A sad tale of how not to sell cars (???)...

[rcsting]

It sure seems like Tesla is now offering test drives to anyone interested. It's right there on the website: Model S Test Drive | Tesla Motors

"Request a Test DriveWhether you're already a reservation holder or are thinking about placing a reservation, sign up below and we'll contact you."


That should standardize the experience.

I signed up weeks ago. No word from Tesla.

 

[kinddog]

amazing this thread is still happening...

 

[AMPd]

It's Friday!
I hope OPs wife loved the car, and I think I speak for all of us when I say "what is your reservation number?"

 

[hershey101]

So the wife gets a new job, decides with the bonus, she'll buy a new car. Her brother just bought a Panamera, and she has decided that is the car.

On the way to the Porsche dealer, I talk her into stopping by Tesla - being very aware of the car, I think in the $90K range, it would fit perfectly - she doesn't want to stop, she's sure about the Panamera. I get her to stop by Tesla. We meet a nice guy who gives us a tour around the car - the more she hears, the more she's clearly liking it. I explain we are getting a Panamera - but really like this Tesla. He gets coworker to give us a quick drive as passengers around Fashion Island. Very nice knowledgeable guy who explains everything you would want to know about the thing. After the 5 minute ride, she now REALLY likes the car. We thank him, and head out to Porsche.

At Porsche, we get a great tour of it's features etc - then she drives it. Afterwards, she says she didn't like the feel/drive-but liked the Tesla.

Next day, we go to CARMAX - just because they had 3 Panameras on the lot - and it would give her another shot at the Panamera (which I was pulling for). Drove it a few miles, and again said she didn't like the ride.

Now for the "how not to sell cars" part.

We have 1.5 hours to kill - so I call Tesla to figure out the logistics. The girl who answers starts talking about the car, I quickly explain our experience the day before, and with the Porsche - she says come on down. I tell her we need to schedule a test drive (which we were told before could be done) - she cuts me off and says 'woe' - you can't drive the car. My wife says "what????" listening in on our conversation... She goes on to say we can put down $5K, then maybe in 2 months we will get a call to schedule a drive when we formally order the car. She goes on to say that there are too many people who want to drive the car that have already put down deposits (???)... Wife goes "that's crazy" - I was ready to put down any amount, and order the car - lets go to Lexus.

So off to Lexus we go - she sees a ES300 hybrid, looks at it, gets a quick test drive - coming from the Porsche, this thing rides amazing, it's quiet, it's comfortable - it's green (40MPG) - she really likes it.

So we go from $88K Porsche, to $88K Tesla, to $48K Lexus. We were going to buy something this weekend - she would have waited the 6 months for a 80kW Tesla - but now that's out, and now I'm trying to talk her into an XJ Jag...

Bottom line, I know there's a line of people wanting to drive who have put down deposits. She would have only needed 5 minutes in the car to verify what we saw as passengers - it was a slam dunk - Tesla shareholders need these slam dunks - not deposit holder drives. 5 minutes for $90K seems like a no brainer in the big scheme of things... The other intangible - my wife works in a VERY high net worth world - there's no telling how many more Tesla's could have been sold...

Sorry to hear about your experience with Tesla... I'm sure if you would have driven the car, you would have tried to take the test car itself... Its super cool car to drive!
I think that the particular store manager was a b*tch. He/she should be fired. I went to the store in Long Island during my winter break to take a look at the car. I spoke to the manager there, she was super nice, very respectful, and allowed me to get into the car and play around with it. I told her I would think about the deposit and left that Friday. I called her back the next day, told her that I would like to come in for a test drive but couldn't put give her the deposit that day for personal reasons, but would do so sometime the following week.
She was super nice about it, got me, and both of my parents into the test-drive car and we drove around the town for about 30-45 minutes. We even took the car to an empty parking lot behind a mall and my dad and I started messing with the car (flooring it, slaming on the breaks etc) to test the acceleration/brakes. It was absolutely amazing, I finally reserved the car and now I'm eagerly awaiting my button (based on the other forms it should be coming today!)...

If I hadn't driven the car, I would definitely have gotten a BMW 550xi instead, which fully loaded (with dozens more feature which I would consider "standard" for a class in this range, such as 360 cameras, self-parking etc.) costs 20K less than this car, even after the tax rebate.

I recommend going to another store and getting into the car, you will love it. Based on the post, it seems like you can still afford buying the car even after getting the Lexus.

P.S.
I currently have a '05 Lexus ES330 (my dad's old car), and its pretty nice... Def. not the power I would like, but Lexus does make great cars!