With all the worries posted here about Tesla quality control, I'll mention that I picked up my first Tesla, a blue long-range Model Y, in Lynnwood, WA on June 28 and didn't find any fit and finish flaws. Beautiful car. So far everything is working just fine, and the vehicle is a revelation. I liked my grandpa car, a 2014 Toyota Highlander, but I calculated I had poured more than 3,000 gallons of fuel into it over 63,000 miles at a cost of maybe $10,000 with Washington's high gas taxes. To switch to electric, and to be able to "fill er up" at home, is exciting. The Tesla handles far better, is quieter, and smarter than the Toyota, and the non-performance dual motor has more than enough oomph for me. Love one-pedal driving.
The buying process was very different, and even odder because of the virus. I booked a test drive June 21 (the test car was a performance model, fun but a little stiff) and found Tesla cars to be as seductive as Raquel Welch in a cave-skin bikini. (I'm deliberately dating myself here.) So I spent $100 to put in an order, figuring I'd have several weeks to keep thinking about it. Instead i was informed the car was on its way four days later! Now THAT"S a second-quarter push. I wonder if I got a VIN someone else canceled on. The door sticker says my Tesla was built June 20, the day before I test drove. I ordered a black interior with gemini wheels and a hitch. As I hoped, the ride with the smaller wheels is gentler than the PUP. I didn't opt for full self-driving. Much of the paperwork was done at the computer at home. I had to scan licenses, proof of insurance, etc. into jpegs, as well as post pictures of my Highlander I was trading. As expected the trade-in offer from Tesla was low-ball, but it was in the neighborhood for me because of savings in Washington's steep sales tax. On pickup day we were given all the time we wanted to inspect the car. There was no initial "selling" from Tesla staff, no printed brochure, no advertising, no printed manual, and the interaction was masked and remote because of Covid-19. Sign a few forms, and boom. We were left to figure out phone pairing and driver profiles on our own. Different, impersonal, but easier than dealing with the sales manager at a traditional dealer.
Compared to my Highlander, the Tesla Y is the same width and roughly the same weight. Its length is four inches shorter, its height four inches less, and its storage volume about two-thirds that of the Highlander. The length of the cargo area is about two inches less, meaning I can still easily fit in an 8-foot 2X4. The Tesla wheelbase is actually longer, meaning the Y is not particularly agile in parking lots. The Tesla is far more planted and sporty on the road, and the screen works well - except that the time and temperature at the top are a little small for grandpa eyes. One immediate annoyance: there is no easy way to remove the plastic dust cover over the two-inch hitch, short of prying at it with a screwdriver. It looks like a hasty, dumb design that will either change at Tesla or will invite third-party alternatives. I'm sure I'll find other gripes, and who knows how the car will hold up over time? But right now my overall reaction to the car is Wow.
I enjoyed researching the car at forums like this one, but I don't think the Tesla "sales model" will work for some people; it was obviously designed for and by youngish Silicon Valley engineers who live through their screens, and what they believe is easy will strike some as daunting. I had to get a 15-40 plug installed, and read and re-read the on-line manual. Teslas are different enough that there's a steep learning curve. Their re-thinking of the automobile is quite logical, but the controls are not yet second-nature to this long-time driver. But if you research the pros and cons and are ready to buy, it looks like the factory is getting over those early production quality problems. Test drive at your peril. You'll want one!
The buying process was very different, and even odder because of the virus. I booked a test drive June 21 (the test car was a performance model, fun but a little stiff) and found Tesla cars to be as seductive as Raquel Welch in a cave-skin bikini. (I'm deliberately dating myself here.) So I spent $100 to put in an order, figuring I'd have several weeks to keep thinking about it. Instead i was informed the car was on its way four days later! Now THAT"S a second-quarter push. I wonder if I got a VIN someone else canceled on. The door sticker says my Tesla was built June 20, the day before I test drove. I ordered a black interior with gemini wheels and a hitch. As I hoped, the ride with the smaller wheels is gentler than the PUP. I didn't opt for full self-driving. Much of the paperwork was done at the computer at home. I had to scan licenses, proof of insurance, etc. into jpegs, as well as post pictures of my Highlander I was trading. As expected the trade-in offer from Tesla was low-ball, but it was in the neighborhood for me because of savings in Washington's steep sales tax. On pickup day we were given all the time we wanted to inspect the car. There was no initial "selling" from Tesla staff, no printed brochure, no advertising, no printed manual, and the interaction was masked and remote because of Covid-19. Sign a few forms, and boom. We were left to figure out phone pairing and driver profiles on our own. Different, impersonal, but easier than dealing with the sales manager at a traditional dealer.
Compared to my Highlander, the Tesla Y is the same width and roughly the same weight. Its length is four inches shorter, its height four inches less, and its storage volume about two-thirds that of the Highlander. The length of the cargo area is about two inches less, meaning I can still easily fit in an 8-foot 2X4. The Tesla wheelbase is actually longer, meaning the Y is not particularly agile in parking lots. The Tesla is far more planted and sporty on the road, and the screen works well - except that the time and temperature at the top are a little small for grandpa eyes. One immediate annoyance: there is no easy way to remove the plastic dust cover over the two-inch hitch, short of prying at it with a screwdriver. It looks like a hasty, dumb design that will either change at Tesla or will invite third-party alternatives. I'm sure I'll find other gripes, and who knows how the car will hold up over time? But right now my overall reaction to the car is Wow.
I enjoyed researching the car at forums like this one, but I don't think the Tesla "sales model" will work for some people; it was obviously designed for and by youngish Silicon Valley engineers who live through their screens, and what they believe is easy will strike some as daunting. I had to get a 15-40 plug installed, and read and re-read the on-line manual. Teslas are different enough that there's a steep learning curve. Their re-thinking of the automobile is quite logical, but the controls are not yet second-nature to this long-time driver. But if you research the pros and cons and are ready to buy, it looks like the factory is getting over those early production quality problems. Test drive at your peril. You'll want one!
