Just left the Dedham MA SC - People were loosing their *$@t

[traxila]

I see what you’re saying, in that case you’re still wrong, Tesla does not make all the parts for the Model 3
According to Elon Musk himself they have a complex supply chain supplying parts for the model 3
If i remember correctly their supply chain is responsible for close to 10,000 parts

You’ll never have a car where everything is made by tesla, that’s just not efficient.

But my point is that Tesla can now make the market adjust to what it wants rather than just accepting what they can work with. That was severely lacking for the initial Model S, spectacular car that it still is ( I refer to the 2012 / 13 models). There is a reason for the significant continuous reworking of the S and X assembly lines. A lot of it has to do with compromises they made from the onset. The rest with true continuous quality improvement.

Quite the opposite for the Model 3.

The last major step is to somehow get rid of these 12V car batteries. It is so hard to ditch some of these entrenched institutions...

Yes, the Model S was a ground up design by Tesla. It's first. But Tesla had to do its best with the market realities at the time.

The Model 3 is a ground up design where Tesla got to dictate almost all of the market realities. This will continue into the Model Y and beyond. I believe this is one of the main reasons that legacy automakers should be truly fearful. Tesla just got rolling recently yet it is already destroying them in head to head competition. Their lack of vision and innovation will result in catastrophes for them unless they engage in the truly creative destruction of their business models which until now they have been incapable of or unwilling to execute. I honestly hope they can do this as it will result in an electrified fleet in a much shorter timeline than waiting for Tesla to obliterate everyone. And yet, it may be that this is the only way forward...

Anyway, all the best!

 

[brianman]

You’ll never have a car where everything is made by tesla, that’s just not efficient.

I'm both intrigued and terrified by the idea of Tesla OEM tires with a mileage warranty.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

Sadly I've had a couple of "wtf" incidents with Model 3 owners so far... On the second point, I never left the car as I was charging in place so I could continue on. Otherwise, I would have changed my plans so I didn't leave the car for just that reason...

I want as many people as possible to buy a Tesla, I really do.... What I think is hilariously depressing though are people who are buying Model 3's as a status symbol... Um... News flash, if you think the 3 is a status symbol then your status must suck... LOL

Jeff

I don't think this has anything to do with socio-economic status, as you state above. It has everything to do with the expectations of more average consumers. These are not necessarily people with tons of disposable income and early adopter mentality like many here. A lot of Model 3 owners are probably stretching to buy it, like some of us here did with our Model S. The mass tends not to be forgiving when one is competing at the same price point as Lexus, Infiniti, BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar, Audi, etc. Customers are entitled to expect a quality product like the brands mentioned.

Tesla has always had, and continues to have, issues with initial quality. The latest Consumer Reports owner survey puts Tesla at the bottom of the heap in terms of repair issues, Model X is sinking the company's rating. Customers have expectations, especially when spending as much or more as on a BMW M3. The customers aren't the problem.

Definitely not trying to validate poor behavior of any individuals but Tesla deserves a good deal of blame for this situation. Posters on this forum warned over and over that many of the issues we've dealt with would not go over well with the model 3 crowd....emphasis on crowd since these issues are only exacerbated by the increased volume.

^^^ BINGO! For years we have been saying this. Imagine if M3 owners had to go through what many went through in the early stages of Model S deliveries. Tesla would be totally over. Tesla has come a long way, indeed, but they still have a ways to go. Making fun of or insulting customers who are entitled to expect a minimum attention to quality and detail distracts from the real issue, which is that Tesla does not put a sharp focus on build quality and customer service follow-through.

 

[CarlK]

Long time no see AR. Still bitter after all those years?

 

[SMAlset]

hmm.

Guys, I'm new here.

I'm taking delivery of my Model S on December 12. It's my first luxury car - ever. So I guess I'm at a bit of a transition point here where I can cringe a little at both sides. I know I'm walking into a 'room' where a good portion of the club members here are very, very, very wealthy.

Me, I've not always been at a place where I can afford something like this -- my last two cars were Honda Civics. So I have "been there."

To a lot of people, a 3 *is* a stretch, and a big deal to them, it *is* something special. That doesn't excuse assholes, but -- there are assholes everywhere, and they tend to rise to the top in crowds. But the majority of them are likely a bit in my place; they got bitten by Tesla and the technology and the styling and just how the cars and company work -- and suddenly, it's finally in reach for them.

