Press "Accept" or keep waiting?

[SleepingAtLast]

hello! this is my first post. (though i've been enjoying following along for a bit now.)

about a month ago, i placed an order for my first tesla; a 70D, midnight silver model s. obsessively watching the status of production/delivery, i was ecstatic to receive the phone call from my DS, ready to schedule my delivery early last week.

the day before delivery, i get a call saying that there was a small, but significant gash/scratch on the fender and they would like to send it to the body shop for repair. so we rescheduled for a few days later.

a day before delivery attempt #2, i get a call from my DS saying he's not sure what happened, but the body shop didn't fix it at all, but only buffed the scratch, so it wasn't sharp to the touch. he said they could try again and we could reschedule. feeling uncomfortable with the whole situation, i asked if i could come check it out myself.

in person, the scratch wasn't as terrible as i was expecting based on the photos i requested, but still would need to be fixed. unfortunately, that issue was the least of my concerns after looking over the entire car. there were at least a dozen scuffs and scratches. there was gravel everywhere outside of the car, (in between the windshield and the frame) and the fender panel pieces felt slightly crooked. all in all it felt like a pre-owned car and i couldn't convince myself to take delivery. there was a black 70d right behind mine that i took a quick look at, and it was flawless. just too many things didn't feel quite right on mine, for having just purchased such an expensive and new car.

it's worth noting that tesla's customer service has been totally great! doing everything they can to make sure i'm happy with my car, both my DS and the store's mgr, which i very much appreciate it. they understood my disappointment with the condition and they are making me a new car, no questions asked.

they just things up to get my new car in the production queue. so i'm back in the 7 day grace period at the beginning of an order. all i need to do is press "accept." with the announcement tomorrow and potential model s news, should i wait or should i go ahead??

i've read everything i can find about the upcoming april price changes, i know they've quietly added a few things already (center console, slipstreams) in recent weeks, etc. my two hesitations with holding off until the announcements are: if i wait, i don't want to get lost in the flurry of activity tesla store will surely experience, and potentially delay my car any further. and i don't want to risk a price lift if they shift things around for the upcoming 100 and eliminate the 70!

thoughts? wait? accept?

sincerely, ryan

p.s. sorry this is so long!

 

[brantse]

Hmmm...interesting situation. Sorry to hear that your delivery was botched, it really makes you wonder what happened to that vehicle. How long do you have left on your grace period? Of course, you could just wait until the end to see if any news surfaces in the next few days.

 

[EMdoc12]

If it was me I would wait. The downside is you could end up paying more for the same car. The upside however is you might end up being able to configure some new options other than the new console or rims.

It's not like it's a months away.

 

[SleepingAtLast]

Hmmm...interesting situation. Sorry to hear that your delivery was botched, it really makes you wonder what happened to that vehicle. How long do you have left on your grace period? Of course, you could just wait until the end to see if any news surfaces in the next few days.

yeah, it looked like it had gone on a few adventures already! made me nervous. it looks like my grace period is until april 4th, which SHOULD lock things in, in the case that there's a price lift.

 

[SleepingAtLast]

If it was me I would wait. The downside is you could end up paying more for the same car. The upside however is you might end up being able to configure some new options other than the new console or rims.

It's not like it's a months away.

you're totally right. it's not going to kill me to wait another couple days (i mean, it feels like it will, but it won't. ha)

 

[rcarpen22]

I had a similar experience. Apparently my car was on a truck for delivery that caught a hail storm. The front was a little beaten up, rock chips, etc. I took delivery anyway and about 3 months later, they replaced the whole front of the car (hood, nose, windshield, headlights). I placed my order before they announced the March unveiling of the M3. In your case, I would definitely wait. Who knows what they are going to announce. If you have until the 4th to confirm your car, there should be no harm in waiting to see if any news changes your decision.

 

[SleepingAtLast]

I had a similar experience. Apparently my car was on a truck for delivery that caught a hail storm. The front was a little beaten up, rock chips, etc. I took delivery anyway and about 3 months later, they replaced the whole front of the car (hood, nose, windshield, headlights). I placed my order before they announced the March unveiling of the M3. In your case, I would definitely wait. Who knows what they are going to announce. If you have until the 4th to confirm your car, there should be no harm in waiting to see if any news changes your decision.

wow, sorry to hear that! a hail storm is definitely not something i'd even think to worry about ahead of delivery! yikes. glad they fixed things up for you. thanks for sharing your delivery experience and for the advice, i think you're right. waiting makes sense.

 

[cbin97]

Yeah I would wait.

