Wiki Model S Delivery Update

[Tigers]

So... @BobbyRitz @nietzsche you might be interested.

I just drove to my local SC to make a change to my Model 3.

Some things I noticed, while there:

- There were 2 Model S (1 Plaid, 1 LR) in the service area being worked on. Both are post delivery, as they both had that temp tag in the back window.
- Upon walking around, there were 2 more model s, 1 Plaid ready for delivery and 1 LR that no way in hell that thing is being delivered (more below).

I wanted to see if the Plaid had any of the issues that I could see peaking through the windows. What I found:

1. The lower trim piece on the dashboard was already starting to separate behind the area where the yoke is. Every video, every picture I have seen of this area shows a slightly breakaway by the lower trim piece. This one had a "bubble" I guess youd call it on the back of the lower trim piece and was not connecting fully.
2. The black trim around the car had a ton of spots/scratches.
3. The backseat passenger had a ripple
4. The upper trim on the B pillar was definitely out of alignment and looked diagonal.

Now I asked one of the Tesla people to confirm this was getting delivered, and they confirmed it was in about an hour. Then I pointed all this stuff out to them, guy ran, grabbed his little tablet thing and took notes. I'm not so sure they will deliver this car today.

NOW, on to the other Model S I saw, a LR with 19s. This thing had to be a tester of some kind, as it looked like it had been through hell and was a total major piece of *sugar*:

1. The white interior had black stains everywhere. On the seats, the center console, the lower dash trim, the doors. It was very dirty.
2. The lower dash trim had separated by about half an inch on each side (behind the yoke), which is my fear of what everyone will eventually see.
3. The yoke had tears all around it. Not like scratch tears, but sort of what mr exist strategy showed in his video on his dash.
4. The seats were extremely rippled and very distressed.
5. The rear driver QTR panel on the exterior was separating.

I do believe this was a test vehicle of some kind, though the interior was complete and looked "normal" in terms of parts. But when I saw this, it made my heart stop because these are all of the areas Im concerned about wearing down more quickly than they should.


Anyway - perhaps Ill change my mind by the time November rolls around. Who knows what happens between now and then, but even the brand new plaid sitting there with 3-4 issues that I found in ~2 minutes of looking from the outside should be unacceptable for delivery of a $130k car.

 

[Vack]

My EDD:
On 8/10 - 9/12-9/30
On 8/12 - 9/6-9/26
On 8/13 - 9/1-9/21
On 8/14 - 8/31-9/20
On 8/18 - 9/2-9/20

MS LR, AutoP, 19" White/Black Ordered 3/6/21, RN11460 - Long Island, NY

 

[Ormond]

Breaking news!! Tesla took strong notice of the new player and made an aggressive move with a new EDD starting in just 4 days:

RN113953xxx ordered 9/22/2020 Plaid/red/blk/CF/19 EDD Sep 9-29
RN115453xxx ordered 8/8/2021 Plaid/red/blk/CF/19 EDD Sep 10-30
RN115507xxx ordered 8/17/2021 Plaid/msm/blk/wood/19 EDD Aug 22-Sep 5!!!

So it looks like they are indeed short on CF trim.. bummer.

I was going to comment on the number of your reservations, but I realized that I’ve had 4. I canceled two already…

 

[MarcG]

@MarcG What are you planning to do when all of these stat showing up?

Very good question. For now I'm calling it a science experiment. Once I have a VIN, I'll deal with Tesla in the appropriate way. Keep you posted, of course.

 

[Sigma4Life]

Took delivery of my Plaid over the weekend. Here it is next to my wife's LR. Can anyone tell them apart?

View attachment 697974

One of them looks awesome and the other looks like a peasant’s car. I haven’t decided which one yet though.

 

[headcase]

Perhaps another helpful tip for those who are first time buyers of a Tesla and concerned about the build quality...

When inspecting the car at pick up and first driving it, try not get overly obsessed with the software glitches / software features at this juncture. Focus instead on the hardware issues. The software during initial release of this particular car is very raw and an alpha build IMHO, and that will take a few more months to become decent. The good news is the car itself is bleeding tech and many of the bugs / features will roll out in subsequent OTA updates.

In the meantime, if you're good with being an early adopter of the refresh Model S, drive and enjoy your rocket ship.

 

[Rocketfan30]

Elon told Sandy straight up - the worst time to buy the car is during a ramp up. That is right now. Does it excuse them? Not in the least bit. But if you are wanting it to be less of an issue, delaying your delivery is probably the wiser choice. The software should get better, but when it controls damn near 100% of the car - I can attest to wanting something more more along the lines of Snoop Dogg baked and less Martha Steward baked.

