Thought I would share my experience with collection at Heathrow today.
TLDR - Collecting a car at Tesla (during COVID) is like shopping at an Argos or hiring a car at an airport, transactional, frustrating and disappointing! However, the car more than makes up for the poor experience you'll have picking up from Tesla Heathrow!
Honestly, this was a super disappointing experience, even more so given that the Tesla employee on the phone had advised me to travel to Tesla Heathrow (rather than Southampton) for the improved experience.
I can't think of any car manufacturer that would get away with such a poor car collection experience. It was like hiring a car at a low budget car hire place in the middle of nowhere - or shopping at an Argos waiting to pickup an online order.
Many of you will rightly say you are not buying the car for the collection experience, but having bought a fair few cars this was by far the worse car purchase/collection experience. Take it or leave it, here's my experience.
Order and Delivery details - I ordered a M3P (White/Black) in March expecting a June delivery, Tesla had a car ready within 2 weeks(!) but I declined the match. In late April, I changed my mind on the colour of the vehicle and went with MSM/Black, this delayed the delivery to Aug/Sept. In late July I was confirmed with a delivery date of Aug 13th. On Aug 11th I was told my car was damaged in transit, luckily the same spec car was available with earliest collection on Aug 18th (today) at 1pm.
Don't park here! Its the building before it...
Getting there: Arriving at Tesla it wasn't clear where to go to pick up your car. There are two buildings being used, one for service and the other for test drives and collections. There are no signs indicating where to go or park. Lots of people were struggling to find parking, even some risking hitting new cars getting ready for pickup.
Standing outside waiting to pickup the car, park in that area ahead.
Arrival: There is a single small office with a door open where people are queuing for both pickup and test drives. There are only 2 people manning this office and folks were forced to line up outside (which wasn't great when the thunderstorm blew in!) I waited 10 minutes and was only 3rd in line (the line varied from 4 to 15 people while I was there).so get there early for your appointment.
Tesla didn't separate those just wanting to test drive and those wanting to pickup. Very frustrating if you spent hard earned cash and having to wait in line with folks who are "just" trying the car out.
At the desk they will want your RN number and drivers license. If you haven't signed your finance agreement you have to e-sign via your phone. The finance agreement actually asks you to watch a video too. Make sure you have this reviewed this and signed prior to your collection so you are not rushed through it.
They will also ask you to sign the delivery form before actually viewing the vehicle. They promise that they won't submit the form until you have accepted the car. Up to you, but saves you having to go back to the office.
Collection: The person serving you will give you your 2 car keys and hopefully show you to your car. Some lucky people were taken inside to their car, but most everyone else was shown to their car in the car park. A thunderstorm was going on during my collection so I made a run to my car (previously spotted in the car park) while the employee stayed in the office.
The car was parked in the car park with plenty of spacing between vehicles. Unfortunately, someone decided to try to park their car within a potential collision distance of my car, fortunately they decided against it after realising they came very close to hitting it.
Car was at 88% charge with 5 miles on the clock. I started to check the vehicle over and noticed a bunch of minor issues (front driver side glass panel by the wing mirror was not completely fastened, mark on drivers seat, misaligned charging panel, misaligned bonnet, scratch on interior console, scuff on right passenger side lower door etc).
I realised at this point how poor the build quality is on the vehicle. Nothing major seemed out of place or defective and I took time to check out the major components - doors, door opening and closing, boot, bonnet, exterior, interior, car details on the touchscreen etc.
Honestly though, I was taking the car straight to a detailers who was going to provide an inspection report, so I just made sure nothing was obviously broken. You have 7 days to report all faults, so I plan on going over the vehicle in detail over the next few days.
I was left to my own devices to check out the car, no one showed me round the car or helped me. Eventually, an employee came out to check on me, I told them I would accept the vehicle and they stated they would mark it delivered and reboot it.
Finally! Rainsoaked, which made it harder to spot exterior paint issues.
Accepting the car: Once/if you accept the car, the employee will mark it delivered. At that point they will need to "reboot" the car so that ownership changes from Tesla to you.
