I wanted to share some detailed information, some benefits, gotchas, and some warnings for anybody using home delivery from a car hauling truck instead of a Tesla employee driving to you.
First, as a note, I would say if you want the fewest problems you should go to a delivery center. Tesla will pay for a rental car one way to your center of choice (within reason), and this really would be your easiest, least stressful way to get your car.
When my delivery advisor initially contacted me to say that the vehicle I ordered was ready, we worked out that I had a trade-in vehicle that I could not drive to the NY delivery center from where I am. The vehicle wasn't inspected, so it would be illegal for me to drive, and I didn't really want to pay for an inspection just to drive the car to give it to someone else. My delivery advisor let me know that the carrier would be picking up the trade-in, so that was great.
Before Tesla will ship you a car, you must pay for it. So you either need to pay them cash, have your lender send the payment to Tesla, or otherwise arrange for Tesla to be paid in full for the vehicle. If they aren't paid, they aren't going to load the car onto a transport truck for you, so they aren't going to schedule the delivery.
On the topic of delivery schedule, the date on the Tesla site is a placeholder for Tesla and does not reflect the date that you will take delivery of your vehicle. Most of us have noticed the midnight time, which is the first obvious clue that the date is mostly fictitious, but from Tesla's delivery team that date is a very rough guess. Also important is the fact that if the delivery truck has any delays, re-schedules, extra pickups, or anything that prevents your car from being put on that truck, you will be delayed. From what my driver said, they have been delivery a crazy number of cars and bringing drivers from all around the country to help, but it's still not enough. Anything going wrong in the time leading up to your delivery will likely delay it, and there isn't anything you can do about that. They seem to be going in some kind of order, and that's about as good as it's going to get right now. So, if you want your car by a specific date, or you want to have a more firm but still not guaranteed delivery date, you need to get to a delivery center in person.
Deliveries are sourced from one of two places. Your car will either come from a delivery center where it is prepped, looked over, verified, and loaded onto a truck for you, or it will come directly from a shipping port where it may sit for weeks or a month. If your car comes from a shipping port, you should expect that it will still have inventory stickers on the interior and exterior of the vehicle, it will be dirty (it's sitting outside, uncovered), and you will be the first one looking over the vehicle to make sure it's completely up to your standards. The carrier will look over the vehicle to make sure there's no damage and they'll have some paperwork noting anything they don't want to be responsible for. The carrier will also have paperwork for you to sign saying that you received the vehicle and that you accept the condition it is in. Finally, there is an electronic form for you to sign stating you accepted delivery. Once you've signed those two forms, that's that. You now have possession of your new car!
Except that isn't that. Before you can drive your vehicle you need to register it in your state/county/town. For you to be able to do that, you will typically need a Bill of Sale, and the vehicle Title or a Certificate of Title Application, or Certificate of Origin. In my state, all of this needs to be done by you the owner in person. Tesla will ship you these documents, but it is my recommendation that you ask that they ship the documents as close to when you've paid for the vehicle as possible. If you do not have these documents when you take delivery of your vehicle, you may not be able to register your vehicle. If your vehicle is not registered, you can not legally drive your car. Don't attempt to drive an unregistered vehicle, because you can be arrested and your vehicle can be impounded. Ultimately, you want the documents to arrive just before or on the same day as the vehicle.
The problem with the vehicle documentation is that Tesla needs to request them from the California DMV. This is not something Tesla has full control over, so this is a source of possible delays. Mention it to your delivery advisor once you have arranged final payment for the vehicle, and follow up if necessary. As of right now I'm looking at a very expensive car taking up room in my garage that I can not drive on public roads, and I can not describe the feeling of frustration that gives me.
Upon delivery, your vehicle needs to be "marked as delivered" in Tesla's system before it will show up in your account online or in your app. This process has been experiencing delays as more vehicles are being delivered, and while the website and the delivery team may say that it can take up to 24 hours for the vehicle to appear in your account, the truth is that delays of 3-5 days are very common right now. If the vehicle doesn't appear in your account, you can not supercharge your vehicle. Keep this in mind as you drive around, because you can easily get stranded somewhere far away from your home charger and you'll need to find a place to plug in your mobile charger. This applies to those of us that have free supercharging as well, so make sure your car is in your account before taking a road trip.
The delivery hotline people, and the support hotline people can not process this for you, so calling them will only frustrate you. Ask your delivery advisor what their current processing time is, and pad that with a day or two. Like everything, Tesla is suffering from their own sales and production success, which is slowing everything else down. Beware that every single step in the delivery process is an opportunity for delay, and that if anybody before you rejects their car or needs a delivery re-attempt, if a truck breaks down or is delayed, if a driver can't be found, if your advisor goes on vacation, if the various software systems at Tesla are being upgraded, or any other minute detail doesn't go exactly as planned, your delivery will be delayed.
So in summary, it is likely worth your while to take delivery of your car at a delivery center where they will add it to your account, verify your app is working, inspect your car, and give you a more firm (but still not guaranteed) delivery date. When you leave the delivery center you will have a legally drivable vehicle that can supercharge and be accessed from your phone. You will also be able to use your phone as a key instead of only the cards. Delivery centers also walk you through the vehicle's options, features and settings, and they'll answer any questions you might have. Of course, at this point everyone on this forum should know everything about the Model 3, so that's probably less of a feature we're looking for.
