Wiki Model S Delivery Update

[Cleo-n-Company]

HA! FSD? That will go down as the most under delivered product in the history of consumerism. If you plan to keep your car for 10+ years, I can see why you'd buy FSD. But it really depends on what you think FSD is, because it aint Level 5 and it aint happening as a software update on any car on the road today. Take the 10K, invest it in a modest ETF, take your 6% return, IF FSD does ever come, use that money to add it, your returns will out pace the rise in price.

Come now - Elon has assured all of us that our cars are rapidly increasing in value.

Maybe he'll toss in a (figurative) bitcoin with every purchase.

On a slightly more serious note - the expected delivery for my M3 last Fall went from 4 weeks to 8 weeks to 12 weeks to I cancelled my order. So I wouldn't make any firm automotive plans or commitments based on posted delivery dates.

Considering there aren't that many models in the Tesla portfolio, I really don't understand how they are not better able to manage these timelines and customer expectations.

 

[TurboBear]

This is no way to run a company that sells to consumers. Totally disgusted with the lack of info.

Tesla doesn't have any problems selling every car that comes off the line, so there's not a lot of incentive to change. My suggestion: lower your expectations for your interactions with Tesla the company and look forward to your Tesla vehicle, because it's the reason any of us are still around here.

 

[Cleo-n-Company]

I called Tesla Burbank a few minutes ago. The SA told me Model S deliveries were now being delayed until May or June. I then called my SA in Century Ciity who told me I am still in the first wave of deliver sometime towards the end of March.

I ordered the S LR December 15th and modified for refresh as soon as announced. This is my first Tesla and I have already had the wall charger installed. If I hadn’t had an electrician install it, I am pretty sure I would be on my was back to my MB dealer.

This is no way to run a company that sells to consumers. Totally disgusted with the lack of info.

Wait till you take delivery of the car.

You have my empathy.

This is why I continue to eagerly await the new EV's coming down the pike.

 

[Cleo-n-Company]

Tesla doesn't have any problems selling every car that comes off the line, so there's not a lot of incentive to change. My suggestion: lower your expectations for your interactions with Tesla the company and look forward to your Tesla vehicle, because it's the reason any of us are still around here.

Uh... companies that cut prices and completely drop the basic Model Y from their order menu is not a company that can sell every car it makes.

 

[TurboBear]

Uh... companies that cut prices and completely drop the basic Model Y from their order menu is not a company that can sell every car it makes.

*shrug* ev-cpo shows just over 2 days worth of new vehicle inventory.

 

[Cleo-n-Company]

*shrug* ev-cpo shows just over 2 days worth of new vehicle inventory.

Could have fooled me with all of the M3's lined up in front - ready for sale - at my local SC.

This EV-CPO site kind of looks like Q-Anon for the Teslarati...

 

[Kuzco]

Wait till you take delivery of the car.

You have my empathy.

This is why I continue to eagerly await the new EV's coming down the pike.

Can you expand on what you meant here? Is this just a dig at the process for the day of taking delivery? Software updates years into ownership? Service issues? All of the above?

 

[EV-CPO]

This EV-CPO site kind of looks like Q-Anon for the Teslarati...

Hmm... not sure exactly how to take this comment.

 

[MarcG]

My recommendation for those uneasy with the bleeding edge (not just tech but build quality, deliveries, etc.) is to wait it out until the production has ramped and the kinks have been worked out.

I realize some have ordered in late 2020 hoping to get a quick delivery of the older model, but the refresh was already known to be pending (and to be fair, there were still plenty of inventory models left in Jan that Tesla was desperate to sell before the earnings call announcing the refresh).

 

[Cleo-n-Company]

Can you expand on what you meant here? Is this just a dig at the process for the day of taking delivery? Software updates years into ownership? Service issues? All of the above?

I'm all about full transparency - as opposed to Elon. So I'll try to answer your questions with a summary of my Tesla story.

I own a 2013 Model S P85+. Am the second owner - and was a very happy owner the first couple of years of ownership. Things went wrong with the car - but I understood that those issues were part of the bargain as an "early adopter" in the EV world, as so many like to refer themselves to around here.

