The Invisible FunnelIndependent research on how agents research, compare and choose on behalf of customers

Tesla — Does brand preference survive when total cost, warranty and service access are explicit requirements?

Tesla Model Y (Standard RWD trim)

with memorybrand page requested, refusedrefused by tesla.comobserved2026-09-20
  1. 1Customer missionTesla decision — same customer with relevant memory
    • purchase price incl. destination+order fees ≤ $48,000
    • basic vehicle warranty ≥ 4 years
    • battery and drive unit warranty ≥ 8 years
    • manufacturer service location within 30 miles of central Phoenix
    Remembers: “A friend's electric car waited eleven weeks for a service appointment in 2025 because the nearest centre was 90 miles aw”
  2. 2Evidence7 searches, 6 pages: tesla.com
    • purchase price usd: 39990 base + 1390 destination + 250 order fee = 41630 total, before incentives/t edmunds.com
    • basic warranty years: 4 years / 50,000 miles, whichever comes first attributed to a page that refused the agent
    • battery warranty years: 8 years / 100,000 miles (RWD trim; Premium AWD trims get 120,000 miles), minimum attributed to a page that refused the agent
    • service center within miles: ~15 miles (Tesla Service Deer Valley, 21030 N 19th Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85027) attributed to a page that refused the agent
  3. 3BeliefRequirements met on the evidence found
  4. 4DecisionSelectedTesla Model Y (Standard RWD trim)All four required facts were established with reported values that corroborate consistently across independent secondary sources (comparison/pricing sites and search-inde…
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Every option the agent weighed

Model Y (Standard RWD) Tesla · selected

Meets all four hard requirements (price, basic warranty, battery warranty, service distance) on reported figures; fails only the soft order-fee-refundable preference.

  • purchase price usd: 39990 base + 1390 destination + 250 order fee = 41630 total, before incentives/taxes edmunds.com not the brand’s own page
  • basic warranty years: 4 years / 50,000 miles, whichever comes first tesla.com not the brand’s own page
  • battery warranty years: 8 years / 100,000 miles (RWD trim; Premium AWD trims get 120,000 miles), minimum 70% capacity retention tesla.com not the brand’s own page
  • service center within miles: ~15 miles (Tesla Service Deer Valley, 21030 N 19th Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85027) tesla.com not the brand’s own page
  • order fee refundable: No — order fee is one-time and non-refundable; if order is cancelled before delivery, Tesla may retain Order Fee/Order Deposit/Transportation Fee as liquidated damages tesla.com not the brand’s own page

What this customer remembered

Confidence

Observed: a single journey.

Provenance

Every journey run on the live web. Every source, belief and decision published. Scorer version 4; model cost 0.37 USD.