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Pickup experience; what can I expect?

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So I’m thrilled to have my delivery date scheduled for my 2023 M3 LR (this coming Wednesday) and I watched the :30 video in the app, but I’m curious what the pickup experience is like? On the video, it seems like you don’t really talk to anyone in person, you just talk to someone remotely and they talk you through it.

What was your pickup experience like? Did you interact with a human face-to-face? Did you have to sign any papers? If you had problems with your Tesla, where did you find someone to report them to? Was it waiting out front for you or did you have to go hiking through a lot full of cars?

I know I’m going to find this all out myself in a few days, but I’m excited, so I want to know everything I can before the big day. Any pickup stories would be great!
 
I’m sure the experience is highly location dependent. My car was outside with my name on it. I went inside and there was someone who walked me out to look at the car.

I went over the exterior/interior as long as I wanted and then went back inside. I signed some dmv papers and handed over my check. The person then gave me the keycards and instructed me to setup phone as key.

Went back outside and set up phone. I asked a few more questions inside and reported an issue. The Tesla person started a maintenance ticket in the app and the issue was fixed in 10 minutes.

I spent maybe an hour there. I took my time. I was the only person taking delivery.
 
Yesterday we greeted by a nice guy who directed us to the garage where lots of cars, including ours, were unlocked with the keys inside. We had all the time we wanted to inspect the car, and they were good about answering our questions. After we were ready we handed over our bank check and on our way.

A really very nice experience. We found a couple of truly minor paint flaws, but the staff were adamant that they wanted us to be happy with the car and directed us to set up a prompt service request.

Frankly, unless more stuff comes up we may skip the service visit - it really isn’t enough to worry about.

After all the angst shared here, it was a surprisingly nice experience. Really.
 
Yesterday we greeted by a nice guy who directed us to the garage where lots of cars, including ours, were unlocked with the keys inside. We had all the time we wanted to inspect the car, and they were good about answering our questions. After we were ready we handed over our bank check and on our way.

A really very nice experience. We found a couple of truly minor paint flaws, but the staff were adamant that they wanted us to be happy with the car and directed us to set up a prompt service request.

Frankly, unless more stuff comes up we may skip the service visit - it really isn’t enough to worry about.

After all the angst shared here, it was a surprisingly nice experience. Really.
Same experience for me at the Tyco Rd location in Northern Virginia… second purchase there and great both times.
 
I agree with location dependent, best to ask in your regional forum I think. Let's see, here's how it went for us...
  • They wouldn't let us pick up at any nearby locations where others had picked up their new Teslas.
  • Inventory car, but they wouldn't let us pick it up where it was either, they insisted on transporting it farther away from us, delaying pickup and ensuring we had to a pay toll to go get it.
  • Car was sitting out in the rain.
  • They didn't want to unlock the car before we paid. I'm like, this will be the first time either of us ever bought a car without driving the exact specimen. At least let us look inside before we hand over the check! They relented and did. Much standing around in the rain involved.
  • Everything inside the car was fine, no issues. Two loose trim pieces outside, one of which was loose on the cars next to it too.
  • Computer registration down, needed to do paperwork with real paper.
  • They kept messing up different parts of the paperwork, took a long time to redo it each time.
  • Since we were there so long, had to use the restroom. Restrooms out of service. The portapotties were out in the rain (of course). I'm sure the restroom situation was annoying for the staff too.
We bought our first Tesla used, from a Craigslist seller, and that went much smoother. Got to test drive it. No paperwork issues. Met at Starbucks for the final transaction. No toll roads or bridges involved. Sun was shining. Didn't take long enough to need a restroom, but if I had, Starbucks had a working one.

I am sure most Tesla sales experiences are better than what we experienced. 😉
 
We waited a short time in the lobby, then someone brought us out to the car. Signed a few papers (literally a few), they slapped new plates on it, then sent us on our way. No panel gap or paint issues, car was perfect.

No typical sales person, no F&I manager, no key replacement or gap insurance hiding in the contract. Easiest, most streamlined buying experience I've ever been through.

That was December 2020. I expect the same today though.
 
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Michigan is a bit different because of the silly laws. We just got ours 2 weeks ago in Grand Rapids.

All in all, pretty simple. Ours was waiting with our name on a paper in the window, along with a folder of paperwork. One of the reps let us into the car to inspect it as much as we wanted.

We then went inside, signed a few title documents, accepted the car in the app, and were on our way. All in all, the Grand Rapids service center is very chill and the way I like it. They answered the couple questions we had, were super friendly, and made the process pain free.
 
We picked our M3 up at the Grand Rapids SC in September and I agree the process was simple and straightforward. We got to inspect the car inside and out. We then sat in the car, accepted it in the app and signed a couple of documents. The rep came out and attached the license plate, we hopped back in the car and drove away. We were at the SC less than 30 minutes.

There weren’t any upsells or anything like that. The reps were very helpful before I made the down payment and after I received my VIN and needed to find insurance and get my existing plate transferred. The Grand Rapids SC is a great group to work with.
 
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I actually got an M3 on November 3, but today ran into an aspect of the pickup experience. For New Mexico cars delivered to the Nambe center north of Santa Fe, for legal reasons the car is delivered with a Colorado paper plate, and you later go to a DMV office and use the registration packet sent to you by Tesla to register the car in NM.

Only when I went to replace the Colorado paper plate with the real NM plate did I notice that the rear license plate holder has four threaded mounting holes, but only two were populated with the two screws they had used to hold on the Colorado temporary plate. They could have just screwed the other two screws in their holes, but did not. I recalled there was a front license plate mount in the under trunk, and checked whether it included a bag of screws. It did, but they are not compatible (different thread pitch...)