How honest are you about Tesla issues when speaking to friends/family that want to buy a Tesla?

[SammichLover]

We rarely drive on freeways anyway so it’s really of limited use to us.

That's what I'm talking about, it is situational on the "recommend". But I'm puzzled about your free way comments, I use what is effectively AP when I'm not on the freeway (freeway being "highway speed, multiple lane"). The freeway is where use of the E part mostly happens. On 2 lane highways, parkway type stuff, and so on I'm using effectively AP. It is simply the best "lane hold" in the business, nobody is close. On the freeway it might be kinda weird for me now, being used to using signal stalk to lane change. I'd have to drop from AP everything to do that, that right stalk would get a lot more work. I've never tried it for an extended period to be sure. However if you're the type of driver to rarely change lanes anyway, which is 100% valid approach to driving those roads, it would be very similar experience, no?

I'm not ever sure where FSB price is at these days? I gave up trying to track that.

 

[OCR1]

That's what I'm talking about, it is situational on the "recommend". But I'm puzzled about your free way comments, I use what is effectively AP when I'm not on the freeway (freeway being "highway speed, multiple lane"). The freeway is where use of the E part mostly happens. On 2 lane highways, parkway type stuff, and so on I'm using effectively AP. It is simply the best "lane hold" in the business, nobody is close. On the freeway it might be kinda weird for me now, being used to using signal stalk to lane change. I'd have to drop from AP everything to do that, that right stalk would get a lot more work. I've never tried it for an extended period to be sure. However if you're the type of driver to rarely change lanes anyway, which is 100% valid approach to driving those roads, it would be very similar experience, no?

I’m in the minority on this forum with regards to my satisfaction with AP/FSD but I simply have not had a good experience with it. I was using it last weekend driving down Pacific Coast Highway, a two lane road along the coast. Suddenly a left turn lane appeared and the car got confused and swerved into the left turn lane rather than just staying in the existing lane. I had to manually yank the car back in place. A Prius driver pulled up next to me afterward, rolled his window down, and said “were you driving on autopilot when your car just swerved off the road?” We have so many Teslas around here that these incidents are pretty common.

My car phantom brakes, and sometimes just forgets to stop when there is a car in front of me. It drives in other people’s blind spots, it brakes aggressively for no reason...I could go on and on. I just haven’t enjoyed using it.

 

[seattlite2004]

...
It is simply the best "lane hold" in the business, nobody is close.
....

Lots of nags, but the Audi's Adaptive Cruise Assist looks centers in staight and turns....I think the E-Tron has this system:

 

[Msjulie]

I’m in the minority on this forum with regards to my satisfaction with AP/FSD but I simply have not had a good experience with it

Well I share your feelings though I had higher hopes. The more the car tries to take over for me, the less satisfied I have been with it's competence. Phantom braking, erratic lane holding... I continue to hold onto the belief it will improve but... not yet, not for me

 

[30seconds]

I tell people that it’s the best car I have ever owned (after plenty of BMWs and Audis), that I have had no issues at all with it, it’s full every morning, I don’t go to gas stations and autopilot make the commute much much easier.

And having recently test driven some new German cars with a friend, that Tesla is miles ahead of everyone else in terms of technology.

 

[posity]

My elevator speech:
1) Comfortable
2) Incredible visibility
3) Quickest car I've ever driven (and I drive a 1000+ HP drag boat). Performance 0-60 in 2.9 seconds
4) Enough range to drive entire length of Oregon
5) Supercharger recharges at 400 MPH, soon will be 1000 MPH. 20 minutes = another 3 hours range.
6) Superchargers located throughout the state - essentially unlimited range, just like your gas car
7) Just plug it in at home and forget about it.
8) No gas stations. Costing me about $25/month for electricity, a fraction of my gas bills.
8) This is the future

 

[Austindude]

My elevator speech:
1) Comfortable
2) Incredible visibility
3) Quickest car I've ever driven (and I drive a 1000+ HP drag boat). Performance 0-60 in 2.9 seconds
4) Enough range to drive entire length of Oregon
5) Supercharger recharges at 400 MPH, soon will be 1000 MPH. 20 minutes = another 3 hours range.
6) Superchargers located throughout the state - essentially unlimited range, just like your gas car
7) Just plug it in at home and forget about it.
8) No gas stations. Costing me about $25/month for electricity, a fraction of my gas bills.
8) This is the future

Nice concise elevator pitch. Though I drive a basic LR RWD my 3 is still one of the quickest cars I've owned (quicker than my Porsche 911 was). It is also the best car I've owned. Now I will guess from the strength of your pitch that you would likely recommend a Tesla vehicle if asked? If that is the case, do you then also warn them about some of the issues from delivery, quality control, to service?

 

[posity]

I don't have any issues with delivery, quality control, or service on my X. Has it been perfect: no. But I've owned cars that were way worse in all the items you listed, so I have zero complaints about Tesla. Tesla service experiences have been second to none. As others have stated, these forums are naturally driven by people with complaints, so if you went by these forums, you'd think Tesla was rife with unique problems. Count me in as one of the 'silent majority' (???) that will enthusiastically recommend a Tesla to everyone I meet.

 

[caskater47]

I tend to be brutally honest with people. That is I tell them it's an amazing machine with an equal amount of terrible customer service behind it. That the price instability is so bad that the car has the worst devaluation rate of any other car ever made. I tell them it's like shopping at Frys Electronics. "If you go in knowing exactly what you want and are willing to pay top dollar knowing tomorrow it will be cheaper then you will get the best driving machine in existence. Better than cars that cost 5x as much."

 

[SammichLover]

That the price instability is so bad that the car has the worst devaluation rate of any other car ever made.

LOL

Among others, i8 owners would like to have a word with you.

