Anyone Here Ordered But Hoping For A Late Delivery In Nov/Dec?

[Singuy]

After test driving my friend's car with Vin in 17xxx, I can't help but wonder if Tesla ever finished their Model 3. The fact that they pushed out an update to enable back seat heaters make me think they just pushed the car out the door ASAP.

He had problems with the frunk latch breaking and the charge port door leaking water. He got the version 2 driver side seats, and said I'll be getting the v2 back seats as well. So far, the Vin 1 vs vin 50k has different seats, different suspension, fixed frunk latch, and fixed charge port enclosures. I can't help but wonder what another 30k+ Vin will have as an improvement. I placed my order hoping to get the full tax incentive, but I'm perfectly happy to take delivery on Dec 31st just to get the better car.

 

[ℬête Noire]

In the Valley they call this a soft launch. Ship, learn, & iterate. Tesla, being Tesla, come start of next year will incorporate more tweaks, anyway. And by Spring more. And Summer more. Etc.

For your question, I'm fine either way. It's a bit of a risk because I ordered a D and so depending on how they prioritize I may get a relatively early front drivetrain. However I'm not sure how much time they'll have to iterate that before the end of the year anyway is there is something "big", and I definitely don't want my delivery to slip into 2019.

One thing that does bring me a lot of consolation is that:
1) there hasn't been a lot of issue with the LR drivetrain, a couple early deaths (within a couple hundred miles) but that's not too bad on a new model, it appears they put some solid engineering effort into the drivetrain overall
2) the front motors are induction and as such they'll be able to draw upon several years experience with that tech in all their prior models, unlike the PM rear motor

There was problems with the very early Model S [induction] motors but they've sorted that out and it's behind them AFAIK.

 

[NickFie]

I can't help but wonder what another 30k+ Vin will have as an improvement.

Whenever your Model 3 is delivered, following week’s or month’s cars will have something new or different. And yours will likely be better than deliveries at the time you ordered.

Read Model S delivery threads from March 2018, when MCU2 was introduced. In early March - “This wait is killing me! I ordered so long ago and my car hasn’t even started production!” Once MCU2 deliveries started - “I hope my car didn’t start production until after MCU2!” Model S has been in production about 6 years!

Tesla constantly improves their vehicles. It’s faster than a model year pace. This is best way to stay competitive in such a young technology.

Will be interesting to see how annual-cycle manufacturers cope with high-volume, rapid-evolution products. Do they continue producing vehicles with recognized shortcomings until the redesigned version is introduced next model year? Are their design-engineer-test-source-manufacture cycles agile enough to accommodate a high rate of running changes?

I think this is one of Tesla’s strongest, unrecognized competitive advantages.

 

[Big Dog]

sorry to hear about your friend's issues. (But living in SoCal, I could n't care less about back seat heaters.)

Picked up my V1 (12k vin) in late April -- it was problem free -- and plan to pick up my V2 in a couple of weeks. Hopefully, it'll work.

 

[ℬête Noire]

sorry to hear about your friend's issues. (But living in SoCal, I could n't care less about back seat heaters.)

Enabling rear seat heaters was a software update. I didn't think there were any shipped Model 3s that it doesn't work on?

 

[Singuy]

Whenever your Model 3 is delivered, following week’s or month’s cars will have something new or different. And yours will likely be better than deliveries at the time you ordered.

Read Model S delivery threads from March 2018, when MCU2 was introduced. In early March - “This wait is killing me! I ordered so long ago and my car hasn’t even started production!” Once MCU2 deliveries started - “I hope my car didn’t start production until after MCU2!” Model S has been in production about 6 years!

Tesla constantly improves their vehicles. It’s faster than a model year pace. This is best way to stay competitive in such a young technology.

Will be interesting to see how annual-cycle manufacturers cope with high-volume, rapid-evolution products. Do they continue producing vehicles with recognized shortcomings until the redesigned version is introduced next model year? Are their design-engineer-test-source-manufacture cycles agile enough to accommodate a high rate of running changes?

I think this is one of Tesla’s strongest, unrecognized competitive advantages.

