Questions about Home Delivery Experience?

[Mdoss]

I live in Mississippi, so I believe my only option will be home delivery. (Our state still lives in the 1800s in many areas, but don't get me started.) Nearest service center is in Nashville, over 215 miles away. I've read some older threads about this topic, but what I'm mostly interested in is the change of hands of money/keys/paperwork, etc with a home delivery.

I plan to finance through a 3rd party (credit union), so when the delivery person drops off my car, will they just be expecting one check that covers everything? Or will there be one check for the balance remaining on the car, a check for the $1200 destination fee, a check for the state taxes, etc...

When buying a car the old-fashioned way, there is a $h|tload of paperwork to sign at the dealership usually. Will I spend 10-20 minutes with the delivery guy signing this stuff, or is most of it done online beforehand?

Will I have to show him proof of insurance at the time of delivery? Any other required documents (besides maybe license) he may need to see?

Are you allowed plenty of time to inspect the car inside and out? Do I get to take it for a little test drive before the sale is considered complete? Any of you ever rejected a home delivery because of the car's condition??

Sorry for the basic questions, but between my wife and I, this will be our 10th car to purchase over our lifetimes, and it's just a COMPLETELY different way of car buying, so it has me a little antsy.

 

[srs5694]

I'm in a similar situation, but a little ahead of you. I live in Rhode Island, which has no Tesla stores. Although there are several in neighboring Massachusetts, I can't go there to pick up my car because of bureaucratic reasons. Thus, it's a choice of home delivery or travel to New York, where the bureaucracy permits out-of-state sales. I've chosen home delivery. I was told today that my car has arrived at the Tesla store in Dedham, MA, and I've got a VIN for it, but I don't yet have a final delivery date.

Today I finalized an insurance policy for the new car and submitted various documents to both the insurance company (Progressive; they had the best rates for me of the half dozen I checked) and Tesla. This was all done online, as was arranging payments to Tesla -- but those payments did not include sales tax or registration fees. I can't say what will be required at delivery in terms of paperwork, but I get the impression that the vast majority of it will have been done ahead of time, at least with respect to Tesla. I will still have to go in person to the RI DMV to get plates for the car, and I assume I'll be paying state taxes and fees then. In my discussions with Tesla employees, they've always said that my trip to the DMV will be done after delivery of the car, but a recent e-mail hinted that it might be do-able before delivery if payment is made more than a day before delivery.

Of course, there may well be significant state-to-state differences, since state laws concerning automobile sales and registrations vary significantly from one another. Thus, take all the above with a grain of salt. Also, as I have yet to take delivery, I can't comment on some of your questions.

Tesla's descriptions of this process are a bit vague, which can be frustrating. I've come to the conclusion that it's best to be laid back about it and just let the process flow.

 

[GuyFromGPT]

I live in Mississippi, so I believe my only option will be home delivery. (Our state still lives in the 1800s in many areas, but don't get me started.) Nearest service center is in Nashville, over 215 miles away. I've read some older threads about this topic, but what I'm mostly interested in is the change of hands of money/keys/paperwork, etc with a home delivery.

I plan to finance through a 3rd party (credit union), so when the delivery person drops off my car, will they just be expecting one check that covers everything? Or will there be one check for the balance remaining on the car, a check for the $1200 destination fee, a check for the state taxes, etc...

When buying a car the old-fashioned way, there is a $h|tload of paperwork to sign at the dealership usually. Will I spend 10-20 minutes with the delivery guy signing this stuff, or is most of it done online beforehand?

Will I have to show him proof of insurance at the time of delivery? Any other required documents (besides maybe license) he may need to see?

Are you allowed plenty of time to inspect the car inside and out? Do I get to take it for a little test drive before the sale is considered complete? Any of you ever rejected a home delivery because of the car's condition??

Sorry for the basic questions, but between my wife and I, this will be our 10th car to purchase over our lifetimes, and it's just a COMPLETELY different way of car buying, so it has me a little antsy.

Mdoss,

I'm a fellow Mississippian (Gulf Coast), who also ordered a M3. I ordered it 3/14 (right after the Model Y reveal), and am also going through Home Delivery. When I got a call this Monday, wanting to schedule my home delivery (carrier direct), I finalized my loan with my credit union, and the credit union overnight FedEx'ed a check to the Roswell, GA delivery center, for the remaining balance of the car (Cost + Destination - $2500 initial down payment). The credit union gave me a check, made out to my county tax collector, for the verified Mississippi state sales tax of 5%. I've printed out insurance cards, for the policy on that vehicle, in anticipation of its arrival. (My car was sent to the metro Atlanta location, because it is the closest one to here, 425 miles.)