 

[caskater47]

LOL

Among others, i8 owners would like to have a word with you.

Being the actual worst or one of the worst isn't any different. It's certainly the worst of any car I've owned and I suspect it's in the top ten overall.

 

[verystandard]

I tend to be brutally honest with people. That is I tell them it's an amazing machine with an equal amount of terrible customer service behind it. That the price instability is so bad that the car has the worst devaluation rate of any other car ever made. I tell them it's like shopping at Frys Electronics. "If you go in knowing exactly what you want and are willing to pay top dollar knowing tomorrow it will be cheaper then you will get the best driving machine in existence. Better than cars that cost 5x as much."

Lol, paid top dollars then next day in this forum some guy burst your bubbles by bragging that he's got his best deal ever $9000 off or something with inventory.

 

[SammichLover]

Lol, paid top dollars then next day in this forum some guy burst your bubbles by bragging that he's got his best deal ever $9000 off or something with inventory.

This is definitely something that's never happened before in the history of automobiles! Finding a smoking one-off deal on a slightly used vehicle! TOTAL PRICE INSTABILITY, SO MASSIVE IT MIGHT RUPTURE THE TIME-SPACE CONTINUUM!!!11!

 

[verystandard]

This is definitely something that's never happened before in the history of automobiles! Finding a smoking one-off deal on a slightly used vehicle! TOTAL PRICE INSTABILITY, SO MASSIVE IT MIGHT RUPTURE THE TIME-SPACE CONTINUUM!!!11!

Thanks for the comment, very informative and useful, i'm happy that you are satisfy with your purchase and going after the others that doesn't have the same experience as you.

When I walk up to the dealership in Vancouver, they are clearly stated that car buying experience for Tesla is totally different, no negotiation and no discounts, just order it online and everyone got the same price, make it sounds like apple stores. Guess what? seems like that is not the case and they are just typical dealership to push sales. If I do come at the right time they indeed will offers discount to inventory model.

If Tesla didn't specifically given the impression that their car buying experience is different than the old fashioned dealership I wouldn't be that upset. Also, I don't see typical car manufacture got as many misinformed and conflicting information as Tesla (Buy now or price is going to raise, guess what after few weeks everything goes down, rinse and repeat every few weeks)

Edit: Almost forgot, Tesla salesman even told me on the spot that the speaker count with SR+ is same as LR, and they didn't mentioned about the missing carpets in the SR+ as well. Not sure who's fault is it in here (Tesla headquarter didn't give them the rundown, or simply sales guy being incompetent) but right now for friends and family that I knew want to buy tesla, I will tell them to do all the research first, don't trust the "Sales Adviser", get a extended test drive and even join this forum to get the best up to date info.

 

[Nguyenning]

My elevator pitch:

“Here’s my referral code...”

 

[verystandard]

My elevator pitch:

“Here’s my referral code...”

Lol, exactly. For my friends that is interested with the model 3, after I gave them the rundown of the good, bad and ugly with the car, and the tips for buying and what to look for during the delivery process, I will typically say "Hey you want to have a great summer with free charging? use my code!"

 

[SammichLover]

Thanks for the comment, very informative and useful, i'm happy that you are satisfy with your purchase and going after the others that doesn't have the same experience as you.

When I walk up to the dealership in Vancouver, they are clearly stated that car buying experience for Tesla is totally different, no negotiation and no discounts, just order it online and everyone got the same price, make it sounds like apple stores. Guess what? seems like that is not the case and they are just typical dealership to push sales. If I do come at the right time they indeed will offers discount to inventory model.

If Tesla didn't specifically given the impression that their car buying experience is different than the old fashioned dealership I wouldn't be that upset. Also, I don't see typical car manufacture got as many misinformed and conflicting information as Tesla (Buy now or price is going to raise, guess what after few weeks everything goes down, rinse and repeat every few weeks)

Edit: Almost forgot, Tesla salesman even told me on the spot that the speaker count with SR+ is same as LR, and they didn't mentioned about the missing carpets in the SR+ as well. Not sure who's fault is it in here (Tesla headquarter didn't give them the rundown, or simply sales guy being incompetent) but right now for friends and family that I knew want to buy tesla, I will tell them to do all the research first, don't trust the "Sales Adviser", get a extended test drive and even join this forum to get the best up to date info.

The people buying those items aren’t buying via the normal “experience”.

The much lower prices are for floor models & likely returned units that have too many miles to sell as new. Different price because it’s actually a different thing. It isn’t “new”.

As for a random floor person getting details wrong, yes that’s a very normal thing at Tesla. Stuff changes very fast, and the company’s internal comms aren’t even close to being able to keep up.

First rule of dealing with Tesla; The scrubs are usually wrong. You’ve got way better odds coming to TMC to find out stuff.

 

[verystandard]

The people buying those items aren’t buying via the normal “experience”.

The much lower prices are for floor models & likely returned units that have too many miles to sell as new. Different price because it’s actually a different thing. It isn’t “new”.

Yes, discounts were available with demos and return units, also there are discounts reported in this forum were inventory model as well.

Again, congrats that you have an awesome experience with your delivery, but just keep in mind that there are someone else having bad experience. Let all of us speaks out and hopefully Tesla will finally get the idea and stepping up.

 

[SammichLover]

Yes, discounts were available with demos and return units, also there are discounts reported in this forum were inventory model as well.

The “inventory” stuff w/discounts don’t have the normal 10 miles on the odometer. There is always a story, whether the buyer gets it or not. Some have older build dates, so that means a reject that was refurbed.

 

[OCR1]

Tesla offers discounts frequently in a variety of different scenarios. Just like any traditional car dealership, there are days when they are feeling confident and tell you that everyone is paying MSRP. And there are days when the stockholders demand performance and the company will do whatever it takes to move inventory. Timing is everything.