My Almost delivery in North Houston today - 2nd build

[MS16]

Appreciate everyone's thoughts. My wife finally figured out what was really bothering her -- It feels like a used car buying experience not a new luxury car experience. Everything is excused and dismissed and you are basically told to suck it up. If there are issues you get: we'll fix it; we've only building a cars a few years; re-painting pre-delivery doesn't affect resale; this many problems are routine; others aren't as upset, etc.

Anyone have a suggestion on who to contact at 'Tesla HQ'? All I know is the general 800# outside of the local crew. Any next level folks would work (e.g. regional Texas or similar management).

I accepted my S with out of alignment body parts noted on the due bill. After more than a week in a local body shop, it came back better but still not acceptable.

I expected that after building the Model S for 4 years they would have their quality act together. Sadly it is not. Do these cars even get inspected before leaving the factory? I also have a list of other problems that cropped up after delivery that are unresolved despite multiple visits to the SC.

 

[realvvk]

I have my delivery coming up and I am really scared. Is there an FAQ for what to check during delivery process? Also, as far as wiring money to Tesla, does that happen ahead of you "accepting" the car? What if they already have your money and you don't "accept" -- how do you get your money back? I am very concerned about all this.

It also sounds like you don't get to drive the car before "accepting." What if there is an issue with the "drive" -- some kind of alignment problem, vibration, shimmy, etc.?

 

[JasJ]

Best thing I did was bring my wife who is not as invested in the car purchase. I would bring someone with you who has a critical eye. Do a search for 'delivery checklist' and several threads will pop up. I had a checklist cobbled together from those where paint, trim, gaskets were top of the list. My wife was running the checklist while I was 'admiring' the car. Admiration soon changed to something darker.

Tesla has the money from TechCU and if something is not worked out, they will need to claw back the funds. Doubt that will be any more fun than the current experience to date.

In most states, if you have not accepted the car, you don't own the car.

Tesla's point of view is they will fix anything you find and put on the due bill at time of delivery. They told us they did a 'one mile test drive' of my car on the day of delivery to check for issues. I never drove it as we never got past the outside of the vehicle and I'm not sure if they will let you prior to accepting it.

@realvvk Good luck .

 

[bob_p]

Consumer Reports just listed Tesla as their best US auto brand (below German and Japanese manufacturers). While Tesla had reliability problems with earlier cars (though we've been very happy with our 2012 P85), Tesla's product quality has improved considerably in recent years, to the point where they are now ranked above GM, Ford and Chrysler/Fiat.

Plus, Tesla has had the highest customer loyalty level.

While Jasj is having problems, if these were widespread, we would be seeing a lot more complaints on the forums and with Consumer Reports.

Even the best manufacturers have a small % of cars delivered with problems - none of them are perfect. And among those customers, there is likely an even smaller percentage that may have experienced issues like what Jasj has seen - or at least that is my hope, with our delivery scheduled for Friday (evidently Tesla is waiting for the EPA to approve the 100Ds, before we can get our car).

Unless something has happened recently to seriously degrade the quality of Tesla's cars, this is hopefully an exception. And, based on our experience with Tesla over the last 4 years, Tesla should be able to find a solution that is acceptable to Jasj, even if that might mean a delay of another few weeks to get a car without any obvious problems.

I'll admit that Jasj's case has raised concerns about our scheduled delivery on Friday...

 

[Kenriko]

Unless something has happened recently to seriously degrade the quality of Tesla's cars, this is hopefully an exception. And, based on our experience with Tesla over the last 4 years, Tesla should be able to find a solution that is acceptable to Jasj, even if that might mean a delay of another few weeks to get a car without any obvious problems.

Record production levels / demand at the same time as restructuring the factory for Model 3. I see Tesla nearly bursting at the seams trying to keep up.

 

[realvvk]

Record production levels / demand at the same time as restructuring the factory for Model 3. I see Tesla nearly bursting at the seams trying to keep up.

Yeah, I suspect there was a spike on 1/15/17, since that was the last chance to order with free supercharging. Retooling for Model 3 production is also bound to introduce new issues. My car was built right around that time, supposedly.

 

[electracity]

Even the best manufacturers have a small % of cars delivered with problems - none of them are perfect.

That's true, these stories are anecdotes. We don't know the percentage of cars with significant flaws.

