Buying a new Models X...

[jayhawk785]

Hey All,

Hoping someone in here has been through this, or has some good contacts at Tesla. I just ordered a new (showroom) Model X that's a 2018, with 60 miles on it. It was listed as new, and that it was in a showroom in South Florida. I thought, GREAT, it's close, and checks all my boxes, and it's marked down for being a 2018. I get a discounted new car.

I order it, put my deposit down, trade info, secure financing through them, then my sales guy in Cali calls and says he wants to go over the condition of the car. That sounded odd, considering it's new. I though, ok, maybe something was broken and they need to replace it. I don't blame the sales guy, he's never seen it. But the car is advertised as new:

He says, the car has significant seat wear on all seats except the 3rd row. It also has a broken latch on the interior trunk cover (carpeted area). I go back and forth about how the car was listed as new, he said it had been discounted--which, it had, but i told him in the real car world, that car is discounted because its a year old. He apologizes, and tells me they won't fix it. They can look at getting me another car. Well, finding another car with what I want without ordering at this price-point isn't going to happen. I ask him to involve higher-ups, his direct manager--as this feels a little bait and switchy. I did find another car that's close to what I want, but 10k more (also says showroom). Hoping to get a call back saying they're just going to fix the seats and latch (return it to new condition) and we'll be done with this.

Does anyone have any good contacts or experience with this? I've already got a sour taste in my mouth and starting to believe everything I've read and watched about the car buying experience with them. It's a 100k$ car... not Hyundai--why would they even want to present this in a showroom? The driver's seat is worn to the point that the leather is broken and the seat is stained.

Thanks!

First post...

 

[Super_Popular]

I would just order new. You never know what you are getting with Inventory cars.

 

[jayhawk785]

You don't think there's any hope of getting them to fix the seats? I'd order new but im not patient, and the discount for the 2018 made it more worth my while. I would argue that the wear is under scope of warranty... elon touted the white as the most wear-proof.

 

[Super_Popular]

You don't think there's any hope of getting them to fix the seats? I'd order new but im not patient, and the discount for the 2018 made it more worth my while. I would argue that the wear is under scope of warranty... elon touted the white as the most wear-proof.

You cannot go by what Elon says, clearly you are new to Tesla.

If you really push they may replace the seat but it's doubtful. And how bad is the damage?, I have ordered several Inventory cars and they seats do have wear but it's never been that bad.

Post a pic.

 

[jayhawk785]

Here's what they sent me... It's basically all seats, except the back row. I can tolerate a couple of them, but the drivers seat is bad.

 

[Super_Popular]

$200 to $300 detail job will fix those seats, they are stained not damaged. If you really want the car then get and just pay to have the seats cleaned and then sealed. That is what I did.

 

[posity]

A good detailer is all you need. And buy a couple fairly inexpensive parts to replace. If you got a good price, and the car is sound mechanically, these pictures are no big deal at all - count your blessings for finding what you wanted.

 

[bob_p]

While the showroom vehicle has low mileage (probably only driven to get into the showroom), the interior is aged like a vehicle that's much older than a 2018 - making it difficult to do a value comparison with non-showroom vehicles.

If you want the vehicle to look like a new 60 mile Model S, then you should expect some investment will be needed to refurbish the areas that were heavily worn by people getting in/out and sitting in the vehicle. The seats probably should be re-covered. The back cargo cover can be replaced. Some of the seals around the door frame may need to be replaced. You might also want to inspect the front trunk (for dents or other issues caused by people closing the frunk without understanding how to do it properly), center console and glove compartment. And there could be other items with unusual wear, such as scuffs on leather steering wheel or trim areas.

Another area to review it the 90% charge level of the battery pack - is it close to what you would expect from a new vehicle? Or has the pack also seen premature wear by staying plugged in all of the time - and never having the pack below a full (90%) charge.

Tesla could refurbish the vehicle into "like new" condition. If the discount is the cost of that refurbishment, and you decide to accept the vehicle in "as is" condition - then you're getting a great deal.

But if you're expecting to get a vehicle at a discount in the same condition as a new $100K vehicle, that's probably not going to happen.

You may be better off getting a low mileage CPO. And while it will have some mileage, the interior is likely going to be in much better condition than a heavily used showroom vehicle.

 

[jayhawk785]

Another area to review it the 90% charge level of the battery pack - is it close to what you would expect from a new vehicle? Or has the pack also seen premature wear by staying plugged in all of the time - and never having the pack below a full (90%) charge.

Tesla could refurbish the vehicle into "like new" condition. If the discount is the cost of that refurbishment, and you decide to accept the vehicle in "as is" condition - then you're getting a great deal.

But if you're expecting to get a vehicle at a discount in the same condition as a new $100K vehicle, that's probably not going to happen.

I'd agree with most of what you said. My thing is, if i was buying a 2018 Mercedes that was a showroom model--and perfect condition, I'd be getting a large discount for the model year not being current. That's what I feel they're offering now, without knowing the full condition of the vehicle (until they checked). So, while they are offering money off--I think its not covering the scope of the work involved, just depreciation.

I'll check on the battery life--that's a solid point. The latch I could easily fix, I guess I'm just used to high-end car manufacturers that want to provide the best product possible when presenting it as new. Thanks for the insight.

 

[No2DinosaurFuel]

I'll tell you something. Even if you replace your seats with new ones, the new ones will look like that in a few years. So sure you get to drive in a new seats for a year or so, but eventually it will look like that. So if you think the discount from new is sufficient enough, then buy, otherwise move on.

 

[playoutside]

Buy Lexol leather cleaner and Lexol leather conditioner. Those seats will look brand new.

