I'm T-minus 2 day for delivery and my car is on the lot yet no sales contract/final #s

[vadimr]

I'm getting a bit anxious here, anyone had an experience with the following: I live in the town where the service center is, I drove past it yesterday and saw my car on the lot, my VIN and everything. I have an appointment scheduled for noon on Wednesday to pick it up. Yet when I login to my account I do not have the final pay off amount (cash purchase) and no sales contract. My brother who picked up his car at the same center exactly 1 week ago had his final numbers in his account like 2-3 weeks prior to delivery. The only difference between our purchases is he was getting new plates and I am asking to transfer my plates from a vehicle I just sold. This is very easy to do in NJ and I've done this in the past with car dealers. Do you think this is the hold up? It's memorial day so I think the ISA is OOO but the service center is open and they have a bunch of deliveries scheduled today (in fact mine was scheduled for today and was pushed back by 2 days due to delivery delay).

Thoughts? Has anyone in NJ transferred plates with Tesla? From what I am reading about their ability to keep up with state laws is very iffy at best. This is where dealers are experts. They pull off these DMV transactions in a matter of minutes. I think that is the only thing about dealers that I even like, everything else is crap.

I need that final number so I can get the check cut for them.

 

[trace]

No one is going to know what's going on better than your delivery specialist. Just get in contact with them asking for this information in order to get ready for Wednesday.

 

[ericbs]

I have a feeling the 3 day weekend has thrown the schedule off. My guess is to expect a lot of emailing tomorrow. I’m in the same boat as you albeit I have until Saturday to take delivery

 

[SpiceWare]

Last 2 emails about my delivery (on Wednesday as well) were from local people, not my ISA who's in Nevada. First was Saturday evening, with the "what to bring to" and "what to expect" for the appointment, the second was a half hour ago confirming that the Tesla App will be enabled Wednesday.

 

[TT97]

Last 2 emails about my delivery (on Wednesday as well) were from local people, not my ISA who's in Nevada. First was Saturday evening, with the "what to bring to" and "what to expect" for the appointment, the second was a half hour ago confirming that the Tesla App will be enabled Wednesday.

My delivery is tomorrow and didn’t get any of that. I am paying cash so that may be the difference. I received the balance “invoice” on Thursday (no itemized bill of sale). Yesterday I received an email from the local Delivery Advisor confirm the appointment and no other info.

 

[mkspeedr]

I wish they would not call them delivery specialists. In my experience they are the exact opposite.

My P100D X will be the 5th Tesla in my family - I am not impressed with a DS so far. In my mind DS stands for something other than delivery specialists.

I was unable to pick up my P100D X this weekend because the DS could not get my lease return and paperwork ready in 3 months.

$160K vehicle and the DS cannot pick up the phone and get it resolved??? I looked at ICE vehicles this weekend because I cannot deal with another dip Sh...I mean DS.

 

[ericbs]

I heard from my ISA today and said if I dont hear from the contracts team soon to let him kmow. So maybe send him/her a message?

 

[vadimr]

Well, I just got a call from the service center. I thought this was a good call but I was advised that they found a "small cosmetic imperfection" and it will need to corrected. I asked if he means body shop but he said he is not sure where and what it is just yet but the delivery will need to be pushed back. Well I said they can keep it if it's going to a body shop. I won't take delivery on a brand new vehicle after it visited a body shop, I don't care how good a body shop is, they all suck.

What pisses me off is this keeps happening, I keep reading on the forums about these stories and the forum is like 10% of the ownership. What is wrong with Tesla, a freaking Nissan Versa comes wrapped and these idiots can only wrap the door handles? The part that they certainly can skip because if it gets damaged it can be replaced.

They can use a sleeve like premium manufactures do or even the white sticky wrap from the factory but this is just beyond dumb.

We sold our car, booked a vacation to which we were going to take this car on Saturday and now we got nothing. I had an xpel install appointment scheduled for Friday at my house, insurance started as of today (because they originally scheduled delivery for today) and now what? They really need to learn what it takes to deliver the vehicle properly. All these brand new cars are parked in their regular parking lot, not even behind a gate. They are parked next to customer cars, next to visitors and etc. Traditional dealership keep their new stock away from visitors and service and sold customer cars are generally far away from the main dealership. These guys are epic.

