Delivery coming up, help me get ready?

[2101Guy]

as I read through this thread (and others), it does speak to how tremendous a product Tesla has created.
- Zero marketing/advertising
- Cant test drive before buying
- Cant take the car to a independent shop for a PPI
- Often times, subpar customer service
- Reports of Tesla yanking back features that were once on the car


Despite the above (and more)...demand remains extremely high for the product.

 

[Geek190]

So exciting Fragger!

Congrats!
It's going to be a super fun day.

My experience:
They let me inspect my car before signing. I don't think that they suggested otherwise, but if they insist you buy it before you get to inspect it, just walk away. I believe that they dropped the deposit to $100 now didn't they? That's pretty cheap.

I wouldn't get too hung up on which version the battery is, but would be more concerned with how much degradation does it have. I decided before I flew to Vegas to pick mine up, that as long as it had less than 10% degradation I would be ok, but any more and I would walk away. I asked them to please update the software and have it fully charged at my pick up time. I wanted to see the range so I could make sure the battery degradation was acceptable, and I had a 450 mile drive ahead of me to get home. The range for my P85D new was 253 miles. My car fully charged showed 239 miles - 6.6% loss after 60k miles. That was well within my deal breaker range.

They showed me around the car for maybe 5 minutes and then left me alone to figure out how it all worked and look it over. After about a half hour I went back up front and signed the paperwork. Mine was flawless and clean - freshly washed. It was better than I had expected.

I had a sh*t eating grin the whole drive home. Getting to the point of buying it was frustrating, but once I got to the dealership and into my new Tesla I couldn't have been happier.

Here is my advise:
Decide before you go what might be a deal breaker. If you spot one, try to get them to agree to fix it - IN WRITING!
They are selling you the car as-is, so understand that it's not likely going to be perfect and they aren't likely going to bend over backwards to make it so. If you see something that you didn't expect but you can live with it, try to get them to fix it. If they won't then at least you tried. If they agree to fix it at a later time, get it in writing. You've been lurking and posting enough that you should know that Tesla is of late perhaps not the most trustworthy. If it's in writing, then you don't need to trust.

If you find it isn't what you thought, or that the battery fully charged has more degradation than you feel good about, or it smells like a wet dog or dirty ash tray, or whatever you can't live with - just walk away. Don't feel pressured to buy it if it isn't the right car. Also, don't walk away from a great car over something trivial. They are AMAZING cars and so much fun to drive.

Best of luck!
I can't wait to see some pictures!

 

[Fragger]

Bring a USB thumb drive with your favorite songs so you will have something to listen to on the drive home.

Download and login to the app. Your car can show up hours before pickup.

If they hand you 1 remote, ask where's the second one. Insist on receiving a second one and get the Due Bill for it.

These are the adapters you should be receiving: J1772, NEMA 5-15 and NEMA 14-50.

View attachment 534974 View attachment 534975 View attachment 534977

Hey Russell, thanks for that pointer on the music. Anything I could be checking for on the sound system side? Also, I have music on my phone, can I connect via Bluetooth and stream/test music that way?

About the adapters... Thanks for the pictures... Good context by @dannycamps on the Gen 2 UMC. Looks like mine should be Gen 1, if it's indeed the car... Do we know why they've dropped the NEMA 14-50?

Sorry to tell you but those are adapters for the Gen 1 UMC which they havent made for years lol..

You now get a Gen 2 UMC which has completely different adapters, and from what i’ve heard from posts the last few months, no NEMA 14-50 adapter

Hopefully he still gets the J1772

I also realize some people seem to prefer the USB music route, but i just don’t see the point when most people already have all of their music on their smartphones. You can try and argue that the quality is better, but I can tell you that as an audiophile it’s almost impossible to tell the difference now, and the convenience outweighs the perceived increase in quality. Just make sure you download and/or stream at the highest setting and it will sound great!

Thank you Lectric, same streaming question for you that I asked Russell, is there any downside playing music from my phone via BT? I assume outside of quality, I should be able to test the car?

