1. Deciding what you need
The most important factor on lowering the cost of a Tesla car is deciding what car you actually need. Currently, Tesla offers four main models with sub models under each main model. There is huge difference in price between the main models. The highest price model is more than double the lowest price model. One can check the specification on Tesla’s website to find what one needs.
As October 2023, here are the starting prices of the lowest priced sub-model:
| Model Name | Starting Price | Link |
| Model S, Dual Motor All-Wheel Drive | $74,990 | https://www.tesla.com/models/design#overview |
| Model X, Dual Motor All-Wheel Drive | $79,990 | https://www.tesla.com/modelx/design#overview |
| Model Y, Rear-Wheel Drive | $43,990 | https://www.tesla.com/modely/design#overview |
| Model 3, Rear-Wheel Drive | $38,990 | https://www.tesla.com/model3/design#overview, |
2. Decide when you will need it
The electric vehicles are in hot competition now. Tesla keeps lowering its selling price in last twelve months. According to the Barron’s article, Tesla Cut U.S. Prices. The EV War Rages, a long-range all-wheel drive Model Y was priced at $67,000 in December, it’s $48,500 now, down $18,500, which was 28%; Model 3 started at $47,000 in December 2022, the same car starts at $39,000 now, down $8,000, which was about 17%.
If you can delay the purchase, you may capture more price decrease. On top of that, Tesla may introduce more lower price sub models. For example, Tesla just announced a lower cost sub model of Model Y, Rear-Wheel Drive, starting at $43,990 in October 2023. That is $2,000 less on some model Y sub models.
3. If you want lowest price, get it from inventory
If you want the lowest price from Tesla, check their current inventory on Tesla’s website. For example, a new all wheel drive model Y from inventory is listed at $44,320 (see image) as 2023-09-08. A new Model Y with same configuration, starting from $47,740 on the ordering page. If you can live with the configuration from the inventory list, pick one from inventory instead of building a new one with customization, which should save you thousands of dollar. In addition to saving money, you may have the car in three days instead of waiting three to five weeks for the car to be built and delivered.
A new model Y all wheel drive from ordering page, starting at $47,740.
If you live in a metro area, you should not only check inventory in your metro area, you should also check inventory in some smaller cities. Tesla may offer lower price in smaller cities.
Note: Tesla makes inventory price the same as order price when this article is published. But inventory car price was more than $3,000 less than an ordered car one month earlier.
4. Use a referral link to save more
Currently, Tesla owner can send a referral link to her friend. When her friend use the referral link to order a Tesla, the friend can save $250 on the new car (used to be $500 in September 2023) while the existing Tesla owner can get credit for some Tesla merchandises. If you don’t have a referral link, you can use my referral link here.
Use my referral link to buy a Tesla and get up to $250 off and 3 months of Full Self-Driving Capability.
https://ts.la/jun521505
5. Buying a Used Tesla may not save you much
With Tesla’s aggressively reducing price in the last twelve month, and the $7,500 tax rebate for new EV cars and $4,000 tax rebate for used EV, buying a used Tesla may not save you much money. Here is another post with some analysis.