Tesla 14 day cooling off?

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Discussion

Ste-EVo

Original Poster:

163 posts

165 months

Tuesday 17th December 2024
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Someone I know has recently taken delivery of a new Tesla Model 3, however for one reason or another has decided to return it under the 14 day 'cooling off period' inline with the distance selling rules. What happens to those cars? Surely Tesla then take a substantial hit on them and have to sell them as 'used'?

OverSteery

3,746 posts

245 months

Tuesday 17th December 2024
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do you not need to return it in the condition you received it? Have you driven any miles etc?

Ste-EVo

Original Poster:

163 posts

165 months

Tuesday 17th December 2024
quotequote all
OverSteery said:
do you not need to return it in the condition you received it? Have you driven any miles etc?
Its not me, it's someone I know. They've taken it back, but I was just curious as to what happens to the car once it goes back.

And yes, they put miles on it

ashenfie

1,188 posts

60 months

Tuesday 17th December 2024
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I purchased a car with this type of offer and there are t&cs under which they can so no, or charge penalties if you exceeded the mileage limit. Ultimately Tesla loose very little as they simply sell the car to someone else for the same money.
Not sure why you would not want the car in less than 14 days unless there was an issue.

HTP99

23,871 posts

154 months

Tuesday 17th December 2024
quotequote all
ashenfie said:
I purchased a car with this type of offer and there are t&cs under which they can so no, or charge penalties if you exceeded the mileage limit. Ultimately Tesla loose very little as they simply sell the car to someone else for the same money.
Not sure why you would not want the car in less than 14 days unless there was an issue.
They won't be able to sell it on for the "same money" as it is no longer a new car, it will already have a keeper and X amount of miles on it.

As for not wanting it within 14 days, there could be any number of reasons.

Ste-EVo

Original Poster:

163 posts

165 months

Wednesday 18th December 2024
quotequote all
They cant possibly sell it for the 'same money' surely?!? No one would take a used one with a few hundred miles over a brand new one at the same price.

I dont really know the ins and outs as to why, just curious about what happens to the cars and the hit on Tesla.

ZesPak

25,404 posts

210 months

Wednesday 18th December 2024
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It's basically a sales tool. It works out for everyone involved and Tesla do lose a bit of money on a car then, but I can imagine so few people make use of it.

Also remember that because there's so little configurations on the Model 3, you could get one exactly as you would order it for a couple of thousand off tops, but have it the next day.

anonymous-user

68 months

Wednesday 18th December 2024
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As above, usually a few ‘nearly new’ at a small discount, or they switch on a feature (which is usually a cost option) to make them sell

ChocolateFrog

31,302 posts

187 months

Wednesday 18th December 2024
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ZesPak said:
It's basically a sales tool. It works out for everyone involved and Tesla do lose a bit of money on a car then, but I can imagine so few people make use of it.

Also remember that because there's so little configurations on the Model 3, you could get one exactly as you would order it for a couple of thousand off tops, but have it the next day.
That's what I was thinking.

On a smaller scale it's like Halfords life time guarantee on tools. For everyone like me who'll happily take back a 20 year old tool for a new one if I manage to break it there'll be a 100 people who don't bother and either forget about it or buy a new one.

Scale makes it work.

ZesPak

25,404 posts

210 months

Wednesday 18th December 2024
quotequote all
On a sidenote, I don't know if they still do this, but for a long time here on the continent, Tesla just had boats coming in with cars (esp Model 3) regardless of what was ordered. So when you ordered a car, it might already be there or it might be two shipments out.
The model 3 was a good example, I think in the beginning it had 3 versions (SR, LR and P) and 5 colors.
Interior inlays were dependent on version and on the LR or P you could choose a white interior.
Wheels are interchangeable of course and the other options are software-driven.

All of that makes for literally 25 configurations, total. So your car is never "personal" in that sense and easy to sell on as nearly-new.

Ste-EVo

Original Poster:

163 posts

165 months

Wednesday 18th December 2024
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The above makes it make sense now, thanks. I was just curious really...

rpguk

4,494 posts

298 months

Wednesday 18th December 2024
quotequote all
Ste-EVo said:
They cant possibly sell it for the 'same money' surely?!? No one would take a used one with a few hundred miles over a brand new one at the same price.

I dont really know the ins and outs as to why, just curious about what happens to the cars and the hit on Tesla.
They may not sell it on for the same money, but they can probably sell it on for more than it cost to make so while there might be some opportunity cost they won't necessarily make a loss on the deal.

More than that though, it's just a cost of doing business and the more they sell online rather than via expensive dealers the better the aggregate margins are so the odd return is no big deal.

Buzz84

1,218 posts

163 months

Wednesday 18th December 2024
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ZesPak said:
On a sidenote, I don't know if they still do this, but for a long time here on the continent, Tesla just had boats coming in with cars (esp Model 3) regardless of what was ordered. So when you ordered a car, it might already be there or it might be two shipments out.
The model 3 was a good example, I think in the beginning it had 3 versions (SR, LR and P) and 5 colors.
Interior inlays were dependent on version and on the LR or P you could choose a white interior.
Wheels are interchangeable of course and the other options are software-driven.

All of that makes for literally 25 configurations, total. So your car is never "personal" in that sense and easy to sell on as nearly-new.
Couple of years ago now my Dad got a Model 3 LR and that's basically how it worked for him, he ordered his spec and they "match" him with an incoming car. They gave him a delivery date but he was on holiday and they wouldn't change change it, so they matched him with the next available match about 2 months later.

Amusingly he was on holiday for the next date too!!! (oh the life of a retired couple!) He didn't want to reject the delivery date a second time, so he had it delivered to my house where it waited for him to get home.

ZesPak

25,404 posts

210 months

Thursday 19th December 2024
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Buzz84 said:
Couple of years ago now my Dad got a Model 3 LR and that's basically how it worked for him, he ordered his spec and they "match" him with an incoming car. They gave him a delivery date but he was on holiday and they wouldn't change change it, so they matched him with the next available match about 2 months later.

Amusingly he was on holiday for the next date too!!! (oh the life of a retired couple!) He didn't want to reject the delivery date a second time, so he had it delivered to my house where it waited for him to get home.
yes and remember that not that long ago, people would pay a hefty premium for cars that were available NOW instead of in a year.
If you're taking delivery for a new employee, do you really care if the car has 300km on the odo?

ashenfie

1,188 posts

60 months

Thursday 19th December 2024
quotequote all
ZesPak said:
Buzz84 said:
Couple of years ago now my Dad got a Model 3 LR and that's basically how it worked for him, he ordered his spec and they "match" him with an incoming car. They gave him a delivery date but he was on holiday and they wouldn't change change it, so they matched him with the next available match about 2 months later.

Amusingly he was on holiday for the next date too!!! (oh the life of a retired couple!) He didn't want to reject the delivery date a second time, so he had it delivered to my house where it waited for him to get home.
yes and remember that not that long ago, people would pay a hefty premium for cars that were available NOW instead of in a year.
If you're taking delivery for a new employee, do you really care if the car has 300km on the odo?
Every new car Ive wasted money on came with delivery milage typically 10-54miles and the preregistered ones had the dealer as the previous owner