We Bought A Tesla Online And It Felt Unreal

Buying a car is usually a long day, a lot of waiting, and at least one conversation you don’t want to have. This time, it turned into a late-night decision on a website, a $500 deposit, and a process so fast it honestly felt fake for a minute. 

We’re catching up on real life first: new jobs in the house, travel on the calendar, and the sprint to the end of the school year while I figure out how to keep summer fun when my schedule changes. From there, I walk you through what pushed us from “maybe someday” to “we’re doing this” with a pre-owned Tesla Model Y. I share why being inside a Tesla matters more than reading about it, how we filtered inventory to find the exact look and features we wanted, and what surprised me most about Tesla’s no-dealership approach. 

Then we get practical. I break down the online steps, what happens after you place the deposit, how financing can come back in seconds, and why the Tesla app is basically the command center for paperwork, delivery scheduling, and even driving access. I also talk about the learning curve, especially one-pedal driving and how different an EV can feel in traffic, plus why “do your research first” is the best gift you can give yourself before pickup day. 

If you’re EV-curious, shopping for a Tesla, or just tired of the traditional dealership model, this is the kind of firsthand story that helps you decide what you’d do. Subscribe, share with a friend who’s car shopping, and leave a review so more listeners can find us. What do you want me to test or answer in the EV charging follow-up?

Thanks for listening coffee with a twist.

Email me at: coffeewitatwist@gmail.com

Note: I don’t own copyrights to any music you hear in any of my episodes. 

Transcript

Welcome Back And A Life Update

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey guys, welcome back to Coffee with a Twist. You are here with Madame Balou. I hope you all had an excellent week. Looking forward to your Mother's Day weekends. Uh today is Friday morning. I have not put out an episode in about, I feel like two weeks. So I definitely wanted to get back on here. Again, part of my vision board is to be more consistent. So I want to stick with my once-a-week thing. So it's been a little busy in my household in general. Work and things like that. I started a new job for my full time. My husband is starting a new gig as well. I mean, he's still finishing out his old contract, but he's also starting something new. We have traveling coming up. Yeah, it's just and it's been busy. Um, you know, just life. You guys kind of know where things have been at in my life. So just things. But I wanted to get on here. I'm drinking my coffee this morning. Um getting some uh coffee time and relaxing time in before my day gets hectic. There's only three weeks left of school. Really, it's 13 days if you're really counting. So um, yeah, my my son is ready for a break. Um we'll see how this summer goes. Uh, especially with me starting a new job, it's a little bit more uh hard to uh do certain things that you know uh I would like to do with him, especially in the middle of the day. So I gotta find some things and find the energy from when I get off to like, hey, let's go do this and that, because he definitely is a pool guy. So which is nice. Our pool stays open pretty late till like eight o'clock. So if I get off around four, we'll we'll still get some good time in, and it'll be nice and hot and um his swim lessons and things, so yes, lots to do. But guys, I did something so first, let me just say um this is not a sponsored episode, this is just um me, my opinion, etc. It's not sponsored at all. But a couple of weeks ago, so this is hilarious. So I actually have been wanting a Tesla for a while. Um, again, you guys know I don't discuss politics, so this is not a political anything. This is just me liking a vehicle, so please don't think that it's anything with that. I'm liking the car because I like the car. So I've been wanting a Tesla for a while, and I have a few friends and things that have the car and tell us great things about it. You know, it's a couple of years I've been hearing about them in general, just think it's cool getting in that EV market. And then one of my good friends, she has um an Eevee. It's not a Tesla, but I kind of been like pinging her, like, hey, how are you liking it? And she's like, loving it. Response is still the same, she likes it, just her particular car she wishes was a little bit bigger. Cool. So then my husband and one of his friends went out um a couple of weeks ago um for F1, and um his friend got uh a Y model, and Jason is like, Oh my god, mind you, I've been wanting one for the longest, and telling him that I wanted one, and he's just like, uh, you know, I you know, everything was like, won't say negative, but he was just like, We don't need it, you know. And I'm like, you really need it because you commute, you know. So, anyways, his friend, this was his first time actually being in one. I think that's the difference. Like it being in it, seeing what it how it performs, seeing the technology inside of it, you know what I mean? So, um, you know, it's kind of that he didn't know until he knew. So he came home, he's all talking about it, etc. Oh, you know, what's it called? Has a Tesla,

