Model 3 Performance/Ludicrous Waiting Room

[AtlantaP3D]

So went over the car and scheduled an appointment with the SC. Unfortunately the first available date is not until 7/11. Hopefully an SA can contact me for an earlier appointment. Anyway, here is what I submitted:

Other - Suspension:
Car pulls to the right, needs an alignment.

Other - Exterior:
Misaligned front hood, it is higher on the passenger side and lower on the driver side.
On the front hood, there is a scratch/no paint on a part of the edge of the hood on the driver side, needs touch up paint.
There is a circular paint defect on the passenger side rear 1/4 panel.

Interior Trim:
The interior trim on the passenger side of the trunk is loose. The interior panels between the dash and passenger door is misaligned.

I purposefully didn't include the other paint defects I found since I rather have those corrected when I take it in for paint correction, tint, and maybe a little PPF. I'm not even sure I want them to fix that circular paint defect on the 1/4 panel if it requires a repaint. No thanks.

Let's see what happens. Overall the car is nice, happy with the purchase.

There is a circular paint defect on the passenger side rear 1/4 panel.

Looks like a sanding mark where they knocked a paint defect down. Easily fixed by machine polishing it out.

 

[bmil03]

Dude you’ve been posting every day since 4/23. How do you like it!?!?

Glad I’m not the only one that noticed.

 

[CHB12312]

No, there isnt. Its actually what Tesla tells you to do, in fact. Is it mandatory to leave it plugged in? No, but there is no reason not to, if you have home charging.

Okay thanks for clarifying! So even if I could go a couple days without charging, there is no benefit until waiting till it’s a bit lower? Just plug it in every night?

 

[OaklandTae]

So Tesla kept asking for me to submit paperwork for my trade-in for the car that doesn't even exist yet. I bring it today after work, they tell me they can't transfer the title this way even though I showed them an email from their corporate trade in person telling me to do exactly this. (My father died recently and the title is half in his name)They immediately delete the trade in from the app without telling me and immediately tell me they can't do anything for the problem they created by directing me to do it LOL

Then I said why are you even scheduling deliveries with no car or VIN? You barely have any cars ready to go out here as well, blank stare, doesn't care. Tells me a ton are coming in Sat for Sun, great

I tell him you do realize I have an official email from your company directing me to do this, I could literally sue. Offers me a mobile charger for my troubles and delays.

I don't see how you Tesla guys do this BS, this is by far the messiest, worst purchasing experience I have ever seen in my life.

This will be maybe my first, definitely last Tesla ever. Good luck everyone, you might need it.

 

[jjrandorin]

Okay thanks for clarifying! So even if I could go a couple days without charging, there is no benefit until waiting till it’s a bit lower? Just plug it in every night?

No, there is absolutely, positively, unequivocally no reason to "run it down before charging it back up". None at all. Now, is it mandatory to plug it in every day? No. If its a hassle to plug it in every day because you have to rotate cars or something, then dont stress it.

I am also going to encourage you not to sign up for any "battery monitoring" services at all, at least for the first 3-4 months you own the car. There isnt anything wrong with those services (beside the fact that you have to issue them a token to your account that is), but ( and I am going to say this as gently and non confrontationally as possible) for some people they bring nothing but extra angst.

People can get all spun up about "my battery!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?" very easily with those monitoring tools, which is one reason why there are 1231241255125152 different threads that all have questions or statements about "the battery". its better to get used to the car before trying to make sense of battery monitoring stuff, so it doesnt send a person spiraling out in angst.

 

[arkhos]

I don't see how you Tesla guys do this BS, this is by far the messiest, worst purchasing experience I have ever seen in my life.

This will be maybe my first, definitely last Tesla ever. Good luck everyone, you might need it.

I assume many Tesla guys deal with it because they don't experience the same issues you have? I've only had one experience so far and it was worlds and galaxies better than every single legacy auto-purchase I've made. Night and day. And there are plenty of anecdotes from folks here who are in and out in less then 20 minutes without issues...

You also explained a very peculiar set of circumstances that are certainly not common, so some sort of confusion is understandable. But it's up to you to decide if it's worth the aggravation - especially if the dealership is following local laws. (Titling stuff might vary state to state possibly, as well?).

Sorry to hear about your aggravation, though! Best of luck to you!

 

[jjrandorin]

I assume many Tesla guys deal with it because they don't experience the same issues you have? I've only had one experience so far and it was worlds and galaxies better than every single legacy auto-purchase I've made. Night and day. And there are plenty of anecdotes from folks here who are in and out in less then 20 minutes without issues...

