After reading so much misinformation and fear mongering on the Web, I wanted to post an account of my excellent Tesla experience.
I have an early east coast MX build, a beautiful blue 6 seat P90D with the ultrawhite interior (VIN 990). Although I had taken a couple of MS test drives, this is my first Tesla, reserved on faith and with a surfeit of optimistic technophilia in July of 2012. Like most members of the community here, I waited impatiently as the vehicle was repeatedly delayed, filling my time by learning as much about the company and its cars as I could (thank you TMC!). I did lose some of my earliest blind faith in the TM company, moving to a more realistic adult perspective, aware of their weaknesses and the mistakes that they have made along the way. Thus, after the reveal event last September 30, even as an early production reservation holder, I was not surprised by the 6-7 month wait before my delivery was actually scheduled.
Like many on this forum, I worried about build quality after the initial reports suggested problems with door sensors and panel gaps. But, when I received the car in April, I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of problems. The doors have worked almost flawlessly, and my oh my, the driving experience ... the driving experience is like nothing offered by any other vehicle, superior in virtually every way to anything I have owned before. This is a family car, eminently practical, but is also a luxury vehicle with the performance of a sports car. Whereas before the MX, my wife did most of the family driving in our Honda minivan, my car has now become the go-to mode of transportation for the 5 of us. I find myself making excuses to run errands, just to get out on the road. I will parrot a mantra seen frequently on these forums: I will never go back to ICE again.
However, the car was not perfect. I had noticed a couple of manufacturing defects, minor things really, but arguably unacceptable in an $135K car. The active spoiler was not perfectly aligned and the leading glass roof edge of the passenger side FWD protruded 7mm above the adjacent cross bar. There was a gap associated with the driver door panel and one associated with the A pillar. These imperfections were bothersome, but could not spoil my enjoyment of the car. I brought them to the attention of the service center when I came in to pick up a new USB cord for the phone holster, but without an expectation that they could all be fixed (the interior panel gaps were of course easy to fix). The service center staff listened attentively, and then surprised me with the claim that all of my concerns were correctable. They would order the necessary parts and then schedule a warranty service with a loaner.
Fast forward about 3 weeks, to the service. Because of my busy work schedule, they accommodated a late drop off and pick up around 6pm. I received a 2015 blue P90D MS with coils as my loaner and carefully compared it to my MX. The loaner did not have a pano roof, and I found the car to be relatively claustrophobic compared to the MX. The acceleration was slightly quicker than my car, but the drive experience was quite similar. The MS is sleeker and rides lower, but I missed the higher ride of the MX in traffic, and getting in and out of the loaner car was more difficult. I missed the auto close driver door more than I would have predicted. I had been aware of road noise in my MX (20 inch summer tires with air suspension), but found the loaner to be obviously worse (21 inch summer tires on coils). Wind noise is slightly more apparent in the MX at highway speeds.
The warranty service only took 24 hours. As it turns out, the supposed misalignment of the FWD was more of a problem with the crossbar applique, and relatively easy to fix. The protrusion has been reduced to just 2mm. I was very pleased with the outcome and even more pleased with the friendly and accommodating Charlotte service center staff.
So if any forum lurkers are considering a Model X but have been worried about some of the reports that they have read about suboptimal quality or service, be assured that there is another perspective. It is clear that the Internet is rife with selection bias, and perhas we do not hear as much from the happiest owners as we should. Now if you will excuse me, I want to get back to enjoying my car.
I have an early east coast MX build, a beautiful blue 6 seat P90D with the ultrawhite interior (VIN 990). Although I had taken a couple of MS test drives, this is my first Tesla, reserved on faith and with a surfeit of optimistic technophilia in July of 2012. Like most members of the community here, I waited impatiently as the vehicle was repeatedly delayed, filling my time by learning as much about the company and its cars as I could (thank you TMC!). I did lose some of my earliest blind faith in the TM company, moving to a more realistic adult perspective, aware of their weaknesses and the mistakes that they have made along the way. Thus, after the reveal event last September 30, even as an early production reservation holder, I was not surprised by the 6-7 month wait before my delivery was actually scheduled.
Like many on this forum, I worried about build quality after the initial reports suggested problems with door sensors and panel gaps. But, when I received the car in April, I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of problems. The doors have worked almost flawlessly, and my oh my, the driving experience ... the driving experience is like nothing offered by any other vehicle, superior in virtually every way to anything I have owned before. This is a family car, eminently practical, but is also a luxury vehicle with the performance of a sports car. Whereas before the MX, my wife did most of the family driving in our Honda minivan, my car has now become the go-to mode of transportation for the 5 of us. I find myself making excuses to run errands, just to get out on the road. I will parrot a mantra seen frequently on these forums: I will never go back to ICE again.
However, the car was not perfect. I had noticed a couple of manufacturing defects, minor things really, but arguably unacceptable in an $135K car. The active spoiler was not perfectly aligned and the leading glass roof edge of the passenger side FWD protruded 7mm above the adjacent cross bar. There was a gap associated with the driver door panel and one associated with the A pillar. These imperfections were bothersome, but could not spoil my enjoyment of the car. I brought them to the attention of the service center when I came in to pick up a new USB cord for the phone holster, but without an expectation that they could all be fixed (the interior panel gaps were of course easy to fix). The service center staff listened attentively, and then surprised me with the claim that all of my concerns were correctable. They would order the necessary parts and then schedule a warranty service with a loaner.
Fast forward about 3 weeks, to the service. Because of my busy work schedule, they accommodated a late drop off and pick up around 6pm. I received a 2015 blue P90D MS with coils as my loaner and carefully compared it to my MX. The loaner did not have a pano roof, and I found the car to be relatively claustrophobic compared to the MX. The acceleration was slightly quicker than my car, but the drive experience was quite similar. The MS is sleeker and rides lower, but I missed the higher ride of the MX in traffic, and getting in and out of the loaner car was more difficult. I missed the auto close driver door more than I would have predicted. I had been aware of road noise in my MX (20 inch summer tires with air suspension), but found the loaner to be obviously worse (21 inch summer tires on coils). Wind noise is slightly more apparent in the MX at highway speeds.
The warranty service only took 24 hours. As it turns out, the supposed misalignment of the FWD was more of a problem with the crossbar applique, and relatively easy to fix. The protrusion has been reduced to just 2mm. I was very pleased with the outcome and even more pleased with the friendly and accommodating Charlotte service center staff.
So if any forum lurkers are considering a Model X but have been worried about some of the reports that they have read about suboptimal quality or service, be assured that there is another perspective. It is clear that the Internet is rife with selection bias, and perhas we do not hear as much from the happiest owners as we should. Now if you will excuse me, I want to get back to enjoying my car.
