Fremont delivery - car refused

[johnnymars]

Sounds like Tesla production is the equal of Chryslers of the '70's. The problem will correct itself when Elon replaces workers with robots. Elon's biggest folly is trying to release a car without adequately road testing it. YOU, the first responders, are the beta testers. WTF? The Chevy Volt got 750,000 miles of testing before it was available for sale. Mine has held up marvelously over 66k miles, with no range anxiety and 5 star safety and reliability. The 3 is a basically a big battery connected to a big electric motor, served with a side of panache. If the Model S is only average in reliability, how reliable will a de-contented 3 be? And what if there's a major safety recall? It'll most likely bust the company. YOU GO FIRST....

 

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Sounds like Tesla production is the equal of Chryslers of the '70's. The problem will correct itself when Elon replaces workers with robots. Elon's biggest folly is trying to release a car without adequately road testing it. YOU, the first responders, are the beta testers. WTF? The Chevy Volt got 750,000 miles of testing before it was available for sale. Mine has held up marvelously over 66k miles, with no range anxiety and 5 star safety and reliability. The 3 is a basically a big battery connected to a big electric motor, served with a side of panache. If the Model S is only average in reliability, how reliable will a de-contented 3 be? And what if there's a major safety recall? It'll most likely bust the company. YOU GO FIRST....

So you own a Volt, and what you've decided to do above anything else is hop into TMC and pump out negativity?

I'll believe it when you post a picture of you in your Volt with a screenshot of this thread on your laptop it phone.

 

[israndy]

It's funny, I seem to have eyes that just gloss over when people start writing like that... I move on to the interesting details about our new cars and how they are doing. Cannot get enough of the excitement around the Model 3, perhaps that why he is on our board. It really is an amazing time for Tesla.

-Randy

 

[P85ATL]

OMG,
Everyone who is betting against Elon Musk over the last 20 years has been wrong. If you don’t believe that these are solvable issues along the way to changing history then you have not been paying attention. This is a person who has reinvented banking, reinvented space travel, and reinvented the auto industry. I’m on my third Tesla, all with very early vins, and though the model 3 is not as luxurious as our model S or model X, it is revolutionary and eye-catching. But in terms of Tesla, and the kind of company it is, let me recount this story that has never been duplicated at any other car dealership ever and exemplifies the type of car company Tesla strives to be.

I took delivery of my Model 3 (Vin number 2204) in January. It was perfect, all the fit and finish was spot on. The delivery process was unlike any delivery process that I’d ever had with any new car the past. It was at a special location dedicated to deliveries, well away from the hustle and bustle of a traditional car dealership.

Two days later a rock hit my windshield and cracked it. I was so upset. I called Tesla and requested they replace windshield. Of course they did not have any Model 3 windshields at that time but called the factory and ordered one for me. It was a tiny crack so I continued to drive the car.

Two weeks later I received a call that the windshield was in and we scheduled the service visit. When I arrived I was told It was gonna take a day so they gave me a loaner. A brand new P 100 D! Ouch. That’s a nice car. And if you get a loaner from a dealership do you ever get a brand new top-of-the-line vehicle? Like if you’re bringing your BMW 3 series, do they give you a 7 series loaner? No. Never from my BMW dealer. Anyway, that’s not the best part of story.

Flash Forward and the car is all fixed and I’m in the dealer and I’m getting ready to pay for it and The total invoice for the replacement was $1000. Actually not as bad as I was fearing. $500 for the windshield and $500 for the labor. And they mentioned that, because I wanted to pick up the car ASAP, they did not have time to wash the car so the next time they would wash my car for me. I said well, maybe in exchange for the car wash he would just give me the windshield for free. The manager chuckled and let me finish my paperwork with the service person. But he came back a few minutes later and told me that they were going to revise the invoice because they were going to give me the labor for free! They took $500 off of my bill! Wow. That has never ever happened before. and frankly, this was not the first time that they fixef something and not charge me. Yes, that’s right, there have been things along the way but mostly minor things. And now they do many of those repairs in the field. No other car company sends technicians to your house to replace anything.

