An Amusing Story of Tesla Delivery Woes

[AdamMacDon]

First off, a disclaimer so nobody flames me into the next century, view this post as satire and as an avenue for me to vent rather than a serious blasting of Tesla. I knew from reading this forum that when I placed my deposit, my delivery process would be extremely slow and convoluted. I will admit I didn't quite expect this. Anyhow, on to the story.

I placed my order with a friend at the Vancouver Tesla store, here in my province (BC) there is a total of $10k incentives so buying a M3 SR+ and ditching my gas guzzling Dodge Charger is a no brainer. We ordered May 4th, both SR+, 18" rims, black interior, no FSD. I got blue, she got white.

We went through the online process rapidly, and due to a few glitches on the website it took us about 2 weeks to get all our information settled. Around May 25th, we both had delivery dates listed on our Tesla accounts claiming June 1st, about 2 hours apart. Coincidentally, this day one of my other friends also ordered the same car (white as the paint color choice, again). A few days later I noticed on my account page that the delivery date had moved to June 13th with no notice. My friend who ordered with me had the same thing happen to her

On June 2nd, my second friend who ordered 3 weeks after us got a CONFIRMED delivery date on June 10th, before even finishing his online paperwork. He also got a VIN before us, although we later got ours on the 7th of June. Despite ordering the EXACT same car to the same location, and ordering exactly 3 weeks after my first friend, he was ready to get his car three days before us. His VIN is also 414XXX and ours are in the 395XXX range, which may suggest his was built after.

All three of us have discussed it a few times and marveled at how such similar orders had such different results. He also has been hearing a lot from Tesla, where as we have received only two texts (about trade in offers and tentative delivery dates). Apparently he's talked to 6 different people on the phone, we've never got a call, although I've had to make a few to them when my account had glitches.

Anyhow, to wrap this long story up, the two of us that originally ordered on May 4th have tentative dates for June 13th, but I won't count my chickens till they hatch and Tesla actually reaches out to us with a solid time and confirms it. Tesla works in mysterious ways, but since we'll all hopefully have our cars by the end of the week, we'll be glad to end this odd journey and take our Model 3's out for a nice long drive!

 

[mgeneczko]

Someone could write a book (probably boring after awhile) in the first person style of GOT. Each chapter is titled our first name. A lot of us seem to have a completely different long experience with delivery. Different tales told to us. Thanks for your story. I’m in The LR RWD chapters patiently waiting.

 

[Dr. J]

I can't explain the mysterious ways of Tesla delivery and manufacturing, but I do know that they build (or used to build) cars in color batches, so that if you happened to order the "right" color you got your car sooner than if you ordered the "wrong" color. And I'm talking by several weeks. Now that they have different interiors, battery sizes, etc., it's probably even more vexing. And then there's cars made for export to certain countries. I wouldn't worry about a short wait and short delays on delivery--you'll love the car when it gets there, and later on the Tesla issues may be a much bigger concern (if your car needs repairs, for example). It is hard to wait at delivery time, though.

 

[TampaRich]

To keep things in perspective, Tesla does 1,000s of deliveries each week with zero hiccups. Its unfortunate that readers of this forum, like OP, go into the process expecting it to be slow and convoluted. I believe Tesla gets it right more times than they get it wrong.

 

[Leafdriver333]

When you order, if you act in a certain way to be categorized as "likely to return the car within 7 days" then they invest more time in you to make you happy.

 

[AdrianC]

When you order, if you act in a certain way to be categorized as "likely to return the car within 7 days" then they invest more time in you to make you happy.

Unfortunately, the vancouver center is full of these stories. Our return within 7 days are thrown out the window due to the incentive. Lots of take it or leave it stories.

 

[sixela]

First off, a disclaimer so nobody flames me into the next century, view this post as satire and as an avenue for me to vent rather than a serious blasting of Tesla. I knew from reading this forum that when I placed my deposit, my delivery process would be extremely slow and convoluted. I will admit I didn't quite expect this.

This is not what "slow and convoluted" looks like (try ordering from a country where cars are shipped to the contintent in large batches on huge boats).

 

[Dr. J]

When I ordered in late August 2018, I was expecting a 6-8 week wait, which seemed typical at the time in my neck of the woods. Construction on my new garage was going to get underway shortly, and it seemed like I could time the arrival of my car with the place it would park and charge. Turned out the car was early and completion of the garage was way, way late (the following March). So you never can tell, per Robert Burns: “The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft a-gley.”

And the delivery experience and quality of the car were stellar. But both tend to vary.

 

[Leafdriver333]

This is not what "slow and convoluted" looks like (try ordering from a country where cars are shipped to the contintent in large batches on huge boats).

Like when I ordered my mini Cooper and waited for 90 days for it to arrive in a ship..

 

[DOC52]

OP I like the approach you took here. So many people start bashing Tesla.