I waited in the car while the Tesla employee did this and when the screen went black the car literally rebooted was when I then opened the app on my phone, logged in and it automatically connected to the car. It actually took my phone about 5 minutes to successfully connect, be patient. Once the car was connected I took time to familiarise myself with the touchscreen controls.
Two things I failed to do... firstly, make sure you enable Autopilot and autosteer while in parked mode. Secondly, make sure you know how to turn the windscreen wipers to auto! Really regretted that on the trip back
Finally, be aware that cruise control takes a few minutes to calibrate, so don't expect it to work on first go.
Driving the car: Wow! Immediately driving this car, you know its all that you hoped for and more. I was not prepared for the regen braking though! Taking your foot off the accelerator provides an immediate braking effect, that I was aware of but had underestimated. Takes some getting used to, but driving the car was pure delight. Leaving Tesla Heathrow I gave a very whispered but heartfelt hell yeah to those waiting in line, they had a long wait ahead...
Hope it was useful, good luck to those collecting in the coming weeks and months.
TLDR - Collecting a car at Tesla (during COVID) is like shopping at an Argos or hiring a car at an airport, transactional, frustrating and disappointing! However, the car more than makes up for the poor experience you'll have picking up from Tesla Heathrow!
Honestly, this was a super disappointing experience, even more so given that the Tesla employee on the phone had advised me to travel to Tesla Heathrow (rather than Southampton) for the improved experience.
I can't think of any car manufacturer that would get away with such a poor car collection experience. It was like hiring a car at a low budget car hire place in the middle of nowhere - or shopping at an Argos waiting to pickup an online order.
Many of you will rightly say you are not buying the car for the collection experience, but having bought a fair few cars this was by far the worse car purchase/collection experience. Take it or leave it, here's my experience.
Order and Delivery details - I ordered a M3P (White/Black) in March expecting a June delivery, Tesla had a car ready within 2 weeks(!) but I declined the match. In late April, I changed my mind on the colour of the vehicle and went with MSM/Black, this delayed the delivery to Aug/Sept. In late July I was confirmed with a delivery date of Aug 13th. On Aug 11th I was told my car was damaged in transit, luckily the same spec car was available with earliest collection on Aug 18th (today) at 1pm.
Don't park here! Its the building before it...
Getting there: Arriving at Tesla it wasn't clear where to go to pick up your car. There are two buildings being used, one for service and the other for test drives and collections. There are no signs indicating where to go or park. Lots of people were struggling to find parking, even some risking hitting new cars getting ready for pickup.
Tip: The first building on the left (before the main Tesla building with the Tesla sign) is where you need to go for collection. There isn't much parking, we just parked in the car bays next to Tesla cars waiting to picked up.
Tesla need to improve the signage around the area to make it clear where to park and where to go for collection.
Standing outside waiting to pickup the car, park in that area ahead.
Arrival: There is a single small office with a door open where people are queuing for both pickup and test drives. There are only 2 people manning this office and folks were forced to line up outside (which wasn't great when the thunderstorm blew in!) I waited 10 minutes and was only 3rd in line (the line varied from 4 to 15 people while I was there).so get there early for your appointment.
Tesla didn't separate those just wanting to test drive and those wanting to pickup. Very frustrating if you spent hard earned cash and having to wait in line with folks who are "just" trying the car out.
At the desk they will want your RN number and drivers license. If you haven't signed your finance agreement you have to e-sign via your phone. The finance agreement actually asks you to watch a video too. Make sure you have this reviewed this and signed prior to your collection so you are not rushed through it.
They will also ask you to sign the delivery form before actually viewing the vehicle. They promise that they won't submit the form until you have accepted the car. Up to you, but saves you having to go back to the office.
Tip: Make sure you have reviewed and signed all agreements and forms before arriving at collection. Have your RN number and drivers license ready.
Tesla need a much better facility for car collection, it needs to be larger with the ability to host people (and cars) inside and have enough staff to cater to those picking up a car (by appointment). Buying a car shouldn't involve a 10-30 minute wait in a line outside while a thunderstorm is going on. Separate those that are collecting vs hiring!