In conclusion, I imagine that mine is not the only experience like this. I’m not that special. But Tesla is. In every way. From the way the car performs, to the way the car is charged, the way the service happens. Of course nothing is perfect and every once in a while there are going to be outlier experiences. But I can say is that I hope to never go back to a dealer other than Tesla. The entire Tesla experience is so much more pleasurable then any other car purchasing/service experience I have had over the past 40 years, that I actually miss not going to the service center. That’s something I never thought I would say.

 

[P85ATL]

Your experience is very similar to mine during the three years of Tesla ownership. When I first bought our preowned 2013 S P85 it only had one key fob. I went to Tesla SC and planned to purchase two key fobs. The man said "Do you own an iphone? Then you don't need two key fobs." I can use the iphone to drive the car by entering it's password from my phone. They always gave me loaners much newer than my S. They even let me have an X loaner last time as they did not have an X customer needing one at the moment. All these service visits? No most were annual (my choice) visits and the last was the almost obligatory (several of our other cars) Takata airbag recall. The Tesla people with whom I have dealt have been as exemplary as the cars.

 

[P85ATL]

P85ATL:

I own a 2015 P90D. I base my comments on the history I've experienced, not what I've read. Here goes.

When the car was a few months old, the main 90Kw battery was found to be defective, but they wouldn't simply replace it. Despite my repeated requests, they said that was not how Tesla did it. They said it had to be shipped back to CA and be "re-manufactured" and they installed a loaner battery. Estimated time was 4 - 6 weeks "depending on how backed-up the remanufacturing process is".

It arrived 6 months later.

When installed back in my car and diagnostics run, it was found to be defective, it could not hold a charge. They hadn't run diagnostics before sending it back. It took another month and the people at the SC acting as my advocates arguing with the people at Tesla HQ, but they finally got their policy overturned and agreed to install a new 90Kw battery. I know for a fact that it's a new battery as the design had changed and to put a new battery into an older car required an adapter kit. They failed to send that kit with the battery, so there was a further delay.

So, fast forward to more recent time. Around Thanksgiving we had family visiting from Houston, and they wanted to go for a ride in the Tesla, so I went into the garage to get the car out. The drivers door handle would not extend. All the others worked. So I had to open the passengers door and go feet first over the center console to get into the drivers seat and take the car to Tesla. When I got notice that the replacement door handle was installed, I went to get the car. As I was signing off on the paperwork, the service person said "Your car was one of 5 that we replaced handles on today". Great. TMI.

A month later the airbag warning light came on. I called Tesla, and they said to get the car to them asap. They later explained that when that symbol is on, the entire airbag system is shut down. They found that the airbag's wiring harness had failed and they ordered a replacement. When it arrived, there was a problem. The harness that arrived was the correct part number, but it was the wrong harness, and it wouldn't connect. This took a couple of weeks for them to figure out and with Christmas and New Years happening, I was in a brand new loaner car for a number of weeks.

While driving that loaner, I noticed that the heated seat cushion was significantly hotter than the one in my car, and as I thought about it, I couldn't ever remember feeling much heat from the cushion. When I turned the loaner car in I asked if they had upgraded the heated seats, or could my car have a problem. They checked and said that the heated seat in my car was defective. To correct the problem they couldn't just replace the heating element, or just replace the seat cushion, but rather they had to replace the entire drivers seat. When I heard that I said "OMG -- how much would that cost if it wasn't under warranty?" The service person said "I don't know -- all the ones we've replaced have been under warranty". The important words there are "all the ones". I asked how long it would take to get a replacement and they said 4 to 6 weeks.

Realize that was in early January. We now are at the end of March, and the seat has yet to appear. And, from when my car was built and now, the stitching pattern on the seats is different. And, my car has a gray interior, and Tesla stopped making gray interiors last year, so I have no idea what's going to show up. But that's not my problem. While my lease doesn't finish until the end of September, I'm dumping it, making a large lump sum payment to pay the remaining months, and turning it in next week.

I've driven S class Mercedes for the last 20 years. I know how they treat their customers. When I spend $120,000 for a Tesla, I shouldn't have to put up with all these problems, complications and delays. Owning the Tesla was fun at first, but no more. I'm going back to Mercedes.

 

[P85ATL]

Your experience certainly has been very different from mine. For a Tesla service person to make a comment like that is very surprising to me based on my experience over the last 3 years. Enjoy your Mercedes S class.

 

[P85ATL]

P85ATL:

I own a 2015 P90D. I base my comments on the history I've experienced, not what I've read. Here goes.