Argh, so pissed. I don't even know how to handle this.

 

[vinnie97]

Probably a good idea to refuse, as I'm approaching 5 weeks after a paint chip and a misaligned passenger door panel with 2 separate visits to the contracted body shop. The only reason I did this was out of necessity, as I sold my only car on the day of "delivery" on April 26. Refusing delivery and getting another VIN would have likely been faster at this stage, but who knows how effed up the next vehicle would have been for the reasons you cited.

 

[scott8659]

I’m amazed that Tesla doesn’t ship these cars in covered carriers. The local BMW dealer that I have purchased my last 4 cars through only ships their cars in covered carriers to prevent just these kinds of issues.

 

[daver6640]

Well, I just got a call from the service center. I thought this was a good call but I was advised that they found a "small cosmetic imperfection" and it will need to corrected. I asked if he means body shop but he said he is not sure where and what it is just yet but the delivery will need to be pushed back. Well I said they can keep it if it's going to a body shop. I won't take delivery on a brand new vehicle after it visited a body shop, I don't care how good a body shop is, they all suck.

What pisses me off is this keeps happening, I keep reading on the forums about these stories and the forum is like 10% of the ownership. What is wrong with Tesla, a freaking Nissan Versa comes wrapped and these idiots can only wrap the door handles? The part that they certainly can skip because if it gets damaged it can be replaced.

They can use a sleeve like premium manufactures do or even the white sticky wrap from the factory but this is just beyond dumb.

We sold our car, booked a vacation to which we were going to take this car on Saturday and now we got nothing. I had an xpel install appointment scheduled for Friday at my house, insurance started as of today (because they originally scheduled delivery for today) and now what? They really need to learn what it takes to deliver the vehicle properly. All these brand new cars are parked in their regular parking lot, not even behind a gate. They are parked next to customer cars, next to visitors and etc. Traditional dealership keep their new stock away from visitors and service and sold customer cars are generally far away from the main dealership. These guys are epic.

Argh, so pissed. I don't even know how to handle this.

I am disappointed for you as well due to the anticipation of waiting and getting your plans in order for a vacation. These type of stories have me concerned about picking up my vehicle in July. I wonder if Tesla handles deliveries better with the Model S or X?

Don't they have some kind of best practices in place for deliveries of new vehicles? This is the kind of information that someone should share with Elon on Twitter. I wonder if he is aware. Maybe if the amount of people reporting issues is only 10% this might be an acceptable outcome for Tesla.

Either way another delay for you...

 

[brobinson]

Well, I just got a call from the service center. I thought this was a good call but I was advised that they found a "small cosmetic imperfection" and it will need to corrected. I asked if he means body shop but he said he is not sure where and what it is just yet but the delivery will need to be pushed back. Well I said they can keep it if it's going to a body shop. I won't take delivery on a brand new vehicle after it visited a body shop, I don't care how good a body shop is, they all suck.

What pisses me off is this keeps happening, I keep reading on the forums about these stories and the forum is like 10% of the ownership. What is wrong with Tesla, a freaking Nissan Versa comes wrapped and these idiots can only wrap the door handles? The part that they certainly can skip because if it gets damaged it can be replaced.

They can use a sleeve like premium manufactures do or even the white sticky wrap from the factory but this is just beyond dumb.

We sold our car, booked a vacation to which we were going to take this car on Saturday and now we got nothing. I had an xpel install appointment scheduled for Friday at my house, insurance started as of today (because they originally scheduled delivery for today) and now what? They really need to learn what it takes to deliver the vehicle properly. All these brand new cars are parked in their regular parking lot, not even behind a gate. They are parked next to customer cars, next to visitors and etc. Traditional dealership keep their new stock away from visitors and service and sold customer cars are generally far away from the main dealership. These guys are epic.

Argh, so pissed. I don't even know how to handle this.

Sorry to hear about that. If you talk to your delivery person and explain your situation, they will certainly get you set up with a loaner/rental so that you at least have a vehicle. The exact same thing happened just prior to my delivery and they took care of me.

