More than 1,000 U.S. Signatures (confirmed)

[FlasherZ]

I disagree that I was one of the last Sigs bought though. I upgraded the Sig list in February 2012 from my April 2010 production reservation of P2407. Timdorr's list shows about 130 Sig sequence reservations after me (1313). If there truly were just 1000 Sig cars, my vin should have been in the 870-940 range instead of over 1000, wouldn't you think?

As mentioned, I'm 10 sequence numbers after you and my VIN is 1049, so you're right in line. I've asked for clarification on the VINs -- while I don't really care that my VIN is 1049 I'm curious as to why it is so. In May I was told it was "highly unlikely" that I'd get a Sig spot, and about 2 weeks later I got a call -- so until they started dealing with other cancellations, you were probably one of the last Sigs.

My theory on the last (130+) Sig numbers is that they're very sparsely populated, almost as if just being on the waitlist meant a number was assigned to you, and they fell off quickly when time came to pony up the extra $35k. Just a theory.

 

[Larry Chanin]

For what its worth I'm Signature 1232. I was taken off the waiting list on June 23rd, the day after they celebrated the first deliveries. This weekend I was assigned VIN 1055.

Larry

 

[AnOutsider]

I was just assigned VIN 1084 - Sig 532.

 

[Arnold Panz]

I was just assigned VIN 1084 - Sig 532.

The end is near! I mean, in a good way

 

[doug]

I was just assigned VIN 1084 - Sig 532.

Wow... really seems like they screwed something up there. Regardless of whether or not you think the VIN or Sig has any value, you'd think Tesla could have managed for people who put their reservations in early enough to have a reservation number that low to have gotten a VIN under 1000. I don't think it would be that big of a deal for the last minute Sig upgrades that got a former Canadian spot to have a VIN between 1000 and 1200. But Sig 532 to get VIN 1084 seems like a huge gap.

 

[bonnie]

Wow... really seems like they screwed something up there. Regardless of whether or not you think the VIN or Sig has any value, you'd think Tesla could have managed for people who put their reservations in early enough to have a reservation number that low to have gotten a VIN under 1000. I don't think it would be that big of a deal for the last minute Sig upgrades that got a former Canadian spot to have a VIN between 1000 and 1200. But Sig 532 to get VIN 1084 seems like a huge gap.

I have to agree. I wonder what the heck happened.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

An Outsider didn't get a look inside the 1,000 mark!

But, I don't think our friend Marcus could care less...

 

[FlasherZ]

But, I don't think our friend Marcus could care less...

Other than "GIMME MY CAR!"

 

[Doug_G]

Wow... really seems like they screwed something up there. Regardless of whether or not you think the VIN or Sig has any value, you'd think Tesla could have managed for people who put their reservations in early enough to have a reservation number that low to have gotten a VIN under 1000. I don't think it would be that big of a deal for the last minute Sig upgrades that got a former Canadian spot to have a VIN between 1000 and 1200. But Sig 532 to get VIN 1084 seems like a huge gap.

Surely there's no way that large a percentage of Canadian Signatures dropped out. My theory is that there is a certain percentage of bodies that got scrapped after being assigned a VIN. I wouldn't be at all surprised by that, especially very early in the production ramp.

 

[AnOutsider]

I'm pretty sure they never started building my car until last week. I have no inside knowledge of course, but it doesn't sound like a case of "your car was in production, got delayed, so we gave you a new one". As for caring... Yeah, it does sting a little (the VIN being so high), but I do want to just get the car and get it over with. At least at that point the hurdle will be jumped and I can then better assess if Tesla is the company I thought they were.

 

[doug]

I wonder if they'll ever give an explanation for such a large discrepancy.

 

[Arnold Panz]

I think this is definitely one of those circumstances where Tesla needs to err on the side of over-sharing, at least with AO. He really should have a right to know why his VIN is so high compared to his Sig number, even if it isn't for "public" consumption. Whether the reason is that the car got delayed in production and they're getting him a new one to speed up the process (i.e., something went inextricably wrong with the original), they forgot to start on it, or whatever the reason, this is a perfect situation where providing an explanation (any explanation) is better than not saying anything and hoping that he doesn't notice his VIN is so high and his delivery delayed commensurately.

I am fairly confident that most customer-facing employees would gladly share this information if they are authorized to do so -- the question is whether they will be given the leeway to do so in this case. I surely hope so.

AO, you don't need to share what they tell you (assuming they do), but it would be great to know you were given some explanation, and it isn't just acceptable that you have such a high VIN relative to when you reserved your car with no explanation.

 

[Tommy]

I wonder if they'll ever give an explanation for such a large discrepancy.