When the car was a few months old, the main 90Kw battery was found to be defective, but they wouldn't simply replace it. Despite my repeated requests, they said that was not how Tesla did it. They said it had to be shipped back to CA and be "re-manufactured" and they installed a loaner battery. Estimated time was 4 - 6 weeks "depending on how backed-up the remanufacturing process is".

It arrived 6 months later.

When installed back in my car and diagnostics run, it was found to be defective, it could not hold a charge. They hadn't run diagnostics before sending it back. It took another month and the people at the SC acting as my advocates arguing with the people at Tesla HQ, but they finally got their policy overturned and agreed to install a new 90Kw battery. I know for a fact that it's a new battery as the design had changed and to put a new battery into an older car required an adapter kit. They failed to send that kit with the battery, so there was a further delay.

So, fast forward to more recent time. Around Thanksgiving we had family visiting from Houston, and they wanted to go for a ride in the Tesla, so I went into the garage to get the car out. The drivers door handle would not extend. All the others worked. So I had to open the passengers door and go feet first over the center console to get into the drivers seat and take the car to Tesla. When I got notice that the replacement door handle was installed, I went to get the car. As I was signing off on the paperwork, the service person said "Your car was one of 5 that we replaced handles on today". Great. TMI.

A month later the airbag warning light came on. I called Tesla, and they said to get the car to them asap. They later explained that when that symbol is on, the entire airbag system is shut down. They found that the airbag's wiring harness had failed and they ordered a replacement. When it arrived, there was a problem. The harness that arrived was the correct part number, but it was the wrong harness, and it wouldn't connect. This took a couple of weeks for them to figure out and with Christmas and New Years happening, I was in a brand new loaner car for a number of weeks.

While driving that loaner, I noticed that the heated seat cushion was significantly hotter than the one in my car, and as I thought about it, I couldn't ever remember feeling much heat from the cushion. When I turned the loaner car in I asked if they had upgraded the heated seats, or could my car have a problem. They checked and said that the heated seat in my car was defective. To correct the problem they couldn't just replace the heating element, or just replace the seat cushion, but rather they had to replace the entire drivers seat. When I heard that I said "OMG -- how much would that cost if it wasn't under warranty?" The service person said "I don't know -- all the ones we've replaced have been under warranty". The important words there are "all the ones". I asked how long it would take to get a replacement and they said 4 to 6 weeks.

Realize that was in early January. We now are at the end of March, and the seat has yet to appear. And, from when my car was built and now, the stitching pattern on the seats is different. And, my car has a gray interior, and Tesla stopped making gray interiors last year, so I have no idea what's going to show up. But that's not my problem. While my lease doesn't finish until the end of September, I'm dumping it, making a large lump sum payment to pay the remaining months, and turning it in next week.

I've driven S class Mercedes for the last 20 years. I know how they treat their customers. When I spend $120,000 for a Tesla, I shouldn't have to put up with all these problems, complications and delays. Owning the Tesla was fun at first, but no more. I'm going back to Mercedes.

 

[P85ATL]

Another option to climbing over the console if door handle does not extend and I presume your P90D was an S, would be to reach over and pull the inside door handle. On the S the inside handle will bypass the electronic door mechanism and open the door manually.

 

[Krugerrand]

..because that is all they have been doing the past 50 years plus, it will be a shame if they can't get this right after producing millions of those. A new production line is very similar to the 20 other lines they have done in the last decade, with a few extra automation thrown in.

In the case of Tesla - right from a) assembling the cells, b) the battery tech that gets a very high range and is highly durable, c) the paradigm shift of software driven model, d) electric drive trains with dual motors working in concert to produce the right driving characteristics, e) a completely new software based infotainment system and <drum roll> f) self-driving through machine learning and AI - all of these to be done at less than $50K sale price.


WOW thats a feat, i challenge those amazing panel-fitters and smooth paint finishers - aka legacy dino auto companies - to accomplish what Tesla did.

You guys are all getting twisted on what can be seen outside visually - panel fitment and paint work - forgetting the fact that close to $45k of the $50K price tag is inside the car that cannot be seen by a layman looking at the paint work.

There is a reason why none of the perfect panel-fitters cannot create a 300+ mile, 4.5s, sub $50K, Level 2 AP car. Because, they are down right incompetent on those technologies - atleast as of 2018.