For what it's worth, they found two 'fish eye' defects in the A Pillar paint on my Model 3. The work done by the paint shop is flawless and I have zero concern that Tesla wouldn't take care of me if it ended up being an issue in the future. I had the same hesitation that you did about a brand new car getting work done, but it turned out just fine.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[Marsnaut]

I've been told that my car is in the body shop (prior to delivery) and I don't know for what exactly yet. Has anyone else been in a similar situation and accepted delivery? I told them anything minor I wouldn't mind but any large body/structural damage and I would strongly reconsider asking for a new VIN.

 

[Chris350]

Well, I just got a call from the service center. I thought this was a good call but I was advised that they found a "small cosmetic imperfection" and it will need to corrected. I asked if he means body shop but he said he is not sure where and what it is just yet but the delivery will need to be pushed back. Well I said they can keep it if it's going to a body shop. I won't take delivery on a brand new vehicle after it visited a body shop, I don't care how good a body shop is, they all suck.

What pisses me off is this keeps happening, I keep reading on the forums about these stories and the forum is like 10% of the ownership. What is wrong with Tesla, a freaking Nissan Versa comes wrapped and these idiots can only wrap the door handles? The part that they certainly can skip because if it gets damaged it can be replaced.

They can use a sleeve like premium manufactures do or even the white sticky wrap from the factory but this is just beyond dumb.

We sold our car, booked a vacation to which we were going to take this car on Saturday and now we got nothing. I had an xpel install appointment scheduled for Friday at my house, insurance started as of today (because they originally scheduled delivery for today) and now what? They really need to learn what it takes to deliver the vehicle properly. All these brand new cars are parked in their regular parking lot, not even behind a gate. They are parked next to customer cars, next to visitors and etc. Traditional dealership keep their new stock away from visitors and service and sold customer cars are generally far away from the main dealership. These guys are epic.

Argh, so pissed. I don't even know how to handle this.

You think it sucks now?

Wait until July when the gates open....

The local SC will be over whelmed even more and the whole experience of pick up will be strained to no end...

They are fighting to keep their heads above water with the long list of issues before they deliver a car...

Can even imagine what the backlog will look like if the cars keep showing up damaged...

 

[vadimr]

Thanks for the kind words folks. I got a call from the service center early this morning telling me that the issue is resolved. They claim they thought paint had some issues but it turned out to be a layer of glue that they wiped off. None of that makes any sense to me because they called me around 6pm last night and 10am this morning. They couldn't fix the issue then because they close at 7pm. If their detailers cannot spot the difference between some glue and paint issues I worry for them.

Nevertheless, my account still did not have the final amount. The DS at the local center was surprised. Called me back an hour later and it finally showed up. No sales contract online (not sure if it has to be here or not but it's not here). I went to the bank, got the check cut and hoping for the best tomorrow.

In respect to a body shop, I would not take delivery if they triple stand behind it. I know we are not talking about some exotic car here but a repainted panel is never the same. It may look the same to you, but it is not. If the entire car gets fully polished and really detailed this panel will stand out a bit. What is worse, they always "blend" and that is the part that I hate the most. It's basically spraying a panel next to the panel that is being serviced in order to trick your eyes. There are ways to tell but it's hard to describe.

Now of course we can examine other automakers and ports which hold vehicles do have body shops. Crazy enough for example BMW considers their ports in USA as an extension of the factory and if they find an issue after transport, they will fix it at port and never tell anyone. I am sure same holds true for other automakers I just do not know that as a fact.

Back in 2003 I bought a new car and only a few weeks later some @hole backed up into my quarter panel. The car was brand new. It was purchased from a very reputable local dealer that sells Audis, Porsche and Subarus (yea odd combo - I know). I took the car there and they said we'll take care of it. The car came back a week later and it was the worst repair a human could pull off. I almost shoved the service manager's head into that quarter panel. I was pissed beyond pissed. The idiots they contracted and which according to them is the shop they use for all their Porsches is the best. The panel's creese was smoothed out, the idiots did not know how to fix the creese so they just made it a smooth panel. The car was silver and my wheel well became silver too. I was like what is wrong with these idiots? They could not put some protective film? Long story longer I never ended up paying for it and they fixed it a bit but they never made the panel look correct. They never restored the contours and the creese that is supposed to be there.