I find the anecdote of the 3 owner saying that Model 3s deserve priority very strange; not that I don't believe it. With the number of entitled people out there I see every day, I do believe it; but the logic kind of befuddles me --- No car has priority at a Supercharger, why on earth would it. Unless someone desperately needs that charge to get somewhere for something dire and important.... (I sure hope that there's not an ad-hoc 'hierarchy' at superchargers...)

Working my way into this elite club, as it were, is unbelievably unnerving in some ways. But I am encouraging some of my friends to get 3s; but is this 'ugh, unwashed Model 3 owners' really the norm among Model S owners?

(I used to live near Boston so I do believe in the Masshole effect, however. That one i'll give you.)

Don't make the mistake of thinking that most people driving a Model S are super wealthy. I was following the spreadsheet when we were buying our Model S and saw the cars they were replacing the MS with. When we bought our car, interest rates were something like 1.99% and people were using trade-ins and financing sometimes a long time out based on what they said. Many were stretching to buy their car, just as many are stretching to buy their Model 3s. And it's true for many that their Teslas have been the most expensive car they have owned. It certainly is for us. My husband and I were previously Honda and Toyota owners like many on the spreadsheet. Once someone has driven a Model S (or other Tesla) it's hard not to want to own one. My Toyota that got replaced with my Model 3 was 17 years old and my husband's MS replaced an 8 year old Camry. I think this is more the typical owner profile and from news reports on who is buying Teslas that observation pans out. We know a number of Tesla owners and I don't think any of them look at their Teslas as "status" symbols. They are into the car for the look of them, the performance, and the zero emissions. Oh and let's not forget the fun you feel driving them! I think the majority of people who say it's a status symbol are the ones who don't own one and feel somehow less because of it.

I will say that there seems to be this change in temperment in people that I don't think was prevalent before. More people seem to act entitled and I'm not talking about the rich here. Maybe there's something in the water. I see it here on the boards and in the Model 3 forum area which as a Model 3 owner have been following. People are all stressed out about their purchases (yes the waiting during production and delivery hell has made for some bad experiences which I think get magnified here on the boards and stress out more people waiting) and honestly never saw anyone micro-inspect and expect such a level of perfection before.

Back to something else you posted which is what I originally was going to respond to (bolded comment in original post attached above). We've been a Tesla owner who has used Supercharging a number of times before, and it's my understanding that the Superchargers do give the most power boost to the first one charging in a charging pair (A/B same number) until some point in the cycle when it tapers off and more power goes to the second user. In fact when arriving at a nearly full location and having to pair with someone already charging, have seen a slow charge initially on our car. That's what I think the Model 3 owners was aiming for who was trying to get OP to disconnect so he (the Model 3 owner) instead would be "first" in the pair. How anyone thinks they have the right to demand that of someone else, well I don't know. Doesn't matter if you have a bigger battery to charge or you're paying for Supercharging. Asking someone in the event of an emergency is maybe understandable but certainly not something you can demand of someone else.

Found this from Tesla - Understanding Supercharger Pairing (from www.tesla.com/support/supercharging )

 

[mtndrew1]

Some guy in a MODEL X P100D EFFIN LUDICROUS (he made sure we all knew) was losing his brain at the Torrance location a few weeks back because the service schedule didn’t jive with his carpool schedule.

The “real” Tesla owners can be pricks, too

 

[David29]

I can assure you that here in the northeast, people don’t get mad because they have a legitimate problem that can be solved. They get mad because they’re jerks and it doesnt matter what you say or do

Umm, such a generality is not only untrue, but unhelpful.
As they say, "All generalities are false, including this one."

Seriously, making a blanket statement about all people in the northeast is not helping anyone.

 

[Kandiru]

Nothing wrong, just victims or urbanization and maternal neglect lving in an area with many cold dark months a year, with access to plenty of liquor and drugs.

I spent four years in the area and while I learned a lot professionally I would never go back even if it doubled my income.

 

[David29]

My thread really took a turn. My original point was that I’ve noticed Model 3 owners expecting a level of service that Tesla is not capable of giving them right now for a number of factors (not enough service centers being the biggest)
Exacterbating this is the new model 3 owners yelling and cursing at the Tesla employees. I haven’t seen this with new Mode s or x owners but maybe I missed it.