Adding: Tesla has been manufacturing cars from the ground up for just 5 years. Other OEMs for decades. Tesla is on their third model, have continued to put new designs/tech (ie. Fwd, no dash display, battery chemistry, significant reduction of wiring harnesses, door handles...the list is endless) in each model and have multiple engineering changes daily/weekly to keep improving and advancing their cars, not once every 5 years minute changes.

Tesla also is building infrastructure for charging and service worldwide. Is more vertically integrated than any other OEM has been in a half century and is designing and building other products to offer fully sustainable ecosystems all the while growing at an unprecedented rate.

If you’re so focused on a few panel gaps or paint scratches you’ve missed the whole point of Tesla. And before anyone gets their panties in a knot, I’m not suggesting anyone accept seriously flawed vehicles.

The fact remains, Tesla build quality has improved and continues to improve all the while they are doing a crap ton of other things other OEMs can only wish they were capable of. Other OEMs should be perfect with paint and gaps because that’s all they’ve done forever and yet if you’re being fair and looking at other cars with the same scrutiny you’ll see they aren’t perfect either, not even expensive ones.

And if people understood how much more complex Tesla’s body panels are compared to most others (which the average person doesn’t and won’t) you’d be in awe not on the forum nitpicking.

Most of those all up in arms only know to be up in arms because someone else told them they should be and here’s your delivery checklist.

 

[P85ATL]

Adding: Tesla has been manufacturing cars from the ground up for just 5 years. Other OEMs for decades. Tesla is on their third model, have continued to put new designs/tech (ie. Fwd, no dash display, battery chemistry, significant reduction of wiring harnesses, door handles...the list is endless) in each model and have multiple engineering changes daily/weekly to keep improving and advancing their cars, not once every 5 years minute changes.

Tesla also is building infrastructure for charging and service worldwide. Is more vertically integrated than any other OEM has been in a half century and is designing and building other products to offer fully sustainable ecosystems all the while growing at an unprecedented rate.

If you’re so focused on a few panel gaps or paint scratches you’ve missed the whole point of Tesla. And before anyone gets their panties in a knot, I’m not suggesting anyone accept seriously flawed vehicles.

The fact remains, Tesla build quality has improved and continues to improve all the while they are doing a crap ton of other things other OEMs can only wish they were capable of. Other OEMs should be perfect with paint and gaps because that’s all they’ve done forever and yet if you’re being fair and looking at other cars with the same scrutiny you’ll see they aren’t perfect either, not even expensive ones.

And if people understood how much more complex Tesla’s body panels are compared to most others (which the average person doesn’t and won’t) you’d be in awe not on the forum nitpicking.

Most of those all up in arms only know to be up in arms because someone else told them they should be and here’s your delivery checklist.

 

[P85ATL]

Well said. I recently returned from watching one of Elon's other projects lift off from Cape Canaveral at precisely 4:30pm Monday afternoon.

 

[Krugerrand]

Well said. I recently returned from watching one of Elon's other projects lift off from Cape Canaveral at precisely 4:30pm Monday afternoon.

Jealous

 

[ACA Man]

P85ATL:

I own a 2015 P90D. I base my comments on the history I've experienced, not what I've read. Here goes.

When the car was a few months old, the main 90Kw battery was found to be defective, but they wouldn't simply replace it. Despite my repeated requests, they said that was not how Tesla did it. They said it had to be shipped back to CA and be "re-manufactured" and they installed a loaner battery. Estimated time was 4 - 6 weeks "depending on how backed-up the remanufacturing process is".

It arrived 6 months later.

When installed back in my car and diagnostics run, it was found to be defective, it could not hold a charge. They hadn't run diagnostics before sending it back. It took another month and the people at the SC acting as my advocates arguing with the people at Tesla HQ, but they finally got their policy overturned and agreed to install a new 90Kw battery. I know for a fact that it's a new battery as the design had changed and to put a new battery into an older car required an adapter kit. They failed to send that kit with the battery, so there was a further delay.

