay at a grocery store, or Walmart, etc?

I don't think the comparisons to negotiating for grocery items is fair. As a general rule, in America we don't negotiate for low-priced items. We have always negotiated for high priced items. 25 years ago I used to sell electronics for Best Buy when we worked on commission. People never tried to negotiate for cheap cordless phones or CD's. But at least half of the buyers would negotiate a big screen TV.

Later on I read a book about how to negotiate for cars written by a car broker. Similar to a prior poster, I became the family car negotiator and eventually got my wholesale auto dealer license. I enjoy the game of negotiating for a car because I've seen how the game works from the dealer's perspective so I can confidently make a deal without feeling uncertain if I'm getting taken advantage of.

I have negotiated for every car I have ever purchased, every property I have ever purchased. Any big ticket item is negotiable - until now. My S should be ready for delivery within a week or so. I was disappointed that I didn't have an opportunity to purchase the car for less than the general public as I usually do. But I bought the car anyway because it is still a great value. And I resolved my disappointment by focusing on the fact that life is constantly changing. While at Best Buy, they dropped the commission sales model and converted to a non-commissioned sales approach. And that single move catapulted Best Buy from a regional player to overtaking Circuit City and becoming the electronics sales leader in the world. Best Buy made a lot of loyal sales people angry with the change as their incomes took a big hit and they had to leave and look for employment elsewhere. But it served a greater good for customers, shareholders and other employees.

With the advent of the internet change is taking hold of many industries. Obviously travel agents, video rental stores and even Best Buy are forever changed. We are now witnessing meaningful change in the auto industry because of technology and the internet is a big part of that. So we can no longer depend on prior strategies to try to get a good deal. We have to adapt to the changing world and try to capture value in other ways.

JZ13 - Your use of the word "game" is right on the money. Many folks lose at the game, and to win, it takes way too much time. Whether it costs more money or more time, either way leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Tesla disclosed a 25% profit margin target. This dictates the price of their product. If Tesla Motors takes a big hit because they are not meeting their margin expectations, they may choose to modify the way their business works to achieve their goals. As a stock holder I am happy with the 25% margin number specially since I am deep into the money and hope this target remains in the headlights going forward. Pay the price, the car is worth every penny and the tesla grins, just like the superchargers are included.



Definitely. Actually, in the last 10 years I've only bought TV's using the internet. Have you tried negotiating prices with Amazon? Personally I hate the whole negotiation thing.

Well, maybe when Tesla is at the point where thousands of cars sit on lots waiting for buyers, so that giving a price break is how a dealer avoids month end interest payments, you'll be able to negotiate. Right now, when people wait months to get one, why should they? Dell and Apple don't negotiate on computers. The guy that negotiates is the dealer, who buys the car... then resells it. That's his risk- and usually, his profit.

Try negotiating at Tiffany's sometime. High price does not necessarily mean negotiable.

@DTsea - which lots would those be? There are no dealers to have lots for them to sit on, and they build them to order at the factory.

I tried a small negotiation with Tesla. I ordered the 60 kWh and received the supercharger access for free due to being an early adopter of this configuration and some slightly misleading wording on the per-MVPA at that time that implied supercharging was included. When Tesla offered free included supercharging on my 60kWh (a $2000 value) I asked if I could instead upgrade to the 85 kWh battery for 8k instead of the 10k. They said no, so I stuck with the 60 with free supercharger (and love it).

You might be interested to know Elon has some nice bonus money riding on getting that margin up to 30% and the volume to 30K+ in the next couple of years.

Jat- that's my point. If Tesla behaved like other manufacturers- building to rate instead of to order- and had a demand shortfall, cars would pile up. That's why the others use dealers- push the metal.

So, if Tesla had tons of inventory they couldn't sell- like Ford or Toyota or whatever have- then they would probably negotiate to clear the inventory. Since they DON'T do that- they don't have to negotiate.

You CAN negotiate price if you buy a used Model S, but the negotiation will be for how much MORE over Tesla's set price you have to pay the seller.

Theoretically, if TM had lots of unused capacity, they might be prepared to negotiate. Which is why Elon keeps emphasizing that they are production-limited, not demand-limited.

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