New Job Chaos And Summer Plans

SPEAKER_00 4:29

man, it's nice, it's nice. Like it was on his mind even a week later. So he was like, I don't know, we should get one. So um it was funny because my sister had come over only for a little bit. Her and her family came over for a little bit, like not even the long time they normally come. Like, we hadn't seen them in a while, and then they normally, when they come, they're here for hours. But that day it was like an hour, and we're like, man, you could stay, they didn't, so you know, we were bored, I guess. So my husband's like, we're gonna get the Tesla, you know. We're kind of just talking about it at first, and we're like, I'm like, well, let's see, you know. So we go on the website, and um, we we did pre-own, by the way. Um, went on the website again. We're new to it, so you you know, don't want to invest but so much money into something, you don't know if you're gonna love it or what have you. So um we go on there and he's like, I want a red one, and it has to be this and that, you know. He's like wants the works. So we were fortunate enough. So we filtered it down for like what he was wanting, and there was one available, and it's beautiful, so it's uh like a candied cherry red something like that with white and black interior, beautiful, and it was the only one like that with the urbine wheels, I think it's called. Um, so we saw a couple of other red ones that are near too, but they didn't look as good. This was the one, great price. So, you know, I was like, are we gonna do this? I'm like, if you're gonna get it, let's get it. You know, you gotta do Tesla has like a whole process, everything's online. I've never purchased a vehicle like this before. It was like the best experience, also the weirdest experience. So um it was just different, you know. So we we get on there, we're looking, we're kind of like back. Well, my husband's kind of like back and forth. I'm like, let's do this. If we're gonna do it, let's do it again. Remember, I've been wanting one, so I know my husband, get them while he's in the mood. So um, you know, he was like, I don't know, you know, you gotta Tesla has pretty much a process. Like you put your 500 down to hold it, like to hold, even if you're buying a new one, it's like you put that down to hold it

Why A Tesla Finally Made Sense

SPEAKER_00 7:01

for that car or you know, for your customization, even if you're getting a brand new one. That's seems like that's just their process. So I'm like, okay, we can do that. So we I was like, well, if you're gonna get he's like, I don't know, let's wait. I said, well, if you're getting a pre-owned one, you see there's no other ones in the make style that you want. So it's a it was a Model Y, like I said, candy red, like he wanted the black and white interior. That's what he wanted, and literally, this was the only one with the wheels he wanted. He really wanted those wheels. None of the other ones, even if the interior was different, had those wheels. And of course, I know you can buy them later, but we were like, no, we don't again kind of the point of getting it is to save money, even though I will tell you this the upfront cost is a lot. It's you will save long term more than short term, you know. But I'll get to that. I'm gonna tell you guys about this experience. I might probably make one more episode to tell you guys about the experience, but I'll get what I can get out now. So, because you guys know I try not to make my episodes too long. So, anyways, so I'm like, well, if you're gonna get it, you get it now because and mind you, this is like seven o'clock at night, and I'm like on a Saturday, and I'm like, if you're gonna get it, you should get it because someone's gonna take it, you know. He's like, uh, all right, are you gonna so we'll go ahead, we put the down the deposit, the $500 deposit down that you put. So once you do that, um, everything again is online, it's automatic. There's you're not working with the salesperson or them reaching out to you, it's none of that. So, anyway, so you put everything in, you you paid your money, so at minimum, the car is held for you. At minimum. Now you do the next steps, and of course, like your financing and stuff. And I thought, like, oh my god, this is gonna take forever. Like, we probably won't know because Saturday nights. I'm like, well, we might not know till Monday or something. Again, me not knowing this process, and again, thinking like how you would go into a car dealership to buy your car and how that works, and their hours, and no, so literally, we put all our information in, upload your driver's license, all of that. Um, the one thing that is different, which but but it does have an option in there that you can put your own finance person in there, a company in there. So, like if you got a pre-approval through one of the banks or your credit union, you can put that in and they will take it that way. Again, we kind of did this on a whim, so we didn't even we did like zero research, you know what I mean? We're just like going into it blind, which might be a good thing, I don't know. So, anyways, um, so we just went ahead, filled out the loan information, which is pretty straightforward, simple, like almost like applying for a credit card. And I'm like, okay, that's probably it, you know, and the little pop-up comes, and oh, you know, within 24 hours or something, you know, something like that. Literally, we got it back in seconds that we were approved and who we were approved with, interest rates, etc. And what they do is if they can find you a better interest rate, they kind of keep that loan part portal of the of the Tesla app open, and they are searching for, I guess, maybe a certain period to try to find you the best rates. And if they don't find you anything better, the one they locked you that you saw originally is the one you're probably locked in on with some adjustments um based on when you know they fully really do your credit, your you know, really go into your credit and all of that. So that's what happened to us. So our interest rate ended up even being lower than originally um slated for. So, anyways, that's it. Like, we were done with that whole process, less than an hour. I don't even think it was an hour. The the hour, if it was an hour, is because like he and I are like going back and forth, we're talking, we're like, oh my god, this is weird. Like, you know, talking about the experience, not so much the experience uh taking that long. The experience is rather quick and very easy. So, you know, and then we went like on his phone and checked, and the car was gone, it was out of the inventory because it's you know, again, we paid our deposit and I went ahead and brought the wall

