More Uk-bound Ships?

[buzbe]

Grand Pioneer is approaching the Panama Canal

Interestingly no new "existing inventory" on the Tesla website (in contrast to what happened whilst Grand Dahlia was on its way toward Panama) which could correspond to there being less RHD on this ship. Could just be that all of the RHDs on this ship are expected to be matched to existing orders. Keep an eye out for VIN allocations in the next couple of days

Jasper Arrow has moored at pier 80 within the past hour.

Don’t VINs normally not get allocated until after it’s through the canal? It could be these won’t appear until later on.

 

[anon37485]

I've been compiling a spreadsheet the last couple of days, if anyone wants to add updates, please comment

Don’t VINs normally not get allocated until after it’s through the canal? It could be these won’t appear until later on.

Yes that’s correct. It’s usually either as it leaves or at the final lock.

 

[TipsterPhil]

New I've been compiling a spreadsheet the last couple of days, if anyone wants to add updates, please comment

Spreadsheet for what @CJ-UK?

 

[refjamie]

Grand Pioneer is approaching the Panama Canal

Out of interest, how do you track ships? I've found this for the Grand Pioneer, but it's not heading to Europe;

GRAND PIONEER - Vehicles Carrier (IMO: 9247572, MMSI: 352935000) | MyShipTracking

 

[nightowl]

Out of interest, how do you track ships? I've found this for the Grand Pioneer, but it's not heading to Europe

Pretty much that website or MarineTraffic for checking progress.

Ships destined for Europe go via the Panama canal, so when they leave San Francisco their first destination is Panama. Once through the Panama canal their destination will be updated to Zeebrugge if it's heading to Europe (which it usually is - I'm not aware of any other destinations the Tesla-related ships go to which involve passing through Panama canal.)

Grand Pioneer is currently stopped just south of the Panama canal. I expect it will pass through it within the next day or two.

The ships go out of AIS coverage for several days at a time when further away from land so precise tracking can be difficult.

For working out what ships might be interesting to monitor, I look at Twitter for tweets by (or in reply to) Morten Grove, whitfletcher and any mentions of "pier 80" (sometimes photos of current activity appear.) San Francisco port also has a web page listing expected arrivals over the next few weeks, which has a specific list for pier 80. So it's a case of seeing what ships are turning up around the times listed there. Destination tends to only be known as it's about to depart.

 

[James.G]

Just checked and it looks like a lot of new inventory cars just hit the Tesla site

 

[Mr Miserable]

Grand Pioneer is currently stopped just south of the Panama canal. I expect it will pass through it within the next day or two.

Pilot has just boarded Grand Pioneer so canal transit should commence shortly.

 

[Big_G]

I don’t understand how there’s inventory hit the website. I mean there’s a white/black SR+ there which is basic spec, that’s what I’m waiting for. Why wouldn’t that get allocated to me or one of several others I guess are waiting for the same?

 

[nightowl]

Alrighty so this at least goes some way to proving my theory that the last batch of "existing inventory" was on the Grand Dahlia - this batch ought to be cars on the Grand Pioneer.

You could stick a deposit on one and then cancel the original, or phone Tesla to ask to be matched to a particular one (when they're open - pretty rubbish that this stock appears on a Sunday evening!) If anyone opts to do this, it'd be interesting to know what the ETA is. This is what I did (phoned them) when I saw my spec a week and a half ago.

I have a theory I've mentioned previously that the "existing inventory" being shipped across are cars that aren't going to be allocated to any order. Out of thousands of cars on the ship, there are currently 43 on the inventory page. The rest will probably be getting assigned VINs once the ship leaves Panama. So if you opt to wait, similarly it'd be interesting to know if/when you get a VIN.

If a car matching your spec shows on the website, and you wait but don't receive a car from this ship, that would suggest they're deliberately offering up some cars to generate extra orders at the expense of making people wait longer.

 

[anon37485]

I don’t understand how there’s inventory hit the website. I mean there’s a white/black SR+ there which is basic spec, that’s what I’m waiting for. Why wouldn’t that get allocated to me or one of several others I guess are waiting for the same?

I'm currently composing an email now (while I can't call anyone) asking exactly that.

I've found 3 on their site which match my spec. How can their system allow any to be listed when there are outstanding orders already which could be fulfilled.

I hope for my sake that nightowl is correct (that my order is matched already on Pioneer, and I'm waiting for the SC VIN this week). If not, I'll be gutted. If your theory is correct, then it would mean there are no outstanding orders at all.

 

[buzbe]

I'm in the same boat (literally). There's one matching my spec on the website - but no VIN yet.

I'm going to wait - see how accurate this is!

 

[buzbe]

Interestingly - there are some 19" wheels on the inventory.. looks like that backlog is about to get cleared..