Here is Elon's quote and other than getting a Model S "right at the beginning", I think it will be at least a year from now before we hit the "steady state" he refers to as the desired time to buy:

"Friends ask me: ‘When should I buy a Tesla?’ And I’m like: ‘Well, either buy it right at the beginning, or when the production reaches a steady state,’” Musk said in the interview. “But during that production ramp, it’s super hard to be in vertical climb mode and get everything right on the little details.”

Buying a refresh S now in a lot like buying any car in its first model year of release. You get the enjoyment of something new and shiny but have to deal with the QC issues and quirks as they work out production and design issues. Though I wonder what is going on with all those Model S cars that piled up in the side lot in Fremont "right at the beginning".

The only reason I am willing to chance it now is because I really want it and everyone seems to be reporting that Tesla will fix the panel gap and QC issues post-delivery (even those reported up to 7 days later). Mercedes fixed a paint issue on the bumper we only discovered 2 days after we drove it home so maybe this is not that big a deal.

Can someone confirm that Tesla service centers will fix any QC issues you report to them at delivery or within 7 days after? I most likely would not defer an EOQ delivery even if the bumper was falling off because I can't wait any longer but it would be good to know.

 

[Tigers]

Perhaps another helpful tip for those who are first time buyers of a Tesla and concerned about the build quality...

When inspecting the car at pick up and first driving it, try not get overly obsessed with the software glitches / software features at this juncture. Focus instead on the hardware issues. The software during initial release of this particular car is very raw and an alpha build IMHO, and that will take a few more months to become decent. The good news is the car itself is bleeding tech and many of the bugs / features will roll out in subsequent OTA updates.

In the meantime, if you're good with being an early adopter of the refresh Model S, drive and enjoy your rocket ship.

Yeah and I would like to add to this, though I know I have said it before: Tesla's software, even with its quirks and sometimes oddly missing stuff is...

100X

better than any other OEM right now.

We have a VW ID4, and the software makes driving the car miserable. When you get inside the ID4 after it has been sitting for ~1 hr. It takes, quite literally, roughly 2 minutes before the screen works. Wanna turn on AC? Wait 1-2 minutes. Want to navigate with Car Play? Wait 1-2 minutes. Looking to see your backup cameria? You get the point. Also, our ID4 just at random throws crazy ass warnings at us, sometimes turning off the speedometer while we are driving. We havent received a single software update in 4 months of owning the car and theres plenty to update.

So, yes, all of them have glitches and weird *sugar* - these things always will be there in some form. My Model 3 did it the best, by far vs the Mach E I drove, vs the etron I drove, vs the Bolt I drove, and certainly the ID4 I own and hope to ditch.

Also - that's in car software. Wanna talk extra useless? Try any other OEM's phone app. We went on a long trip and tried to raise our ID4's charging limit and it just kept crashing and crashing and crashing and guess what? it never ****ing worked.

 

[GrnSqrl]

See, I wasn’t counting the first day, so I was counting 7! Mine appeared at the 8 day mark (8/27-9/3) per your interpretation.

edit: I can’t see travel status and my SA is off on Tuesday and Thursday. I had called the service center bc I thought I remembered someone here saying they could give you tracking updates, but they didn’t seem to know what I was talking about. .

Just found out my baby is in “Omaha, somewhere in the middle of America.” Ok that’s a stretch, but my SA did say it’s currently in Nebraska!

 

[mikenh]

Silly question - but are you SURE it's not a Plaid?

What did the Tesla folks say about that when you picked up the car?

Well, the SW indicates a LR, the seats are for the LR, and the performance indicates a LR.
The SW might limit the performance, but I have to think there would be other issues if the SW wasn't in sync with the HW (tri-motors).

Tesla didn't say anything, I'm not sure they noticed, and picking up the car took two minutes, the car was paid for, and all paper work done, I just had to sign one paper in the car that I took delivery. [Note I flew to NJ to get the car, so I wasn't about to risk any reason to get back in the queue and EDD hell (sorry to the folks still there)]

 

[Air Wind]

Awesome, were any of the red ones plaid? Also have your found and decent detailers in the area?

All 3 reds were plaids. Only the MSM and White were LR. Only one of the 3 Reds had 19" wheels if I recall.

I was thinking Chicago Auto Pro's just based on their you tube videos but not explored the pricing yet. Will PM you if I find something. Good news is my EDD improved to EoQ push to Oct 30. Woohoo.... Oct 30-Nov 19.

 

[planetary]

Like @Tigers I'm debating canceling my order and waiting for the ramp to ease up and for manufacturing to implement revisions in early 2022. However, for now, this is how my very recent order is tracking...

