Good Morning All,
Wanted to share my positive outcome experience as i see a lot of negatives on here and I imagine i am not the only one who felt generally good about it all.
Preface: This is my first EV. I've been a big fan of the VW and Audi ICE offerings for the last 12 or so years, owning a few GTIs, Tiguans, an Atlas, and a Q3. All my GTIs had turbo swaps and aggressive tunes along with supporting mods. I did all the work myself so i am relatively handy and a bit-time tinkerer. Wife has been driving the SUVs and she enjoys the fit and finish as well as the German engineering and ergonomics.
What got me to look at the Teslas?: So i hit a deer in early February while driving the '22 Q3. Minor body damage (~$6k) and the car was drivable, but it did need to go into the shop for repair. First few days in the shop we grabbed a rental Audi Q5 as we had been eyeing them to replace the Tiguan my wife had been driving. Not super impressed compared to the Q3 we had been driving, and $20 a day on top of insurance rental coverage, so we decided to swap it for the "free" rental. Went to pick up what i expected to be a Chevy Malibu or some other boring ICE car and they offered me a Chevy Bolt instead... Without much thought, i looked out the window at it and said, "sure, never drove an EV and it's definitely worth a shot". I drive it home. In all honesty i was expecting it to be super slow to accelerate, horrible ergonomics, annoying software and human interface, and generally just a budget econobox... Well all that was absolutely true about the bolt, except, it wasn't slow. It wasn't fast, mind you, but it was tolerable around town and on the highway (up to the 92mph limiter). This, for me was the epiphany. An EV could be quick enough to motor around? What? I was seriously not expecting that.
So, next the wheels got spinning. I started my research and watched a ton of videos. Checked prices and found the tesla offerings to be way more reasonable than i expected. I honestly thought the Teslas would be in the 60-70k range and never even thought to look. For that money i had been eyeing the SQ5 and wholeheartedly intended to grab one of those next. I quickly narrowed the focus to the Y because it would replace the tiguan and we'd be using it for road trips with my 7 year old, wife, me, and at times our dog in a travel crate.
I decided one day (Thursday), after running numbers and determining the financials would be feasible, to stop by the Tesla showroom to have a look at the interior to see if the backseat was big enough for us to fit as comfortably as the tiguan. I asked the sales associate if i could take a peek in a Y (none in the showroom) to see. He says "why don't you just take it home and see how you like it?" I hand my license over and within 2 minutes he send me on my way. He came out to the car with me and showed me the basics, getting in, placing the card to start it, using the stalk to select drive mode. I told him i was good to go (i watched a lot of videos) and i went on my way. He also mentioned that supercharging was free and to give that a try too. I took it home and took my wife and daughter for a spin. Wife said she fully intended to dislike it but the seats were comfy and there was so much room and storage, she had no excuse not to like it. Daughter was happy with the big screen and the glass ceiling, super happy. I returned the car the next day after a quick 15 mins stop to the supercharger to see what it was all about. No pressure, the rep just asked if i had questions and offered to find me one if i wanted. I politely declined and went on my way.
Wife and i thought it over the next day, Friday. Meanwhile i got a call from another sales rep asking if i needed help finding one. I shared my specs and they said they had one "enroute to the delivery site" and would text me the link. Again, no pressure or pushiness. I was honestly expecting that sense of urgency other car sales people always applied to try to make me "decide before the deal is gone or the car is no longer available". I got none of that. It was nice.
One more day later, Saturday, and i decided we'd move forward. I hopped on the app and found one of the "arriving soon" models that met my criteria. Clicked through a few of the reservation buttons and screens and deposited my $250. Followed the prompts to add my trade in details and pics, registration info, insurance info, and the rest of it. I probably spent 30 mins start to finish "buying" the car and trading my old one in. Trade offering was only slightly less than KBB had listed for the highest condition on the car. Easy peasy. I had a vin assigned within about an hour and the car showed up in the app.