Now, on my Tesla account page, it says I have a delivery appointment with the Roswell, GA Delivery center, for the date it is supposed to be delivered to my house (Which happens to be tomorrow morning). I have been affirmed by multiple persons, that the car is being sent t o my house, from that location. SO, we'll see.

As far as the rest of the process, I have no idea. I will be following your progress, to see how your experience relates to mine.

 

[Mdoss]

I'm a fellow Mississippian (Gulf Coast), who also ordered a M3. I ordered it 3/14 (right after the Model Y reveal).

Cool, and thanks for the reply! So yours took exactly 2 weeks! What configuration did you order?

Good luck on the home delivery, and let me know how it went!!

 

[ArcticStation]

We live in Maine where home delivery or a long drive to New York are the only viable options. We chose home delivery. Issues were not serious enough to reject delivery (driver arrived one day late but kept us updated via text, no time was specified in advance so we had to wait at home all day, car had not been prepped and was filthy outside, inside was covered with bar code stickers, plastic wrap and dust, car was a July build date but delivered to us in October, which concerned us at the time, but turned out to be a non-issue). My guess is that these issues have been addressed in the six months since we took delivery and your experience may be better than ours.

 

[Gpa9504]

I’ve had a home delivery (Model X) last year and waiting on home delivery (Model 3) in one week. As mentioned above third party will drop car off at your home and pick up a trade in if applicable. They won’t care about any issues with the car you drop off or trade. Your only option is to receive or reject.

My advice- slip the guy a $20 or so and ask him to wait as you document any issues you find with the car and get him to witness this and if at all possible- sign your list.

Then provide list to delivery center and/or delivery specialist. They will create a “due bill” to fix the issues. Now- how they go about doing this I don’t know, but I fear it will involve a long aggravating trip to the nearest service center (no matter how many miles away). I doubt they will third party it back to delivery center unless the car is broken.

Good luck with your new car(s)!!!!

 

[GuyFromGPT]

Cool, and thanks for the reply! So yours took exactly 2 weeks! What configuration did you order?

Good luck on the home delivery, and let me know how it went!!

Assuming it actually arrives today, it will two weeks. Of course, I have never had anyone from the Roswell Delivery Center return my calls, including this morning. It is supposed to be here, in an hour and a half. Once again, we will see! To say this process has also made me antsy, is a gross understatement.

Charlie Brown - Me
Lucy - Tesla
The Football - My already financed, and insured, Tesla Model 3. ;-)


I ordered a SR+, Black on Black, w/ aero wheels.

Between the two of us, the Tesla population in this state may double!**
(** - Sarcasm)

Good luck, as well!

 

[GuyFromGPT]

Well, I was finally able to get in contact with someone at the Roswell-Alpharetta delivery center. While she was very courteous, she had no actual clue about the whereabouts of my car. She said it very well could be on the road. BUt, there was no way for her to tell. I'm not saying this as a personal indictment. I'm saying she wasn't armed with the information. She referred me to someone involved with Carrier Direct, in Las Vegas. I left voice mail, knowing he wouldn't probably be in the office until 10:00 CDT (8:00 PDT), when my car is due to be at my home. Hopefully, this gentleman can help me out... The adventure continues.

 

[GuyFromGPT]

It 10:15 local time, and I have heard from no one. I guess they dropped the ball on this one...

 

[odddiv]

I'm in Memphis and took delivery a week ago. The delivery driver is not a Tesla employee - it was a Dickson, TN based tow truck service. He has no paperwork for you to sign, you don't get to "test" drive the car before the sale is considered complete. The sale is considered complete before he leaves Nashville, and all paperwork will be filled out and FedEx'd by you back to Nashville before delivery takes place. Payment in full will have to be made before delivery is scheduled. If there is anything wrong with the car you will have to call Tesla and sit on hold for a half hour before working with the agent on setting up a "Due Bill" of things wrong with the car, and they will direct you to an approved body shop to have work done, or schedule mobile service if there is a functional problem. Local approved body shops are ServiceKings.
Expect a filthy car with paint defects. They do not clean or detail prior to delivery.

 

[Mdoss]

Expect a filthy car with paint defects. They do not clean or detail prior to delivery.

Thanks. The more I hear, the more I'm thinking I may just want to go to Nashville to pick mine up in person. At least then it should be clean and detailed, charged (I would assume), and I could do a through walk-around with an actual Tesla person there to witness any defects I notice...

 

[odddiv]

Thanks. The more I hear, the more I'm thinking I may just want to go to Nashville to pick mine up in person. At least then it should be clean and detailed, charged (I would assume), and I could do a through walk-around with an actual Tesla person there to witness any defects I notice...