You get what's in the car. If the car still has the original UMC (Gen 1), that's what you will get. If the UMC is missing, Tesla will give you a new UMC (Gen 2) possibly without the NEMA 14-50 adapter.

Always good stuff Danny... Thanks!

I read about the blacklisting on this forum and it spooked me quite a bit as well. I actually cancelled the order on the car i bought and then reordered it after the price dropped another ~$7k. I was really concerned to cancel/walk away on day of delivery because I didn't want to fall into that group. I'm not sure how many times you need to do it to get blacklisted, but its low single digits.

You can do the inspection prior to signing anything. They're super chill about it and give you as much time as you want (at least at Marina Del Ray where i picked up two). They'll give you the keys (no test drive) and leave you alone with the car to make your decision.

Hoping for the inspection before signing too! My delivery manager sounds very nice and fast!

as I read through this thread (and others), it does speak to how tremendous a product Tesla has created.
- Zero marketing/advertising
- Cant test drive before buying
- Cant take the car to a independent shop for a PPI
- Often times, subpar customer service
- Reports of Tesla yanking back features that were once on the car


Despite the above (and more)...demand remains extremely high for the product.

Incredible statement there my friend, and one I've said too in many ways as I've gone through learnings from you guys and my follow up questions! Can't help ourselves haha...

So exciting Fragger!

Congrats!
It's going to be a super fun day.

My experience:
They let me inspect my car before signing. I don't think that they suggested otherwise, but if they insist you buy it before you get to inspect it, just walk away. I believe that they dropped the deposit to $100 now didn't they? That's pretty cheap.

I wouldn't get too hung up on which version the battery is, but would be more concerned with how much degradation does it have. I decided before I flew to Vegas to pick mine up, that as long as it had less than 10% degradation I would be ok, but any more and I would walk away. I asked them to please update the software and have it fully charged at my pick up time. I wanted to see the range so I could make sure the battery degradation was acceptable, and I had a 450 mile drive ahead of me to get home. The range for my P85D new was 253 miles. My car fully charged showed 239 miles - 6.6% loss after 60k miles. That was well within my deal breaker range.

They showed me around the car for maybe 5 minutes and then left me alone to figure out how it all worked and look it over. After about a half hour I went back up front and signed the paperwork. Mine was flawless and clean - freshly washed. It was better than I had expected.

I had a sh*t eating grin the whole drive home. Getting to the point of buying it was frustrating, but once I got to the dealership and into my new Tesla I couldn't have been happier.

Here is my advise:
Decide before you go what might be a deal breaker. If you spot one, try to get them to agree to fix it - IN WRITING!
They are selling you the car as-is, so understand that it's not likely going to be perfect and they aren't likely going to bend over backwards to make it so. If you see something that you didn't expect but you can live with it, try to get them to fix it. If they won't then at least you tried. If they agree to fix it at a later time, get it in writing. You've been lurking and posting enough that you should know that Tesla is of late perhaps not the most trustworthy. If it's in writing, then you don't need to trust.

If you find it isn't what you thought, or that the battery fully charged has more degradation than you feel good about, or it smells like a wet dog or dirty ash tray, or whatever you can't live with - just walk away. Don't feel pressured to buy it if it isn't the right car. Also, don't walk away from a great car over something trivial. They are AMAZING cars and so much fun to drive.

Best of luck!
I can't wait to see some pictures!

Thank you Geek, great post my friend!

New deposit is $100, yes... Free money for Tesla as I think cancelations happen often...

My deal breakers so far are two:

1. If Tesla actually gives me an 85 battery, when the car pictures showed 90 on the badge and cluster... Then I walk away.

2. The tricky thing and the question for all of you on battery degradation is:

If my car had a battery change to a 90, without knowing when it was changed, cause service won't tell you.. How do I determine the % of degradation?

3. Can the 85 cars have a software increased 90 capacity? That's what one of the sales guy told me.

4. If the car is charged 100%, can I trust the car's cluster for true range I have? Or do I still have to do manual math?

Good call on the due bill! I'm not sure if they'll do this in this contact less delivery times...?

