Honestly, I want mine now, warts and all.... I'm so tired of reading these forums. I just want to go drive. Now my September delivery is looking like November at best (Sig #802), so a weekend at the beach for my first long drive is looking more and more unlikely. And I'm starting to think I should downgrade to the 19" wheels since we had no snow here in the mid-Atlantic last winter. I'm sure we're in for an ugly amount of snow and I don't have much faith in those 21"wheels. Arrrgh!
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Arnold Panz
Model Sig 304, VIN 542
I wouldn't give up hope just yet. If your pre-MVPA says September, you should assume that's correct until/unless you hear otherwise from Tesla. One post from one person on an internet forum shouldn't be taken as the truth (no offense!). Tesla has every incentive to let people know as soon as possible if they know they're not going to meet their delivery commitments, especially for people who have already signed off on a non-refundable $10k!
I think we'll know a bit more after Wednesday when they have their earnings announcement, letter to shareholders, and conference call. I've got to imagine, given all the chatter about delays, that at least one analyst will ask the question about the 5000 vehicles, deliveries expected in August/Sept/Oct etc. Don't give up hope until Tesla has given you a reason to do so, internet chatter notwithstanding. If Sig Special #18x doesn't get the car until October, Tesla has BIG problems. Unless they announce that on Wednesday, I think we can easily dismiss that as bad information.
What Tesla got nearly perfect based on feedback from test drivers is handling and performance. No news there. Ok here is where I start to get myself into trouble. Maybe if the fit and finish is less perfect, this makes selling the performance and battery technology to other car companies more attractive. If Tesla truly makes the perfect car, maybe other car companies will feel the niche is full, nothing for them to improve on, and Tesla will have more trouble selling the technology to those other companies. Not having the fit and finish perfect creates an opportunity for other car manufactures and strangely Tesla too.
Am I suggesting that Tesla purposely leave flaws? No. Where this leads to is a question of priorities, timing, and the danger of seeking the "perfect car" I read somewhere something like it takes 50% of the time to get to 80% perfection and whole other 50% to get that last 20%. So what makes sense when timing and resources are limited, is to prioritize. Sure Tesla might want to get close to 100% on their highest priorities (performance, handling, efficiency for example), but they might want to decide only to go for 80 or 85 in other areas such as fit and finish. The upside to this approach is drivers get their cars sooner, the company becomes profitable sooner, and an opening is left where Tela strategically leaves it creating future opportunities as mentioned in the above paragraph. The trick, especially in this high end of a product is to make sure nothing is below that 80% or else any short term gains will be more than lost in long term reputation.
I am sure many will disagree with this suggested approach, starting with Elon himself, but I wanted to put it out there to broaden the discussion.
Am I suggesting that Tesla purposely leave flaws? No. Where this leads to is a question of priorities, timing, and the danger of seeking the "perfect car" I read somewhere something like it takes 50% of the time to get to 80% perfection and whole other 50% to get that last 20%. So what makes sense when timing and resources are limited, is to prioritize. Sure Tesla might want to get close to 100% on their highest priorities (performance, handling, efficiency for example), but they might want to decide only to go for 80 or 85 in other areas such as fit and finish. The upside to this approach is drivers get their cars sooner, the company becomes profitable sooner, and an opening is left where Tela strategically leaves it creating future opportunities as mentioned in the above paragraph. The trick, especially in this high end of a product is to make sure nothing is below that 80% or else any short term gains will be more than lost in long term reputation.
I am sure many will disagree with this suggested approach, starting with Elon himself, but I wanted to put it out there to broaden the discussion.
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What about the protective armour layer. I noticed the lines on the white car from far away.
Is it worth even having this discussion? At least the car I test drove was clearly pre-production and had numerous glaring issues and unfinished work. And I'm OK with that, because as I was told by Tesla the interior was done by hand. I'd think the general production cars coming off the assembly line will be much more complete.
These are the same cars being shown to the press, (returnable) deposit holders and potential customers. Many reviewers are desparate to pick fault with the Model S. At the very least, comparisons are being drawn against other competing 'premium sedans' made by Audi, Mercedes, Porsche and BMW. Putting something out with questionable fit and finish seems a little dangerous, even if it is under the caveat of not being a general production car (which I though the Amped car were).
I'm not trying to knock Tesla or pick fault, I have a massive respect for the company and Musk, and want the model S to succeed (obviously, I have a reservaton and hold stock). But I think in the cynicle world we live in, they need to be a little more catious. As many of the Telsa employees have said, they're a company of 'car nuts', and that's very evident with the quality of the drive. I just hope that doesn't also reveal a lower priority in internal fit and finish, as you cannot do that when you're playing in the same league as the big German manufacturers.
I'm not trying to knock Tesla or pick fault, I have a massive respect for the company and Musk, and want the model S to succeed (obviously, I have a reservaton and hold stock). But I think in the cynicle world we live in, they need to be a little more catious. As many of the Telsa employees have said, they're a company of 'car nuts', and that's very evident with the quality of the drive. I just hope that doesn't also reveal a lower priority in internal fit and finish, as you cannot do that when you're playing in the same league as the big German manufacturers.
tnawara
Member
Maybe it's just the angle of the photograph, but that doesn't look good to me at all. There's a significant black border in the upper left (above the temperature) and none in the upper right (above the time display).
Paint armor is a separate issue to paint. The paint quality is great. The armor that I've seen has only been on the white, and there's no way in hell I'd buy it for a white car. On the darker colors, it might be fine.
EarlyAdopter
Active Member
The first 10,000 Model S will sell for what it is. The next 10,000 for how it is. They have time to iron out all the little details.
gg_got_a_tesla
Model S: VIN 65513, Model 3: VIN 1913
Regarding telltale paint armor lines on test drive cars, unless I was half-asleep late in the evening while catching up on all of cinergi's videos on the NY Get Amped thread and dreamt this up, I believe he had a video of one of the darker paint cars showing the paint armor line on the hood. I think it was noticeable at close range; may not be so from a distance.
Todd Burch
14-Year Member
I absolutely agree.
I think Tesla made a mistake here. There are two possibilities:
1. If they truly were rushed, half-baked assemblies, it concerns me as a shareholder and as a customer that these were put out under the guise of production cars. Tesla should have called them "final design, but assembly betas" or something similar, for all the reasons Pete mentions. VERY dangerous. First impressions are extremely important. I'm hoping this is the case.
2. On the other hand, if they weren't rushed, then the car's not up to par (hope this is not the case).
Todd Burch
14-Year Member
I mostly agree...but if the first 10,000 have quality issues that we saw in the test drive cars, there may not BE a next 10,000!
strider
Active Member
You can see pics of my Blue Roadster w/ PPF here: Model S Exterior: Paint Armor
If you keep the wax from building up it is nearly invisible.
AustinPowers
Total Smeghead
Exactly. Especially as we are talking mainly about US customers at the moment.
And no offence, but when it comes to a lack in build quality, you Americans (ok, generalization, but from what I have experienced it at least seems to be true for many) seem to be far more...forgiving, shall we say, than customers in Europe (and possibly the rest of the world too). Here, build quality is of the essence. A car that has noticable flaws can ruin the image of a company. See Opel for example. They had cars with crappy fit and finish for some years, and now they are on the brink of going under - even though now their cars are finally up to par again. Tragic irony.
SCW-Greg
Active Member
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