They offered to cover the cost of a rental car for me if i wanted to do that. I'm guessing based off of the distance from Nashville you're in Olive Branch or Southaven? The car will not be fully charged when you pick it up - mine had about 80%, my cousin picked hers up in Nashville at 60%. I think mine only had as much as it did because there was a problem with the charging port that had to be fixed at the Nashville service center before delivery. You'll probably need to supercharge there before you leave, and then again in Jackson (Casey Jones Village) to make it home.
Locally, there's a free L2 chargpoint staion in the Tanger outlet mall, and Shelby Farms also offers free L2 charging.
I love the car - but the communication and delivery process leave a lot to be desired. I wish I'd picked up in Nashville.

 

[Kelmn07]

As others have said - they will not even schedule your delivery until it is paid in full. Mine has been at the closest service center, out of state, only an hour way, for two weeks. It took me about a week to get everything done for the financing. They received payment in full this Monday and have been told that the third-party delivery is secured and I will get my car by 3/31, but I haven't received an actual date yet.

Also, in my neighborhood, the truck can't actually get to my street so I have to meet them at a local gas station so I don't have a true 'home' delivery. For our first 3, the driver took it off the truck, had me sign a single doc confirming delivery, offered to put the plates on, and handed me the keys. As an enthusiast he offered to show me how to get in and drive with the key card, but don't expect any kind of walk through.

 

[MarkSC]

I have an SR+ waiting for home delivery. I ordered it on 3/10. Once a VIN was assigned, I heard from my delivery specialist (very nice and professional person BTW). The web site showed March 24 at 10 AM as my delivery appointment date at the Charlotte store (even though it is a home delivery). I was told this was just a placeholder date. The car indeed reached Charlotte around 3/22. I was told that it needs 24 hours of inspection and prep there. After the 3/24 appointment date came and went, the web site changed to "your car will be delivered 2-4 weeks after ordering." However, today (3/28) it changed back to an appointment date of 3/30 at 10 AM at the Charlotte store (although my understanding is that it always shows the nearest store and never changes to show one's home address). I have not heard from the carrier company, but I am hopeful that this means my home delivery is now scheduled for Saturday. Fingers crossed.

 

[Mdoss]

I'm guessing based off of the distance from Nashville you're in Olive Branch or Southaven?

You guessed it. Olive Branch.

Locally, there's a free L2 chargpoint staion in the Tanger outlet mall, and Shelby Farms also offers free L2 charging.

Yeah, I've used the Tanger one several times in my Leaf. I also volunteer at St Jude once a week. They have 3 L2 (free) stations in their parking garage. I think there's a Whole Foods with a free charger as well. They are starting to be more popular around Memphis. Thankfully!!

I wish I'd picked up in Nashville.

Yeah, I think I'm going to do the Nashville pickup. Thanks for the info!

 

[Cnasty]

I have been advised it is a Tesla employee who works at the service center, they drive my car specifically to my house, and they Uber back to the Service Center. They also confirmed they take my signed FedEx package of paperwork back with them.

Seems pretty inconsistent but just sharing what i have been told in Texas.

 

[Mdoss]

I have been advised it is a Tesla employee who works at the service center, they drive my car specifically to my house, and they Uber back to the Service Center. They also confirmed they take my signed FedEx package of paperwork back with them.

Seems pretty inconsistent but just sharing what i have been told in Texas.

I think this may be true if there is a Service Center within reasonable distance.. But if the nearest Tesla Center is hundreds of miles away, I think they use a 3rd party flatbed truck of some kind..

But you’re right, seems like there’s no set guaranteed way of them doing it.. That’s why I just think picking it up myself is the best way to go..

 

[MarkSC]

Correct. I live about 250 miles away and am currently in limbo waiting for a flatbed to pick up my car (it has been at the Charlotte store for a week). I am not allowed to pick up the car myself (or at least my delivery advisor didn't jump on that chance when I offered to do so). I am hopeful that Tesla will move heaven and earth to get a truck assigned by quarter-end. My advisor says they are swamped with end-of-quarter deliveries. The wait is killing me.

 

[Cnasty]

Just got the call needing verbal confirmation for the home delivery tomorrow.

We are a go!!! Its getting too real.

 

[GuyFromGPT]

To update: My check was never entered into the system, so they couldn’t release the car Thursday. After everything was settled, I was offered a free wall charger if I wanted to come pick it up, or I could wait until Tuesday. Well, how could I refuse? My wife and I drove to the great state of Georgia, and just picked up our Model 3! A wall charger is being sent from the factory, and the delivery center gave me a $100 merch/accessory credit, for my trouble. Sorry I have no update on the home delivery experience. But everyone was really nice, accommodating, and the car is (as far as I can tell) great!