My guess is the color change from Sig Red to Perl White ( and accompanying paper work and procedures) moved him back and accounts for the large discrepancy.

 

[Jkam]

I'm pretty sure they never started building my car until last week. I have no inside knowledge of course, but it doesn't sound like a case of "your car was in production, got delayed, so we gave you a new one". As for caring... Yeah, it does sting a little (the VIN being so high), but I do want to just get the car and get it over with. At least at that point the hurdle will be jumped and I can then better assess if Tesla is the company I thought they were.

I definitely feel for you AnOutsider. Have they told you whether you were one of the dreaded 28? That alone wouldn't make the situation right, but at least we'd probably know if yours is one of the extreme cases. Kind of makes me shiver to think there may be worse situations out there.

If Tesla did screw up, they should just man up and say it, give a polite explanation and then do everything in their power to speed up the delivery of the car. That's good customer service. Hiding is not.

If it is of any usefullness to you, when I last talked to a Tesla rep about two weeks ago, he told me that cars that have been overlooked (presumably the dreaded 28) have a red sticker on them. As the cars go from one part of the assembly line to the next, the workers know that cars with red stickers go to the front of the line and get special attention.

 

[Doug_G]

My guess is the color change from Sig Red to Perl White ( and accompanying paper work and procedures) moved him back and accounts for the large discrepancy.

Oh, if he made a change after signing the MVPA then that's a big reason for the delay.

 

[AnOutsider]

My guess is the color change from Sig Red to Perl White ( and accompanying paper work and procedures) moved him back and accounts for the large discrepancy.

That's definitely possible, but if they are doing 200/week (or they did once), then to push me to 1084, I would have had to have been 884ish to begin with which is pretty high too. Then again, there are SSLs who have high VINS and only recently getting deliveries, so I guess things could always be worse.

If it is of any usefullness to you, when I last talked to a Tesla rep about two weeks ago, he told me that cars that have been overlooked (presumably the dreaded 28) have a red sticker on them. As the cars go from one part of the assembly line to the next, the workers know that cars with red stickers go to the front of the line and get special attention.

I don't know if I was one of the 28, but I was told there would be some red stickering going on

Oh, if he made a change after signing the MVPA then that's a big reason for the delay.

Yes, I posted a while back that when my car got delayed yet again, they told me it hadn't even entered production, so I asked why then am I always being told I can't change my color since the car is already in production (I'd been asking since the summer. Originally went red since it was the only signature thing I could make use of, but realized I just didn't think I could live with it). Someone stepped in (and I'm thankful for him) and got the change order. I was told that if I did the change, it could push my delivery date back 7-10 days -- that's where I get the "week" from. My car was already delayed (today is actually the beginning of my old window), and the change pushed it back a week, but we (my wife and I) figured it was worth it to get a color we could be happy with.

Now, does that week equal the higher VIN? I would imagine it would, but I didn't think it would be over 1k.

 

[dsm363]

If it is of any usefullness to you, when I last talked to a Tesla rep about two weeks ago, he told me that cars that have been overlooked (presumably the dreaded 28) have a red sticker on them. As the cars go from one part of the assembly line to the next, the workers know that cars with red stickers go to the front of the line and get special attention.

No one from Tesla at all has talked with you in 2 weeks even though you've called them and sent e-mails?

- - - Updated - - -

Now, does that week equal the higher VIN? I would imagine it would, but I didn't think it would be over 1k.

I wish they could have figured out how to get you a lower VIN, at least below 1,000 or explain to you in private what happened, I agree.

 

[Jkam]

No one from Tesla at all has talked with you in 2 weeks even though you've called them and sent e-mails?

BINGO! Radio and email silence since Nov. 2. I'm supposed to be kept informed every step of the way, but haven't heard a lick. Tomorrow will mark the end of my fourth failed delivery window. I just decided I get too aggravated trying to chase down false information, so I'm not going to "bother" them anymore. They can tell me when they have some good news. My car arrives when it arrives.

 

[dsm363]

BINGO! Radio and email silence since Nov. 2. I'm supposed to be kept informed every step of the way, but haven't heard a lick. Tomorrow will mark the end of my fourth failed delivery window. I just decided I get too aggravated trying to chase down false information, so I'm not going to "bother" them anymore. They can tell me when they have some good news. My car arrives when it arrives.

I think that's the way to handle it. Frustrating I know but being in Hawaii (which would be awesome by the way) adds another layer of difficulty and I'm sure they are working as hard as they can. You'll be much happier when you can just focus on the car and not everything dealing with this rampup.

 

[JRP3]

I have no inside knowledge of course

That goes without saying :wink: But it would be interesting to find out why you have such a high vin. Plus you're practically TMC OG so WTF?