Order Date: August 24, 2018
Delivery Date: September 19, 2018 (car was reportedly dropped off in CO on 9/14)
Sales Experience: Great
My OA in Colorado was amazing to work with for the past 5 months. He had tried very hard to find us an inventory match since March, but never did. A few close calls, and we took too long to decide for various reasons, but overall he provided a great experience and was very responsive and proactive. Very little pressure. And he let us do two take home test drives of different seat configs over two weekends to really get a feel for what configuration we preferred. We did have some interaction with other OAs from the Cherry Creek CO store, and were less than impressed. So we were very happy to have conveniently got one that met our expectations.
Pre-Delivery Experience: Poor
Once I placed my order, my OA emailed me to congratulate us, but other than that it was silence from Tesla. I checked my account every day for updates, but other than VIN confirmation, there was no other outreach..... and no other response. I emailed my DS when she was assigned to me with a few questions and never received a response. At some point I received an email to schedule delivery.... except it was for a Model 3. And I received a voicemail from my DS saying she wanted to schedule my Model 3 delivery. I tried to call her back, but voicemail full. Emailed her back, no response. Oddly, I received a 2nd call from someone else entirely..... my "scheduling specialist", and she was awesome. I'm pretty sure her job is just to schedule deliveries, but she went above and beyond to try to answer questions, share info, and get people to call me back. I found myself emailing her as delivery got closer and she was the only one to respond. My OA stopped responding for a while but eventually responded 2 days before my delivery date when I basically sent him an SOS message and said help, I have these questions and need to know these things for delivery and my DS has never responded to me. He was able to answer them. The day before delivery I finally received a call and then text messages from my DS, and all seemed set.
Delivery Experience: Awful
My wife and I (especially me) have been looking forward to this for a long time, and are still in disbelief that we are actually in a position to make this kind of crazy purchase a reality. At the same time, we are extremely well educated buyers, but also very practically minded.... we know the plusses and minuses, have read the horror stories, seen the poor deliveries and poor builds, but went in with an open grounded mindset. We brought our 6 month old daughter, so that she could be in our delivery photos. and we were psyched to pick it up at 12:30PM on Wednesday.
The delivery experience sucked. And really brought us both down.
1. We had visited the Littleton service center a couple times prior to scope out the lot for different color combinations, but this was by far the busiest I had ever seen it. Two tractor trailers were unloading model 3s. We parked in a parking spot and were asked to move because they needed to park model 3s there. which was fine. There were model 3s everywhere. Incredible amount of teslas in one place.
2. I parked by the showroom and noticed several deliveries of S and X going on. We went in the store and talked to the energy sales rep until our delivery person appeared. She was all business, no chit chat, said this will be very quick, the car is right there (she pointed out the window) and you are "welcome to go take a look at it, and then we will sign the papers and take payment and send you on your way". My gut told me this was not going to be smooth.
3. We went outside and she stayed by my side, but didn't talk to me, other than when I focused on an area and she tried to change the subject. I started at the front of the car which looked pretty good. A guy was actively wiping it down but there were water spots all over the car.
4. As I moved to the sides, I noticed slight misalignments of the chrome trims.... I went into this with some anxiety because alignment is such a common issue and I honestly didnt know how big of a deal to make about it. I wanted to be reasonable. So I didnt say anything and kept looking. Soon I realized that the rear hatch was really out of alignment. The right gap was almost finger width and the left gap was much tighter. I then looked at the rear quarter panels and falcon wing doors on each side and the chrome trim as it transitions from the hatch to the falcon wing doors and noticed significant inconsistencies and some areas that were extremely tight, and others that appeared as if the chrome wasn't fully seated in its channel. I brought each of these to her attention and she quickly dismissed them as within tolerance and normal. When I pushed back she quickly said, fine we can schedule a service visit, are you ready to sign the paperwork?