No one reached out to me until I picked up the phone and called them. After reading on this forum I feel people have this feeling of entitlement and that they should be pampered over every other order.

After calling my delivery center and talking to them about how excited I was about the car, I made friends with a manager there. He sent me text updates up until I took delivery yesterday.

I’d suggest just reaching out and being nice, good things can happen.

 

[AdamMacDon]

I can't explain the mysterious ways of Tesla delivery and manufacturing, but I do know that they build (or used to build) cars in color batches, so that if you happened to order the "right" color you got your car sooner than if you ordered the "wrong" color. And I'm talking by several weeks. Now that they have different interiors, battery sizes, etc., it's probably even more vexing. And then there's cars made for export to certain countries. I wouldn't worry about a short wait and short delays on delivery--you'll love the car when it gets there, and later on the Tesla issues may be a much bigger concern (if your car needs repairs, for example). It is hard to wait at delivery time, though.

I've heard this before, but the interesting thing is my two friends both ordered an IDENTICAL car: SR+, black interior, no FSD, 18" rims. They also both had trade in's and both did tesla financing, the orders were nearly as similar as could be except for the timeline.

This is not what "slow and convoluted" looks like (try ordering from a country where cars are shipped to the contintent in large batches on huge boats).

That's the thing though, I don't live across the ocean from them. I've done the drive from near where the Fremont factory is to my home just this year, it's long but not that far. If I ordered a custom Mercedes I would expect a 2-ish month wait, not so much if I was living in the Netherlands. Regardless, it's not the end of the world, I'm a patient man.

OP I like the approach you took here. So many people start bashing Tesla.

No one reached out to me until I picked up the phone and called them. After reading on this forum I feel people have this feeling of entitlement and that they should be pampered over every other order.

After calling my delivery center and talking to them about how excited I was about the car, I made friends with a manager there. He sent me text updates up until I took delivery yesterday.

I’d suggest just reaching out and being nice, good things can happen.

I completely agree, there is no point bashing them. First off, I'm just a poor man buying one of the lowest end cars they have, so I can see why they wouldn't care about me much. Second, I know this quarter has been particularly hard for them as they try to hit 1000 cars a week. You can't expect the same service you get at high end German brands, even if the car and price are similar. All the people I've talked with on the phone have been very nice, although some not very helpful, at least they're trying!

 

[AdamMacDon]

To keep things in perspective, Tesla does 1,000s of deliveries each week with zero hiccups. Its unfortunate that readers of this forum, like OP, go into the process expecting it to be slow and convoluted. I believe Tesla gets it right more times than they get it wrong.

Unfortunately the reality I'm seeing is the process is slow and convoluted, and at times I feel like I will have to hold someone at gunpoint to get my car. The sale center by me (Vancouver, BC) is doing over 100 deliveries a day because of the $10,000 government discount on the SR+, so things are even more crazy than usual. By comparison, all the major German brand dealerships I worked for would be only too happy to get you in a car the same day you walk in the door, and with a frictionless experience. My online ordering experience was full of bugs, waiting, and uncertainty, which is fine for me (I'm a programmer anyhow and used to all 3), but some other consumers may not have the same patience. I'm not hating on Tesla here, I still love the car and can't wait to get mine (driving the Model S sold me on the car a long time ago), but I just found this particular story quite amusing and I see room for improvement if they want to target more "conventional" car consumers.

 

[N5329K]

First off, I'm just a poor man buying one of the lowest end cars they have, so I can see why they wouldn't care about me much. Second, I know this quarter has been particularly hard for them as they try to hit 1000 cars a week. You can't expect the same service you get at high end German brands, even if the car and price are similar. All the people I've talked with on the phone have been very nice, although some not very helpful, at least they're trying!

1. Poor men don't buy Teslas. The company should care about you no matter what you're buying from them.
2. You should expect better service than you usually get at high-end German brands.
Dial down your expectations and they'll meet them, but build a crappy reputation that will cost them customers and maybe a future. Dial up your expectations, have them work to meet them, and life gets better for you and for them.
Robin.

 

[AdrianC]

1. Poor men don't buy Teslas. The company should care about you no matter what you're buying from them.

You do buy a Tesla even if you're poor, when you live in Vancouver BC. Where we have a $10K incentive, reducing the purchase price, and gas price ranges from $1.4 to $1.8 per LITRE on a weekly rotation. I only drive 50km per day for work, and the monthly cost to finance and "fuel" a Model 3 for 8 yrs is effectively CHEAPER to finance and fuel a Honda fit for 5 years.

 

[AdamMacDon]

1. Poor men don't buy Teslas. The company should care about you no matter what you're buying from them.
2. You should expect better service than you usually get at high-end German brands.
Dial down your expectations and they'll meet them, but build a crappy reputation that will cost them customers and maybe a future. Dial up your expectations, have them work to meet them, and life gets better for you and for them.
Robin.