I think one difference is the volume. When I picked up my Model S three years ago, it was ready when I was told it would be, there were no other deliveries happening at the same time and the delivery specialist gave me all the time I needed to look over the car, ask questions, and so on. There had been no widespread publicity about fit and finish issues, and i had not been waiting for many months or maybe years for my car. The Model 3 buyers have, in many cases, been waiting for years. if i trust the posts i have seen here and on Facebook to be representative, many recent buyers have experienced delays, changes in schedule, and even cases where they show up and the car is not there. The delivery "experience" has been compressed into 5 minutes. And multiple deliveries are happening simultaneously. I was in my local delivery center yesterday (Dedham, MA) -- the space where deliveries are done looked like the waiting room of a busy doctor's office or emergency room on a busy day in flu season -- lots of people sitting around on chairs waiting their turn and filling out paperwork on a clipboard. And the Superchargers have become extremely crowded in some places, especially at places like Dedham (MA) where there is a Supercharger at the service/delivery center, and the new delivery cars are competing for supercharger time with other users. In short, the delivery experience "just ain't what it used to be," unfortunately. I am sure that affects the expectations and mood of the Model 3 buyers. Any one of them might have had multiple disappointments already before he even sees his car for the first time.

I don't mean to suggest that Model 3 buyers automatically have an excuse to be rude, I just am suggesting that some of them might have good reason to be less happy than they might otherwise be.

 

[voltaren]

Interesting opinions here, and they all have some validity. I’ve seen many Tesla MS/MX owners act like prima donnas and, quite frankly, so have I. Some people lash out and act like d-bags. If you spend a lot of money on a car, you expect certain quality and service. Tesla has struggled with providing both for many years.

What’s happening now is that the original quality and service problem is being multiplied with 5,000 3s a week; 5,000 new Tesla owners and for many, the most expensive car they’ve ever owned. Yet they expect it to be the Honda or Toyota they replaced it with. News flash, it isn’t.

Solution: at delivery, make every new Tesla 3 owner raise their right hand and state, “I am a beta tester, I acknowledge I’m at the forefront of technology and have it easier than first year MS and MX owners.”

 

[roblab]

I think that ALL new owners need to remember that a Tesla is not any other car they've ever driven. Tesla invented the affordable electric car battery, at least the one that would power a luxo-cruiser to 155 mph (200 KmH Euro Max) and make a 300 mile range possible. They pay extra for the BATTERY, not the shiny paint or the fancy headlights or any other stuff. This is not like a Toyota or Honda, or an Audi or BMW. It's not. You are not buying a $35-50K car. You're buying a car with hardly any frills and a huge futuristic battery that costs near half the price of the car. It's not a hundred thousand dollar car, it's half that, plus a great long range high power battery that no one else has copied or even tried to copy for ten years.

You can't compare Tesla to anything.

 

[David29]

I think that ALL new owners need to remember that a Tesla is not any other car they've ever driven. Tesla invented the affordable electric car battery, at least the one that would power a luxo-cruiser to 155 mph (200 KmH Euro Max) and make a 300 mile range possible. They pay extra for the BATTERY, not the shiny paint or the fancy headlights or any other stuff. This is not like a Toyota or Honda, or an Audi or BMW. It's not. You are not buying a $35-50K car. You're buying a car with hardly any frills and a huge futuristic battery that costs near half the price of the car. It's not a hundred thousand dollar car, it's half that, plus a great long range high power battery that no one else has copied or even tried to copy for ten years.

You can't compare Tesla to anything.

Possibly a valid point. But we'll see soon how it holds up as mainline brands such as Audi, Jaguar and Porsche begin to roll out serious EVs that have good drive trains and well-experienced, capable manufacturing systems and dealer networks. The customer experience will be interesting to compare.

 

[rbbos88]

Sad people have to be so nasty. My experience with Dedham staff is all positive, but they are dealing with an insane amount of business. Went there Monday eve to reschedule my maintenance appt and there was not only no parking space anywhere in the lot (front or back), there was barely a place to stop my car without blocking the way out for someone. Elon should got out and visit a few SCs outside CA (like here) and the problem would probably be solved quickly.