5. I said no, I am still looking. She said, we dont have much time, I have another delivery in a few minutes and you have 72 hours to notify us of any concerns so lets go sign the papers. At this point I started to get frustrated and said, I apologize, I realize you are very busy, but this is a huge purchase for us, and I won't be rushed. She got upset and huffed.
6. I started to notice more of the backend of the car out of alignment and a few minor areas of gasket for the FWD that was not right. I pointed these out and she kept saying, we will fix that at your service visit, are you ready to sign?
7. There was a small blemish on the paint at the wheel well, she said, they dont have a paint guy available, so. cant fix that today (it was later fixed).
8. I asked if I could see the interior, and she asked why. I said, so I can inspect it.
9. The interior wasn't exactly dirty, but it wasn't clean. There were scuff marks on some of the trim and the seats, and also a lot of "dust".... not really sure what it was but it was colored fuzz on all the seats...... only visible up close.... but kind of weird. and in general the car had a lot of insects all over it (mostly outside but a few inside).... not sure if this was a result of the trailer or where they kept it or Colorado... but kind of weird.
10. I opened the driver side FWD and immediately noticed that the carbon fiber trim was loose.... visible air space behind it. Looked at the top, and the cream panel trim at the top of the FWD was loose. At this point im just crushed and wondering if im actually not being diligent enough and paranoid if im overlooking anything and/or if the back end of this car is just completely f#cked.
11. I bring these issues to her attention and she says, schedule a service appointment. I say, what options do I have if I reject delivery, and she says she would have to ask a manager.
12. Manager comes out. Seemingly nice younger guy.... and asks me what the problem is. I explain and point out everything and try to be very reasonable but also forceful and he says.... "well, you have two options. You buy this car, schedule a service appointment, and we may be able to address some of those issues.... or two: you reject delivery, you leave and we keep your $2,500 deposit. let me know what you want to do." At this point I basically lost it. "those are my two options, im standing here with my wife and daughter, ready to hand you a check for X amount, and buy a car for Y amount and you're talking to me like that and saying those are my options because im expressing concern that the backend of this car may have a major issue?" we went back and forth a bit and he's saying that I need to realize that I'm buying a "Tesla, not a Rolex, its not going to be perfect" until I said.... "I dont know what your deal is, I WANT to buy this car. I dont want to reject delivery and never buy a Tesla... I just want a car without these issues". Then it seemed like something clicked in his head for some reason.
13. We went through each issue again and he had a technician come out and start trying to assess each and see if he could do anything on the spot. he was able to get ready of the blemish, they washed and detailed the exterior and interior, they tried to make a hatch adjustment, and they tried to put me at ease about the misalignments by comparing it to other Model Xs on the lot with similar misalignments. Honestly, I was defeated and my wife and 6 month old weren't even there anymore... they went to our car and she fed the baby and sat in AC while I fought with them. I eventually caved and said I would just setup a service appointment.
14. We went inside to sign the papers.... they were training a new guy so the two guys were seated on one side of the table. my wife and I and the baby on the other.... except only one chair on our side. They never offered us a 2nd chair. I let my wife and the baby sit and I stood, which meant I had to bend over or kneel to review and sign all the papers. 92 degrees out, and they never once offered us water (the sales guy did every single time we went to the store.... which was a lot).
15. We sign the papers, do the ACH transfer, and they say our car will be back soon from detailing. They disappear.... car arrives.... and no one is around to tell us we can leave, the car is ours, etc.... so we stand around. Eventually he comes back and we ask him and he says, oh yea, you can leave. We did ask him to take a photo of us, and he did.
I've read the negative experiences, I was really hopeful I wouldn't have one, but the above sucks. I'm thrilled to see them delivering 80 cars/day in Colorado. That's amazing. But this is an awful experience for anyone. It's not just because our car is 100K+. I've been treated better at big box retail stores. There is nothing special about the experience and instead it was just really stressful. My wife was completely burned out from anxiety (as was I) and it really wasn't how we pictured delivery being.
I really hope Elon and Tesla are aware of what is going on in these instances.