Collection: The person serving you will give you your 2 car keys and hopefully show you to your car. Some lucky people were taken inside to their car, but most everyone else was shown to their car in the car park. A thunderstorm was going on during my collection so I made a run to my car (previously spotted in the car park) while the employee stayed in the office.
The car was parked in the car park with plenty of spacing between vehicles. Unfortunately, someone decided to try to park their car within a potential collision distance of my car, fortunately they decided against it after realising they came very close to hitting it.
Car was at 88% charge with 5 miles on the clock. I started to check the vehicle over and noticed a bunch of minor issues (front driver side glass panel by the wing mirror was not completely fastened, mark on drivers seat, misaligned charging panel, misaligned bonnet, scratch on interior console, scuff on right passenger side lower door etc).
I realised at this point how poor the build quality is on the vehicle. Nothing major seemed out of place or defective and I took time to check out the major components - doors, door opening and closing, boot, bonnet, exterior, interior, car details on the touchscreen etc.
Honestly though, I was taking the car straight to a detailers who was going to provide an inspection report, so I just made sure nothing was obviously broken. You have 7 days to report all faults, so I plan on going over the vehicle in detail over the next few days.
I was left to my own devices to check out the car, no one showed me round the car or helped me. Eventually, an employee came out to check on me, I told them I would accept the vehicle and they stated they would mark it delivered and reboot it.
Tip: You really do need to spend time checking out the vehicle for issues. More importantly, make sure you are familiar with checking the state of the car via the touchscreen. The car inspection checklist on this forum was helpful.
Tesla need to ensure that foiks buying a car are shown to the car, shown around the car and given the basic details on operating the car. I think we can all agree Tesla need to improve the quality assurance of the car builds
Finally! Rainsoaked, which made it harder to spot exterior paint issues.
Accepting the car: Once/if you accept the car, the employee will mark it delivered. At that point they will need to "reboot" the car so that ownership changes from Tesla to you.
I waited in the car while the Tesla employee did this and when the screen went black the car literally rebooted was when I then opened the app on my phone, logged in and it automatically connected to the car. It actually took my phone about 5 minutes to successfully connect, be patient. Once the car was connected I took time to familiarise myself with the touchscreen controls.
Two things I failed to do... firstly, make sure you enable Autopilot and autosteer while in parked mode. Secondly, make sure you know how to turn the windscreen wipers to auto! Really regretted that on the trip back
Finally, be aware that cruise control takes a few minutes to calibrate, so don't expect it to work on first go.Tip(s): Make sure an employee knows you accepted the car and that they will mark it delivered and reboot the car. Be patient connecting your phone app with the car. Make sure you enable autopilot and autosteer before setting off. Make sure you know how to turn the windscreen wipers to auto. Basically, read the manual before driving the car
Again this comes down to Tesla helping people with the car, even during COVID, they should provide basic information on operation of the car. Tesla need to make sure that they provide sufficient details on how to drive the car (the videos are not sufficient).
Driving the car: Wow! Immediately driving this car, you know its all that you hoped for and more. I was not prepared for the regen braking though! Taking your foot off the accelerator provides an immediate braking effect, that I was aware of but had underestimated. Takes some getting used to, but driving the car was pure delight. Leaving Tesla Heathrow I gave a very whispered but heartfelt hell yeah to those waiting in line, they had a long wait ahead...
Tip(s): Be prepared for the regen braking, don't go crazy on the accelerator out of the gate, know your way around the touchscreen before driving (mirrors, windscreen wipers, music/radio, navigation, etc).
Do Tesla need to up their game with collection experience? As a consumer, I would say hell yes, for a £50k+ car it was a shockingly bad experience. As Elon Musk, its probably low on the list of things he thinks needs to be done, it increases costs and he knows people don't buy the car for the customer service. In the long run, this stuff will matter, but I guess Tesla have time to address this.
Hope it was useful, good luck to those collecting in the coming weeks and months.
