My ordering experience

[tradosaurus]

For future reference to some one else contemplating order a Tesla for the first time I am notating my experience with ordering my first Tesla, including the test drives.

Mid August I set up a demo drive for a Tesla Model Y in Tyler Tx. The process to set up the demo was extremely easy through the website and the service rep was very informative. I received an email the day before to confirm my appointment. We were given 45 minutes to test drive the Y after a brief walkthrough the controls by the service rep. Tesla recommends watching an informative video on the basics of operating a Tesla before you arrive. This definitely helped.

Last week my wife and I decided to schedule another demo with a Y in Dallas as we were test driving other cars, most notably a Mercedes S class and a Lexus LS500. I even was able to test drive the new electric car; Lexus RZ. After driving a GM bolt for the last year it's hard driving an ICE vehicle no matter how luxurious. Anywho, the process to demo the Y was the same process previously. We learned a few more things about the Y that we liked and decided after the test drive to eventually purchase one.

The lady at the Dallas store said we would have 10 days after the Tesla was delivered to arrange to get the car. Also when I asked about a particular car in inventory I was interested in she looked in her computer and said it would be 2 weeks to deliver.

So Sunday I pulled the trigger and put my $250 deposit down and ordered my Y out of inventory thinking I had about 2 weeks. I then get a text congratulating me on my purchase and to finish a checklist of delivery items such as uploading drivers license, applying for loan, uploading insurance for the new car (or buying Tesla insurance). The process was extremely easy and now I understand why the dealer mafia model by other companies are protected by Congress.

I had until 1600 hrs today to schedule pick up or my order would be cancelled and my Y would be put back into "inventory". And since I waited one day since my order the available pick up times shrunk dramatically so there were no morning slots.

My only beef with the experience is disconnect between the Tesla service advisor and reality. I wasn't expecting ordering and picking up the car within one week as I was led to believe I had a few weeks to prepare. I have a 7 hr drive to Austin (from Texarkana) and will have no one to drive down with me as my wife has a high school reunion event that day.
Fortunately I am planning on leaving my car a week with a detailer so won't need another driver.

I would give my ordering experience with Tesla a 9 out of 10 while my last dealer purchase last year was a 2 out of 10. Glad I didn't need go through the haggling of price nor wait 5 hrs to finally get to the finance department and sign 30 minutes of papers while declining over priced add-ons.

Please add your own experience below.

 

[EmbersDC]

There are certainly many pros to ordering a car from Tesla. The lack of sales people really helps. It's as simple as ordering any product online versus haggling with prices, etc.

 

[tradosaurus]

Tried to make the down payment through the app but the Tesla Plaid service does recognize a bank that is not listed.

So I called the 1-800 number and spoke with a service rep. He gave me wiring transfer information so my credit union could wire the money to Tesla.
Not too big of a hassle but Tesla needs to update their payment method to include other sources on the app.

After the wire transfer I was told to make a PDF copy of the transfer document and send to:
[email protected] with subject line of RN#xxxxxxxxx and Body to say: Proof of payment

 

[kayakandpaddle]

Here's my story -

Today (10/7/23) I was scheduled to pick up my new model Y. About an hour before my time slot, I receive a call from the dealer. They crashed my car into a wall while washing it. I said okay, get me an identical car and things are good. I know they have identical cars in the area because I was online just before I went to the dealer and saw several of them. BTW - all the identical cars on the website this morning in the area had different pricing on them and they were all higher than the price I was contracted to pay. Their response was that they could get me a car, but I would have to pay $4K more for the car. Keep in mind, the car they wanted to sell me after they crashed my car was identical in every way to the car I was contracted to purchase. Both cars were brand new, and both cars had just arrived at the dealership. They told me they couldn't give me the other car at the same price because the price is tied to the VIN. The person on the phone was apologetic and admitted that it seems crazy they couldn't just give me the other car at the same price. The Tesla rep said she would try to get with her manager to see what they could do. She did tell me that she probably couldn't get back to me until Monday. After spending the entire day driving to the dealership and back to my house (I live several hours from the dealership), I decided I no longer have much faith in how Tesla does business. I figured their employees are not empowered to make what should be obvious decisions to keep their customers happy. I decided to cancel my order and I sent in my text message asking to cancel it. The response back was that I could cancel it, but I wold lose my $250 deposit. I responded back with the story about my car being crashed. They responded back and said a company rep would be in contact with me.

