Just needed to vent

[barleyjac]

Just needed to get this off my chest. I ordered a Model X in late August 2016. Was told it would be ready in a couple of months so I excitedly settled down for a long wait.

At the time I was ordering a friend told me he had put down a deposit but was waiting to place his order because he heard a rumor of a more improved software for auto pilot coming out. So I searched all over the internet for info but found nothing. I called three different stores and asked to talk with managers and asked if they knew anything about a newer system coming out. Nothing.

Not finding any confirmation of my friend's rumor, I let my order proceed and my car was shipped to me the last week of September. I was excited though there have been at least three trips to the service center to get things "fixed". Still not completely ok but since I live an hour away from the closest center, I'm just dealing with some of the problems.

But the real issue is I find out later that all cars that were made starting ONE WEEK after I took delivery can be upgraded to the new hardware. ONE WEEK! are you kidding me? Honestly I feel a bit cheated and let down that I was not given the option to wait a couple of weeks and get the new upgrades. Does not feel like customer service to me.

I realize Tesla is constantly improving and getting better. I love them for that. And if this was a year or two (or even 6 months) after my purchase I would be excited for all the new owners and not complaining about not have the newest thing. It's just that this is the first new car I have ever purchased (with the exception of a 1993 Ford Ranger for $15k when I graduated college). So I feel let down and quite upset at Tesla for not being more forthcoming about an update that was so close to when my car was produced.

Anyways, that's my story. Thanks for listening.

Oh, I could also use a hint on how to tell someone that is higher up in customer service about how I had to call customer service for a flat tire and they wanted to solve it by towing me 2 hours away and getting a rental car but instead I had it repaired at a local shop for $11. Where is the common sense?

 

[BerTX]

Sorry you are upset. I also got my car in September, but I guess I feel differently.

I enjoy driving my car. I don't really want it to drive itself. I like the level of driver assist that AP1 provides. Since I have been following TMC for years, I knew when I ordered that a hardware update would be happening soon. I knew roughly what it offered. I thought I might get the new hardware, but I didn't feel badly that I did not.

I personally feel that the concept of autonomous cars is a pipe dream that will only come to fruition when ALL cars are autonomous. There are too many idiots on the road for software and sensors to be able to react to all of what they might do. The best computer ever made is responsible for driving our cars now (our brains), yet every year thousands of people die.

I don't think having "the next step" in automation is enough better than the current step to be upset about anything. I'm too old to wait until the technology is fully developed -- driving the car is too much fun, anyway. Hopefully the technology will be fully mature by the time I can't drive anymore.

But then I'll just call an autonomous cab...

 

[TexasEV]

Your saying you would have waited a couple of weeks to order if you knew that new hardware was coming out is exactly why Tesla does not announce its plans in advance. What is the factory supposed to do during the weeks before an announced upgrade when people are waiting to order - not build cars? Look up "Osborne effect" and you'll understand the problem better.

There is always something better coming. That's just Tesla. If I had waited another month in 2013 l would have had parking sensors.

 

[ZERO260]

One other point is the cost difference between AP1 vs AP2. $2500-$3000 vs $5000- $8000 and more if you upgrade after the fact.

 

[Tam]

...ONE WEEK!...

That's the risk that owners take when you want to get a high tech Tesla that keeps on evolving.

Unless you are very high executive, no body knows the exact timing.

 

[daniel]

Sorry you missed the improved hardware. An anecdote from my college days in the mid-1960's: This, of course, was before home computers, before hand-held calculators. A computer was the size of a building, or at least a very big room. In a class they told us that if you ordered a computer that day, and then waited a few months and ordered another, the one you ordered second would arrive first, would be more powerful, and would cost less. A bit of hyperbole, but the point is that you can always get something better if you wait another month. And if you always wait for that better thing, you'll never get anything.