Delivery Date: September 19, 2018 (car was reportedly dropped off in CO on 9/14)
Sales Experience: Great
My OA in Colorado was amazing to work with for the past 5 months. He had tried very hard to find us an inventory match since March, but never did. A few close calls, and we took too long to decide for various reasons, but overall he provided a great experience and was very responsive and proactive. Very little pressure. And he let us do two take home test drives of different seat configs over two weekends to really get a feel for what configuration we preferred. We did have some interaction with other OAs from the Cherry Creek CO store, and were less than impressed. So we were very happy to have conveniently got one that met our expectations.
Pre-Delivery Experience: Poor
Once I placed my order, my OA emailed me to congratulate us, but other than that it was silence from Tesla. I checked my account every day for updates, but other than VIN confirmation, there was no other outreach..... and no other response. I emailed my DS when she was assigned to me with a few questions and never received a response. At some point I received an email to schedule delivery.... except it was for a Model 3. And I received a voicemail from my DS saying she wanted to schedule my Model 3 delivery. I tried to call her back, but voicemail full. Emailed her back, no response. Oddly, I received a 2nd call from someone else entirely..... my "scheduling specialist", and she was awesome. I'm pretty sure her job is just to schedule deliveries, but she went above and beyond to try to answer questions, share info, and get people to call me back. I found myself emailing her as delivery got closer and she was the only one to respond. My OA stopped responding for a while but eventually responded 2 days before my delivery date when I basically sent him an SOS message and said help, I have these questions and need to know these things for delivery and my DS has never responded to me. He was able to answer them. The day before delivery I finally received a call and then text messages from my DS, and all seemed set.
Delivery Experience: Awful
My wife and I (especially me) have been looking forward to this for a long time, and are still in disbelief that we are actually in a position to make this kind of crazy purchase a reality. At the same time, we are extremely well educated buyers, but also very practically minded.... we know the plusses and minuses, have read the horror stories, seen the poor deliveries and poor builds, but went in with an open grounded mindset. We brought our 6 month old daughter, so that she could be in our delivery photos. and we were psyched to pick it up at 12:30PM on Wednesday.
The delivery experience sucked. And really brought us both down.
1. We had visited the Littleton service center a couple times prior to scope out the lot for different color combinations, but this was by far the busiest I had ever seen it. Two tractor trailers were unloading model 3s. We parked in a parking spot and were asked to move because they needed to park model 3s there. which was fine. There were model 3s everywhere. Incredible amount of teslas in one place.
2. I parked by the showroom and noticed several deliveries of S and X going on. We went in the store and talked to the energy sales rep until our delivery person appeared. She was all business, no chit chat, said this will be very quick, the car is right there (she pointed out the window) and you are "welcome to go take a look at it, and then we will sign the papers and take payment and send you on your way". My gut told me this was not going to be smooth.
3. We went outside and she stayed by my side, but didn't talk to me, other than when I focused on an area and she tried to change the subject. I started at the front of the car which looked pretty good. A guy was actively wiping it down but there were water spots all over the car.
4. As I moved to the sides, I noticed slight misalignments of the chrome trims.... I went into this with some anxiety because alignment is such a common issue and I honestly didnt know how big of a deal to make about it. I wanted to be reasonable. So I didnt say anything and kept looking. Soon I realized that the rear hatch was really out of alignment. The right gap was almost finger width and the left gap was much tighter. I then looked at the rear quarter panels and falcon wing doors on each side and the chrome trim as it transitions from the hatch to the falcon wing doors and noticed significant inconsistencies and some areas that were extremely tight, and others that appeared as if the chrome wasn't fully seated in its channel. I brought each of these to her attention and she quickly dismissed them as within tolerance and normal. When I pushed back she quickly said, fine we can schedule a service visit, are you ready to sign the paperwork?
