A Tesla buyer says he felt 'bullied' into taking delivery, meaning he missed $9,450 price cut

Tesla cut prices by thousands of dollars on some models earlier this month.
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A Tesla buyer said he felt “bullied” into taking delivery of his car earlier than he wanted to.
Tun Bhothinard told Insider he paid $62,440 for a Tesla Model Y, which now costs about $10,000 less.
He said Tesla agents told him he’d lose his reservation if he tried to delay delivery until January.

A Tesla customer says he felt pushed into taking early delivery of his car, which meant he missed out on price cuts worth thousands of dollars.

Tun Bhothinard, from Chicago, told Insider he ordered a silver Tesla Long Range Model Y in March 2022 at a cost of $62,440. He paid a $250 reservation fee and was told to expect delivery between December and March this year. Insider has viewed his purchase agreement with Tesla.

Bhothinard was surprised to later be given a delivery date in September. As he wanted to pay in cash, he wasn’t able to get enough funds to be able to pay in time, so was then given another delivery date in November.

After doing some research, Bhothinard realized he could benefit from a EV tax credit that took effect at the start of 2023. He tried to push the delivery date back further, but this time was met with resistance from Tesla.

“We tried to talk to so many people on the delivery team and everyone was just very robotic about it,” he told Insider, adding he felt “bullied” into taking delivery. Bhothinard was also told he’d lose his deposit and would have to restart the order process again with a wait of several more months. 

After “begrudgingly” taking delivery in November, price cuts were announced in December. Even bigger cuts came earlier this month, meaning the same model now started at $52,990, which Bhothinard described as “aggravating” on top of the missed tax credits. 

Tesla made steep reductions on Model 3 and Model Y cars in a bid to stoke demand that has dipped amid rising interest rates and economic uncertainty.

Like many Tesla owners who missed out on the price cuts and contacted Insider, the company hasn’t not made any statement about reimbursing customers like Bhothinard.

He said he felt frustrated about being pressured into taking delivery of his car before he wanted to: “It feels like they’re going against those values that they once had of being transparent to the consumer.” 

He doesn’t know if he’ll buy a Tesla again when it’s time for a new car. 

Insider reported on Saturday that one Tesla buyer yet to take delivery of his car said the company reduced the cost of his order by about $12,000 after he complained about missing out on price cuts. 

Tesla didn’t respond to a request for comment from Insider.