Teslas are quite popular of late, and they have been for a while. When it comes to fully electric vehicles, the Tesla name has a certain cachet and cult appeal that other electric vehicles just don’t have. It also helps that they’re visually appealing. However, buying a Tesla is not like buying a regular vehicle.
Why Buying A Tesla Is Different
Buying a Tesla is unlike any buying experience you’ve ever encountered. If you’re shopping for a Chevrolet, all you have to do is drive up to your local Chevrolet dealer, and you can drive home in a new car within a few hours. When buying a Tesla, there are online forms, waitlists, and wait times upwards of 2 years. The Tesla buying experience more closely resembles buying something from Amazon than it does the traditional dealer experience.
There are two main ways to buy a Tesla: going through the company website or visiting an in-person showroom. In both cases, you’ll be ordering the vehicle and not buying it in person like you would if you wanted to buy a Chevy at your local Chevrolet dealer.
First Steps
In most cases, you’ll probably be visiting Tesla’s Design Studio to buy a Tesla. With this feature on the company website, you’ll be customizing your car until you have it the way you want. You can work on the following categories:
- Model
- Top speed
- Range
- Wheels
- Color and interior
- Autopilot
There are five Tesla models available: Model S, Model X, Model 3, Model Y, and the Roadster. Once you pick your model, you’ll need to decide on a top speed and range. The Autopilot option costs $12,000 and gives your car some automatic driving functions.
It’s important to remember the big extra cost of adding a charging station to your house. The costs for this vary widely, but you should budget at least $1,000 for this expense. This is naturally the biggest disadvantage of an electric vehicle. A fuel station stop might take a few minutes, but fully charging your Tesla will take over an hour.
Find A Service Center
Once you have your car designed and you’re ready to take the plunge, wait, don’t click “buy” yet. Buying a Tesla isn’t like buying something from Amazon that you can easily return. The next step in this process is to find out if you have any Tesla service centers near you. Tesla doesn’t have regular dealerships, but it does have a number of service centers across the country. These function as places to get maintenance and showrooms where you can see Tesla cars in person. This enables you to ask questions and take a few models for a test drive. You will likely need to schedule a test drive in advance because Tesla only keeps a few demo cars at each lot.
After you’ve figured out what you want and are ready to take the plunge, you can either return to the Tesla Design Studio online or you can order your Tesla through the service center. If you live in New Hampshire, California, Virginia, or Colorado, you may be able to buy a Tesla directly from the showroom.
When you buy through Tesla’s website, you’ll also get the opportunity to apply for financing through Tesla. If you choose to do that, you’ll complete the application during the purchase process.
Buying a Tesla may be different from other vehicles, but like any other vehicle purchase, it’s important to do your research on what you want.
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