But Musk touts Tesla manufacturing skills, such as 3D plant utilization and making the M3 assembly line run faster to produce more cars. This all seems a bit bizarre when comparing the fit and finish of a Tesla to a Hyundai.

Tesla needs to be a competent auto maker before they worry about set the goal of becoming the world's premier manufacturer.

 

[Raddoc]

This and other threads make me extremely hesitant to complete my order of new Model S. Please tell me these are outliers and not the norm.

 

[gabeincal]

This and other threads make me extremely hesitant to complete my order of new Model S. Please tell me these are outliers and not the norm.

Yes, there are problems.

I almost guarantee you that there will be flaws on your new car. Depending on how much OCD you have (I have a LOT of it), you might not notice them, or live with them, or fight to have them fixed. If you don't notice them you'll be a happy bunny. If you fight them, they will make it right but it will take you a couple months or a year tops. That's what happened to me and I've pretty much got an almost perfect car now that I would take from Lexus or BMW.

See my thread with >60 different stupid things that I had in July 2016 when I purchased my brand new S60.

Brand new Model S quality issues take months to resolve

 

[BruceR61]

I agree that if the issues were widespread, there would be far more complaints in the public instead of such glowing reports.

The funny thing about this thread is I have a MS75 on order since 1/15 (yes ordered on the last day for supercharger), and I admit to some doubts and worries at pick-up. On the opposite side of the spectrum, my 81 year old Father in law bought a MS60D and took delivery in about August or so (it is a with the new front end style). He wouldn't have a clue what to look for that has been complained of herein, and his only issue was a twisted passenger side seatbelt. I saw the car for the first time three weeks ago on a visit to Florida. I thought the car looked pristine except the scrape he put in it himself backing it out (that I rubbed out for him with a little elbow grease). So, I believe these complaints are isolated.

I would put it in perspective - all my opinions without any real knowledge of the number of members here - my assumption is a very small population of the Tesla owners are on the public forums. Just the thought that if they delivered 20,000+ cars last quarter and the Google spreadsheet in this forum had listed 255 purchases for the quarter (about 1%) shows how few participate. Even those that are expecting delivery this quarter number under 150 people on the spreadsheet. Those that had nothing to report/complain about, or had no questions, probably don't look for these forums.

I would not worry so much - it only makes the hair grey.

 

[gabeincal]

a twisted passenger side seatbelt.

How would the NHTSA react to that minor issue? How is that possible in 2017?

 

[JasJ]

I hope for everyone else's sake, I'm an isolated incident - but I do see other threads on a somewhat regular basis on TMC. I own the stock and love the brand, but the concept of service recovery is something Tesla should work on.. at least in my experience.

 

[MS16]

I have my delivery coming up and I am really scared. Is there an FAQ for what to check during delivery process? Also, as far as wiring money to Tesla, does that happen ahead of you "accepting" the car? What if they already have your money and you don't "accept" -- how do you get your money back? I am very concerned about all this.

It also sounds like you don't get to drive the car before "accepting." What if there is an issue with the "drive" -- some kind of alignment problem, vibration, shimmy, etc.?

You should be concerned. After going through Tesla's sales and delivery process, I prefer the old fashioned dealership model. With the standard dealership model you can examine and drive the car instead of committing to pay for something sight unseen. I've special ordered several cars in the past and I've never had to put down any kind of payment, refundable or otherwise.

As for "what if there is an issue with the drive"? I have both vibration and tracking issues that Tesla can't fix. I'm not unique, see the following treads:

Unstable steering at speeds around 80 mph
Vibration In Steering Wheel

 

[BruceR61]

How would the NHTSA react to that minor issue? How is that possible in 2017?

Now you are being picky. The seat belt worked. It was just twisted (thus uncomfortable). I've had that happen on both American and German cars.

 

[MS16]

This and other threads make me extremely hesitant to complete my order of new Model S. Please tell me these are outliers and not the norm.

It is not much of an outlier. I'm shocked at the fit and finish of other Tesla's I see at Superchargers. Chrome trim not lining up, doors and hoods misaligned, huge body panel gaps, water in the tail light, even pitting and corrosion.

 

[TexasEV]

You should be concerned. After going through Tesla's sales and delivery process, I prefer the old fashioned dealership model.