I'm not rich by any means, I own a condo not a house (although because it's Victoria my condo does cost a fortune), like AdrianC said, here in BC gas is regularly above $6 a gallon, now more like $7. Meanwhile electricity is $0.08 a KWH. The math was easy for me. Ditching the Charger for the Model 3 was really more about saving money than a luxury purchase. Sure I owned the Charger outright, but driving 25,000kms a year I was spending almost $4k a year on gas, meanwhile there are tons of free EV charging spots here.

That being said, I DO agree with you, they need to get their game together. I learned a lot in my time working for luxury German brands, and Tesla has a long ways to go to appeal to the common folk. But I'm also extremely realistic. I knew I'd get crappy service going in, and my expectations were met on that front. But I'm hopeful for a future when things are less rocky for the company where they get their A game going on the customer service front!

 

[ewoodrick]

My guess is that color is one of the things that most defines when cars get made. Hardware is relatively easy to not add on the line, but the paint shop is only doing one color at a time.

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

I like the OP's approach.

Mostly it just comes down to inconsistencies that are the result of a company that's not exactly known for organization.

I was pretty livid about my delivery experience. I had an awful time just getting a VIN from them, and was a little worried when suddenly one appeared. Tesla pretty much failed me on every step either due to system glitches or human glitches. The most irksome was when they had me come down to pickup a car that clearly wasn't going to pass inspection from someone who wanted all the body panels to be probably aligned. For some reason I accepted delivery on the promise that they would fix it. They did fix it, but only marginally so. I don't think it's ever going to be perfect, but I might get an after market solution for the front bumper as I don't really like the Model 3 anyways.

All in all it was a pretty convoluted experience, and from what I've read most new buyers have had better experiences. Still disorganized and messy, but once delivery happens it seems to be better.

I will say I still prefer Tesla over buying a car at a dealership. I always leave a dealership feeling like I just went through war, and I feel completely exhausted. I have a personality style of a person that a dealership is going to completely screw over. The reason being is I try to be fair, but there is no fair in war. It's just war.

 

[N5329K]

You do buy a Tesla even if you're poor, when you live in Vancouver BC. Where we have a $10K incentive, reducing the purchase price, and gas price ranges from $1.4 to $1.8 per LITRE on a weekly rotation. I only drive 50km per day for work, and the monthly cost to finance and "fuel" a Model 3 for 8 yrs is effectively CHEAPER to finance and fuel a Honda fit for 5 years.

I certainly can see why you bought a Tesla. The economic case is compelling. That makes you smart (like having the wherewithal to buy TSLA at $23 and expecting a huge upside). But not poor. Poor is a well-used 1995 Corolla with an inoperative horn and a jug of oil in the boot to top the engine off daily.
And if that guy pulled into a Tesla store, I would expect him to be treated well.
Robin

 

[sixela]

Expecting to be treated well by a car dealer in the US (or even a Service Center in the US) is something most of us Europeans would not do ;-).

 

[AdamMacDon]

I like the OP's approach.

Mostly it just comes down to inconsistencies that are the result of a company that's not exactly known for organization.

I was pretty livid about my delivery experience. I had an awful time just getting a VIN from them, and was a little worried when suddenly one appeared. Tesla pretty much failed me on every step either due to system glitches or human glitches. The most irksome was when they had me come down to pickup a car that clearly wasn't going to pass inspection from someone who wanted all the body panels to be probably aligned. For some reason I accepted delivery on the promise that they would fix it. They did fix it, but only marginally so. I don't think it's ever going to be perfect, but I might get an after market solution for the front bumper as I don't really like the Model 3 anyways.

All in all it was a pretty convoluted experience, and from what I've read most new buyers have had better experiences. Still disorganized and messy, but once delivery happens it seems to be better.

I will say I still prefer Tesla over buying a car at a dealership. I always leave a dealership feeling like I just went through war, and I feel completely exhausted. I have a personality style of a person that a dealership is going to completely screw over. The reason being is I try to be fair, but there is no fair in war. It's just war.

I mean getting mad about it is just pointless, I knew what I was going in for when I signed up, haha. Sounds like you had about the same experience as me, although I can't speak to build quality yet. Once I take delivery I do expect sub par fitment, but as long as it drives, oh well. Again, I knew what I was going in to, so I can't get too mad

 

[AdrianC]

Funny you say that

Poor is a well-used 1995 Corolla with an inoperative horn and a jug of oil in the boot to top the engine off daily.
And if that guy pulled into a Tesla store, I would expect him to be treated well.
Robin

I found an online form on tesla’s website that allows me
To quote a vehicle for trade-in, prior to deposit/online order. Sales rep Kim called me, but then sms’d me cuz I couldn’t pick up at work. Asked me to confirmed the mileage I filled out, then I never heard from her again, even after 2 follow up. Just totally ghosted me.

I was trying to trade in a 2001 Lexus IS300 with 305,000km, a vehicle that cost me almost $300 a month in gas to run. And ya, it had a jug of oil in the trunk for just in case.