I wanted to reach out to the community to talk/vent about my less than ideal experience taking delivery of my Tesla Model S:
*Warning, this is a long and detailed post because I want to make you, the reader, feel like you are in my shoes. This has been a very long and drawn out delivery process that is still ongoing.
Let me start off by saying this is my first Tesla ever and I did have very high expectations, perhaps unfairly high. I had only seen deliveries on YouTube and they all looked incredible. They consisted of the car, gleaming with shine, just asking to be driven. This was how I pictured the delivery going in my head. I was almost immediately disappointed.
Upon entering the garage, I was facing the hood of the car. The car looked sexy, but as I stepped closer I noticed a scratch on the hood of the car. This wasn't a little scratch, this was a 3-inch verticle scratch that I had noticed from a considerable distance from the car. I pointed out the scratch to my girlfriend, and continued walking around the car.
The next thing I noticed was that the car did not have the correct wheels on the vehicle. I had ordered the car with the carbon 19" slipstream wheels, but the car had the 19" silver wheels on them. I wasn't exactly surprised at this, as the Tesla rep who took my order told me that there was a small chance the wheels wouldn't arrive at the service center before the vehicle did. I was surprised and disappointed, however, to find that my delivery specialist had absolutely no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned the wheels. He looked at me like I had made a mistake and told me that he was going to check the invoice. He came back and told me that whoever I spoke to on the phone when I placed the order screwed up, and had failed to order the wheels for me. He said he would place the order and they would be ready in four weeks. More on this later.
Continuing around the back of the car, I noticed another few scratches on the hatchback trunk section of the car. I questioned the large front scratch and the rear scratches and was told this was due to the car being transported to the service center all the way from California to New York. They said the car may have been on top of the transport and may have gotten hit with some rocks/debris during transportation. Aggravated now, I told the delivery specialist as nicely as I could that I didn't really care how they decided to ship the car to me. I cared that I ordered a "new" vehicle and expected it to arrive in "new" condition. If the car was damaged during Tesla's delivery to me, then that should be on them in my opinion. The delivery specialist saw the look in my eyes and said that he would have his team buff the car again for free, but that this would take over an hour because the detailing team was on a lunch break. Fine.
We explored the interior of the car, and my delivery rep explained to me that he had already inspected the interior and noticed that the back seats were misaligned. He told me he had already put in an order for replacement back seats, but that these seats were still safe to drive in and I shouldn't worry about it. The misalignment is noticeable: A large chunk of space is sitting between the bottom of the seats near the seatbelts and the other part of the seat where your lower back rests. I'd say it's about an inch gap. At this point, all of my excitement on getting my new car has disappeared and I am actually very frustrated that this was not what I was hoping for. I had just paid over $100,000 for a vehicle that looked like it was in used condition.
I go out for lunch with my girlfriend while we wait for the detailing team to return. After we get back, the car does look slightly better. The scuffs in the back are no longer there, however, the scratch on the hood of the car is still present. The detailer apologized to me and said that he didn't have the tools handy to fix this problem at this time. My delivery specialist apologized as well and told me that they would detail my vehicle for free after the winter (once the salt has cleared from the roads) and would get rid of the scratch once and for all. Finally, I got to leave with my vehicle.
Fast forward four weeks:
My delivery specialist texts me from his work phone and tells me this is the best way to reach him. I ask him for an update on the wheels, and he doesn't answer me. I text him three days later the same question and he tells me that there was a 'glitch in the system' and that the wheels were sent to the wrong service center. He said he would need to order them again and that it would likely be an additional four weeks. On top of that, he said his team didn't approve my back seat replacement because I hadn't provided them with pictures of the problem area. It would have been nice of him to tell me this without me needing to ask him about the progress. I send him pictures of the problem, and he never texts back. I text him two days later and ask about the backseats, and he tells me that it should be all set and that the order for a replacement has been placed.
A couple of days after that, after walking away from my vehicle after locking it, I hear a loud "bang" noise. I look back, and the car looks fine. I unlock the doors and lock them again, and I notice that the passenger door handle is shutting very abruptly and very fast which is making that "bang" noise every time it locks. I send a video of the problem to my delivery specialist. He texts back very quickly and tells me that the door handle needs realignment and that he would send someone to my location fix the car. A couple of days later, I text him again and ask for an update on the person coming to fix this door handle issue. No response. I text again the next day, no response. The door handle problem got worse. Now, whenever the car locks, the passenger door actually opens electrically. I have to slam it shut every single time I lock the vehicle even if nobody touches the door. This is not only very annoying and embarrassing but is also unsafe. I take a video and send it to my delivery specialist. He doesn't answer. I call him, and the call gets denied and he texts back saying he is in a meeting and would text me right after to update me on everything. That was three days ago and I have not been contacted once.
I'm not sure what to do at this point. I love the car, but I have half a mind to get a refund if possible because this service has been god awful. I might just upgrade to a Model X in hopes of that car being less of a pain in the butt. Does anyone know what I should do in this situation? Who can I contact about this to get these issues resolved, or to discuss my options as far as returning the vehicle go? What would you do in my shoes? Any insight would be greatly appreciated!
