Demo Debacle

[cancoi]

Greetings! We found a local demo MYLR (VIN 174XXX) as I was nervous about losing radar. (I've driven my MIL's MYLR a number of times and like it). Put down the deposit, got everything in place including financing. We're in the car heading for delivery and get a call that pre-inspection showed a dent in the trunk; it needs to go to for repeair and delivery rescheduled. Won't know more until tomorrow as it's Sunday and the body shop isn't open. They were unable to say how it happened. Husband decided we should go see the car, if nothing else to see the extent of the damage. We arrive; our SA says that the car is already at one of the other contracted body shops. They'll be in touch Monday. No response Monday and I call at 5:30 pm as folllow-up; SA states she was too busy [they are really busy right now] but will call in AM.

I'm wondering if there is more to this and if the car was damaged more than they are letting on. Anything else to consider? Ask? Thanks in advance.

 

[angus[Y]oung]

FYI @cancoi, even units with radar hardware won't get to keep the functionality indefinitely. It sounds like software updates are only a few weeks away that will disable radar in favor of Tesla's vision-only approach. If you would prefer to wait for a brand-new (non-demo) unit, I don't think I'd let the radar/no-radar be the deciding factor. If you need the vehicle quite soon and can't wait for custom-order, and/or they are providing you a nice discount on the demo, then it may still be worth your while. In the end, that will of course be a personal decision.

 

[Celeritas]

How many miles and what type of discount did they offer?

 

[uberAsian]

srlawren is right, even if your car has the radar, they can disable it anytime as it would be too much time, effort, money to maintain software upgrades for it down the road.

As for the damage, that is exactly why I'm staying away from demo vehicles. You're getting ripped off in price and you don't know what could possibly be wrong with the vehicle as it was used as a demo and most likely driven really hard.

 

[DanDi58]

As for the damage, that is exactly why I'm staying away from demo vehicles. You're getting ripped off in price and you don't know what could possibly be wrong with the vehicle as it was used as a demo and most likely driven really hard.

How would you know, she never mentioned a price. And the car has a full warranty. @cancoi Try and see where it was taken, perhaps you can visit it at the body shop and see what the damage is like. They would probably be more forthcoming about the damage than Tesla might.

 

[cancoi]

Thanks for the feedback. I did receive more info: Evidently, a car door hit the rear left side before, at, and after the charger. Paint was scratched but charger door was open & now gone. Per the manager, no body damage; just surface scratches but will require a replacement charger door. (Also, the car was not charging, so no damage to the chargers themselves.) Will mull it over. I think we've missed the big car delivery for this quarter, so we'd be waiting a bit. I may reach out to see if they happen to have any more demos.

 

[DanDi58]

Thanks for the feedback. I did receive more info: Evidently, a car door hit the rear left side before, at, and after the charger. Paint was scratched but charger door was open & now gone. Per the manager, no body damage; just surface scratches but will require a replacement charger door. (Also, the car was not charging, so no damage to the chargers themselves.) Will mull it over. I think we've missed the big car delivery for this quarter, so we'd be waiting a bit. I may reach out to see if they happen to have any more demos.

Sounds like a fairly straightforward fix. Hope all goes well.

 

[MP3Mike]

And the car has a full warranty.

Well yeah. But that warranty started the day it became a demo vehicle. So how long it has been a demo vehicle and how many miles are on it matter a lot. (I recall reading that someone bought a demo vehicle that was ~3 years old, and he was really surprised a year later when they wouldn't repair anything under warranty because the vehicle was 4 years old even though he, as the first owner, had only owned it for a year.)

 

[angus[Y]oung]

Well yeah. But that warranty started the day it became a demo vehicle. So how long it has been a demo vehicle and how many miles are on it matter a lot. (I recall reading that someone bought a demo vehicle that was ~3 years old, and he was really surprised a year later when they wouldn't repair anything under warranty because the vehicle was 4 years old even though he, as the first owner, had only owned it for a year.)

They don't start the warranty by purchase date? I'm pretty sure most manufacturers do it that way. Though, Tesla does like to be different....

 

[MP3Mike]

They don't start the warranty by purchase date? I'm pretty sure most manufacturers do it that way. Though, Tesla does like to be different....

Nope:

 

[DanDi58]

Well yeah. But that warranty started the day it became a demo vehicle. So how long it has been a demo vehicle and how many miles are on it matter a lot. (I recall reading that someone bought a demo vehicle that was ~3 years old, and he was really surprised a year later when they wouldn't repair anything under warranty because the vehicle was 4 years old even though he, as the first owner, had only owned it for a year.)

Well considering the VIN of 174xxx, it's not that old.

 

[uberAsian]

How would you know, she never mentioned a price. And the car has a full warranty. @cancoi Try and see where it was taken, perhaps you can visit it at the body shop and see what the damage is like. They would probably be more forthcoming about the damage than Tesla might.

Have you seen the prices of the demo vehicles? The prices are ridiculous across the board. You can easily knock of thousands of a demo vehicle from BMW, Audi, or Mercedes.

 

[DanDi58]

Have you seen the prices of the demo vehicles? The prices are ridiculous across the board. You can easily knock of thousands of a demo vehicle from BMW, Audi, or Mercedes.

Supply and demand, my friend.