 

[Geek190]

#1 Totally agree! You put down the deposit on a car advertised as a 90kw car. If it was an 85 I would definitely walk.

#2 That is tricky! Range was either 288 or 294 (non-P) depending on the year. You should be able to figure out the year by looking at the sticker. Turn the wheels all the way to the left and look behind the passenger front tire. You might have to pull back on the fender liner a little, but it's right there. Google the part number or search the forums, you should be able to find out the year and then determine the rated miles when new.

#3 No. That sales guy is full of it.

#4 No and no. The range shown on the cluster is just a calculation, most often not attainable, but it should give you a good indication of degradation. However, you don't have to do the math to figure out if you can get to your destination. If you use the navigate feature, it will calculate your route including the terrain and let you know if you've got enough juice. It will tell you how much battery% you'll have when you get there and will also include stops at superchargers if need be. It's usually very accurate. The 2 things it doesn't account for are headwinds and weather. The colder it is the less distance you can go. I imagine that's not going to be a problem for you though.

Don't let the covid be their excuse to not get it in writing. You'll be signing the purchase agreement papers. Have them print on the paperwork the things you make them agree to before you sign. Hopefully the last is a moot point and there will be nothing you find to complain about.

 

[Fragger]

#1 Totally agree! You put down the deposit on a car advertised as a 90kw car. If it was an 85 I would definitely walk.

#2 That is tricky! Range was either 288 or 294 (non-P) depending on the year. You should be able to figure out the year by looking at the sticker. Turn the wheels all the way to the left and look behind the passenger front tire. You might have to pull back on the fender liner a little, but it's right there. Google the part number or search the forums, you should be able to find out the year and then determine the rated miles when new.

#3 No. That sales guy is full of it.

#4 No and no. The range shown on the cluster is just a calculation, most often not attainable, but it should give you a good indication of degradation. However, you don't have to do the math to figure out if you can get to your destination. If you use the navigate feature, it will calculate your route including the terrain and let you know if you've got enough juice. It will tell you how much battery% you'll have when you get there and will also include stops at superchargers if need be. It's usually very accurate. The 2 things it doesn't account for are headwinds and weather. The colder it is the less distance you can go. I imagine that's not going to be a problem for you though.

Don't let the covid be their excuse to not get it in writing. You'll be signing the purchase agreement papers. Have them print on the paperwork the things you make them agree to before you sign. Hopefully the last is a moot point and there will be nothing you find to complain about.

# 2 is an important step tomorrow, bud... Need to find a video or something that shows me exactly where to find it and how... Didn't know the battery part show the year too?

3. Are you saying this was never an option? And the only way to go from 85 to 90 is with a physical battery swap?

4. Yeah I was more asking about the cluster visualization for degradation assessment, not the trip range. Thank you for the pointer on navigating to find the superchargers...

Hope I never need this info to back out!

 

[dannycamps]

4. Yeah I was more asking about the cluster visualization for degradation assessment, not the trip range. Thank you for the pointer on navigating to find the superchargers...

When you get in the car, the battery gauge on the cluster will be set to either show remaining mileage or percentage. In the settings menu you can toggle between the two. You need to find out what the current range is in both % and miles. From there it's a simple calculation to find what the expected range at 100% will be. It's not entirely accurate but it will be a good enough indication of degradation.

Using my 85D as an example because I am too tired to do any real math right now (1:45 am), when I picked up the car it was charged to 90% and showing 241 miles remaining. This worked out to 265 miles at 100%. The car was originally rated for 270 EPA miles. This worked out to be 2% degradation which was fine.

To answer your streaming question, of course you can connect your phone to the car via BT and stream audio. Works perfectly fine.

 

[Fragger]

When you get in the car, the battery gauge on the cluster will be set to either show remaining mileage or percentage. In the settings menu you can toggle between the two. You need to find out what the current range is in both % and miles. From there it's a simple calculation to find what the expected range at 100% will be. It's not entirely accurate but it will be a good enough indication of degradation.