Finding The Exact Model Y

SPEAKER_00 11:46

charger unit for home. So we're like, okay, cool. So um we did we did all of that, and then that's it. And then it kind of tells you um when you're going through like where it could be delivered and things like that. Um so we looked, you know, looked at that, looked that up, and it must have been fate because literally where we were picking it gonna be scheduled to pick it up at, my husband was there starting that Monday. He was there for two weeks. So it it was the the stars aligned, it was like meant for us to have this freaking car, it seems like. So, anyways, like you go through once all that stuff is done. Um, you you know, there's a couple things you gotta do, which is normal, like get insurance, um, you know, put upload that into the Tesla portal, etc. And then pretty much you just wait to get an update in your app that it's time to deliver, like you know, and that you'll set up the date that you, you know, when they email you or send something to the to the Tesla app, because that's what you use, everything's like in this Tesla app, everything. Um, even to drive the car, everything's in the Tesla app. So what you do, um, it'll say, hey, you know, pretty much everything's done far as like the paperwork, as long as you put in like your stuff that it asked you to do in the app for the buying process of it, as long as you have all that done and it's squared away, I guess, after it's verified, and they do their stuff on the back, and that's it. They'll you know, schedule your delivery so they'll be like, okay, it's ready for delivery, and then they put give like some dates in a calendar, and you pick what date, and it will provide the times available. So we picked ours up on a Thursday, and um, yeah, it was again the weirdest car buying experience because it again, you're not really working with a salesperson, you don't like luckily the app gives you a lot of information on the car, how to use the car, how to drive the car. So I highly suggest if anyone buys a Tesla, um, and you've never been in one, know nothing about them, definitely go on YouTube University and do as much research as you can because that was helpful for me. Like, because when you get there, I mean they're there, they just kind of are there to give you your tags, your keys, show you which car is yours, and that's kind of it, you know. So, like to learn to drive it, how to use it, how the app is used, etc. I would definitely suggest while waiting for your Tesla to be ready or to be delivered, to do research and on how the car works, how it maneuvers, how the controls work. Also, use the apps, not the apps, but there's like um within the Tesla app, it's like learn your Tesla, and it's geared in the app, it's geared for the car that you're buying, which is nice because it I it matters to a degree. I mean, I think to a degree they all kind of have the same platform, but certain models, certain years have slight differences as they you know every year, like like the USB port in the older models are under the charging thing at the console, and now they're in the glove box, just little things have changed. So, I definitely suggest doing some research um while waiting or even before purchasing to see if it's something you want. Um, so yeah, so we picked ours up on a Thursday, and um my son freaking loves the car. And um what we did before like me and Eli coming back down the road on the highway or whatever, um, the three of us drove it around town, like to make sure we're comfortable with how the gas pedals works because it is a different drive, it's not like driving a gas car. So, and it at first it's weird, it's different, but by the time you if you have to drive it long distance, like I did, I kind of learned along the way. But honestly, by like your fourth time driving, it it you get used to it, like it starts to kind of be second nature. You just gotta worry when you get back in a gas car, uh powered car, what you know, the way it drives. But um, yeah, definitely by like the fourth time of driving, I felt a little bit more confident,