I'm happy to wait - it may give me a chance at those new grey wheels...

 

[James.G]

P

I don’t understand how there’s inventory hit the website. I mean there’s a white/black SR+ there which is basic spec, that’s what I’m waiting for. Why wouldn’t that get allocated to me or one of several others I guess are waiting for the same?

I got caught out by this when the last batch hit. My exact car was on there but I still had no vin. I phoned up Tesla and asked them to switch my deposit to the inventory car but by the time I got through and emailed them the details the car had gone.

In their response letting me know the car was gone they actually told me just to buy it through the website and they will then subtract the first deposit later (which is what I have just done now). For full transparency this is what the Tesla rep emailed me

“The best thing I can advise at the moment is to order the car using the website and we can deduct the original 2k from the final invoice as you'll have to transfer the remainder soon. That will ensure you get that particular car and saves you missing out!” Thomas @ Tesla

 

[anon37485]

For full transparency this is what the Tesla rep emailed me

“The best thing I can advise at the moment is to order the car using the website and we can deduct the original 2k from the final invoice as you'll have to transfer the remainder soon. That will ensure you get that particular car and saves you missing out!” Thomas @ Tesla

This is an absolute joke though. Existing orders should not need to worry about new orders leapfrogging them, which is what's happening here.

When the inventory popped up last week (Dahlia) my spec was also on there, and I've not seen a VIN yet.

 

[pmg102]

I can't see any inventory Model 3s... am I doing something wrong? (I'm going here: New & Used Electric Cars | Tesla)

 

[anon37485]

I can't see any inventory Model 3s... am I doing something wrong? (I'm going here: New & Used Electric Cars | Tesla)

Full list: New & Used Electric Cars | Tesla

These your spec? New & Used Electric Cars | Tesla

 

[nightowl]

I'm currently composing an email now (while I can't call anyone) asking exactly that.

I've found 3 on their site which match my spec. How can their system allow any to be listed when there are outstanding orders already which could be fulfilled.

I hope for my sake that nightowl is correct (that my order is matched already on Pioneer, and I'm waiting for the SC VIN this week). If not, I'll be gutted. If your theory is correct, then it would mean there are no outstanding orders at all.

To be honest, I'd be surprised if they've cleared their backlog. I'd like to be optimistic and think that these really are surplus cars that aren't waiting to be matched, but at the same time deliberately allocating a few cars to "existing inventory" even if there are outstanding orders seems like a "clever" sales tactic to give the illusion that there is already stock available. Put it this way: I looked at the inventory before ordering originally, and I saw there were no Model 3s there, so I placed a custom order. People will probably look at inventory first. These are sure to sell pretty quickly, particularly if the wait time is not as long. The result would be that some additional sales have been made, at the expense of waiting time for people who already paid their deposit (I guess very few would cancel at this stage?)

The other possibility is that their systems don't handle order changes or cancellations properly and leave some cars unallocated, even if they could be matched. Factory builds a bunch of cars intended for particular orders, some get cancelled or changed meanwhile but the original car could still be allocated but to an order that is no longer relevant to it. Might require someone to go through them to sort out the mess but it's easier to just put things in inventory rather than figure out who else might want the car (e.g. customer A cancels, customer B matches that spec, if they match the car to customer B, customer B's originally planned car then becomes available, if they match it to customer C, their originally planned car becomes available, and so on...)

All of this is guesswork though, based on these two points:
1. Companies want to generate sales
2. Computer systems do weird things sometimes and manual intervention in such cases tends to be "what's the easiest way to resolve the situation"

 

[pmg102]

These your spec? New & Used Electric Cars | Tesla

Thanks - I was looking at used. Doh!

None that match exactly. There's one with a black interior... but none that are blue outside, white inside with a tow-bar and Long Range :-(

There is a MSM though - that would match, except it has the 19" wheels... Had a glass of wine, so not going to do anything hasty tonight

 

[anon37485]

Well, I'll find out in a day or two as the cars which matched my spec have now gone ("We are sorry, the vehicle you are trying to look at is no longer available, please continue browsing our other vehicles.") - this was after a 15 minute refresh.

So, if I'm not allocated a car this week, it proves their system doesn't have the capability to allocate on a first-come-first-served basis.

 

[rotor2k]

If you’ve been waiting for months without a VIN, and an inventory car shows up with your exact config, and you can afford the (temporary) extra £2,000 then order it from inventory! It is the surest way of guaranteeing (a relative term when it comes to Tesla) that you’ll get a car in the next month or so. Don’t wait until tomorrow, they’ll be long gone by then! I suspect these inventory cars are designed for potential customers they know won’t go through the custom/preorder process.