Thought I'd leave a few notes on my experience ordering and obtaining my Model X recently in the hopes it might be helpful to those still waiting. It was a better experience than I expected and I hope you all have good experiences as well.
Order process/location:
So I ordered my model X (Plaid, MSM on black, 22s) when I was on vacation in Las Vegas, even though I live in Charlotte. The sales person placed the order on their computer but its literally the same handful of options they click on the screen as you can click on your phone. Note: If a salesperson places your order, they will “own it” and are your point of contact. Had I known better, I would’ve either ordered it myself online, or got the folks in Charlotte to order it. I think the local Charlotte folks would’ve been more helpful when I had questions but they seemed less interested and would typically say that ______ is your salesperson in Las Vegas. Not a huge deal, but they seem slightly less likely to bend over backwards to help you if they didn’t place the order for you (even though they’re not on commission). If you order on your phone, they can “assign” your account to a local salesperson.
Delivery Dates:
My dates changed several times, but the final delivery date was right in the middle of the initial estimate;
Order date 5/13/22: EDD August-October 2022
5/21/22: August 28-October 23rd
5/28/22: August 13-October 8th
6/15/22: August 11-September 22nd
7/4/22: August 7-September 11th
7/10/22: August 18-September 22nd
8/2/22: August 25-September 15th
8/4/22: August 28-September 16th
8/17/22:September 6-September 27th
8/19/22: All day long previous EDD. At 8pm, I checked app again and noted VIN assigned with EDD of August 21-August 27th. There were no alerts, texts, emails. I only know b/c I checked the app.
8/20/22: Was given option to schedule delivery in app with first date available of 8/25/22.
Delivery process:
This is where I think Tesla pleasantly surprised me. I dropped by the afternoon of the 23rd, and I saw the car had recently been delivered. It was pretty dirty. I asked a random guy in the parking lot if I could take a look in it and he said no. I walked right in to the service center and talked to one of the salesman and asked him and he was more than happy to show me the car. He opened it, and seemed excited to talk about the tilting screen, the doors, etc. We were in it about 10 minutes, and he didn’t rush me, but I felt like I had seen enough to know car was in good shape.
The next day I showed up mistakenly to bring them the certified check. It turns out I was supposed to wait until my delivery appt the next day to do so. Despite that the SC employee noted, “well your car has been detailed and we can probably just do everything today if you want to?”. Just like that some other folks helped me accept delivery a day earlier than my appt. That person also opened the care before I clicked the “accept delivery” button in the app. There was never really any tension about that part at all. The salesperson asked me to go check out the inside of the care while he finished up paperwork and he’d come out to help me to set everything up. By the time he got out there I had gotten everything setup and I knew my way around the vehicle. They shook my hand and congratulated me and I was on my way.
Trade in:
I got quotes from Carmax, Range Rover, and Tesla. Range Rover was the highest, Carmax the lowest and Tesla in the middle. But after you factor the tax incentive (in NC no sales tax is assessed on the value of the traded in car), the Tesla offer ended up being the best. I got the quote a bit too early and it expired about 1 week before the car was delivered . I fully expected Tesla to give me a new quote and screw me over my lowering it. I did have to resubmit everything and they actually came back with the exact same number. They did this without even asking me to reverify mileage. I called the Tesla national number and the rep on the phone initiated the updated quote from their end—it showed up in my app wishing a few hours and the new expiration date was 1 day after my scheduled delivery. I don’t think it was really a new quote as much as Tesla simply extending the deadline of my initial quote since it was so close. I was pretty damn surprised at this considering how many horror stories you hear about them in general.
Quality of Tesla
The car looked really good. I’m a very picky person. I had just traded in my nearly new Range Rover which I had babied. The Telsa exterior was excellent. Doors and panels were well aligned. The interior was perfect—I really couldn’t find any issue with the vehicle and I’m notoriously a picky neurotic person about my stuff.
After 15 days of ownership: I am thrilled with the vehicle. I was worried about missing the luxury of my Ranger Rover (2020, HSE), a vehicle that I loved, and I truly haven’t missed it. The Tesla is sleek, very comfortable, quite to drive, and the technology is leaps and bounds ahead of the RR. It’s really very refined and pleasurable to drive. The car has run well for about 500 miles without trouble. Sadly, the first time I drove to work ad damn rock hit my windshield on I-85 and cracked it at the bottom. Gut punch. Satellite can’t fix it as its too close to the edge. Currently have a service appt for September 20th as that’s when they expect to have a new windshield in stock. Notably by appt and been for about 10 days early, but they moved it the day before the appt (only 2 days after I had made the appt) and told me they want to have the parts there before I bring car in. I didn’t complain b/c that made sense to me and I was thinking about contacting them to ask if they had the windshield before I came in.