 

[gerald325i]

Hot off the press:

 

[DukeofURL]

My delivery window just narrowed to 1 week! ...but moved out to 15 days from now

 

[epicshooter]

This is EXACTLY what I'm wondering too. Here's my synopsis: you as the customer will not be able to go 200 if you bought the 19" wheels. For the foreseeable future.. The original wheels are likely embedded in the VIN. Think about it this way: A customer could totally lie and say that that they have the proper tires, when they haven't. WAYYYY to much liability. So the 19" cars are likely hard limited to their 163 mph. Tesla will possibly allow people to call in or send proof or something that way it can be unlocked. I mean, this could be serious. If a tire blows up at 180+ mph, or even 163 mph, you are pretty much dead.

That does not make a lot of sense to me. Tires are a wearable item. They are also speed rated and condition dependent. Even the best tires in the world can wear out and cause a blow out for one reason or another. The factory tires need to be replaced at some point so I am guessing Tesla cannot/will not limit top speed in this way.

 

[xEvoLveDx]

Well it has now been a week since my nightmare delivery day where the bumper was found damaged, among other issues. It has been radio silence from Tesla and they've told me twice to expect a callback with an update and they failed to do that. It's looking like I may end up waiting a lot longer as the confident estimate they gave me last week was obviously false and they really have no clue when they can get parts. This is not how I want to be treated as a new customer.

 

[EndlessPlaid]

That does not make a lot of sense to me. Tires are a wearable item. They are also speed rated and condition dependent. Even the best tires in the world can wear out and cause a blow out for one reason or another. The factory tires need to be replaced at some point so I am guessing Tesla cannot/will not limit top speed in this way.

Yup, that's what I thought too. See this post made by me later.

Wiki - Model S Delivery Update

FWIW I find the Tesla blue looks different every single time I see it. Completely depends on the ambient light. It does look flat from time to time but mostly I think it looks great. After 3 years of MSM I’m ready for something a bit more dynamic. Team blue! First few days with my Plaid and it...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[sflgator]

That's the biggest issue IMO. I remember either some guy posting here or that I saw it somehow, where on the Porsche forum, by far the biggest thread is: "Is Tesla an existential threat?" Which I thought was hilarious tbh. Tesla is going to exacerbate those companies' thinking with Roadster.
Think if the Roadster has 700+ mile range, 0-60 in 1.84 to spite the Rimac, 1/4 mile in the mid 8s, and costs $200,000! It will be crazy.

Don't count on the Roadster getting > 700mi range; probably more like 400-500 mi. not that would be bad. But wondering if/when Elon will take back his words about "not needing to have > 400mi range?"

Guessing 2023 before the new batteries arrive and all the kinks are worked out for the Roadster. It's vaporware until deliveries begin and now knowing and understanding how Tesla operates and how Elon like to talk A LOT but not actually deliver the goods on time, I would say we should be cautiously optimistic on the Roadster. Just saying.

 

[nietzsche]

Perhaps another helpful tip for those who are first time buyers of a Tesla and concerned about the build quality...

When inspecting the car at pick up and first driving it, try not get overly obsessed with the software glitches / software features at this juncture. Focus instead on the hardware issues. The software during initial release of this particular car is very raw and an alpha build IMHO, and that will take a few more months to become decent. The good news is the car itself is bleeding tech and many of the bugs / features will roll out in subsequent OTA updates.

In the meantime, if you're good with being an early adopter of the refresh Model S, drive and enjoy your rocket ship.

Thank you and the other folks who posted tips on this. It helps to know people have gotten things resolved by service centers at least.

And right after I posted this, my EDD went from "Sept 13 - Sept 30" to "Nov 15 - Dec 5" (order date: 4/21, LR black/black/19/FSD)

Not going to lie, my mental state regarding this thing has never been worse. Trying to remain excited, but the random shuffling of entire quarters of time for no reason, the egregious build quality issues, makes me wonder if I'm waiting an eternity for something that isn't even that great. And yet, I'm not canceling because I don't want another car. But I'm no longer excited about this whole thing. I'm sure I'm not alone in this.

Maybe 2021plaid or someone else can give me a pep talk

 

[Tigers]

Don't count on the Roadster getting > 700mi range; probably more like 400-500 mi. not that would be bad. But wondering if/when Elon will take back his words about "not needing to have > 400mi range?"

Guessing 2023 before the new batteries arrive and all the kinks are worked out for the Roadster. It's vaporware until deliveries begin and now knowing and understanding how Tesla operates and how Elon like to talk A LOT but not actually deliver the goods on time, I would say we should be cautiously optimistic on the Roadster. Just saying.

Personally, I believe Elon made that comment as a way to excuse the fact that they couldnt deliver the original Plaid as promised and that they are likely 12-18 months away even from the Roadster, still. I dont think Elon believes the 400 mile thing at all.