Dealership expansion timeline

[BlueWRXPride]

I'm anxiously awaiting my Model 3, and live in Syracuse NY. For me, the nearest dealership is roughly 4 hours away downstate near NYC. I assume that with the plans to mass-market the Model 3, Tesla is going to have to expand its dealership footprint. Does anyone know what the timeline is, or what the planned locations are? I would think that to get dealerships open when new customers start to get their cars, the dealerships would have to be in progress by now.

I'm concerned that if I have any minor issues I want addressed on my car, it's going to be a full day trip or worse to go to NYC and have my car worked on. I know Tesla has those mobile service vans, but I'm concerned they wouldn't bother to send them on a 8 hour round trip for a minor service request.

 

[Dan Detweiler]

First of all, just to clarify...Tesla does not have dealerships. They have company owned showrooms, delivery centers and service centers. These used to be all housed in one place but recently Tesla has begun having specialized facilities for all three. This has happened to us in Atlanta. Secondly, much of what you might need in the way of service will be accomplished via mobile service trucks that will be deployed to come and service your vehicle for all but the most complicated repair. Also, by the time you get your car in New York there will be many more service centers and showrooms to accommodate you. I would bet that either Syracuse or Rochester would get one before you take delivery.

Dan

 

[BlueWRXPride]

Yes, good point, they are certainly not dealerships as most car companies have. I'm skeptical they'll have one in upstate NY by then, I'm slated for delivery by Feb-Apr 2018, and I would think it would take at least 6 months to get a new store up and running, and it would have been in the news if it was already in progress. So I guess I'll just have to count on the service cans until that point comes. It'd be nice if Tesla shared their service center expansion plans.

 

[Litzy]

NYS law limits Tesla to 5 showrooms, all of which are in NYC area I believe. The Service Centers are all down there too (as you stated), but there is already a dedicated "Tesla Ranger" (or whatever they're called now) for Buffalo/Rochester/Syracuse area. He may cover more than that too, not completely sure.

I'm not expecting them to open a closer service center by the time I get my car either, but I sure wish they would. I think it's ~5 hours to closest for me unless I got to Canada.

 

[TexasEV]

To the OP, you might want to contact your state legislators about this. They’re the rate limiting step, not Tesla. It’s all about protecting the auto dealer cartel from competition (and to keep those campaign contributions flowing).

 

[Trips]

Didn't they say on a conference call a year ago or so that they were going to have a service center in every major metro area by 2018? I searched for it but could not find any information on that. It sounds like they have moved to a Ranger/Delivery Center type of model.

 

[Super_Popular]

Didn't they say on a conference call a year ago or so that they were going to have a service center in every major metro area by 2018?

LMAO even if Tesla did say that it would never happen. Whenever Tesla throw's out dates always add at least a year to it.

 

[smartypnz]

Yup - dealerships....
No deals going on there.

 

[X Fan]

NYS law limits Tesla to 5 showrooms, all of which are in NYC area I believe. The Service Centers are all down there too (as you stated), but there is already a dedicated "Tesla Ranger" (or whatever they're called now) for Buffalo/Rochester/Syracuse area. He may cover more than that too, not completely sure.

I'm not expecting them to open a closer service center by the time I get my car either, but I sure wish they would. I think it's ~5 hours to closest for me unless I got to Canada.

btw: FWIW: to ease your worry, my Ranger experience in Naples has been overwhelmingly positive. Much prefer the Ranger vs. driving to FLL or Tampa.