Ask your sales rep to swap out the broken latch with a loaner car.

Boom, good as new!

 

[jayhawk785]

Thanks! they actually found me another that was perfect (pictures seem to back it up). The local rep in Orlando called me and said the one with the bad seats was a demo in the mall... You'd think they'd want to recondition these things, or disclose (with pictures) what you're buying before you commit. The new one will be shipped from New Jersey, and has carbon fiber which I would have preferred. It also has black interior, which, after seeing the white, I'm guessing will be a better fit.

Excited for it to get here! bye bye escalade lol

 

[jboy210]

Hey All,

Hoping someone in here has been through this, or has some good contacts at Tesla. I just ordered a new (showroom) Model X that's a 2018, with 60 miles on it. It was listed as new, and that it was in a showroom in South Florida. I thought, GREAT, it's close, and checks all my boxes, and it's marked down for being a 2018. I get a discounted new car.

I order it, put my deposit down, trade info, secure financing through them, then my sales guy in Cali calls and says he wants to go over the condition of the car. That sounded odd, considering it's new. I though, ok, maybe something was broken and they need to replace it. I don't blame the sales guy, he's never seen it. But the car is advertised as new:

He says, the car has significant seat wear on all seats except the 3rd row. It also has a broken latch on the interior trunk cover (carpeted area). I go back and forth about how the car was listed as new, he said it had been discounted--which, it had, but i told him in the real car world, that car is discounted because its a year old. He apologizes, and tells me they won't fix it. They can look at getting me another car. Well, finding another car with what I want without ordering at this price-point isn't going to happen. I ask him to involve higher-ups, his direct manager--as this feels a little bait and switchy. I did find another car that's close to what I want, but 10k more (also says showroom). Hoping to get a call back saying they're just going to fix the seats and latch (return it to new condition) and we'll be done with this.

Does anyone have any good contacts or experience with this? I've already got a sour taste in my mouth and starting to believe everything I've read and watched about the car buying experience with them. It's a 100k$ car... not Hyundai--why would they even want to present this in a showroom? The driver's seat is worn to the point that the leather is broken and the seat is stained.

Thanks!

First post...

It was a showroom car. Some showrooms were/are in a mall. A million people and kids with ice cream cones may have been through this car. "hey mom take a picture of me in my friking Tesla. Vraoom, varoom, wonder what this button does". And "let's see if all of three of the car seats fit in there. Kids climb in. Don't take your shows off. its a demo car". To "Honey, go get some chicken nuggets. The kids and I will climb through the Tesla while we wait."

Every vents and seat control has been used over a thousand times. And the touch screen has a million fingers on it. The A/C has been run for days on a time and battery has been constantly on charger for months.

Every demo car I have seen at a Tesla delivery center or showroom, mall or not, look a bit beat to me.

Personally I would never buy such a car even if it was tens of thousands less than new.

 

[New123]

I got the same issue. But the SC manager in my location is saying as they didn't let me know the condition of the car before the delivery, he is working with his manager in handling the situation. But, I am getting very poor response from past 3 weeks. But the SC manager is very courteous, but I am very disappointed with the SC as they cancelled the service request for other minor issues and mentioned that mobile team will handle those issues. Didn't get any call from mobile team. After multiple communications, mobile team asked me to send the pictures and after sending the pictures got the response that they don't have the part. I was surprised that what part is needed for the items that I requested(small paint issues and the 3rd row seat back cover not glued properly). Other than that car had no issues. Only small paint issues and seat were.

 

[takotan]

Those are the pics I got prior delivery ..... very frustrating at this moment .

 

[jayhawk785]

haha thats the same one i rejected... just press them to find you something better--the one they found me was marked down more (16.5k), didnt have white interior (which i was fine with), and had carbon fiber inlays (which was better to me).

The whole process is a bit dumb, and lacking updates if you're used to the normal car buying process. Work with your local guys to find you something, they're a bit more responsive. Once you order, things go dark until the car shows up... I think total process from the day i clicked buy to the day i picked it up was 12 days, and it came from NJ (they also didnt charge me shipping).

 

[takotan]

haha thats the same one i rejected... just press them to find you something better--the one they found me was marked down more (16.5k), didnt have white interior (which i was fine with), and had carbon fiber inlays (which was better to me).

The whole process is a bit dumb, and lacking updates if you're used to the normal car buying process. Work with your local guys to find you something, they're a bit more responsive. Once you order, things go dark until the car shows up... I think total process from the day i clicked buy to the day i picked it up was 12 days, and it came from NJ (they also didnt charge me shipping).

everything went dark and no responds at all

 

[USMC_Mustang]

Thanks! they actually found me another that was perfect (pictures seem to back it up). The local rep in Orlando called me and said the one with the bad seats was a demo in the mall... You'd think they'd want to recondition these things, or disclose (with pictures) what you're buying before you commit. The new one will be shipped from New Jersey, and has carbon fiber which I would have preferred. It also has black interior, which, after seeing the white, I'm guessing will be a better fit.

I bought a mall demo Model S three years ago (2016 model). The SC "conditioned" the car before I ever saw it. When I went to pick it up, there was NO indication it was anything but brand new from the factory. I was looking closely for any flaws or imperfections, but could find nothing whatsoever. I was perfectly happy with it.

 

[Peteski]

Here's what they sent me... It's basically all seats, except the back row. I can tolerate a couple of them, but the drivers seat is bad.

Looks like a pack of dogs has previously owned it! Ours has 22k miles and showing pretty much zero seat wear (white interior too)

 

[buttershrimp]

Those seats have seen more asses than a donkey at a family reunion