*Warning, this is a long and detailed post because I want to make you, the reader, feel like you are in my shoes. This has been a very long and drawn out delivery process that is still ongoing.
Let me start off by saying this is my first Tesla ever and I did have very high expectations, perhaps unfairly high. I had only seen deliveries on YouTube and they all looked incredible. They consisted of the car, gleaming with shine, just asking to be driven. This was how I pictured the delivery going in my head. I was almost immediately disappointed.
Upon entering the garage, I was facing the hood of the car. The car looked sexy, but as I stepped closer I noticed a scratch on the hood of the car. This wasn't a little scratch, this was a 3-inch verticle scratch that I had noticed from a considerable distance from the car. I pointed out the scratch to my girlfriend, and continued walking around the car.
The next thing I noticed was that the car did not have the correct wheels on the vehicle. I had ordered the car with the carbon 19" slipstream wheels, but the car had the 19" silver wheels on them. I wasn't exactly surprised at this, as the Tesla rep who took my order told me that there was a small chance the wheels wouldn't arrive at the service center before the vehicle did. I was surprised and disappointed, however, to find that my delivery specialist had absolutely no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned the wheels. He looked at me like I had made a mistake and told me that he was going to check the invoice. He came back and told me that whoever I spoke to on the phone when I placed the order screwed up, and had failed to order the wheels for me. He said he would place the order and they would be ready in four weeks. More on this later.
Continuing around the back of the car, I noticed another few scratches on the hatchback trunk section of the car. I questioned the large front scratch and the rear scratches and was told this was due to the car being transported to the service center all the way from California to New York. They said the car may have been on top of the transport and may have gotten hit with some rocks/debris during transportation. Aggravated now, I told the delivery specialist as nicely as I could that I didn't really care how they decided to ship the car to me. I cared that I ordered a "new" vehicle and expected it to arrive in "new" condition. If the car was damaged during Tesla's delivery to me, then that should be on them in my opinion. The delivery specialist saw the look in my eyes and said that he would have his team buff the car again for free, but that this would take over an hour because the detailing team was on a lunch break. Fine.
We explored the interior of the car, and my delivery rep explained to me that he had already inspected the interior and noticed that the back seats were misaligned. He told me he had already put in an order for replacement back seats, but that these seats were still safe to drive in and I shouldn't worry about it. The misalignment is noticeable: A large chunk of space is sitting between the bottom of the seats near the seatbelts and the other part of the seat where your lower back rests. I'd say it's about an inch gap. At this point, all of my excitement on getting my new car has disappeared and I am actually very frustrated that this was not what I was hoping for. I had just paid over $100,000 for a vehicle that looked like it was in used condition.
I go out for lunch with my girlfriend while we wait for the detailing team to return. After we get back, the car does look slightly better. The scuffs in the back are no longer there, however, the scratch on the hood of the car is still present. The detailer apologized to me and said that he didn't have the tools handy to fix this problem at this time. My delivery specialist apologized as well and told me that they would detail my vehicle for free after the winter (once the salt has cleared from the roads) and would get rid of the scratch once and for all. Finally, I got to leave with my vehicle.
Fast forward four weeks:
My delivery specialist texts me from his work phone and tells me this is the best way to reach him. I ask him for an update on the wheels, and he doesn't answer me. I text him three days later the same question and he tells me that there was a 'glitch in the system' and that the wheels were sent to the wrong service center. He said he would need to order them again and that it would likely be an additional four weeks. On top of that, he said his team didn't approve my back seat replacement because I hadn't provided them with pictures of the problem area. It would have been nice of him to tell me this without me needing to ask him about the progress. I send him pictures of the problem, and he never texts back. I text him two days later and ask about the backseats, and he tells me that it should be all set and that the order for a replacement has been placed.
A couple of days after that, after walking away from my vehicle after locking it, I hear a loud "bang" noise. I look back, and the car looks fine. I unlock the doors and lock them again, and I notice that the passenger door handle is shutting very abruptly and very fast which is making that "bang" noise every time it locks. I send a video of the problem to my delivery specialist. He texts back very quickly and tells me that the door handle needs realignment and that he would send someone to my location fix the car. A couple of days later, I text him again and ask for an update on the person coming to fix this door handle issue. No response. I text again the next day, no response. The door handle problem got worse. Now, whenever the car locks, the passenger door actually opens electrically. I have to slam it shut every single time I lock the vehicle even if nobody touches the door. This is not only very annoying and embarrassing but is also unsafe. I take a video and send it to my delivery specialist. He doesn't answer. I call him, and the call gets denied and he texts back saying he is in a meeting and would text me right after to update me on everything. That was three days ago and I have not been contacted once.
I'm not sure what to do at this point. I love the car, but I have half a mind to get a refund if possible because this service has been god awful. I might just upgrade to a Model X in hopes of that car being less of a pain in the butt. Does anyone know what I should do in this situation? Who can I contact about this to get these issues resolved, or to discuss my options as far as returning the vehicle go? What would you do in my shoes? Any insight would be greatly appreciated!