The moral of the story there is that you should NEVER let a dealer or in this case Tesla store negotiate on your behalf with any body shop. They all want reduced rates. The dealer was basically paying this chop shop probably 65% of what they were collecting. Over the years I made friends with a few body shop owners and people that had worked for some and they all will tell you that dealers are their best and worst customers. They generate business but expect heavy kickback and in return the do their crapiest work for them.

A good body shop is almost impossible to find because they simply stopped existing. The laws are written that dictate maximum labor rate for body shops. This is to protect insurance companies. Unlike mechanic's shop that can charge any amount a body shop must charge a set rate. I know in my home state of NJ those rates are set by the county government. The rates are about 3x per hour less than what your traditional dealership or Tesla service center charges. If you are pegged at like $50-60/hr you are not making much money. Plus they have those books that allocate only so much time to each repair. Which is not realistic for everything. I can't speak for every state but in NJ even in one of the most expensive counties in the country (Bergen) you cannot find a decent shop. Thus is the reason I don't trust anyone that sends a car to one. Shops have all sorts of tricks to save money on parts and I don't want any part of that.

 

[H2050]

I'm From Toronto, Schedule for delivery on June 2nd, still no account payment window.

Rep saids it will open 72 hours before delivery. I will see tomorrow.

Looks like Tesla is short on hands to even receive money.

 

[vinnie97]

If my eyes are tricked, that's good enough for me. There comes a time when you have to stop worrying about the small *sugar* to stay sane.

 

[brobinson]

Thanks for the kind words folks. I got a call from the service center early this morning telling me that the issue is resolved. They claim they thought paint had some issues but it turned out to be a layer of glue that they wiped off. None of that makes any sense to me because they called me around 6pm last night and 10am this morning. They couldn't fix the issue then because they close at 7pm. If their detailers cannot spot the difference between some glue and paint issues I worry for them.

Nevertheless, my account still did not have the final amount. The DS at the local center was surprised. Called me back an hour later and it finally showed up. No sales contract online (not sure if it has to be here or not but it's not here). I went to the bank, got the check cut and hoping for the best tomorrow.

In respect to a body shop, I would not take delivery if they triple stand behind it. I know we are not talking about some exotic car here but a repainted panel is never the same. It may look the same to you, but it is not. If the entire car gets fully polished and really detailed this panel will stand out a bit. What is worse, they always "blend" and that is the part that I hate the most. It's basically spraying a panel next to the panel that is being serviced in order to trick your eyes. There are ways to tell but it's hard to describe.

Now of course we can examine other automakers and ports which hold vehicles do have body shops. Crazy enough for example BMW considers their ports in USA as an extension of the factory and if they find an issue after transport, they will fix it at port and never tell anyone. I am sure same holds true for other automakers I just do not know that as a fact.

Back in 2003 I bought a new car and only a few weeks later some @hole backed up into my quarter panel. The car was brand new. It was purchased from a very reputable local dealer that sells Audis, Porsche and Subarus (yea odd combo - I know). I took the car there and they said we'll take care of it. The car came back a week later and it was the worst repair a human could pull off. I almost shoved the service manager's head into that quarter panel. I was pissed beyond pissed. The idiots they contracted and which according to them is the shop they use for all their Porsches is the best. The panel's creese was smoothed out, the idiots did not know how to fix the creese so they just made it a smooth panel. The car was silver and my wheel well became silver too. I was like what is wrong with these idiots? They could not put some protective film? Long story longer I never ended up paying for it and they fixed it a bit but they never made the panel look correct. They never restored the contours and the creese that is supposed to be there.

The moral of the story there is that you should NEVER let a dealer or in this case Tesla store negotiate on your behalf with any body shop. They all want reduced rates. The dealer was basically paying this chop shop probably 65% of what they were collecting. Over the years I made friends with a few body shop owners and people that had worked for some and they all will tell you that dealers are their best and worst customers. They generate business but expect heavy kickback and in return the do their crapiest work for them.

