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Newbie Question: Timetravel... (Tips & Gotchas)

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I am in the process of purchasing a roadster... Since hindsight is 20-20 I thought I would ask the experts in this forum, what you would do differently if you could travel back in time to the beginning of your journey with Tesla Motors.

Are there any specifics that are important to get covered early on in the sales process?
Any gotchas (particularly since I am in Europe)?
What's the room for negotiation in terms of pricing?

I would be very grateful for any tips that you could spare, since this is definitely new territory for me. Maybe a resulting "purchasing checklist" may be helpful to other newbies in the community as well.

Thanks a lot for your help.
 
I am in the process of purchasing a roadster
Congrats!

Are there any specifics that are important to get covered early on in the sales process?
I was never a fan of much of the interior in the 2008, but the 2009 was a vast improvement of the dash. The seats, rear deck, and especially the stereo unit and speakers were not up to my standards. It has been well documented on what I did in other posts under "cusomization" so I asked for the car to be an inerior stripped down model, as much as could be "base". Just my 2 cents.

Another issue was the hard top which had been ordered as a carbon fiber clear coat edition. That took months before I realized that I did not need a hard top and the carbon fiber tops were not coming anytime soon so I cancelled my order. It has been posted that the carbon fiber tops have been spotted, but not sure if they have reached production levels. In Europe you probably will need a hard top, but beware of the delay on ordering a clear coat carbon fiber as opposed to the less expensive (both are options) matching paint color hard top.

What's the room for negotiation in terms of pricing?
There was none here on this side of the pond, but supply & demand.

Welcome to the forum!
 
Another issue was the hard top which had been ordered as a carbon fiber clear coat edition. That took months before I realized that I did not need a hard top and the carbon fiber tops were not coming anytime soon so I cancelled my order. It has been posted that the carbon fiber tops have been spotted, but not sure if they have reached production levels. In Europe you probably will need a hard top, but beware of the delay on ordering a clear coat carbon fiber as opposed to the less expensive (both are options) matching paint color hard top.

I ordered a painted hard top with my roadster (#670). I started the process in April, took delivery at the end of August and still haven't seen (or heard a word about) the hard top. I've had the car for most of an extraordinarily mild winter in Seattle with the soft top, and it's been fine. By the time I get the hard top, it'll be spring and I'll just put it in the basement anyway. Given that, I'm not sure I'd order the hard top again if I had it to do over.

I'm really glad that I got the car in fusion red rather than radiant red like seemingly everyone else in Seattle did. This is a car that should be in a bright color.
 
I'm really glad that I got the car in fusion red rather than radiant red like seemingly everyone else in Seattle did. This is a car that should be in a bright color.

As someone with a radiant red Tesla Roadster, I agree with bolosky. If I could do it over again I would get Fusion Red.

That Fusion color is $1,000 less expensive and it is amazing looking.

The Radiant Red is a beautiful car also. But Fusion Red really is stunning when you see it in person.
 
If I only had the reds to choose from, I, too, would choose the Fusion Red over the Radiant Red. Fusion is a very nice color.

But, I've also got the gorgeous Brilliant Yellow as a choice, so ... :smile:
 
I'll respectfully disagree - if you opt for the black wheels and keep it waxed, I like RR better. I'm also glad I got the painted hardtop. I just don't quite trust the soft top that much. But I'm wierd - I like the 08 interior better, so take that into account.
 
I have never seen the need for the HPC. There isn't much need for 240v/70a recharging speed at home in the garage. I have never needed to recharge 50 kwh in 3 hours while at home. If would be great if that level of recharging was available out in the wild in useful locations between cities.

I think any Tesla Roadster owner would be fine (at home) with the universal charger that Tesla Motors provides or the Roadster Foundry upgrade that we do after market.

There is a case to be made that 24-40 amps is much more healthy to your battery pack long term than 70 amps. Less heat during recharging.
 
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I agree with James. But I am aware of an interesting feature in the Clipper Creek unit which I am not sure is designed into the RFMC, original or upgraded version. If you lose power ( yes, not often, but you know ... it will happen, and only at the most inconvenient time just when you needed a full charge in the morning :rolleyes: ) the HPC will resume charging after some inherently designed-in intelligent delay (so as to not put an immediate heavy load on the just restored utility power).

What happens when power comes back on with the RFMC or RFMC+ ?