But then the severity and frequency of issues became greater. Tesla no longer sent a mobile ranger to the house. Our single Service Center in the Sacramento area was overwhelmed. I wasn't expecting the white-glove Lexus experience, but the overall feeling I was given every time I went to the SC was that I was a bother. Not a good feeling for someone driving a car with a $132,000 original sales price.

While all of this was going on, the company then decided to no longer honor my car's extended warranty. How in god's name can a company get away with this, you ask? Tesla said it had the right to make retroactive changes to its extended warranty policies.

Fast forward to Summer 2020. Depite my misgivings about the Model S - my wife and I are so committed to the EV mission that we placed an order for a new Model 3. We figured the only way we would continue with a Tesla would be to purchase a new one with a fresh 4-year warranty.

We ordered the car and then sat in disbelief as the expected delivery timeline went from 4 weeks - to 8 weeks - to 12 weeks - to the glorious moment when we cancelled our order, and had the pleasure of giving Elon $100 for all of our frustration and wasted time.

Our sales advisor, who was completely non-communicative during this waiting process, amazingly managed to call me within hours of cancelling the order on the website, pleading with me to leave the order intact. You know where I told him to go.

Fast forward to 2/23/2021. We don't drive nearly as much because of Covid - and just kind of live with the various squeaks / rattles / leaky roof that are part of our current Tesla experience. We're waiting our turn for the memory chip replacement as part of the NHTSA recall. And certainly can't forget how Tesla has handled this situation in such an atrocious manner.

Despite my experience - I'm sure there are plenty of owners who have had a better one.

But the main reason I joined this forum some months ago was because I was in disbelief that my situation was an isolated one. Clearly it's not.

So... regardless of which way you go with your purchase decision... am hoping my novel will give you some insights and additional questions to ask other owners along the way.

 

[Yuri_G]

I'm all about full transparency - as opposed to Elon. So I'll try to answer your questions with a summary of my Tesla story.

I own a 2013 Model S P85+. Am the second owner - and was a very happy owner the first couple of years of ownership. Things went wrong with the car - but I understood that those issues were part of the bargain as an "early adopter" in the EV world, as so many like to refer themselves to around here.

But then the severity and frequency of issues became greater. Tesla no longer sent a mobile ranger to the house. Our single Service Center in the Sacramento area was overwhelmed. I wasn't expecting the white-glove Lexus experience, but the overall feeling I was given every time I went to the SC was that I was a bother. Not a good feeling for someone driving a car with a $132,000 original sales price.

While all of this was going on, the company then decided to no longer honor my car's extended warranty. How in god's name can a company get away with this, you ask? Tesla said it had the right to make retroactive changes to its extended warranty policies.

Fast forward to Summer 2020. Depite my misgivings about the Model S - my wife and I are so committed to the EV mission that we placed an order for a new Model 3. We figured the only way we would continue with a Tesla would be to purchase a new one with a fresh 4-year warranty.

We ordered the car and then sat in disbelief as the expected delivery timeline went from 4 weeks - to 8 weeks - to 12 weeks - to the glorious moment when we cancelled our order, and had the pleasure of giving Elon $100 for all of our frustration and wasted time.

Our sales advisor, who was completely non-communicative during this waiting process, amazingly managed to call me within hours of cancelling the order on the website, pleading with me to leave the order intact. You know where I told him to go.

Fast forward to 2/23/2021. We don't drive nearly as much because of Covid - and just kind of live with the various squeaks / rattles / leaky roof that are part of our current Tesla experience. We're waiting our turn for the memory chip replacement as part of the NHTSA recall. And certainly can't forget how Tesla has handled this situation in such an atrocious manner.

Despite my experience - I'm sure there are plenty of owners who have had a better one.

But the main reason I joined this forum some months ago was because I was in disbelief that my situation was an isolated one. Clearly it's not.

So... regardless of which way you go with your purchase decision... am hoping my novel will give you some insights and additional questions to ask other owners along the way.

To give a counterpoint I bought a used 2019 Model 3 this year and have had no issues.

 

[HankLloydRight]

While all of this was going on, the company then decided to no longer honor my car's extended warranty. How in god's name can a company get away with this, you ask? Tesla said it had the right to make retroactive changes to its extended warranty policies.

Can you elaborate on this? How did they retroactively change the warranty?