So, fast forward to more recent time. Around Thanksgiving we had family visiting from Houston, and they wanted to go for a ride in the Tesla, so I went into the garage to get the car out. The drivers door handle would not extend. All the others worked. So I had to open the passengers door and go feet first over the center console to get into the drivers seat and take the car to Tesla. When I got notice that the replacement door handle was installed, I went to get the car. As I was signing off on the paperwork, the service person said "Your car was one of 5 that we replaced handles on today". Great. TMI.

A month later the airbag warning light came on. I called Tesla, and they said to get the car to them asap. They later explained that when that symbol is on, the entire airbag system is shut down. They found that the airbag's wiring harness had failed and they ordered a replacement. When it arrived, there was a problem. The harness that arrived was the correct part number, but it was the wrong harness, and it wouldn't connect. This took a couple of weeks for them to figure out and with Christmas and New Years happening, I was in a brand new loaner car for a number of weeks.

While driving that loaner, I noticed that the heated seat cushion was significantly hotter than the one in my car, and as I thought about it, I couldn't ever remember feeling much heat from the cushion. When I turned the loaner car in I asked if they had upgraded the heated seats, or could my car have a problem. They checked and said that the heated seat in my car was defective. To correct the problem they couldn't just replace the heating element, or just replace the seat cushion, but rather they had to replace the entire drivers seat. When I heard that I said "OMG -- how much would that cost if it wasn't under warranty?" The service person said "I don't know -- all the ones we've replaced have been under warranty". The important words there are "all the ones". I asked how long it would take to get a replacement and they said 4 to 6 weeks.

Realize that was in early January. We now are at the end of March, and the seat has yet to appear. And, from when my car was built and now, the stitching pattern on the seats is different. And, my car has a gray interior, and Tesla stopped making gray interiors last year, so I have no idea what's going to show up. But that's not my problem. While my lease doesn't finish until the end of September, I'm dumping it, making a large lump sum payment to pay the remaining months, and turning it in next week.

I've driven S class Mercedes for the last 20 years. I know how they treat their customers. When I spend $120,000 for a Tesla, I shouldn't have to put up with all these problems, complications and delays. Owning the Tesla was fun at first, but no more. I'm going back to Mercedes.

That's exactly my thought.

We bought a 20111 MB E350 used and other than yearly maintenance, no other problems had popped up.
Yes, we still like our 2014 CPO MS60 but we have gone through 3 visits to their SC, with severe degradation, and they kept saying our battery is normal without acknowledging it's not normal.

This is our first Tesla and will be our last.

 

[Joeski1]

Never in 1000 years had I ever heard of ANY automotive manufacturer offing a new vehicle purchase under a "take it or leave it" policy..

Ridiculous

I thank God for the patience to wait until TESLA finally got things improved for confidence in the MS..

that was in serial #'s 120XXX and up...

if you think the start is rough..

your ride has only just begun!!

Now... who gets stuck with all the problems in the one you rejected?

 

[RedAntisocial]

Never in 1000 years had I ever heard of ....

Methuselah... is that you? I thought we discussed you posting on forums...

Now... who gets stuck with all the problems in the one you rejected?

As is? No one. Tesla will take it back and "remanufacture" the problem parts, or if deemed too much of a problem, they'll tear it down as a learning exercise. It's what they've done in other cases.

 

[Joeski1]

Methuselah... is that you? I thought we discussed you posting on forums...



As is? No one. Tesla will take it back and "re manufacture" the problem parts, or if deemed too much of a problem, they'll tear it down as a learning exercise. It's what they've done in other cases.

Oh.. you mean brand new scrap huh?

Like let the 1st responders chop it up for fun?

ok.. that writes off a few of them...

and they need to crash test a few as well...

in TESLA years... 1000 isn't old! Cause I've seen people posting they've waited like 1000 years for their M3 delivery...

oops! defective... we'll build you another then.. see ya in a month or two!!

hehehehe

 

[mattjs33]

...how much more complex Tesla’s body panels are compared to most others...

Um... What??

 

[Krugerrand]

Um... What??

Thanks for proving my point.

 

[mattjs33]

Thanks for proving my point.

Maybe if you'd care to educate me about how exactly Telsa's body panels are "so much more complex" than any other body panel that might be fitted to any other automobile, rather than being a smartass, I'm listening.

Because nothing I see on any Tesla looks that far out of the ordinary from any other car I've ever seen. Are you talking about the aluminum Model S? Because Audi and Jaguar have extensive experience with that.