The other thing that concerns me is how Tesla prices their identical cars. Before I settled on the car I was going to purchase today, I purchased the same car a week earlier. I was told I could pick up the car 3-7 days from the day I made the purchase. That day, I did all my paper work on the app and then received a message saying I could schedule the pick up of my new car. I went to schedule the appointment and the only day I was allowed to schedule the appointment was that very same day. I called Tesla and explained I couldn't get to the dealership where the car was located that day and that I was told, when I bought it, that I couldn't pick it up for several days. The day I bought it happened to be the last day of September. The Tesla phone rep told me if I didn't pick it up that day that I would lose my $250 deposit and I could no longer have that price. I told her to cancel the order and that I would fight to get my $250 back because it was deceptive to tell me I couldn't pick up the car for several days, then only several hours later tell me that I had to pick it up that day. The lady on the phone canceled the car and basically told me I could contact a manager to get my $250 back. About 5:30 the same evening, I received a call from the dealership and they said I could still do the deal and pick up the car later that week. I agreed to that. A couple days later, I go on the website and see 5 identical cars for up to $2500 less than what I was contracted to pay. All 5 identical cars had different pricing on them. I called Tesla and asked if they could give me the car I was contracted on at the lowest price they had on the website. They said yes, but I would have to switch dealerships and the VIN would also change. Okay, that seems weird, but I did it. This was the car they crashed today.

Is this stuff normal for Tesla?
What's their aftermarket service like?
If things are this weird now, what's going to happen if I have a warranty issue?

It sure makes me feel uneasy about doing business with them. I've never had a car buying experience like this before and it feels like I'm dealing with a budget used car lot and a salesman in a plaid suit.

 

[tradosaurus]

Here's my story -

Today (10/7/23) I was scheduled to pick up my new model Y. About an hour before my time slot, I receive a call from the dealer. They crashed my car into a wall while washing it. I said okay, get me an identical car and things are good. I know they have identical cars in the area because I was online just before I went to the dealer and saw several of them. BTW - all the identical cars on the website this morning in the area had different pricing on them and they were all higher than the price I was contracted to pay. Their response was that they could get me a car, but I would have to pay $4K more for the car. Keep in mind, the car they wanted to sell me after they crashed my car was identical in every way to the car I was contracted to purchase. Both cars were brand new, and both cars had just arrived at the dealership. They told me they couldn't give me the other car at the same price because the price is tied to the VIN. The person on the phone was apologetic and admitted that it seems crazy they couldn't just give me the other car at the same price. The Tesla rep said she would try to get with her manager to see what they could do. She did tell me that she probably couldn't get back to me until Monday. After spending the entire day driving to the dealership and back to my house (I live several hours from the dealership), I decided I no longer have much faith in how Tesla does business. I figured their employees are not empowered to make what should be obvious decisions to keep their customers happy. I decided to cancel my order and I sent in my text message asking to cancel it. The response back was that I could cancel it, but I wold lose my $250 deposit. I responded back with the story about my car being crashed. They responded back and said a company rep would be in contact with me.

The other thing that concerns me is how Tesla prices their identical cars. Before I settled on the car I was going to purchase today, I purchased the same car a week earlier. I was told I could pick up the car 3-7 days from the day I made the purchase. That day, I did all my paper work on the app and then received a message saying I could schedule the pick up of my new car. I went to schedule the appointment and the only day I was allowed to schedule the appointment was that very same day. I called Tesla and explained I couldn't get to the dealership where the car was located that day and that I was told, when I bought it, that I couldn't pick it up for several days. The day I bought it happened to be the last day of September. The Tesla phone rep told me if I didn't pick it up that day that I would lose my $250 deposit and I could no longer have that price. I told her to cancel the order and that I would fight to get my $250 back because it was deceptive to tell me I couldn't pick up the car for several days, then only several hours later tell me that I had to pick it up that day. The lady on the phone canceled the car and basically told me I could contact a manager to get my $250 back. About 5:30 the same evening, I received a call from the dealership and they said I could still do the deal and pick up the car later that week. I agreed to that. A couple days later, I go on the website and see 5 identical cars for up to $2500 less than what I was contracted to pay. All 5 identical cars had different pricing on them. I called Tesla and asked if they could give me the car I was contracted on at the lowest price they had on the website. They said yes, but I would have to switch dealerships and the VIN would also change. Okay, that seems weird, but I did it. This was the car they crashed today.

Is this stuff normal for Tesla?
What's their aftermarket service like?
If things are this weird now, what's going to happen if I have a warranty issue?

It sure makes me feel uneasy about doing business with them. I've never had a car buying experience like this before and it feels like I'm dealing with a budget used car lot and a salesman in a plaid suit.

That's terrible Tesla people crashed your car before delivery. However as you stated later, you could have forfeited your deposit and saved another $2500 (minus your $250 deposit). I could have saved another $800 on another car but thought it wasn't worth the hassle. I already saved $4500.

 

[Plains]

My M3 that I ordered in inventory was available a week sooner than the estimate when I placed the order. I called Tesla and advised I could not pick up for about two weeks after the date I placed the order. The first Tesla rep said the available pickup dates could not be pushed back. I planned to then proceed with the earlier date and remove my wife from the registration since she needed to be present as well during the pickup but was traveling. When i called again to check on the date the very nice CSR said she would check on the later pickup date (one week later). I received a call back with the later date so that we could both get on the registration.