The following week I waited as patiently as I could. I made the final payment and completed all the predelivery tasks that were available. Initially, the rep i spoke with said the car was enroute to Chicago but would be re-routed to Pittsburgh with an expected delivery of the next Sunday. No updates in the app as of the Sunday, so I messaged in the app (Tesla Delivery) Monday morning to see if they could get me in the same day. Responsiveness here was somewhat slow, taking a bit over an hour to respond to me. they said the car had arrived and offered a few days for delivery. I took the next day (Tuesday) at 3pm.
So, we show up in the Tiguan a few mins before 3, walked in and the rep there asked if we were there for delivery. I confirmed and he had us come to the desk to sign a few papers for the transfer. He had a folder ready and identified all signature areas for my wife and I to sign (Tiguan was in her name). Signature portion took maybe 5 mins.
He then walked us to the car (not out front directly but adjacent) and had the welcome nametag printed and on the dash. He unlocked the car and went back into the sales center. Said he'd give us a few mins to look everything over and to grab him with any issues or questions. Car was clean and in good shape. I did an exterior walkaround and then sat inside and checked everything over. I was not able to identify any defects anywhere. He came back maybe 15 mins later with a clipboard and needed 1-2 more signatures. I signed and he handed me the key cards asking if i had any questions or concerns. I did not, so he proceeded to install my license plate. After he was done he said congratulations and that we were good to go if we didn't have anything for him. I said thanks and we were on our way.
We were back on the road at approximately 3:35, so about 30 mins in and out.
This past weekend i did a full two-bucket wash followed by Crystal Serum Lite application. This really gave me a chance to scrutinize the panel fitment and paint quality. I can be really picky here and you really get a chance to get up close and personal with your paint when applying a coating. Not a single defect i was able to identify. No orange peel, no drips, no bubbles, nothing. Super pleased with the condition.
So, yeah, all in all I had the best experience i could hope for. From ordering to the app, to communication to the actual condition of the car at delivery.
I know others have definitely had a less desirable experience at one or more stages along the way. I'm not trying to discount those instances, but just sharing my own.
This got long winded, thanks for anybody that stuck with it to the end.
Happy Tesla-ing!
Wanted to share my positive outcome experience as i see a lot of negatives on here and I imagine i am not the only one who felt generally good about it all.
Preface: This is my first EV. I've been a big fan of the VW and Audi ICE offerings for the last 12 or so years, owning a few GTIs, Tiguans, an Atlas, and a Q3. All my GTIs had turbo swaps and aggressive tunes along with supporting mods. I did all the work myself so i am relatively handy and a bit-time tinkerer. Wife has been driving the SUVs and she enjoys the fit and finish as well as the German engineering and ergonomics.
What got me to look at the Teslas?: So i hit a deer in early February while driving the '22 Q3. Minor body damage (~$6k) and the car was drivable, but it did need to go into the shop for repair. First few days in the shop we grabbed a rental Audi Q5 as we had been eyeing them to replace the Tiguan my wife had been driving. Not super impressed compared to the Q3 we had been driving, and $20 a day on top of insurance rental coverage, so we decided to swap it for the "free" rental. Went to pick up what i expected to be a Chevy Malibu or some other boring ICE car and they offered me a Chevy Bolt instead... Without much thought, i looked out the window at it and said, "sure, never drove an EV and it's definitely worth a shot". I drive it home. In all honesty i was expecting it to be super slow to accelerate, horrible ergonomics, annoying software and human interface, and generally just a budget econobox... Well all that was absolutely true about the bolt, except, it wasn't slow. It wasn't fast, mind you, but it was tolerable around town and on the highway (up to the 92mph limiter). This, for me was the epiphany. An EV could be quick enough to motor around? What? I was seriously not expecting that.
So, next the wheels got spinning. I started my research and watched a ton of videos. Checked prices and found the tesla offerings to be way more reasonable than i expected. I honestly thought the Teslas would be in the 60-70k range and never even thought to look. For that money i had been eyeing the SQ5 and wholeheartedly intended to grab one of those next. I quickly narrowed the focus to the Y because it would replace the tiguan and we'd be using it for road trips with my 7 year old, wife, me, and at times our dog in a travel crate.
