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Comment by dotancohen

2 days ago

  > This is a classic weird tesla-style pricing tactic at work. The price is not what it seems.

How is that "tesla-style pricing"? When I bought my Tesla the price was exactly what they told me it would be. Contrast that with every other car I've bought new, especially the Ford Focus for which the salesman tried to haggle me for more options and told me he thinks we should raise the price a bit "to make sure it gets approved" as I'm signing the paperwork.

I've never had a clearer new car purchase than with my Tesla.

For the better part of a decade people have been buying Teslas under the promise that the cars would drive themselves better than their owner could, or would offset their cost by participating in a self-driving taxi service while their owners were not using them, none of which has come remotely true.

Tesla has sometimes presented the price with "gas savings" deducted from the price, in a slightly misleading attempt to get people to consider the total cost of ownership. I'm assuming that is what is being referred to.

>which the salesman tried to haggle me for more options and told me he thinks we should raise the price a bit "to make sure it gets approved" as I'm signing the paperwork.

If you're walking into a store to spend tens of thousands of dollars and manage to get bullied by the salesperson, it's probably a "you problem".

Tesla charges retail; that's it, it's no magic.

  • I "managed to get bullied"? No, I put the pen down and asked him to make a phone call and ensure it will be approved, whatever he thinks that means. Somehow the question of "it getting approved" was resolved without him ever making that phone call.

    He probably thinks I bullied him.

    • This is a classic car salesman tactic. The idea is that a buyer that's completed paperwork will be more likely to agree to a last minute price increase "because my manager won't let me sell it for $X". It's a total bullshit move. It's so common it's even mentioned in the book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.