Using my 85D as an example because I am too tired to do any real math right now (1:45 am), when I picked up the car it was charged to 90% and showing 241 miles remaining. This worked out to 265 miles at 100%. The car was originally rated for 270 EPA miles. This worked out to be 2% degradation which was fine.

To answer your streaming question, of course you can connect your phone to the car via BT and stream audio. Works perfectly fine.

Danny to save the day, as always! I'll keep you posted.

Special shout out to @Geek190! Dude is a gem of a community member! He's helped me out so much offline!

 

[captjoemcd]

so......how’s it go?!?!?!

 

[dannycamps]

@Fragger,

Did you take delivery? How was the car/delivery experience? What does the battery look like in terms of range? What are your initial thoughts and impressions of the car? Photos?

Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[Fragger]

Hello @dannycamps and friends,

Forgive my absence for a few days... As the bright minds might have concluded, I did take delivery and then got lost in the wonders of Tesla! It was a very long day, unexpected things, but I think I'd do it again! Let me bullet out the experience:

- Arrived early, no one there (they're doing touch less deliveries).

- She was parked out in the lot and I could spot her from half a mile away. Delivery Manager told me to car her when I got there, but I deliberately didn't till I did the walk around.

- About 30 seconds in, the surprises started. I wasn't expecting the car to be perfect, but the sales people told me for over a month that if there is damage on the car, they would take detailed pictures of it. There were no pictures like that, but damage was in fact there, pretty much in all corners.

- Gash on rear bumper, peeled nose cone paint, small scratches, poorly touched paint and fills and minor wheel rash on two wheels.

- Then became a 3 to 4 hour journey of phone calls and waiting in the parking lot under the burning Texas sun. My delivery manager and the sales person were both very nice, but both did not know the next steps required for this surprise and it became a triangle of communication between us 3 with me being man in the middle.

- Honestly, they were nice, but no other luxury car company would behave no aloof and instead of one of them taking the lead, I literally had to please, lead, suggest my way through for the next to 4 hours!

- What I was looking for was, what can they make right? Or do I have to walk away?

- Every little thing required a phone call or emails or texts... Damage pictures email to one, text to another, follow up calls when haven't heard for 20+ minutes (keep in mind, we're in the parking lot with blazing sun and no shade), asking random guys working in the lot questions and they don't know what's going on and never once offered or asked, "Can we help you two?" (the only two people in the lot)

- 2 hours of dog and pony show of manager approvals and my sales guy says we will only fix the bumper. I pleaded and he apologized, but said everything else is wear...

- I Gretzky'd things and called my Delivery Manager on site who made calls to her service guys and they decided to throw in a few more items to fix. Nose cone, wheel rash, and one scratched door was added.

- Finally the car was unlocked after 2 hours (we didn't get to walk away... No lunch, no bathroom)

- Found some other damage like visor mirror covers broken, they added that to the list if fixes

- ~3 hours later, we get keys, another 30 to 40 minutes to get stuff added to Due Bill (which I never got the copy for) but they did document with pictures

- Final fix was washer fluid wasn't there, so the dude added some, I confirmed it wasn't a bum motor and we finally went on our way...

- Car does has some creeks in the interior, but drove perfectly...! All that they say about the car giving you joy is absolutely true.. And all they they say about your wanting hers... Is also true !

- We Supercharged for about 40 minutes in a remote stop. Got some stares and pointing, and knew that we were officially part of the Tesla family.

Two days later... I do have a generic looking email in the Tesla app schedule service, but has no details to it whatsoever, and I don't know where to begin...

Sales and Delivery Manager have not been heard from... I'm sure it's these crazy times and I won't get screwed here...

Above all, I had CONSTANT support and contact from my friend @Geek190! I cannot tell you guys what a gem he has been to me and I'm sure to this community!

Please look forward to more and more stupid questions from me in the future, thank you all!!

Speaking of stupid questions, here's one:

Are the AP1 cars capable of parking themselves in a narrow single car garage with little to nothing inside the garage? It's just narrow.

If so, can someone share detailed steps on how to do this safely and more preferably a video if this exercise?

I'm also thinking about getting set up with a NEMA 14-50 outlet by next week...