My terrible ordering experience. Anyone else go thru this ?

[jplanaux]

@jplanaux

Wow, thats a terrible story. I hope I dont have to go thru that. I am sure I will be on the phone and fixing it the same as you. Except I have the Regional Manger who offered to help after my intial problems.

I'm not sure i you are taking delivery in Houston or it will be delivered by truck. If it is delivered by truck, contact your delivery person as soon as you get it. Then converse with them about the DMV packet to get them to send it out immediately. Maybe you can get ahead of the game.

I would as recommend taking a road trip to inspect it. There have been model three's with alignment issues. You do not want to have to go back to Houston and have them fix this. There are some really good checklists of things to check for. The delivery guy put the car out front and left us alone to inspect for as much time as we needed. He wouldn't let me drive it, but he drove it for me while I was in the car to check the alignment.

 

[NOLADriver]

@jplanaux

I plan on having it delivered. On the bright side I think the service center here opened up. I plan on driving by there today to see for sure.

Do you have a copy of any of the checklists I should be aware of ?

 

[sasinsam]

@NOLADriver glad it's working out for you . . . the ordering process can be "difficult" but the product is so worth it! let me know if supercharging is available on tchoupitoulas. my favorite airbnb in new orleans is in the irish channel.

 

[jplanaux]

@jplanaux

I plan on having it delivered. On the bright side I think the service center here opened up. I plan on driving by there today to see for sure.

Do you have a copy of any of the checklists I should be aware of ?

If you search the forums you can find the checklists

Tesla Model 3 Delivery Checklist: Detailed and Complete | Torque News

I think the checklist is only going to help you BEFORE you take delivery. The truck driver is only going to offload it for you. Once he delivers it, it's yours.

I did see some blemishes in my paint on the front bumper during inspection. I accepted it because I have never been able to keep my front bumper looking nice. I seem to get a lot of chips from my daily driving. I finally gave up trying to keep my cars "new" looking.

 

[wasp]

Hi,
unfortunately for Europe, we dont get the 2000 miles offer, still we do have 1000 miles though,
I placed my order on August 30 2019, for a Performance Model 3, black exterior and interior.
On September 03 2019 I received then an email from tesla asking to select a day and time for a short phone call (10 min) within thenext 3 days. Phone call then was courteous and we just checked everything was in order in terms of paperwork.
Now I wait for a VIn and delivery date. Tesla says the planned delivery should be in September, but I doubt it can happen so fat.
Will let you know.

 

[acarney]

This is exactly why Tesla tries not to do "deals" and promos and stuff. You don't see a big banner ad on their web site talking about this stuff. What they do is tell their sales staff that if a customer orders a car but doesn't want to pay for 19 inch wheels because they're perfectly fine with 18s but they have a car sitting there that is exactly what they want but with 19s, the sales staff can offer it to them and waive the wheel cost.

These aren't "free upgrades" for customers. They're to match customers with cars that are just waiting to be handed off to a paying customer, and if that means Tesla doesn't get the extra money for the red paint then they don't give a crap and just want to get the car into customer hands. But of course the internet turns that into a "HEY! Tesla is giving away up to two free upgrades for every customer!" and now people demand the deal when they ORDER. Now the free supercharging is a little bit more towards a sales tactic, but I suspect they still get a BUNCH of people asking about free supercharging so again, this is a way they can say "hey, if you get your financing in order and put a deposit in today and be ready to get the car before Oct 1st, we can give you some free supercharging."

Customers drag their feet for all kinds of reason. I held off on my order for three weeks because I was waiting for a state incentive to come back, but I got them to match me with a car as soon as they found one... so the car was sitting there for three weeks with my name on it before I actually completed the sale. I could have backed out at any time or it could have be timed different and carried past a reporting deadline. The supercharging is a nudge to get me to move faster.

I bought my car about 5 weeks ago, I'm really annoyed that I missed out on this end of quarter "good time", but at the same time, I know that I wanted a blue car with white interior and 18s. Even if I got the 19s for free I would have been annoyed by that. Maybe I would have been offered the blue paint for free because it had a black interior, or red paint for free because it had the white. Neither of those were the exact one that I wanted... maybe I would have taken it and been happy, but they weren't going to just waive the blue paint cost and white interior cost for me because it's "end of quarter".

Edit: I should also note, EVERYONE that asks about my Model 3 quickly follows up with the second or third questions being "so you don't have to pay to charge it?!" So I'm sure supercharging is still a HUGE question for customers. Tesla isn't running a promo on it, they're just using it to grease the wheels with customers that walk into the store and hem and haw over getting a car and get them to actually pull out the credit card instead.

 

[NOLADriver]

So the update to this:
I have started the countdown to delivery. Scheduled for Monday. They want it delivered as well as I do. Its another car sold before the end of quarter and I don't lose half of the Fed tax credit.

But..Always a but...The $1,000 for the color change is still showing on my account page. I got multiple reassurances from the Regional Manager I have been going back and forth with (really nice guy) that it will come off, but I am not seeing it. I read the contract and it says I will be presented with a final bill of sale prior to taking possession of it. I hit up the SA and asked him about it and he had no idea. My delivery specialist went on personal leave an hour after I last spoke to him and wont be back till Monday....Its actually kinda comical at this point.

So I have three dilemmas now. One, will the driver be expecting a $1,000 check , or me to settle up with them before giving me the car (or them asking for monies afterwards), Two, will the car look like it came from a scratch and dent sale, Three, will it arrive on Monday or after.

