I just wanted to share my experience with fellow TMC members. I don't post many updates on this forum, but I felt today's experience needs to be shared. BTW I have read almost all posts in the last two months. Please jump to the last paragraph in case you are not interested in the full story
OD: 11/2/21. I put it on hold till Dec 31st for price lock, and we needed a second car in Q1.
In Jan'22, I lifted the hold, and SA forced me to put cash as an option so that I was in the queue to receive VIN. They had told me that if your profile is not complete, VIN will not get assigned. I have read that now it does not matter whether the payment option is there or not, but I don't see any issues with selecting cash. It just takes a min to switch once you get your VIN.
My EDD changed ten times in march. The VIN was finally assigned on 03/07. I reached out to Tesla support over webchat to switch it to third-party financing as I was financing from DCU. I had already opened a DCU account in advance, and you do not need a referral to open a DCU account anymore.
The loan approval process was straightforward. There is a long wait time to talk to DCU, but they are super-efficient. The loan was approved while I was on call, and next day check was dispatched via FedEx.
This is where the nightmare starts. FedEx misplaced the package, and the check was not delivered on time. I had my M3 delivery scheduled at 6 PM 03/09 but had to reschedule as FedEx screwed up. I have rarely had a good experience with FedEx. The most frustrating part was that they showed package delivered on time in their online system. Not sure if you know, FedEx has to honor their delivery timeframes; else they have to refund shipping to the sender. Anyways, I tried to talk to their customer service, but that was a waste of time and made me more frustrated and stressed.
The Tesla delivery team at Fremont was super nice. They told me not to worry as I have three days, and I can schedule delivery anytime between those three days, but they would either need a physical check or a scanned copy of the check.
My only option to get the car delivered was to work with DCU to get a replacement check. I called DCU the next morning, and they helped me fix the FedEx screwup in just 2 hours. So, anyone, who is skeptical about using DCU they are AWESOME. I have never worked with such supportive, efficient, and awesome banking staff.
I got the check scanned copy & FedEx tracking number and shared it with Tesla to schedule and get car delivery.
Pickup is streamlined & the text message that Tesla sends you before delivery has all the details on what you need to do next. The build quality of my car is 100 times better than my 2020 MY. I did find 1 issue
Here is a summary of what I have learned and what I advise:
- Nobody in this forum can answer when your car will be delivered. Whatever algorithm Tesla uses for VIN assignment and EDD is the source of truth.
- Be nice, polite, and courteous to your SA or Tesla staff. They have limited information, and if you are being respectful, they will make sure to help you out.
- DCU staff is awesome. I wouldn't have received my car today if it was not for them. If you are on edge about financing with them, then don't think. Just do it.
- If you are financing with DCU or any other CU that offers a low-interest rate, make sure you finance as much as possible. It's free money loaned to you at a low rate of 1.24%.
- If you are doing third-party financing, make sure to get a scanned copy of the check. I did not do that and got almost screwed up.
- Last but not the least. Buy a Tesla like you would any other car. Do a walkthrough of the car like you usually would have done and move on. If your goal is to find issues with your vehicle, you will always find something. Folks in forums such as these have good intentions, but they do put so many unnecessary things in your mind about car build quality.
Long post, but I wanted to make sure I share my experience and others can learn something from it.