While there are some exceptions such as shipping cars to customers in states where Tesla can’t direct sale and touch-less deliveries with COVID-19 lockdowns, in most cases you don’t have to pay before seeing the car.
There is a 7-day no questions asked return policy.
Most all the issues I have seen online are cosmetic and typically involve fixing panel alignments or paint chips. Things that are usually fixed quickly and easily. Things that most other car makers and dealers address before delivering to customers.
Many early VINs are just fine. It seems that more of the problematic builds are the ones that happened in the last couple weeks as they were trying to maximize production with both end of quarter and possible factory shut-down looming over them.
If you’re ready to take delivery and the car is your ideal configuration, I say go for it. Tesla has it’s flaws with quality control at times, but they also do a fantastic job of getting these cars fixed up. If you can take delivery with your delivery specialist on-hand, you’ll be able to go over the car and make a list of any issues you see and schedule a service if needed. A good delivery specialist and service center would take a car that comes in needing attention and fix it up before presenting to the customer. Once again, I think a lot of cars were slipping through without that level of attention on the delivery end because end of quarter and looming shut-downs.