Financing Approval In Seconds

SPEAKER_00 16:50

but it is a different drive. So, definitely if you buy one or thinking about buying one, you know, just do some research on how the pedals work and the intention for them and the purpose and how it works, because that was that was a little uh tough for me um in the beginning. So we drove it around town for about 30 to 40 minutes, just making sure we're comfortable with everything, and then you know, me and Eli came back home. Like I said, my husband was already away on travel there, so um, we drove, you know, drove it home, you know, that was a couple hours, so um, I learned a lot. Uh, I was in traffic, stop and go traffic, sitting traffic. So I I got to learn that gas pedal very well, and you know how to ease off of it, using it in a sense like a break and the gas. It was different, but um, my buy-in experience was awesome, in my opinion. It was the weirdest thing, it was just so weird, but it was really it was really good. Um, so pretty much you you pay your $500 that holds the car, it's non-refundable, and then um, so make sure if you put that down, make sure you know you really want a Tesla. Um, and then um before pickup, you have to pay the rest of your down payment, or if you're paying cash, the rest of your cash, whatever that may be. So you gotta pay all that in the portal before you pick it up for delivery. Um at delivery. Um, so yeah, we did all that like the night before, um, picking it up. Actually, we did it like that morning before picking it up. We did it, so we picked it up on Thursday, but we did all the arrangements and the final stuff for Thursday morning. I mean Wednesday morning. So everything was completed that way. I did it that way, that way. If anything comes up, any hiccups, they had all day to kind of work on it since we were scheduled to pick it up Thursday at 11. Um, but yeah, it was it was a great buying experience, just different than what we're used to. Um definitely um user-friendly, in my opinion, and it would be nice if more things kind of were purchased that way, but it's also scary. Um, me, um, you know, uh, you know, Gen X, you know, into like the millennial, it's different because um, you know, it's so many scams and things that happen nowadays that yes, it's easy, and don't get wrong, I'm not saying like I feel like I could get scammed. They have a pretty tight, even though it's seamless and like touchless, in my opinion, when I say touchless meaning you're not dumb somebody, they have a lot of good security built in, but um it it's different for someone who's like a Gen Xer because it's um just not what we're used to, you know. You it it we're just not used to certain things, and um technology is definitely making things very seamless um in ways that are good, but also ways that maybe could be bad as to why scamming is a thing, but um but yeah, it's it was a great buying experience. Uh more car dealerships should try to like adapt that. Um, as you know, well or may not know, Tesla has no haggling, it's

Pickup Day And Learning To Drive

SPEAKER_00 20:45

you know, the price is the price, there's no you know, back and forth, it's none of that. It's either you want it or you don't. So, you know, definitely suggested if you want to get in the EV world, if um you know they're very much affordable now. I think when they first came out, I mean they to me they weren't affordable, they were pretty pricey, even though I wanted one, they were pretty pricey. But like I said, they have demo cars, pre-owned cars. So if you just go on their app, you can find um pre-owned ones if you want to just step into the space to see if it's something you want to invest in before getting the one that you might really want, like the S model or something, or Cybertruck. You know, maybe start off with one of the um pre-owned ones and go from there. Um, we have the Model Y, long range, all wheel drive, etc. Um, model three is a little smaller than the Model Y. I really like the Model Y, it has space. My husband fits in it well, driving and sitting in it, has good trunk space and things. Um, we have the performance. Um, yeah, it's it's a good size. I do feel it depends on it. If we stay in this space, I do feel we would probably upgrade at some point or buy an additional one. Um, like for the S or even the X. I like the X too. Um, so we'll see. Um, but yeah, so that was the buying experience of Tesla. Um, again, not sponsored, but I just wanted to share that because I share with you guys pretty much this podcast about sharing my opinions and things going on in my life, because I'm sure things similarly are going in your lives. But I'll do another episode about um like the charging stuff and the at-home stuff in my drive and if I'm liking it, how I'm liking it. That way it'll be a couple more weeks that pass. But yeah, so I did a thing, so I gave myself like a early Mother's Day present. Um, this weekend I'm planning to go roller skating. They have free roller skating in Hagerstown um for mom's free rentals and all. So I'm definitely going for that. I gotta find my skates, I don't know where they are. Um, I'm gonna be very tired tomorrow because I have Zumba in the morning and she wears us out, and then I have skate in the middle of the day. So I don't know if my husband has anything planned. I feel like he'll probably throw something on the grill, etc. I don't know. We'll see. Um, either way, I'm just grateful to be here another Mother's Day and um have my son and you know, I'm just happy, you know, my family is healthy and happy, and yeah, I'm just happy to still be here and be able to celebrate another Mother's Day with my son. Alright, well, I've talked your ear off enough. If you have questions or if you want to comment on anything, feel free to hit the fan mail. I will put out another episode to follow up with my Tesla experience. It will be about like the EV charging as well as the home connection and if I'm enjoying it or not. So we'll see. But yeah, so thanks for joining. Coffee with a twist, madam blue.