This has nothing to do with direct sales vs. dealership. It's about custom ordering vs. buying an inventory car. I'd rather buy direct from Tesla than have to go through the dealership games. I hope to never have to buy a car from the auto dealer cartel again.

 

[JasJ]

For all the flack I appear to be dumping on Tesla. I still want a Tesla MS, but even a 'young' car company should know that just about the ONE thing that will really affect the resale value of the car that CANNOT be fixed at delivery is the Paint. You re-paint large areas of the vehicle, you lose value - period. Just about everything else (assuming no accident prior to delivery) can be repaired without impacting the real value of the vehicle. The factory paint quality control on my vehicle was atrocious. There is no other word to describe it. The delivery DS agreed with me that my car was especially bad.

 

[bob_p]

For deliveries in Texas, the lack of direct sales could have an impact on the delivery process.

Cars ordered in Texas are similar to ordering any other expensive item over the internet. You place the order online and pay for the item before it's delivered. With Tesla, you can at least pick the car up at a Service Center (where they can provide you some support), but they can't sell you the car, which is why they may not be able to do test drives before payment.

My 2012 S P85 was built as one of the last cars pushed out of the factory during the rush to get as many cars built as possible by the end of that first production year. There were rumors of quality problems. Coupled with the transport truck accident (it hit a deer in west Texas) and the inability for anyone from Tesla to be present when UPS delivered the car to my house, I was very concerned about the quality of the car I would be receiving and my ability to get problems fixed.

But those fears were unfounded - while there were a few small items, nothing major - and since then Tesla has been fantastic to work with whenever we've encountered any problems.

Which is why we've ordered a new $100K 100D and hope to get a Model 3 later this year.

Am I concerned that I'll likely be paying for our car before I get to look at it or drive it (hopefully on Friday)? Yes.

If I encounter any problems no matter how small or large, do I believe Tesla will handle it to my satisfaction - absolutely! Otherwise, we wouldn't have committed to go "all in" on Tesla...

If/when Tesla is allowed to deliver our 100D (evidently waiting on the EPA), at the same Service Center, I'll post our experience and we can see if the OP's experience is an exception, or perhaps an indicator of a more widespread problem.

 

[Zaphod]

For deliveries in Texas, the lack of direct sales could have an impact on the delivery process.

Cars ordered in Texas are similar to ordering any other expensive item over the internet. You place the order online and pay for the item before it's delivered. With Tesla, you can at least pick the car up at a Service Center (where they can provide you some support), but they can't sell you the car, which is why they may not be able to do test drives before payment.

My 2012 S P85 was built as one of the last cars pushed out of the factory during the rush to get as many cars built as possible by the end of that first production year. There were rumors of quality problems. Coupled with the transport truck accident (it hit a deer in west Texas) and the inability for anyone from Tesla to be present when UPS delivered the car to my house, I was very concerned about the quality of the car I would be receiving and my ability to get problems fixed.

But those fears were unfounded - while there were a few small items, nothing major - and since then Tesla has been fantastic to work with whenever we've encountered any problems.

Which is why we've ordered a new $100K 100D and hope to get a Model 3 later this year.

Am I concerned that I'll likely be paying for our car before I get to look at it or drive it (hopefully on Friday)? Yes.

If I encounter any problems no matter how small or large, do I believe Tesla will handle it to my satisfaction - absolutely! Otherwise, we wouldn't have committed to go "all in" on Tesla...

If/when Tesla is allowed to deliver our 100D (evidently waiting on the EPA), at the same Service Center, I'll post our experience and we can see if the OP's experience is an exception, or perhaps an indicator of a more widespread problem.

Things are different now in TX. Having to pre-pay is no longer the case. You only have to do that if you are doing a home delivery or somewhere else other than a service center.

Also, you can do test drives, they just need to be scheduled through Fremont.

 

[MS16]

This has nothing to do with direct sales vs. dealership. It's about custom ordering vs. buying an inventory car. I'd rather buy direct from Tesla than have to go through the dealership games. I hope to never have to buy a car from the auto dealer cartel again.

As I said, I've custom ordered many cars in the past and have never had to pay a non-refundable deposit. I've never even had to pay a deposit.

Happily, all of my previous non-Tesla custom ordered cars have been delivered without any quality problems. Not so with my special order no-money-back deposit Tesla. It may not be a big deal making a deposit if it weren't for the lack of quality control at both Fremont and the Delivery Center.