All of them are non starters. If any of them occur they will be followed shortly thereafter by "Nope, you can keep it" as I walk off. I'd really like all three to work in my favor. It seems like a really cool car, but unfortunately i'm not a fanboy, i'm a customer.

Fingers crossed.

 

[mongo]

So the update to this:
I have started the countdown to delivery. Scheduled for Monday. They want it delivered as well as I do. Its another car sold before the end of quarter and I don't lose half of the Fed tax credit.

But..Always a but...The $1,000 for the color change is still showing on my account page. I got multiple reassurances from the Regional Manager I have been going back and forth with (really nice guy) that it will come off, but I am not seeing it. I read the contract and it says I will be presented with a final bill of sale prior to taking possession of it. I hit up the SA and asked him about it and he had no idea. My delivery specialist went on personal leave an hour after I last spoke to him and wont be back till Monday....Its actually kinda comical at this point.

So I have three dilemmas now. One, will the driver be expecting a $1,000 check , or me to settle up with them before giving me the car (or them asking for monies afterwards), Two, will the car look like it came from a scratch and dent sale, Three, will it arrive on Monday or after.

All of them are non starters. If any of them occur they will be followed shortly thereafter by "Nope, you can keep it" as I walk off. I'd really like all three to work in my favor. It seems like a really cool car, but unfortunately i'm not a fanboy, i'm a customer.

Fingers crossed.

Just so you know, the Fed tax credit drops to $0 for Tesla at the end of the 4th quarter, not Oct 1st.

 

[NOLADriver]

Dude, totally agree with you. Heard it from the Mgr, and the Delivery guy. Wondering where they would get it from, because you and I agree on that not being accurate.

 

[mongo]

Obviously not enough time spent on TMC.

 

[NOLADriver]

Well. I have a Tesla sitting in my garage. It arrived today. I did a basic walk around, since the light was not optimal. The usual scratched front bumper on the bottom from careless loading, and a couple smaller ones on drivers side. Overall I couldnt find anything major. Will look it over properly tomm. Delivery guy was really cool and the Manager keeping an eye on my case was involved and kept the ball rolling. Big props to him, since I didnt head a word from sales or delivery (rolling eyes).

I did notice that in the door hinges, looking from the outside, that they were not completely painted. Like the car was painted with the door on and open. Who does that ??? Does anyone else have that issue ? The paint is there but its light and there is white or grey showing around the hinge areas, and also in the trunk hinges.

 

[mongo]

I did notice that in the door hinges, looking from the outside, that they were not completely painted. Like the car was painted with the door on and open. Who does that ???

Yep, Tesla and most other automakers paint with the doors on, then remove them for general assembly and reattach them later.
Tesla:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=94Dmz_wTyDw
Bwm:

 

[TeeEmCee]

I laughed and said "So you are just gonna jump right to cancel it, not even try to talk me out of it" (Or try and fix the problem) and he says "No, that's not my job to do."

This here is the part that should scare every investor. It describes perfectly how Tesla operates.

"Hey, can you help me out and have your employer earn $50-60k in the process? Nope!" Now let's imagine a dealership employee doing that in the context of a vehicle sold at MSRP.

In today's context, the OP may still buy the vehicle, but when one will be able to just call the other guys and have a similar vehicle the same day, this won't fly anymore. They have about a year left, enough time to either save or fully trash the brand.

 

[FielderJones]

In today's context, the OP may still buy the vehicle, but when one will be able to just call the other guys and have a similar vehicle the same day, this won't fly anymore. They have about a year left, enough time to either save or fully trash the brand.

A year left? In one year the other guys are going to have a Supercharger network comparable to Tesla's and everyone will go electric?

 

[TeeEmCee]

A year left? In one year the other guys are going to have a Supercharger network comparable to Tesla's ... ?

Yes.

... and everyone will go electric?

Only those who want to.

 

[mongo]

This here is the part that should scare every investor. It describes perfectly how Tesla operates.

Nope, investors already know Tesla scores the worst on standardized sales tactics tests.
Tesla was ranked last on a survey of 34 auto brands based on how helpful its salespeople are

"Hey, can you help me out and have your employer earn $50-60k in the process? Nope!" Now let's imagine a dealership employee doing that in the context of a vehicle sold at MSRP.

Wrong, gross margin on the car is maybe 25%, so profit is only $15k. You are also assuming no one else would buy the car. Tesla had more orders that deliveries for multiple quarters. Why push a car on someone who it not thrilled by it instead of selling it to sone who is? Why sell at a discount when you can sell at full price?

Dealerships already bought the car from the OEM, their end sales price has zero impact on the car maker.

In today's context, the OP may still buy the vehicle, but when one will be able to just call the other guys and have a similar vehicle the same day, this won't fly anymore. They have about a year left, enough time to either save or fully trash the brand.

Never, or at least not anytime soon. If that were anywhere close to happening we would have already seen this mythical Tesla competitor.

 

[holmgang]

I did notice that in the door hinges, looking from the outside, that they were not completely painted. Like the car was painted with the door on and open. Who does that ??? Does anyone else have that issue ? The paint is there but its light and there is white or grey showing around the hinge areas, and also in the trunk hinges.

It's hit or miss with Teslas. You can see plenty of evidence on the web that some cars have it fully painted. Some don't. They probably changed their manufacturing process. The problem with not having the full paint on there is that the paint and clear coat layers also act as protection against rust.

I'm gonna watch for it on my vehicles and will refuse delivery if this is the case

 

[super20g]

IThe problem with not having the full paint on there is that the paint and clear coat layers also act as protection against rust.

And they only warranty rust that occurs from the inside of the panel out so if the thin paint causes a rust issue technically it would not be covered I believe?