 

[dlfjed]

I contacted my SA about the disappearing delivery date. She indicated that the delivery date was not accurate as it applied to the pre refresh manufacturing process and delivery estimation system. Being ever skeptical I did a little digging(very little) and a lot of guessing.
Could the issue be that the estimated delivery dates of the past were calculated by an algorithmic formula? This would take into account custom orders, inventory for showrooms and company/employee vehicles. Having that information the program would then look at production speed, build specs of each vehicle and most importantly the delivery of fresh out the door vehicles to staging areas. I would assume like Amazon (orders packed in exceedingly large boxes to fill a truck) there would be a considerable emphasis on delivery and its logistics. Why build my vehicle now to just sit in the parking lot for weeks until a fully loaded car carrier is headed my way. If they can get other vehicles built and delivered in that 3 week period all the better. This would also make sense for cash flow.
In the end it just may be an issue of reconfiguring this system.
Why. I was originally given a delivery date when I confirmed my order of February 15 to March 15. I have been waiting quite a few years to do this. During that time I “ordered” a lot of model s vehicles and the estimated delivery date back then seemed in line with estimated dates in the past from date of order. In this case it would be from date of confirmation.
My delivery date just disappeared one day together with the modify my order ability. Others have had March 1 to 31 change to just March.
Today the estimator for model S LR appears as 5 to 11 weeks.
I could just be thinking maybe the estimating system is down and my vehicle will show up tomorrow. Thinking about this took away some of the frustration of knowing nothing and that’s all it was worth.

 

[omarsultan]

This is no way to run a company that sells to consumers. Totally disgusted with the lack of info.

If you end up like most folks around here, you will love the car once you get it--might even be the best car you have ever owned--and, as a result, you'll put up with a lot of shenanigans.

 

[Hayseed_MS]

If you end up like most folks around here, you will love the car once you get it--might even be the best car you have ever owned--and, as a result, you'll put up with a lot of shenanigans.

Kind of like my wife after marrying me...

 

[Sbaimo]

Well I am ok with waiting. But I am trading in my second car (a 7 year old Mercedes). The car has less than 100 miles put on odometer(25,450) since they quoted me trade-in value. Now, every 30 days they ask me to update odometer to reevaluate value. I did it again today and they lowered the offer 400 dollars(lowered it 400 dollars less 60 days ago) less than 20 miles driven during that period. And this is because they can’t deliver vehicle. I know it is not a big deal and I am over it but it is frustrating.
I know I can get more selling car elsewhere but felt trading it in to Tesla would be more convenient.

 

[kengchang]

Well I am ok with waiting. But I am trading in my second car (a 7 year old Mercedes). The car has less than 100 miles put on odometer(25,450) since they quoted me trade-in value. Now, every 30 days they ask me to update odometer to reevaluate value. I did it again today and they lowered the offer 400 dollars(lowered it 400 dollars less 60 days ago) less than 20 miles driven during that period. And this is because they can’t deliver vehicle. I know it is not a big deal and I am over it but it is frustrating.
I know I can get more selling car elsewhere but felt trading it in to Tesla would be more convenient.

Should give Carvana/Vroom a try...

 

[omarsultan]

If you don't need the car, you might be better of selling it 3rd-party. That's what I did, so we're down to one car until my new S shows up, but trade-in from Tesla sucked and the value is only going to go down. I used Carvana as it was ridiculously simple.

 

[Cleo-n-Company]

Can you elaborate on this? How did they retroactively change the warranty?

When we purchased the car - the extended warranty went with the car, regardless of how the car was acquired. So if the car was purchased from a 3rd party dealer, as our was, its warranty remained intact.

I was so keen (and insisted to my wife) that the only way we would own a Tesla would be if it was covered by warranty. While sitting at the dealership, I called Tesla and had them look up the VIN to verify the car's warranty and expiration date. It was covered they assured.

They honored that warranty without a whimper for 2 + years.

In mid 2019 (I believe it was) - Tesla said it was no longer honoring extended warranties on cars purchased from certain 3rd parties, such as a dealership. Tesla has the right to do that -- it's Elon's company after all.

But you can only do that on a go forward basis. You can't do a "look back," which is exactly what Tesla did with us.

 

[VValleyEV]

I'm all about full transparency - as opposed to Elon. So I'll try to answer your questions with a summary of my Tesla story.

