Short version: I stopped in the Mt Kisco Tesla store last Sunday to see about getting a white-on-white AWD by year-end. And I turned in my 2016 S75D off lease and drove away in a new Model 3 Wednesday night.
Of course, nothing is this easy with Tesla.
As a satisfied lessee of a fully loaded S75D and a day-one reservation holder for a Model 3, I was looking for a Model 3 to take with me to the Big Island of Hawaii when I retire in a few years. No need for long range or AWD. Really wanted white-on-white due to 320 days of sun a year in my location, but Tesla steadfastly refused to offer this on LR+RWD. Was considering LR+AWD but then Tesla jacked up price on AWD, white exterior and white interior, so I decided to wait as long as it took to get a white-on-white SR.
Meanwhile in Sep I decided to do a lease takeover on a local Model X to replace my S that was coming off lease. My credit was pulled on Sep 23, but it took multiple emails and calls to get Tesla to tell me on Oct 16 that credit was approved and to ask if I wanted to proceed with the lease assumption, to which I immediately replied, “Yes”. In spite of multiple emails and calls from the current lessee and me, neither of us has received another communication from Tesla regarding the lease assumption.
Having noticed that Tesla reduced the price on the white-on-white AWD, I stopped into the Mt Kisco store on Veteran’s Day Nov 12 to inquire about the possibility of getting a Model 3 by year-end since the configurator was still saying 4-8 weeks. I identified myself as a current S driver with a day-one reservation but was rather curtly told that orders for delivery by year-end had to have been placed by Oct 15. The Tesla rep had zero interest in helping me get a Model 3.
When I noticed that the configurator showed that all orders placed by end of Nov would be delivered by end of Dec for full Fed tax credit, I went back to the Mt Kisco store on Sun Nov 18. This time I avoided the person who had been unhelpful previously and found an OA who confirmed that an order placed then would arrive by year-end. When I told him I wanted white-on-white AWD he said that would be easy to find in inventory, which was a surprise. Apparently Tesla produced a bunch of them in response to initial demand and some were now being shipped East without having been matched to orders. We did find a few in the region but I was concerned about getting a rejected delivery so I asked him to do a search to see what was coming in. They had one arriving to Mt Kisco that Wednesday that was not sold. A good OA with perseverance pays off.
Anyone who reads this forum will be familiar with the absolute $hit$how on delivery day. My S delivery at end of Q3 2016 was crazy but this exceeded that experience. I arrived a few minutes after 4:00 and drove out (from a different location) in the new Model 3 after 8:00. I will not go into the details of OA disappearing the day after the deposit was paid, DA never showing up once I arrived, waiting 3 hours for contract, errors in spelling of name, difficulties with plate transfer, and on and on. Those of us waiting for delivery got to comparing stories and the commonality was the flood of misinformation from well-meaning but misinformed Tesla reps.
As I left in the Model 3, I realized that no one had confirmed my referral, so I stopped back in the Mt. Kisco location at 8:15 as they were getting ready to close. It was just me and the original unhelpful rep, who told me it was a good thing I had stopped in because after that day I couldn't have gotten the referral. This was after I had texted it to DA and three people had told me it would be taken care of.
The good news is that the fit/finish of the car is excellent and it drives great. It took all of a day to get used to the single center mounted screen with all controls. EAP does seem to have passed AP1. The one issue so far is that I seem to be getting much slower supercharging than I did on my S75 in comparable temps at the same SC locations.
Love the cars and the mission. Dread dealing with the company.
Of course, nothing is this easy with Tesla.
As a satisfied lessee of a fully loaded S75D and a day-one reservation holder for a Model 3, I was looking for a Model 3 to take with me to the Big Island of Hawaii when I retire in a few years. No need for long range or AWD. Really wanted white-on-white due to 320 days of sun a year in my location, but Tesla steadfastly refused to offer this on LR+RWD. Was considering LR+AWD but then Tesla jacked up price on AWD, white exterior and white interior, so I decided to wait as long as it took to get a white-on-white SR.
Meanwhile in Sep I decided to do a lease takeover on a local Model X to replace my S that was coming off lease. My credit was pulled on Sep 23, but it took multiple emails and calls to get Tesla to tell me on Oct 16 that credit was approved and to ask if I wanted to proceed with the lease assumption, to which I immediately replied, “Yes”. In spite of multiple emails and calls from the current lessee and me, neither of us has received another communication from Tesla regarding the lease assumption.
Having noticed that Tesla reduced the price on the white-on-white AWD, I stopped into the Mt Kisco store on Veteran’s Day Nov 12 to inquire about the possibility of getting a Model 3 by year-end since the configurator was still saying 4-8 weeks. I identified myself as a current S driver with a day-one reservation but was rather curtly told that orders for delivery by year-end had to have been placed by Oct 15. The Tesla rep had zero interest in helping me get a Model 3.
When I noticed that the configurator showed that all orders placed by end of Nov would be delivered by end of Dec for full Fed tax credit, I went back to the Mt Kisco store on Sun Nov 18. This time I avoided the person who had been unhelpful previously and found an OA who confirmed that an order placed then would arrive by year-end. When I told him I wanted white-on-white AWD he said that would be easy to find in inventory, which was a surprise. Apparently Tesla produced a bunch of them in response to initial demand and some were now being shipped East without having been matched to orders. We did find a few in the region but I was concerned about getting a rejected delivery so I asked him to do a search to see what was coming in. They had one arriving to Mt Kisco that Wednesday that was not sold. A good OA with perseverance pays off.
Anyone who reads this forum will be familiar with the absolute $hit$how on delivery day. My S delivery at end of Q3 2016 was crazy but this exceeded that experience. I arrived a few minutes after 4:00 and drove out (from a different location) in the new Model 3 after 8:00. I will not go into the details of OA disappearing the day after the deposit was paid, DA never showing up once I arrived, waiting 3 hours for contract, errors in spelling of name, difficulties with plate transfer, and on and on. Those of us waiting for delivery got to comparing stories and the commonality was the flood of misinformation from well-meaning but misinformed Tesla reps.
As I left in the Model 3, I realized that no one had confirmed my referral, so I stopped back in the Mt. Kisco location at 8:15 as they were getting ready to close. It was just me and the original unhelpful rep, who told me it was a good thing I had stopped in because after that day I couldn't have gotten the referral. This was after I had texted it to DA and three people had told me it would be taken care of.
The good news is that the fit/finish of the car is excellent and it drives great. It took all of a day to get used to the single center mounted screen with all controls. EAP does seem to have passed AP1. The one issue so far is that I seem to be getting much slower supercharging than I did on my S75 in comparable temps at the same SC locations.
Love the cars and the mission. Dread dealing with the company.