First, as a note, I would say if you want the fewest problems you should go to a delivery center. Tesla will pay for a rental car one way to your center of choice (within reason), and this really would be your easiest, least stressful way to get your car.
When my delivery advisor initially contacted me to say that the vehicle I ordered was ready, we worked out that I had a trade-in vehicle that I could not drive to the NY delivery center from where I am. The vehicle wasn't inspected, so it would be illegal for me to drive, and I didn't really want to pay for an inspection just to drive the car to give it to someone else. My delivery advisor let me know that the carrier would be picking up the trade-in, so that was great.
Before Tesla will ship you a car, you must pay for it. So you either need to pay them cash, have your lender send the payment to Tesla, or otherwise arrange for Tesla to be paid in full for the vehicle. If they aren't paid, they aren't going to load the car onto a transport truck for you, so they aren't going to schedule the delivery.
On the topic of delivery schedule, the date on the Tesla site is a placeholder for Tesla and does not reflect the date that you will take delivery of your vehicle. Most of us have noticed the midnight time, which is the first obvious clue that the date is mostly fictitious, but from Tesla's delivery team that date is a very rough guess. Also important is the fact that if the delivery truck has any delays, re-schedules, extra pickups, or anything that prevents your car from being put on that truck, you will be delayed. From what my driver said, they have been delivery a crazy number of cars and bringing drivers from all around the country to help, but it's still not enough. Anything going wrong in the time leading up to your delivery will likely delay it, and there isn't anything you can do about that. They seem to be going in some kind of order, and that's about as good as it's going to get right now. So, if you want your car by a specific date, or you want to have a more firm but still not guaranteed delivery date, you need to get to a delivery center in person.
Deliveries are sourced from one of two places. Your car will either come from a delivery center where it is prepped, looked over, verified, and loaded onto a truck for you, or it will come directly from a shipping port where it may sit for weeks or a month. If your car comes from a shipping port, you should expect that it will still have inventory stickers on the interior and exterior of the vehicle, it will be dirty (it's sitting outside, uncovered), and you will be the first one looking over the vehicle to make sure it's completely up to your standards. The carrier will look over the vehicle to make sure there's no damage and they'll have some paperwork noting anything they don't want to be responsible for. The carrier will also have paperwork for you to sign saying that you received the vehicle and that you accept the condition it is in. Finally, there is an electronic form for you to sign stating you accepted delivery. Once you've signed those two forms, that's that. You now have possession of your new car!
Except that isn't that. Before you can drive your vehicle you need to register it in your state/county/town. For you to be able to do that, you will typically need a Bill of Sale, and the vehicle Title or a Certificate of Title Application, or Certificate of Origin. In my state, all of this needs to be done by you the owner in person. Tesla will ship you these documents, but it is my recommendation that you ask that they ship the documents as close to when you've paid for the vehicle as possible. If you do not have these documents when you take delivery of your vehicle, you may not be able to register your vehicle. If your vehicle is not registered, you can not legally drive your car. Don't attempt to drive an unregistered vehicle, because you can be arrested and your vehicle can be impounded. Ultimately, you want the documents to arrive just before or on the same day as the vehicle.
The problem with the vehicle documentation is that Tesla needs to request them from the California DMV. This is not something Tesla has full control over, so this is a source of possible delays. Mention it to your delivery advisor once you have arranged final payment for the vehicle, and follow up if necessary. As of right now I'm looking at a very expensive car taking up room in my garage that I can not drive on public roads, and I can not describe the feeling of frustration that gives me.
Upon delivery, your vehicle needs to be "marked as delivered" in Tesla's system before it will show up in your account online or in your app. This process has been experiencing delays as more vehicles are being delivered, and while the website and the delivery team may say that it can take up to 24 hours for the vehicle to appear in your account, the truth is that delays of 3-5 days are very common right now. If the vehicle doesn't appear in your account, you can not supercharge your vehicle. Keep this in mind as you drive around, because you can easily get stranded somewhere far away from your home charger and you'll need to find a place to plug in your mobile charger. This applies to those of us that have free supercharging as well, so make sure your car is in your account before taking a road trip.
The delivery hotline people, and the support hotline people can not process this for you, so calling them will only frustrate you. Ask your delivery advisor what their current processing time is, and pad that with a day or two. Like everything, Tesla is suffering from their own sales and production success, which is slowing everything else down. Beware that every single step in the delivery process is an opportunity for delay, and that if anybody before you rejects their car or needs a delivery re-attempt, if a truck breaks down or is delayed, if a driver can't be found, if your advisor goes on vacation, if the various software systems at Tesla are being upgraded, or any other minute detail doesn't go exactly as planned, your delivery will be delayed.
So in summary, it is likely worth your while to take delivery of your car at a delivery center where they will add it to your account, verify your app is working, inspect your car, and give you a more firm (but still not guaranteed) delivery date. When you leave the delivery center you will have a legally drivable vehicle that can supercharge and be accessed from your phone. You will also be able to use your phone as a key instead of only the cards. Delivery centers also walk you through the vehicle's options, features and settings, and they'll answer any questions you might have. Of course, at this point everyone on this forum should know everything about the Model 3, so that's probably less of a feature we're looking for.