I own a 2013 Model S P85+. Am the second owner - and was a very happy owner the first couple of years of ownership. Things went wrong with the car - but I understood that those issues were part of the bargain as an "early adopter" in the EV world, as so many like to refer themselves to around here.

But then the severity and frequency of issues became greater. Tesla no longer sent a mobile ranger to the house. Our single Service Center in the Sacramento area was overwhelmed. I wasn't expecting the white-glove Lexus experience, but the overall feeling I was given every time I went to the SC was that I was a bother. Not a good feeling for someone driving a car with a $132,000 original sales price.

While all of this was going on, the company then decided to no longer honor my car's extended warranty. How in god's name can a company get away with this, you ask? Tesla said it had the right to make retroactive changes to its extended warranty policies.

Fast forward to Summer 2020. Depite my misgivings about the Model S - my wife and I are so committed to the EV mission that we placed an order for a new Model 3. We figured the only way we would continue with a Tesla would be to purchase a new one with a fresh 4-year warranty.

We ordered the car and then sat in disbelief as the expected delivery timeline went from 4 weeks - to 8 weeks - to 12 weeks - to the glorious moment when we cancelled our order, and had the pleasure of giving Elon $100 for all of our frustration and wasted time.

Our sales advisor, who was completely non-communicative during this waiting process, amazingly managed to call me within hours of cancelling the order on the website, pleading with me to leave the order intact. You know where I told him to go.

Fast forward to 2/23/2021. We don't drive nearly as much because of Covid - and just kind of live with the various squeaks / rattles / leaky roof that are part of our current Tesla experience. We're waiting our turn for the memory chip replacement as part of the NHTSA recall. And certainly can't forget how Tesla has handled this situation in such an atrocious manner.

Despite my experience - I'm sure there are plenty of owners who have had a better one.

But the main reason I joined this forum some months ago was because I was in disbelief that my situation was an isolated one. Clearly it's not.

So... regardless of which way you go with your purchase decision... am hoping my novel will give you some insights and additional questions to ask other owners along the way.

Thanks for all this. I may have been just incredibly lucky.

I bought my S100D in Sep 2018. It was an “inventory” car with 8k miles on it, manufactured in late Feb 2018, so was one for the last S cars manufactured with MCU1 (I didn’t know squat about MCUs at time of purchase). The car had a a number of problems, likely because it had been driven very hard in test drives. Many months after purchase, Tesla replaced the front half-shafts and the air suspension, both of which had been updated since its manufacture and I got the newer (stronger) parts, no charge. Had a mobile service visit to replace the passenger side mirror which folded too far, touching the trim, and they replaced the trim at the same time. No charge. I had purchased FSD, so I was given the option of paying another $2.5k to update to MCU2 when they updated to AP3, and decided to go for it, because I was worried about lifetime of MCU1, and wanted the cool new features enabled by MCU2. I believe they recently lowered the MCU2 upgrade cost to $1k or so which is a bit of an annoyance but not huge.

I liked the car and service experience well enough, and my wife came around after being suspicious of the new high tech toy, and she decided she wanted a model 3 (she got sick of driving the Jeep). So we purchased an M3 AWD LR in Sep 2019, and it got delivered in about 3 weeks. It had some minor issues which were fixed easily and quickly. My wife noticed that her M3 always had a motor whine, mostly at 20-40mph, but said oh its fine, but I decided to ask them if they could fix it. They test drove it and volunteered to replace the sound sealer under the battery in the back seat. I didn’t think was the problem because it sounded to me like the sound was from the front, but ok its on their dime and it is a huge job the battery has to be completely pulled out. It took them at least a week, then they called and said we test drove it and it did not make enough of an improvement. We are gonna replace both of your front drive units, again free. Holy crap, another few days but then we picked it up and it is pretty much silent through all speeds. Wow.

So I have no clue how much of the difference between my experiences and yours can be attributed to timing, location of service centers, or just luck of the draw. I am actually considering trading in my S100D for a CT tri-motor long range, because that would give me a big bump to 500 mile range and latest technology, and the price I got quoted for my $100 reservation is quite “reasonable” for such a crazy high-tech beast. If I pull the trigger, I am hoping that the 2021 CT won’t have reliability/serviceability issues like your 2013 S.