Automotive

Tesla is going through certain changes and has to adjust. It's obvious things didn't go as planned and they have to do something.

I hope the market will bear it, I have far more to lose in my investment than the $500-$1000 in my own car. The whole reason why I put the fact that I'm a stockholder in the company is to say that I benefit from Tesla making more money. And I support Tesla making more money. But despite this raising the cost of the paint probably makes more money, I would caution against this short term gain as it may rub some consumers the wrong way. It's not a very fair thing to give consumers a constantly changing price target.

But, as a consumer, things like a moving price target; TWO CHANGES in around SIX WEEKS is too much.

Remember back in the day; around 2010ish, Patek Philippe prices were constantly increasing? That was annoying. But even then, they didn't change within SIX WEEKS!

Market studies in the past has shown that people who want to buy red cars are fairly inflexible about their demand for red cars. And thus, car manufacturers have realized this and have started to offer more red cars in the USA market; these cars are often at higher cost (in the price of the paint, or these cars are loaded with more options). But even then, I've never heard of a car manufacturer change the price of red paint three times in six weeks.

Imagine you go to the store to buy toilet paper. You see that they only have the bulk rolls of 36 rolls per pack for $5. You think, maybe I'll hold off, I've still got two weeks supply worth, I'll come back when I have about a week's worth. The next day you come back, the price has increased from $5 to $7.50. Then another day later it's gone up to $10. It's a moving price target. Is it unethical? No. Unless they raised the price due to a storm, that would be illegal since you can't price gouge in a time of disaster in most states/territories/provinces in the USA.

It's just not cool, and it's not right. It might not be illegal, it might not even be unethical, but it's something that sure is embarrassing that Tesla would have such pricing instability. I can imagine they will de-content the car and add it back as expensive options in the future to maintain that $35K price target.

Things like this really aggravate me. OK, for Henry Ford BLACK can be "the only color" but this is now 100 model years later, and with Tesla even WHITE costs money. That irritated me when I started to spec out a Model 3 online.

I hate it when they do that. I also hate it when contractors do that. I feel that I need to audit every contractor these days to make sure that they're not skimping in materials and that they're not going to do some last minute price inflation after we already have an agreement.

In your case, I'm glad that you didn't buy another car. From what I hear about your car collection, it seems the LAST THING YOU NEED is another machine in your driveway! You don't seem to be an especially high mileage driver, and you seem to have several cars already. I don't know about you, but the insurance costs of so many cars would scare me away.

I'm glad you didn't buy the car and I'm glad you didn't let those guys win!

Now I'm wondering, would I be happy with a BMW i3... A used BMW i3 is quite affordable these days. How are they to drive on the freeway, is the steering ratio too quick? Car might be a bit twitchy. Is the range too short at highway speeds (I hear range drops to like 62-65 miles at a 75 mph cruise speed). And when the wind blows, does the car feel unstable? And how long is that BMW Flexible Mobility program going to last? So many questions and concerns!

And prohibited among car collectors.

I just want a newer car or two, as my most current one is the 2006 Insight with 110,000 miles. And my lowest mileage one is the 1971 Lotus with 43,000. Neither is a good car for a cross-country trip, or for sending a wife to the mountains on a snowy winter day. Or hauling rocks from the home supply store.

BTW insurance is relatively cheap when you are old, your cars are old, and your record is clean. It’s the darn governor and all those anti-car folks who are killing me with registration fees...

If you get an i3 you need the range extender one. Our Fiat had a longer range than the i3 and it was none too long for San Diego, much less the Bay Area.

Mike

The electric range is only around 72 miles. They say that if you drive on the highway at speed, the range can drop to the low 60 miles! Fortunately, the car can charge from 7% range to 80% range at a DC Fast Charger in about 22 minutes, assuming the DC fast charger can supply enough electricity. I'm starting to do excel spreadsheets that calculate the amount of gas used and the amount of range used for my typical excursions. A trip from my home, assuming the 1.9 gallon tank of the i3's gasoline tank is full and the battery is fully charged, driving highway to wine country, will necessitate charging at the wineries in order to make it back. There is a small chance that the car may need to have its 1.9 gallon tank replenished, as much of it will be burned off on the way there and there might not be enough to ensure a safe return.

at least its fuel tank is bigger than the i3’s silly Big Gulp cup!

And the BMW i3 is beautifully made. The panels line up perfectly. The car is beautifully made. And the Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic construction is definitely an exotic touch. Overall, it's a small car, that's built with more precision than an S-Class Mercedes. Might even rival the Rolls-Royce in some ways!

Of resin prices over the last 18 months. I'm familiar with the rates and they have increased substantially even in the last 6 months. But based on volume used of resin and the sqm it's a bit disproportionate.

Cheers
S

Kind of hard to believe that they'd need to change the price twice, only six weeks apart from one another. Other car companies haven't raised their paint prices. The price of cobalt hasn't even gone up that much. And that car uses a lot of expensive, mined in conflict zone, and very rare cobalt.

Tell me more about resin prices increasing. I need to paint my home too, come to think of it; I wonder if exterior house paint has increased much in the past several months.

I realize that the majority have accepted those price fluctuations, but that is much worse than some paint price increase.

It is really funny to me how people react emotionally to Tesla. Why is that? Because they are the game changer?

Gasoline, coming from raw materials in turbulent countries, is unfortunately a very volatile commodity. Furthermore, demand is completely inelastic, as humans need a lot of it, it spoils/goes bad and most don't have the means to store it as it requires special handling to transport and store. The buying public is different too; gasoline is bought by consumers and businesses. But generally most buyers buy at the retail level (due to government regulation) and do not negotiate much on the price.
Paint on the other hand, there is some elasticity in demand. If paint prices shoot up, consumer demand is somewhat elastic. Business demand for paint may be less elastic, but since business buyers are so large they can negotiate.
Trust me, if Mercedes Benz raised the price of paint twice in a six week period, I'd be ticked too.