I'm not sure how I feel about getting random unannounced improvements throughout the year can be considered as an advantage. I appreciate that Tesla is working fast to remedy problems discovered by their drivers(more like beta testers), but I don't think they are willing to retrofit hardware such as improved seats for such early adopters. Usually a car company incentivize you to purchase the newer model year because of certain fixes applied..but at least you know what you are paying for. Here, we are ordering a car that may or may not come with improved hardware. You can be one Vin off from V2 of something and that can affect you car drastically. Frankly after sitting in the Model S 2018..I was really worried about ordering a M3 due to how uncomfortable those seats were. So having V2 seats greatly affect my comfort level and the life of this car.

Which brings up another point..my Tesla dealership doesn't even have a M3 on display..but even if they did..you'll end up receiving almost a different car by the time you have it in hand due to the changed suspension and seats alone.

 

[ℬête Noire]

I'm not sure how I feel about getting random unannounced improvements throughout the year can be considered as an advantage.

They started shipping about two years earlier than normal for automobiles. They're hitting stride a about year before traditional cycle would start shipping. Moving like this the chances of them getting leapfrogged by a traditional development cycle is roughly nil.

If you can execute on it, which is no small feat, it's a huge advantage. We've seen this over and over the last couple decades, now it's coming to cars.

For yourself, pick your place in the curve you're happy with the product on sale and buy then. Set aside the emotion of "but they got a bit nicer product" because that's just jealousy screwing with your head. The core of the matter is did you get a product you wanted at a price you wanted at the time you wanted it?

 

[cab]

The "I should have waited" effect is a bit worse with Tesla because they seem to iterate so quickly AND don't wait for a model year changeover. For most cars, if you get a 2018 model, it will be the same throughout that year. You know it might get some changes for 2019, but at least it is stable for now. I do think the rate and extent of change will slow a bit, but it is a risk you take. The real aggravation is how "waiting" now puts you at risk for the tax credit....a balancing act for sure.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

I'm not sure how I feel about getting random unannounced improvements throughout the year can be considered as an advantage. I appreciate that Tesla is working fast to remedy problems discovered by their drivers(more like beta testers), but I don't think they are willing to retrofit hardware such as improved seats for such early adopters. Usually a car company incentivize you to purchase the newer model year because of certain fixes applied..but at least you know what you are paying for. Here, we are ordering a car that may or may not come with improved hardware. You can be one Vin off from V2 of something and that can affect you car drastically. Frankly after sitting in the Model S 2018..I was really worried about ordering a M3 due to how uncomfortable those seats were. So having V2 seats greatly affect my comfort level and the life of this car.

Which brings up another point..my Tesla dealership doesn't even have a M3 on display..but even if they did..you'll end up receiving almost a different car by the time you have it in hand due to the changed suspension and seats alone.

All you have to do is wait a year or two and they'll have the P3Ds with mode selection in stores for test drives so you'll be able to buy what you test. (Or cancel the order if they discontinue something.)

 

[electracity]

After test driving my friend's car with Vin in 17xxx, I can't help but wonder if Tesla ever finished their Model 3. The fact that they pushed out an update to enable back seat heaters make me think they just pushed the car out the door ASAP.

He had problems with the frunk latch breaking and the charge port door leaking water. He got the version 2 driver side seats, and said I'll be getting the v2 back seats as well. So far, the Vin 1 vs vin 50k has different seats, different suspension, fixed frunk latch, and fixed charge port enclosures. I can't help but wonder what another 30k+ Vin will have as an improvement. I placed my order hoping to get the full tax incentive, but I'm perfectly happy to take delivery on Dec 31st just to get the better car.

I think the only way you can be confident timing year end of delivery is to order the P version. But that said I would not want a car built the last coupe of weeks of this year.

Rather than overthinking the issue I suggest you just order when ready. I thinking avoiding the quarter end rush is more important than hoping for some minor improvements in design.

 

[Singuy]

I think the only way you can be confident timing year end of delivery is to order the P version. But that said I would not want a car built the last coupe of weeks of this year.

Rather than overthinking the issue I suggest you just order when ready. I thinking avoiding the quarter end rush is more important than hoping for some minor improvements in design.

From the looks of it, every M3 coming out of that factory will be rushed. Elon always want to prove the shorts wrong, and he has made some extremely bold statements on record. I don't think the 5k/week is a one time burst build and they are done with it. Now he's looking at 6k and beyond.

 

[Phrixotrichus]

At first I was pretty bummed when it became clear that we europeans would have to wait till at least mid 2019 to get our hands on the Model 3. After everything that`s happened and changed in the short amount of time since the first Model 3s were delivered I´m now actually quite happy to not be an early adopter.....