You also explained a very peculiar set of circumstances that are certainly not common, so some sort of confusion is understandable. But it's up to you to decide if it's worth the aggravation - especially if the dealership is following local laws. (Titling stuff might vary state to state possibly, as well?).

Sorry to hear about your aggravation, though! Best of luck to you!

Legacy car dealers do "exceptions" much much MUUUCH better than Tesla does. The "Tesla" buying experience is best experienced with as few of those as possible. Order in the app, either no trade in or a simple trade in where you either have title to the car or there are zero title issues or negative equity, no questions for them, just wait for the car to come in and go pick it up.

The farther you get from that, the more difficult the Tesla purchasing experience gets. @OaklandTae has "title issues" with the car they were trying to trade in. Understandable issues (sorry for your loss @OaklandTae ), but still, requiring "exception" which as I mentioned Tesla doesnt do well.

I much prefer how Tesla does it, and am willing to trade their lack of ability to process exceptions for their lack of 4box "let me talk to the manager" "would you like this extended maintenance plan, dont you want to protect your investment", etc etc .

Im very good at the regular car buying experience, but I hate it, and am willing to deal with Teslas foibles to avoid it.

 

[OaklandTae]

You guys are literally defending something where I posted a real email from an official Tesla employee telling me to do it that way despite me offering to transfer the title before the purchase. I guess you having a good experience just washes away all of this. Yah totally my fault for doing a trade in that they offered to do in the app per their own directions in their email to me, my mistake for taking what was offered because nobody ever trades in a car with a new car purchase right? So weird of me. Also I'm not the only one with multiple delivery dates and times with no Vin or car, that's normal too? You guys must really love Tesla to think this is all normal, ok or my fault.

 

[jjrandorin]

You guys are literally defending something where I posted a real email from an official Tesla employee telling me to do it that way despite me offering to transfer the title before the purchase. I guess you having a good experience just washes away all of this. Yah totally my fault for doing a trade in that they offered to do in the app per their own directions in their email to me, my mistake for taking what was offered because nobody ever trades in a car with a new car purchase right? So weird of me. Also I'm not the only one with multiple delivery dates and times with no Vin or car, that's normal too? You guys must really love Tesla to think this is all normal, ok or my fault.

I said "your title has issues" and "Tesla doesnt do exceptions well". "not doing it well" is included in getting instructions that then get contradicted, etc. Your snapping at the wrong people.

As for the multiple delivery dates? Thats what 90% of this thread is about, so everyone has that, and yes its normal for Tesla.

 

[P-Lo801]

I much prefer how Tesla does it, and am willing to trade their lack of ability to process exceptions for their lack of 4box "let me talk to the manager" "would you like this extended maintenance plan, dont you want to protect your investment", etc etc .

Im very good at the regular car buying experience, but I hate it, and am willing to deal with Teslas foibles to avoid it.

Completely agree. I’ve learned to get much better at the legacy car buying process, but I still find the process exhausting, which I know is part of the intention within the process. Tesla’s direct online sales model is so streamlined, with exception to the exceptions you cited, that one can easily purchase a car while inebriated lol. I really hope that other manufacturers follow suit too.

 

[jjrandorin]

I really hope that other manufacturers follow suit too

Most want to, actually... because they would make more money selling direct to customers, and customers would have more satisfaction without all the BS around buying cars that exists in a traditional dealer. Thats why car dealers are fighting so hard to prevent direct sales.

 

[arkhos]

You guys are literally defending something where I posted a real email from an official Tesla employee telling me to do it that way despite me offering to transfer the title before the purchase. I guess you having a good experience just washes away all of this. Yah totally my fault for doing a trade in that they offered to do in the app per their own directions in their email to me, my mistake for taking what was offered because nobody ever trades in a car with a new car purchase right? So weird of me. Also I'm not the only one with multiple delivery dates and times with no Vin or car, that's normal too? You guys must really love Tesla to think this is all normal, ok or my fault.

I wasn't defending how they treated you - You had made a comment about how you 'don't see how you Tesla guys do this' (which I took to mean the 'Tesla buying experience' in general)... and my answer was just that most buyers don't encounter this sort of situation, at least that's my guess. Based on what you described, I certainly would encourage you to ask to speak to someone as high-up at that SC as you can get ahold of in-person, take them aside and politely explain the situation. Maybe you did that - maybe they still treated you like crap, and that is certainly regrettable and definitely worth your ire! I am guessing you probably handled it better than I would have!