 

[twestberg]

I picked up my Model 3 (replacing a 5-year-old Model S) at Dedham at the end of September (end-of-quarter). I was really impressed with how they were staffing up with temps to shuttle the new owners through quickly. I had some delays (about half an hour) but nothing unreasonable. It was probably easier for me as I had no real questions. I just wanted to drive off and once the account was enabled I could.

 

[randygts]

Traded in my S85 for a Model 3 P on Sept 29.

There is no doubt in my mind that I now have the better car. By every metric except storage space. Previously the S was the best car I ever owned.

The M3 was built from scratch first true 100% Tesla car. It is a marvel and IMO will go down in history. At some point in the future, the S and X will get a refresh based on everything Tesla has learned from the 3. They will be the most amazing cars ever made...again. Tesla seems to have made it a habit.

And yeah, I am still the same prick. This has not changed.

Your post cracks me up and I'm in the same boat as you. Selling my MS today (and it's my 2nd one). Delivery date of 12/8 for my M3 P (we'll see if they actually deliver it that day!) I was convinced from driving an M3 a few times that it supplants the S as the best car ever made in volume. Your post has me excited because you feel that way after owning for a couple months. Can't wait to join you!

 

[DerekS]

I’m a little disappointed to see some snobbery toward “entitled” model 3 buyers compared to S/X.

A 60k model 3 is Lexus territory. It’s not unreasonable to expect a similar level of service.

That said, this doesn’t excuse people being a-holes.

 

[robd]

The entitlement I've seen from some Model 3 owners is hilarious... You couldn't afford a Tesla before they made a "cheap" one but yet you'd think they just bought a fully loaded Model S/X P100DL...

I had an encounter at a supercharger recently with a Model 3 owner who wanted me to unplug from my A post so he could charge faster on his B post and proceeded to explain to me that I have no idea how superchargers work and that Model 3's should get first priority anyhow, blah, blah, blah... I tuned him out and stayed plugged in until I was ready to go... I really wanted to shout back "if it weren't for early adopters like myself and many, many others, you wouldn't even have a Model 3 to plug in"...

Jeff

Curious how he justified Model 3 owners should go first? The whole thing is not surprising if you followed any of the delivery threads. Somehow Tesla owners are waaay amped up, from “where’s my car to analyzing the VIN when they get one to omg I hope it’s not flawed....”. Bit like having a baby...... I work with a guy who literally went went over his paint with a fine tooth comb. Wonder if he did that with any other car he ever bought? Not at all saying that there aren’t problems but every car I’ve ever owned has had to have warranty work, no exception.

 

[S-Car.Go]

So I've heard these stories about crazy service centers. I showed up to get warranty work expecting craziness.

What I did not expect were Model 3 owners seemingly throwing tantrums at the extremely patient Tesla staff. They had about 6 or 7 temp workers directing traffic and moving cars. They were standing outside in the rain in 33F degree weather. Props to them.

1 after another new model 3 owners were coming in and just losing their cool just a little bit too quickly. One guy started screaming at a Tesla service girl because his autopilot wasn't activated after 24 hours. She looked him in the eye after he stopped yelling and said "Sir, I'm here to help you. I'm on your side. Let me look into this for you." Then went way out of her way to make sure it was activated ASAP.

Gee whiz guys - let's all chill out! Nothing is that important. You will get your autopilot. You purchasing a car that's more expensive than you normally would does not give you the right to treat others like garbage.

In general, the service staff at Dedham are great, and put up with a lot of this kind of thing even before this mass of Model 3 deliveries. I have witnessed more than one crazy tantrum coming from model S and X owners in the 18 months that I have driven my model S. I have never seen one of the service writers lose their cool or be anything but professional. Most of us it seems are also pretty polite and patient right back at the staff, I don't buy the stereotype that we are all rude up here. I stopped off at Dedham to charge after a trip last weekend with my battery at 10%, and the place was totally crazy with model 3 deliveries, all the chargers were filled, and every space in the lot was filled with mainly model 3's and non-Tesla vehicles. The temps directing traffic were efficient and gracious, and inside where I stopped for a moment, the staff were calm and professional as always and most of the customers seem to be taking the insanity in stride.

 

[meanwhileinND]

To some people, this world ain't ever going to be right. Just be glad your not married to them.

 

[Matziq]

I'm normally an easy going person who avoids conflict. But now that I've bought an M3 I plan on being a jerk. Because TESLA! jk I'm still pretty nice.