How long does the test drive take?

[aus]

I'm going in Wednesday and hope to drive a 70D and 85. I would be great if they had a standard and upgrade stereo to try out too.
I guess my question really is, do they try to sell the car that day? Or is it really just a test drive?
I'm going to order before the end of the month for the $2,000 referral offer but want to wait a little more, hoping to get any updates before my car is built. I was planning on going home and building it online after checking out all the options. Do I pay the deposit online, or do I need to go in to do that?

Is an hour enough time to plan, or should I plan more time than this?

Thanks.

 

[jerry33]

It's really just a test drive. The time depends on what kind of a test drive. The one I had was less than five minutes, but that was at a dog and pony show and there were lots of folks waiting so there was a preplanned route.

 

[tezzla]

For the P90D, you only need 2.8 seconds! ​

 

[lorih]

I've been sidekick on a few test drives. Most cases, they let you drive 1/2hr to 45 min, including the 5 minutes in the car going over the touch screen, where the turn signal is, etc I would say that is plenty of time to decide. I've never had a showroom person try to sell us a car, (note, I did not say sales person, because sales people work on commission and do try to sell you a car).

However, on one of the test drives, my friend decided then and there to purchase. Tesla employee offered to help with the process or to just reserve/order at home online.

It can be helpful in that the Tesla employee will to be sure you get exactly what you want and don't accidentally click or not click a specific option. Of course, even if you do reservation online you can still cancel or change your order until they email you a date that they start production. At that time customer satisfaction group will give you a final date in which to make changes on your config.

Bottom line, you could do the test drive in 10 minutes or drive longer and then linger in the store squealing with joy as I suspect most of the people here on this forum have.

 

[ssq]

24 hrs if you can score one. I had an S on order (pre-confirmation) and was undecided about it. They were cool enough to let me have a day with it.

 

[lorih]

How did they get you to give it back? In my mind I can hear a paraphrase of Charlton Heston. You can have this car back when you pry it from my cold dead hands.

 

[Super_Popular]

I would not buy a standard 85, they are not holding their value. Stick with a D.

 

[Tamar]

We had somewhere between 6-8 test drives over the course of a year before we purchased. There's no pressure at all. They know once you've driven a Tesla, you're likely to purchase at some point.

 

[aus]

Thanks. What a pain to have to make an appointment just to drive the car. Now if they give it to me for 24 hrs, that would be cool.
.

 

[siucity]

I had a couple of test drives. First one was about an hour between my wife and me. We went over the main features of the car and drove on their predetermined route. Second one, I had it overnight. I didn't even think about the overnight test drive. The owner adviser offered it to me.

There was absolutely no pressure at all to "buy now." She said I can put in the deposit right then and there on their computer, but also recommended I go home and think about whether or not I wanted to buy the car (of course I did) and if so, what options I wanted.

 

[aus]

Thanks for the info on the overnight test drive. I'm going to see if we can get that because we are concerned how much room we'll have in the garage next to the van.
.

 

[MidValleySkillz]

Easily the best test drive experience I've ever had. First test drive was with my wife and I for an hour driving around the city and PCH. Since 405 is super busy during the day my ownership advisor offered to pick me up the next morning to test drive the car from Santa Monica to Long Beach and test it's acceleration. There were three models to choose from, a loaded 70D, an entry 70D and a P85D. Take your time and make sure to ask lots of questions.

 

[BertL]

OP, my personal experience says "it depends" how busy they are at the Tesla Store. In my situation in late August, I set up an appointment for my test drive in La Jolla CA -- the first available was 5 days out. They could not accommodate "drop-in's". I arrived at the Store an hour early as I wanted time to look at colors and sit in the showroom cars. The person that was scheduled before me to do a test drive, cancelled, so I was taken early and my test drive was a good 30 minutes... A suggested route was offered which I followed, then I was allowed time to go where I wanted... Simply THE BEST "sales" experience I've encountered.

Make an appointment if you have not already in case your store is as busy as mine always seems to be. You can do it online at Tesla.com. Have fun!

 

[aus]

Thanks for the input. Test drive was ok. They only had a 90D available to drive, but they have a bunch of customer that were about to be delivered, so we could see the colors inside and out.
We ordered but it was getting late, so they were in a bit of a hurry to get out of there.

Not really sure what happens now. They knew about the $2,000 referral offer, but I'd like to see it on paper. Also, is there a site to log into where you can follow along as your car is build?
Thanks.

 

[BertL]

Thanks for the input. Test drive was ok. They only had a 90D available to drive, but they have a bunch of customer that were about to be delivered, so we could see the colors inside and out.
We ordered but it was getting late, so they were in a bit of a hurry to get out of there.

Not really sure what happens now. They knew about the $2,000 referral offer, but I'd like to see it on paper. Also, is there a site to log into where you can follow along as your car is build?
Thanks.

Congrats on your order.

If you ordered in the Store, they should have taken care of the referral then and there. Mine did through a convoluted process of logging on again with the referral code and using my same email so things linked-up with My Tesla and their store apparently getting some sort of credit for the order being placed. It worked out fine. Suggest you call your Sales Experience person in the Store and sort it out today -- my understanding is referrals need to be done at time of order.

Logon to My Tesla (my.teslamotors.com) with your same userid (email address) you placed the order with. You should see your order there, and docs will start to become available over the next few days. Status as it changes will be reflected there as well. You have a week to make changes at no cost to your order. My referral credit showed up on the online system showing my options and bottom-line price after I read T&Cs and confirmed my order online. After confirmation took place, I got an email from my Sales Experience person at the Tesla Store that handed me off to my Delivery Specialist -- from there, he was my point of contact for questions and he I suspect would have been the person to honcho anything My Tesla was saying I needed to do but perhaps didn't (I tried to be very timely)... He was also the person that I met at the Service Center to pick up my MS.

Disappointing your Tesla Store folks didn't explain things a bit more to you. Mine did -- couldn't have been happier. Perhaps your doing it just before closing put a crimp in things -- I was first thing in the morning, so had plenty of time. Good luck on your order and here's to enjoying your new MS soon enough!