I decided one day (Thursday), after running numbers and determining the financials would be feasible, to stop by the Tesla showroom to have a look at the interior to see if the backseat was big enough for us to fit as comfortably as the tiguan. I asked the sales associate if i could take a peek in a Y (none in the showroom) to see. He says "why don't you just take it home and see how you like it?" I hand my license over and within 2 minutes he send me on my way. He came out to the car with me and showed me the basics, getting in, placing the card to start it, using the stalk to select drive mode. I told him i was good to go (i watched a lot of videos) and i went on my way. He also mentioned that supercharging was free and to give that a try too. I took it home and took my wife and daughter for a spin. Wife said she fully intended to dislike it but the seats were comfy and there was so much room and storage, she had no excuse not to like it. Daughter was happy with the big screen and the glass ceiling, super happy. I returned the car the next day after a quick 15 mins stop to the supercharger to see what it was all about. No pressure, the rep just asked if i had questions and offered to find me one if i wanted. I politely declined and went on my way.
Wife and i thought it over the next day, Friday. Meanwhile i got a call from another sales rep asking if i needed help finding one. I shared my specs and they said they had one "enroute to the delivery site" and would text me the link. Again, no pressure or pushiness. I was honestly expecting that sense of urgency other car sales people always applied to try to make me "decide before the deal is gone or the car is no longer available". I got none of that. It was nice.
One more day later, Saturday, and i decided we'd move forward. I hopped on the app and found one of the "arriving soon" models that met my criteria. Clicked through a few of the reservation buttons and screens and deposited my $250. Followed the prompts to add my trade in details and pics, registration info, insurance info, and the rest of it. I probably spent 30 mins start to finish "buying" the car and trading my old one in. Trade offering was only slightly less than KBB had listed for the highest condition on the car. Easy peasy. I had a vin assigned within about an hour and the car showed up in the app.
The following week I waited as patiently as I could. I made the final payment and completed all the predelivery tasks that were available. Initially, the rep i spoke with said the car was enroute to Chicago but would be re-routed to Pittsburgh with an expected delivery of the next Sunday. No updates in the app as of the Sunday, so I messaged in the app (Tesla Delivery) Monday morning to see if they could get me in the same day. Responsiveness here was somewhat slow, taking a bit over an hour to respond to me. they said the car had arrived and offered a few days for delivery. I took the next day (Tuesday) at 3pm.
So, we show up in the Tiguan a few mins before 3, walked in and the rep there asked if we were there for delivery. I confirmed and he had us come to the desk to sign a few papers for the transfer. He had a folder ready and identified all signature areas for my wife and I to sign (Tiguan was in her name). Signature portion took maybe 5 mins.
He then walked us to the car (not out front directly but adjacent) and had the welcome nametag printed and on the dash. He unlocked the car and went back into the sales center. Said he'd give us a few mins to look everything over and to grab him with any issues or questions. Car was clean and in good shape. I did an exterior walkaround and then sat inside and checked everything over. I was not able to identify any defects anywhere. He came back maybe 15 mins later with a clipboard and needed 1-2 more signatures. I signed and he handed me the key cards asking if i had any questions or concerns. I did not, so he proceeded to install my license plate. After he was done he said congratulations and that we were good to go if we didn't have anything for him. I said thanks and we were on our way.
We were back on the road at approximately 3:35, so about 30 mins in and out.
This past weekend i did a full two-bucket wash followed by Crystal Serum Lite application. This really gave me a chance to scrutinize the panel fitment and paint quality. I can be really picky here and you really get a chance to get up close and personal with your paint when applying a coating. Not a single defect i was able to identify. No orange peel, no drips, no bubbles, nothing. Super pleased with the condition.
So, yeah, all in all I had the best experience i could hope for. From ordering to the app, to communication to the actual condition of the car at delivery.
I know others have definitely had a less desirable experience at one or more stages along the way. I'm not trying to discount those instances, but just sharing my own.
This got long winded, thanks for anybody that stuck with it to the end.
Happy Tesla-ing!