I would feel bad, too, if I missed the next big thing by only a week. I might have to buy two Model 3s: One as soon as I can get it, and another a year or two later to get all the improvements that are sure to come out. I really, really, want a fully autonomous car. I'll buy a big stuffed monkey and put it in the front seat where the driver would be.

 

[Forty Creek]

Your saying you would have waited a couple of weeks to order if you knew that new hardware was coming out is exactly why Tesla does not announce its plans in advance. What is the factory supposed to do during the weeks before an announced upgrade when people are waiting to order - not build cars? Look up "Osborne effect" and you'll understand the problem better.

There is always something better coming. That's just Tesla. If I had waited another month in 2013 l would have had parking sensors.

I agree that this is the right attitude... the car just gets better and better. Hey, but what else should I expect from a fellow green Tesla owner?

 

[barleyjac]

Thanks for all the replys. And thanks for hearing me out. I feel better already.

Like I said I just felt the need to vent a bit. I love my car and am so excited to be a part of the club of Tesla owners. The world of automobiles really is undergoing a major change and we are experiencing it first hand. Pretty cool.

I told one of my friends this story today and he recalled how he was so excited to take advantage of the FINAL chance to get the Star Wars trilogy. In VHS. And soon afterwards it comes out on DVD!

The world keeps on advancing I guess.

 

[WannabeOwner]

One other data point to consider: how long before you next change your car?

Will AP2 have actually delivered significantly better features by then? How much before then?

I reckon that the full "promise" of AP2 is a couple of years away, and that's assuming that regulatory approval doesn't get held up [once the car has the capability]

If you buy a car and run it into the ground that's a bummer.

If you change cars every couple of years it isn't going to matter much - and whatever Tesla offer you in 2~3 years time will be more than what an AP2/HW2 car, bought today, will have become.

 

[Yggdrasill]

At the time I was ordering a friend told me he had put down a deposit but was waiting to place his order because he heard a rumor of a more improved software for auto pilot coming out. So I searched all over the internet for info but found nothing. I called three different stores and asked to talk with managers and asked if they knew anything about a newer system coming out. Nothing.

Don't blame the managers. The stores and service centers are usually informed after a change has been implemented. It's not at all unusual for this forum to be better informed.

 

[McHoffa]

Maybe it's because I follow them like a hawk, but personally I would not have ordered anything after May when Elon said they would announce something related to full autonomous toward the end of the year. Even before that we know it was coming soon, but with that statement, I knew something huge was just around the corner. I would have driven a beater car to hold me over if I had to

I'll probably end up in a somewhat similar but lesser situation with my Model 3 if they can't convince regulators to let them move to side view cameras just a little early. If I get my 3 this year, and the US, Europe and Japan all allow cameras in 2018, then I'd miss out. Sucks, but after waiting 11 years, I would rather get it this year than wait yet another...

 

[evp]

Yeah, I picked up my "classic" S85 and two days later set off on a road trip to the East Coast. Two weeks later as I was driving back thru South Dakota, Bloomberg radio sez "Elon Musk just announced the new Tesla model D with Autopilot and 4-wheel-drive."

Spent the next hour gnashing my teeth and trying to figure out just how much I would burn to immediately trade my brand new car in on one even brander (?) new. It turned out to be about $30,000 which I was not "quite" prepared to throw down on the table.

But I know many people who did that with cars less than a year old, and a few others that just bought one to add to their collection.

 

[daniel]

Yeah, I picked up my "classic" S85 and two days later set off on a road trip to the East Coast. Two weeks later as I was driving back thru South Dakota, Bloomberg radio sez "Elon Musk just announced the new Tesla model D with Autopilot and 4-wheel-drive."

I had to Google "Tesla Model D" because I wondered if Tesla had announced a new car to come after the Model 3 that I had not heard of. Finally figured out this referred to the dual-motor version of the Model S. It's still a Model S but with a D in the trim line designator. I got to test-drive a P85D, I think it was a couple of years ago. Amazing drive but too big a car for me.