 

[ewoodrick]

After test driving my friend's car with Vin in 17xxx, I can't help but wonder if Tesla ever finished their Model 3.

That's one of the reasons why I like Tesla's approach. The car will hopefully never be finished.
Unlike every other car manufactured where you get what you got. If a new feature comes out, you have to essentially pay for a new car. In my Leaf, something as simple as a new set of maps was $300.

 

[jgd108]

I also have a VIN 17xxx and the only issue is they painted the front bumper too fast and had to be repainted by a body shop and when it came back the rear bumper had 7 scratches! So now they repainted the rear bumper.
I believe in the 2 months of ownership I've driven the Model S loaners more than my own M3!

 

[Singuy]

At first I was pretty bummed when it became clear that we europeans would have to wait till at least mid 2019 to get our hands on the Model 3. After everything that`s happened and changed in the short amount of time since the first Model 3s were delivered I´m now actually quite happy to not be an early adopter.....

I find it ironic that the people who complained about the suspension or the seats are the ones whose cars will not be fixed. Their comfort was sacrificed for us to have better cars.

That's one of the reasons why I like Tesla's approach. The car will hopefully never be finished.
Unlike every other car manufactured where you get what you got. If a new feature comes out, you have to essentially pay for a new car. In my Leaf, something as simple as a new set of maps was $300.

Well there's a difference between unfinished vs improvements.

Unfinished: Didn't finish coding to enable backseat heaters/breaking distance being subpar
Improvement: Added creep mode

 

[Singuy]

I also have a VIN 17xxx and the only issue is they painted the front bumper too fast and had to be repainted by a body shop and when it came back the rear bumper had 7 scratches! So now they repainted the rear bumper.
I believe in the 2 months of ownership I've driven the Model S loaners more than my own M3!

Oh man that's the multicoat white too. I'll be sure to inspect mine carefully.

 

[ebmcs03]

Whenever your Model 3 is delivered, following week’s or month’s cars will have something new or different. And yours will likely be better than deliveries at the time you ordered.

Read Model S delivery threads from March 2018, when MCU2 was introduced. In early March - “This wait is killing me! I ordered so long ago and my car hasn’t even started production!” Once MCU2 deliveries started - “I hope my car didn’t start production until after MCU2!” Model S has been in production about 6 years!

Tesla constantly improves their vehicles. It’s faster than a model year pace. This is best way to stay competitive in such a young technology.

Will be interesting to see how annual-cycle manufacturers cope with high-volume, rapid-evolution products. Do they continue producing vehicles with recognized shortcomings until the redesigned version is introduced next model year? Are their design-engineer-test-source-manufacture cycles agile enough to accommodate a high rate of running changes?

I think this is one of Tesla’s strongest, unrecognized competitive advantages.

Doesn’t the model 3 all come with MCU2?

 

[ℬête Noire]

Doesn’t the model 3 all come with MCU2?

I read that as an example in the abstract, not as something specific that will happen with the Model 3....outside of perhaps in a few years with an "MCU3" that comes down the pipe.

 

[ebmcs03]

From this article sounds like the model 3 got a version of the MCU2.

MCU1 to MCU2 | TeslaTap

 

[NickFie]

For yourself, pick your place in the curve you're happy with the product on sale and buy then. Set aside the emotion of "but they got a bit nicer product" because that's just jealousy screwing with your head. The core of the matter is did you get a product you wanted at a price you wanted at the time you wanted it?

Or lease the car so you're able to upgrade on a regular basis.

My brother was an MIT undergraduate in mid-1970's. Hand-held calculators were that era's PCs or smartphones. Rapid product cycles with important leaps in capability each time.

The calculator could really improve a student's MIT experience vs. slide rule. Timely problem set completion, complex functions in your pocket... My brother doesn't like to spend money without a good return, calculators posed a dilemma. Last year's calculator would put him miles behind the next year, yet it was still perfectly functional with negligible resale value.

His solution was to "inadvertently" damage or lose his calculator a week or two after Spring finals. Then, with a clean conscience, he would be compelled to buy the newest model a week or two before Fall term.

Not suggesting you total your M3 every year or two. Simply pointing out that rapid technology evolution in an important area can break traditional consumer, producer and marketplace norms.