I turned my Tesla Model S P85 back in today and I have to say I am not that sad - - just a bad taste in my mouth. Full disclosure - I still own another Tesla 60 and it's been great. But the P85, overall, was a bust. Not worth the trouble. Here is a detailed full account:
3 years ago on day of delivery: Dent in the hood where you would put your hands to close it. I saw the dent within 15 seconds of eyeing my car for the first time. I guess Tesla staff never saw it though. They gave me a make-good and had to replace the entire hood.
1 month into the car ownership: My GPS has my car driving in the ocean and never on the road. Service call turns out there was a sticker placed in the manufacturing process near the GPS antenna.
2 months into it: My sun roof doesn't open and close correctly.
6 months into it: Floor mats can't stay still and find themselves blocking my brakes - they replace with the same.
8 months into: Floor mats still a joke they finally replace with something that can fasten down to the floor.
9 months into it: My tires are worn down at 10k miles. Need to replace all 4. I don't think anything of it.
15 months: Need new tires again (2). Now I express concern about the fast tire wear. Tire shop says there must be a problem with suspension. Its an air-suspension car so this is believable to me.
25 months: Replace 2 more tires. Don't feel like arguing with Tesla about my suspension.
26 months: I order a new Tesla Model D and lost $2500 configuration deposit because I didn't like the rough ride the D provided compared to my P85 and ended up buying a pre-owned car within a few days, but Tesla tells me to pound sand on the deposit - it's gone. Yet, the sold the car to someone else shortly around the time I took delivery of my pre-owned car -- I am thinking not cool. I have given them $108k for car one, $55k for car two and they get to keep a $2500 deposit on top of that. It's in their nonrefundable terms, but thinking it's not right still because I did buy a 2nd car from them.
35 months: Chargers are broken. Covered under warranty - everything was free, but just 800 miles more driven it would have been a $2000 expense I was told by service department = whew!
35.5 months: Discussing with Tesla staff about my resale value guarantee, my concerns about the warranty almost due, and debating buying a Model X. They talk me into not stressing over turning the car in on the first day of the RSG because all I would have to pay is the .25 per mile overage. Okay, I will keep my car until I can think more about model X. What they fail to tell me??? That I would have to pay for DMV registration because they will not accept my car without it being registered in my name. That wait and think play cost me $715 with late fees. Tesla, of course, won't reimburse.
35.7 Months: Rear Tire blows out with only 9,000 miles on it. Tow truck driver says he has never seen wear and tear on a tire like that and I have a suspension issue. Really? Explain that to Tesla!
36 months "Return Car Day": After spending 30 minutes doing my own pre-inspection report and uploading 20 images onto their website and filling out questionnaires and all this jazz, because they refuse to work with a third-party vendor to do the car wear-tear audit like all the other dealers do, I finally get my payoff amount and it's acceptable to me. Then when I arrive the staff says they miscalculated the mileage and it's $160 less than what they said, so I am screwed out of more funds.
What Tesla failed to recognize: I am an early adopter. I took a chance on them. I suffered multiple-to-too-many repairs and inconveniences out of my work days. I am a beta tester for them. The additional miles they discovered at the end to hit me for $160 is short-sided because they forget how many times my car had to be sent to the factory for repair - and I didn't complain. So I didn't buy their model X, I am still a Tesla owner. They treated me poorly.
I think I am owed:
$2500 deposit back
$710 in DMV fees
$160 milegage miscalculation mistake on their part in lieu of miles to/from repair facilities.
3 years ago on day of delivery: Dent in the hood where you would put your hands to close it. I saw the dent within 15 seconds of eyeing my car for the first time. I guess Tesla staff never saw it though. They gave me a make-good and had to replace the entire hood.
1 month into the car ownership: My GPS has my car driving in the ocean and never on the road. Service call turns out there was a sticker placed in the manufacturing process near the GPS antenna.
2 months into it: My sun roof doesn't open and close correctly.
6 months into it: Floor mats can't stay still and find themselves blocking my brakes - they replace with the same.
8 months into: Floor mats still a joke they finally replace with something that can fasten down to the floor.
9 months into it: My tires are worn down at 10k miles. Need to replace all 4. I don't think anything of it.
15 months: Need new tires again (2). Now I express concern about the fast tire wear. Tire shop says there must be a problem with suspension. Its an air-suspension car so this is believable to me.
25 months: Replace 2 more tires. Don't feel like arguing with Tesla about my suspension.
26 months: I order a new Tesla Model D and lost $2500 configuration deposit because I didn't like the rough ride the D provided compared to my P85 and ended up buying a pre-owned car within a few days, but Tesla tells me to pound sand on the deposit - it's gone. Yet, the sold the car to someone else shortly around the time I took delivery of my pre-owned car -- I am thinking not cool. I have given them $108k for car one, $55k for car two and they get to keep a $2500 deposit on top of that. It's in their nonrefundable terms, but thinking it's not right still because I did buy a 2nd car from them.
35 months: Chargers are broken. Covered under warranty - everything was free, but just 800 miles more driven it would have been a $2000 expense I was told by service department = whew!
35.5 months: Discussing with Tesla staff about my resale value guarantee, my concerns about the warranty almost due, and debating buying a Model X. They talk me into not stressing over turning the car in on the first day of the RSG because all I would have to pay is the .25 per mile overage. Okay, I will keep my car until I can think more about model X. What they fail to tell me??? That I would have to pay for DMV registration because they will not accept my car without it being registered in my name. That wait and think play cost me $715 with late fees. Tesla, of course, won't reimburse.
35.7 Months: Rear Tire blows out with only 9,000 miles on it. Tow truck driver says he has never seen wear and tear on a tire like that and I have a suspension issue. Really? Explain that to Tesla!
36 months "Return Car Day": After spending 30 minutes doing my own pre-inspection report and uploading 20 images onto their website and filling out questionnaires and all this jazz, because they refuse to work with a third-party vendor to do the car wear-tear audit like all the other dealers do, I finally get my payoff amount and it's acceptable to me. Then when I arrive the staff says they miscalculated the mileage and it's $160 less than what they said, so I am screwed out of more funds.
What Tesla failed to recognize: I am an early adopter. I took a chance on them. I suffered multiple-to-too-many repairs and inconveniences out of my work days. I am a beta tester for them. The additional miles they discovered at the end to hit me for $160 is short-sided because they forget how many times my car had to be sent to the factory for repair - and I didn't complain. So I didn't buy their model X, I am still a Tesla owner. They treated me poorly.
I think I am owed:
$2500 deposit back
$710 in DMV fees
$160 milegage miscalculation mistake on their part in lieu of miles to/from repair facilities.