A good body shop is almost impossible to find because they simply stopped existing. The laws are written that dictate maximum labor rate for body shops. This is to protect insurance companies. Unlike mechanic's shop that can charge any amount a body shop must charge a set rate. I know in my home state of NJ those rates are set by the county government. The rates are about 3x per hour less than what your traditional dealership or Tesla service center charges. If you are pegged at like $50-60/hr you are not making much money. Plus they have those books that allocate only so much time to each repair. Which is not realistic for everything. I can't speak for every state but in NJ even in one of the most expensive counties in the country (Bergen) you cannot find a decent shop. Thus is the reason I don't trust anyone that sends a car to one. Shops have all sorts of tricks to save money on parts and I don't want any part of that.

Different priorities, I guess. I had my car detailed yesterday after having it for a week and not a single person could pick out where the work was done pre-delivery. I opted to take and enjoy my car instead of obsessing over something that will probably never be an issue in the future.

I get that you had a bad experience in the past, but that doesn't mean that every experience will be the same going forward.

Either way, good luck with your delivery.

 

[jelloslug]

Well, I just got a call from the service center. I thought this was a good call but I was advised that they found a "small cosmetic imperfection" and it will need to corrected. I asked if he means body shop but he said he is not sure where and what it is just yet but the delivery will need to be pushed back. Well I said they can keep it if it's going to a body shop. I won't take delivery on a brand new vehicle after it visited a body shop, I don't care how good a body shop is, they all suck.

What pisses me off is this keeps happening, I keep reading on the forums about these stories and the forum is like 10% of the ownership. What is wrong with Tesla, a freaking Nissan Versa comes wrapped and these idiots can only wrap the door handles? The part that they certainly can skip because if it gets damaged it can be replaced.

They can use a sleeve like premium manufactures do or even the white sticky wrap from the factory but this is just beyond dumb.

We sold our car, booked a vacation to which we were going to take this car on Saturday and now we got nothing. I had an xpel install appointment scheduled for Friday at my house, insurance started as of today (because they originally scheduled delivery for today) and now what? They really need to learn what it takes to deliver the vehicle properly. All these brand new cars are parked in their regular parking lot, not even behind a gate. They are parked next to customer cars, next to visitors and etc. Traditional dealership keep their new stock away from visitors and service and sold customer cars are generally far away from the main dealership. These guys are epic.

Argh, so pissed. I don't even know how to handle this.

At least Tesla tells you when it goes to be fixed before delivery. Transport damage happens all the time with every manufacturer and dealers are under no obligation to tell you that the new car on their lot has been to the body shop before they sell it.

 

[vadimr]

At least Tesla tells you when it goes to be fixed before delivery. Transport damage happens all the time with every manufacturer and dealers are under no obligation to tell you that the new car on their lot has been to the body shop before they sell it.

Don't be so sure. They only reveal when it screws up the delivery that had been already scheduled. I think this is the reason they are pulling the VIN from account until 7 days. So they can hide this going forward. Also dealers cannot perform body work and not tell you, only manufactures can because they consider it as part of the manufacturing process. Dealers are 3rd party vendors who resell products and if said products are damaged while in their possession are required to inform you. Now do they? Probably hit or miss. My folks were buying a car in 2002 and they signed all the papers and left. Next day got a call that the dealer scratched the car, tiny scratch but asked if they wanted to see it. They went over, saw it and refused the car. Dealer provided them with a new vehicle. Now what did they do with that car? I have no idea. Given how dishonest the entire car industry I say they repainted it and sold it as new.

Either way I agree this is not some collectable one of Bugatti so we should not care as much but nevertheless I am jaded by the body shop industry. Over the years I've seen way too much. I even been to dealer auctions and seen these dealers run around the car with paint depth scanners and scan panels to see if the car been repainted so they can bid accordingly. My experience is only within the state of NJ the city of New York. I do not know if elsewhere the quality of work is much better but here it is good from far but far from good.

I watch this guy's channel on youtube sometimes and if you want to see things that should not be driven, go here: Arthur tussik