Peter Thompson always haggles a discount on his new cars but when it came to his latest model, a Tesla Model S 90D, the businessman was forced to admit defeat.
“I pride myself on the discounts I negotiate but this is the first time I’ve paid list price for a vehicle,” he says.
But if he thought that, as compensation, he might be offered a discount by the ‘back door’ in the form of a little extra for his trade-in, an Aston Martin V8 Vantage S Sportshift II, he was to be disappointed again.
Thompson says: “The Aston was a beautiful car which, new, cost me £112,000. It had loads of extras including interior upgrades and a black, aluminium grille. I chose Volcano Red with a black leather interior, and the ‘waterfall fascia’ from the Aston Martin Vanquish.
“I part-exchanged it when it was 18 months old. According to my research, it could command a dealer forecourt price of around £81,000. In my experience, high-end dealers will look to have around £4500 in a car when they buy it, so I guessed an Aston dealer would have offered me around £76,500 for it. Tesla offered me £76,000 which, by my reckoning, meant they weren’t giving me any additional allowance.
“The thing is, I can live with not getting a discount or a trade-in allowance as long as I don’t find out later that other customers have. I’m a member of the Tesla UK online forum, and I’ve certainly not heard even a whisper that anyone has.”
Tesla’s sales are bundled together with ‘Other Imports’ in the monthly new car registration figures issued by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders but account for most of them. On this basis, Tesla had sold about 1800 cars by the end of May, down 19% on the same period in 2017 – a trend echoed by a 4.9% fall in the sales of electric cars overall.
Why doesn’t Tesla do what just about every other car maker does and force sales by inflating discounts and trade-in allowances, and hang the consequences? It’s not as if it doesn’t need the income. At the end of the first quarter of 2018, the company’s debt stood at £1.5 billion.
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Apples to oranges
when I looked at buying a Tesla I became incredibly frustrated with the constant changing of what was and what wasn’t included as standard and in certain bundles/packs it became impossible to accurately compare two cars.
This is just like the IT industry which is of course where he is from.
that was a good enough reason for me to avoid buying a Tesla - and I have to say I have never looked back!!
It's my Tesla
Hi, I'm Peter - I'm the guy in the article.
Got a far bit of stick in the comments - I totally get why too :)
I'm a 20yr Autocar reader, and I'm so happy to have an article in it however it came about, but I thought I might answer a bit of what was said in the comments.
- That's a lot of money to lose on a car / more money than sense / why did you sell the Aston / why would you ever part-ex and not sell / bit of a nob etc
You're not wrong and believe me it hurts. I've been running my own business for 14yrs and it's been incredibly challenging over those years financially, but cars are my number 1 passion first and foremost and yes, I defintely waste money on them. Always have, and always will. Forget new clothes, or hobbies, cars are what I care about! There's this assumption that people buying expensive cars buy them outright, but I buy mine like many of you. I put money in, and finance the rest. This is not unusual at any level of purchase.
The Aston Martin was quite literally my pride and joy, and the night I bought that car - I got it in the garage and pulled up a deckchair and a bottle of beer and spent 2hrs hours staring at it. Only disturbed by stroking the badge and looking around because no-one was going to tell me to get off the Aston! It was amazing!
The finance I had meant after 3yrs it was my responsibility to pay outright (no handing back). So half-way through I panicked a little bit at the responsibility and part-ex for the Tesla.
I run a technology company and it was the perfect car. I had a Volvo S90 for a company car, which was superb but boring day to day, and the Aston for weekends. I swapped both for the Tesla, which I didn't do to save money on fuel (It's actually broadly equivalent to running a good mpg diesel when you analyse it properly). I bought it beause I'm a 'petrol head' and loved the performance blended with tech. I was somewhat obesessed with the AutoPilot!
The comment about why did I part-ex, more money than sense etc I totally get. Being a regular buyer, I've got very good at selling cars to fund my habit. I use Autotrader and I reckon I'm as good as any dealer at marketing and selling. Unfortunately, over around £40k car value it becomes very hard to sell privately. People simply want the comfort of a dealer, and as very few people above this level buy solely with cash they also need finance facilities. It's just a reality and the £4.5k from Tesla was actually really decent to a dealer, the dealer had fairly tight margin on it and I don't think Tesla made a penny. Shame I panicked - as it turned out prices hardened a little on the Vantage and I could have got the same as I sold it for after another 18 months usage.
I quite literally have a budget every year to lose on my car obsession, because if I can afford it I will change every year. The Tesla is actually a pain because no-one in the motor industry knows how to price it. So I either need to sell on a commission through a dealer (sale or return) or sit out my 3yrs PCP (or take a huge hit from a dealer who low ball it). Or hand it back as I'm now over 18 months. I'm loathe to do that however as it's actually a really decent daily car and I put a large deposit in the PCP which means losing more money. I'll see it out and enjoy a 4sec 0-60, with loads of space and low cost to run. The image is good for business too. I genuienly get nearly as much love as the Aston.
I did really miss the Aston though. I've just bought a 5 year old Vanquish which is my new garage queen. I'm absolutely over the moon and reckon my co2 profile is just about neutral now ;)
5yrs ago, fairly shortly after the Vanquish came out, the Aston dealer ushered me out my local with a brochure of the Aston history in my hand quite clearly thinking I was a waste of space. I laughed it off, but a bit humiliating! To be fair, he had me down and I couldn't afford it! Since then I bought a new Vantage in 2015, and my old beauty Vanquish 3 years later. Good times, shows we can't always judge a book by it's cover and you never know when things might change for the better or worse in your personal situation. Live for the day I say.
Maybe things or people aren't always as they seem when you read an article. Do I consider myself absolutely uniquivocally privelidged to have had the cars I do? Yes! I've been lucky - worked no harder than many others who have but haven't had my luck to go with it, but I've done with that luck what I'd imagine many a petrol head would do with it too. I've bought every car I possibly can and loved them all from Insignia to Vanquish. Same goes for bikes, just love motors.
A good piece