I have a problem and need advice. I drive a wonderful P85DL (AP1) with 50k miles. Indeed AP has been trustworthy on highways and some help on local roads for over a year. Fantastic car. Fantastic service. It makes me smile every day. I just wish it were a hardtop convertible.
I was proded into ordering an AP2 90D by the promise of "last chance for free supercharging for life" and fully autonomous driving on December 31, 2016. This new car would be a step down in speed, but a step forward in autopilot capacity into the future.
At that time, I had never heard of Mobileye, had no idea that Tesla was going backwards before going forwards, and that AP2 would have a long incubation period before it was equal to AP1 (if ever). I do highway driving for overnight work, and can't go backwards with safety. Safety is paramount. The sales pitch and online data said NOTHING about not having AP1 functionality on day one, only that the new capabilities would be developed over time (keyword NEW). I was told and believed that Tesla would provide a new car with old software capability and that the new hardware and functionality would only add to the old over time. Again, no notice from them and no idea that my new car wouldn't have the things I already use: excellent traffic aware cruise control, reliable autosteer up to 90mph, auto lane change, auto speed limit match, auto wipers, auto headlight dimming, I just new it wouldn't yet probably have auto freeway entry/exit, auto navigate, auto turn, auto stoplight and stop sign negotiation, those things which would be so cool to see coming any day now (or so I was told), but now might be all vaporware.
When I discovered via reading these forums in January that Tesla had NOT told the whole truth about losing access to all their prior AP1 technology, I cancelled my order. The car though was built faster than anyone would ever expect, and I was told I couldn't cancel, I would lose my $2500 deposit. I said OK, when AP2 is as good as AP1, I'll take delivery then. The salespeople thought that would be great, they believed Elon's tweets and thought in a few weeks they could deliver my car. So they held it a few weeks.
No such luck, obviously. In February I began asking for my deposit back. First salesman said okay to transferring it to a future order, but then I was told no, and because time had passed, no recourse. The regional sales manager called and told me no options, reasons were about having to be fair to others. But not many others (prior Tesla owners) in my situation wanting my deposit back, so I told her I would escalate. I think I have about 5 years to figure out how to do that, to get my deposit back. That might be credit towards my Model 3 or my next Model S if there is one worth buying. But at this point I'm not sure if I will ever buy another. After a truly wonderful experience with my first car and its servicing, they dropped the ball big time with me.
What option would you choose? $2500 is a lot of money to donate to Tesla, especially under the circumstances. I don't want to reward dishonest business practices. They need to clean up their act. They have been and will be a great company. But right now there are blemishes on their character.
What do you think?