 

[SleepingAtLast]

I had a similar experience. Apparently my car was on a truck for delivery that caught a hail storm. The front was a little beaten up, rock chips, etc. I took delivery anyway and about 3 months later, they replaced the whole front of the car (hood, nose, windshield, headlights). I placed my order before they announced the March unveiling of the M3. In your case, I would definitely wait. Who knows what they are going to announce. If you have until the 4th to confirm your car, there should be no harm in waiting to see if any news changes your decision.

2 questions for you, just out of curiosity. 1. once the parts were replaced on your car, did it feel new again? or not quite? and lastly, was just curious if you're happy with your 70D choice?

 

[rcarpen22]

First, I love my car. The only thing I don't like is that I can't get as comfortable as I could in my last car (VW Touareg), but I just have issues getting comfortable in almost any car. I can't even drive my wife's BMW it hurts my back so bad. Other than that, it's perfect. I use a lumbar cushion in the NG seats and I get by pretty well. Second, when I picked up the car (after the repairs), it was perfect as far as I could tell. It looked great. I wouldn't have known anything was done to it. As for battery choice, if I had an extra $13k burning a hole in my pocket, I'd opt for the 90, but more for the performance than the range. The range wouldn't make any difference. We've been up and down the east coast in the 70D and it's fine. You charge as much as you need to get to the next SC. That doesn't change with the bigger battery. I guess you could skip a SC every now and then with the bigger battery, but then you'd have to charge longer at the next one... I would like that extra acceleration though I don't think you will be disappointed with a 70D.

 

[Joetnr1]

I find it unbelievable that Tesla ships these things on open trailers. Especially considering how soft the paint is fresh off the line.

 

[SleepingAtLast]

First, I love my car. The only thing I don't like is that I can't get as comfortable as I could in my last car (VW Touareg), but I just have issues getting comfortable in almost any car. I can't even drive my wife's BMW it hurts my back so bad. Other than that, it's perfect. I use a lumbar cushion in the NG seats and I get by pretty well. Second, when I picked up the car (after the repairs), it was perfect as far as I could tell. It looked great. I wouldn't have known anything was done to it. As for battery choice, if I had an extra $13k burning a hole in my pocket, I'd opt for the 90, but more for the performance than the range. The range wouldn't make any difference. We've been up and down the east coast in the 70D and it's fine. You charge as much as you need to get to the next SC. That doesn't change with the bigger battery. I guess you could skip a SC every now and then with the bigger battery, but then you'd have to charge longer at the next one... I would like that extra acceleration though I don't think you will be disappointed with a 70D.

when i test drove, i also noticed that i couldn't get as comfortable as i would have liked, but hoping i'll get used to it! i'm fairly broad shouldered which felt like part of the problem. it was uncomfortable by any means, just a little less comfortable than i was expecting. great to hear that post-repair everything felt brand-new! though my car had a lot of small problems, i'm sure the body shop would have done a good job, but i was nervous after they botched the scratch repair. hopefully that was just a weird misunderstanding. anyway, thanks for sharing thoughts! can't wait to get mine.

 

[rcarpen22]

No problem. Best of luck with everything!

 

[bradjc]

That would be a crappy experience seeing your 'new' car like that and take the shine off such a big purchase. Happy to hear they are looking after you though. No harm in waiting until the 4th to confirm, can't hurt to wait. I'm in a similar boat, ordered MS yesterday hoping to lock in any price increase, while at the same time hoping they announce some upgrades to the car today so I can change my order if compelling. The more I've been thinking about it, the more likely I think they'll have to upgrade the MS to keep cars selling before the M3 arrives, which is still a long while off. Would be a disaster if they could only sell M3 preorders for 18 months because it was too good, and made the MS look dated! MS at least needs options to bring into line with MX to keep me excited I think. I'd be happy to wait for a M3 if today's announcement lives up to the hype.

 

[davidc18]

I would wait and cancel the 70D. If you really need a car, check out the cpo site and pick a slighly less expensive inventory car to hold you over until the 3 is in production.

 

[Rico]

Did you wait?

 

[SleepingAtLast]

Did you wait?

i held off for a couple weeks and then got impatient after not seeing any news on the model s around the model 3 event! but now i'm told that tuesday the model s changes will occur. so, i'm crossing my fingers that if those changes are any standard upgrades, my car might have a chance of receiving them since it hasn't gone into production yet. or if there are upgrades offered, i can modify if needed.. still feels unclear! i did notice that my car delivery window got pushed back a few weeks.. so i'm hoping that's due to some updates? (that's what i'm telling myself, at least.)