5. I said no, I am still looking. She said, we dont have much time, I have another delivery in a few minutes and you have 72 hours to notify us of any concerns so lets go sign the papers. At this point I started to get frustrated and said, I apologize, I realize you are very busy, but this is a huge purchase for us, and I won't be rushed. She got upset and huffed.
6. I started to notice more of the backend of the car out of alignment and a few minor areas of gasket for the FWD that was not right. I pointed these out and she kept saying, we will fix that at your service visit, are you ready to sign?
7. There was a small blemish on the paint at the wheel well, she said, they dont have a paint guy available, so. cant fix that today (it was later fixed).
8. I asked if I could see the interior, and she asked why. I said, so I can inspect it.
9. The interior wasn't exactly dirty, but it wasn't clean. There were scuff marks on some of the trim and the seats, and also a lot of "dust".... not really sure what it was but it was colored fuzz on all the seats...... only visible up close.... but kind of weird. and in general the car had a lot of insects all over it (mostly outside but a few inside).... not sure if this was a result of the trailer or where they kept it or Colorado... but kind of weird.
10. I opened the driver side FWD and immediately noticed that the carbon fiber trim was loose.... visible air space behind it. Looked at the top, and the cream panel trim at the top of the FWD was loose. At this point im just crushed and wondering if im actually not being diligent enough and paranoid if im overlooking anything and/or if the back end of this car is just completely f#cked.
11. I bring these issues to her attention and she says, schedule a service appointment. I say, what options do I have if I reject delivery, and she says she would have to ask a manager.
12. Manager comes out. Seemingly nice younger guy.... and asks me what the problem is. I explain and point out everything and try to be very reasonable but also forceful and he says.... "well, you have two options. You buy this car, schedule a service appointment, and we may be able to address some of those issues.... or two: you reject delivery, you leave and we keep your $2,500 deposit. let me know what you want to do." At this point I basically lost it. "those are my two options, im standing here with my wife and daughter, ready to hand you a check for X amount, and buy a car for Y amount and you're talking to me like that and saying those are my options because im expressing concern that the backend of this car may have a major issue?" we went back and forth a bit and he's saying that I need to realize that I'm buying a "Tesla, not a Rolex, its not going to be perfect" until I said.... "I dont know what your deal is, I WANT to buy this car. I dont want to reject delivery and never buy a Tesla... I just want a car without these issues". Then it seemed like something clicked in his head for some reason.
13. We went through each issue again and he had a technician come out and start trying to assess each and see if he could do anything on the spot. he was able to get ready of the blemish, they washed and detailed the exterior and interior, they tried to make a hatch adjustment, and they tried to put me at ease about the misalignments by comparing it to other Model Xs on the lot with similar misalignments. Honestly, I was defeated and my wife and 6 month old weren't even there anymore... they went to our car and she fed the baby and sat in AC while I fought with them. I eventually caved and said I would just setup a service appointment.
14. We went inside to sign the papers.... they were training a new guy so the two guys were seated on one side of the table. my wife and I and the baby on the other.... except only one chair on our side. They never offered us a 2nd chair. I let my wife and the baby sit and I stood, which meant I had to bend over or kneel to review and sign all the papers. 92 degrees out, and they never once offered us water (the sales guy did every single time we went to the store.... which was a lot).
15. We sign the papers, do the ACH transfer, and they say our car will be back soon from detailing. They disappear.... car arrives.... and no one is around to tell us we can leave, the car is ours, etc.... so we stand around. Eventually he comes back and we ask him and he says, oh yea, you can leave. We did ask him to take a photo of us, and he did.
I've read the negative experiences, I was really hopeful I wouldn't have one, but the above sucks. I'm thrilled to see them delivering 80 cars/day in Colorado. That's amazing. But this is an awful experience for anyone. It's not just because our car is 100K+. I've been treated better at big box retail stores. There is nothing special about the experience and instead it was just really stressful. My wife was completely burned out from anxiety (as was I) and it really wasn't how we pictured delivery being.
I really hope Elon and Tesla are aware of what is going on in these instances.