I am definitely sorry for your loss, and that you had to go through the ringer on a car deal. I can't fathom any reason they wouldn't have at least followed-up on it and took the time to verify it at the very least.

 

[arkhos]

Legacy car dealers do "exceptions" much much MUUUCH better than Tesla does. The "Tesla" buying experience is best experienced with as few of those as possible. Order in the app, either no trade in or a simple trade in where you either have title to the car or there are zero title issues or negative equity, no questions for them, just wait for the car to come in and go pick it up.

That may absolutely be true, I've never encountered an 'exception' (at least that I can recall) where I had any extenuating circumstances to know the difference. My experience is of course anecdotal, and I certainly feel sympathy for anyone who has to go through unnecessary BS in order to make a purchase of an item worth tens of thousands of dollars.

 

[jjrandorin]

That may absolutely be true, I've never encountered an 'exception' (at least that I can recall) where I had any extenuating circumstances to know the difference. My experience is of course anecdotal, and I certainly feel sympathy for anyone who has to go through unnecessary BS in order to make a purchase of an item worth tens of thousands of dollars.

I ment exceptions big or small.

Things like "hey, I am going on vacation and I have a vin, with delivery on saturday. Tesla, I am going to need you to hold that car for me while I am on vacation for 2 weeks, ok?" (the answer to that is "no, we cant do that, we can put your account on hold and give the car to someone else")

Or something like "I need to write you a check and post date it till next Wednesday, when I get paid" (a legacy car dealer wouldnt have much of a problem doing this for most clients).

Or " Hey, I know the car comes with 20 inch rims but I would like you to swap 19s on there for me when I am taking delivery" (most legacy car dealers have more wheel options than Tesla does, and dont mind doing "dealer installed options")

Or anything else that doesnt fit into the app designed box. Thats the kind of stuff I ment. I feel bad for Oaklandtae, having to deal with the passing of a family member, and also issues around what they want to do with the vehicle. Tesla does tend to do a decent amount of "right hand doesnt know what left hand is doing" especially when it deals with anything that doesnt fit in the "app" box.

 

[AtlantaP3D]

All setup for Sunday. Will be a long 10.5 hour drive back to Atlanta, looking forward to it.

 

[mousekiks]

All setup for Sunday. Will be a long 10.5 hour drive back to Atlanta, looking forward to it.

How did you get to pickup so far away?

 

[Jakub1]

.

How did you get to pickup so far away?

If NorCal wasn't 30 hours away from me I'd drive over there overnight and pick one up. The most I'd do is 10-12 hours, heck maybe even 16 if I could pick it up the next day.

 

[xianking]

I don't see how you Tesla guys do this BS, this is by far the messiest, worst purchasing experience I have ever seen in my life.

This will be maybe my first, definitely last Tesla ever. Good luck everyone, you might need it.

I've bought about 20 new cars in my life and the purchasing experience with Tesla has been way, way, WAY better and easier than any other carmaker, so when you say that you don't see how the "Tesla guys" (whatever that means) do this, it's probably because most experiences aren't like yours. Most people prefer the Tesla model. I'm genuinely sorry that you're having such a bad experience, but I don't think it's the norm. Perhaps your extenuating circumstances are causing issues along with perhaps getting someone at Tesla that isn't helpful creating the perfect storm of frustration for you.

 

[xianking]

You guys are literally defending something where I posted a real email from an official Tesla employee telling me to do it that way despite me offering to transfer the title before the purchase. I guess you having a good experience just washes away all of this. Yah totally my fault for doing a trade in that they offered to do in the app per their own directions in their email to me, my mistake for taking what was offered because nobody ever trades in a car with a new car purchase right? So weird of me. Also I'm not the only one with multiple delivery dates and times with no Vin or car, that's normal too? You guys must really love Tesla to think this is all normal, ok or my fault.

One thing I will say is that they aren't "delivery dates," they are estimated delivery dates and it has been said ad nauseum in this forum that the EDDs don't matter and it's better to ignore them. The collective blood pressure of this forum would fall quickly if people stopped putting so much stock into every EDD change, and maybe just put the app down until they get the notification that their car is ready. Easier said than done, I admit, but I've seen people do it and be much happier.

 

[24m3pVA]

April order 4/29 here NOVA. Updated to Late July / August. Was hoping I’d get the car before I start work mid July when I ordered it in April. Looks like that won’t be happening. Sigh. What’s the deal with the mega slow production of M3P??