Point is, people buying Teslas seem to be willing to live with flaws that are WAAAAY worse then anything a normal car company would deliver. I don't get why people are so forgiving of this disaster. This delivery process seems like such a free for all.
Agree completely.
Taking delivery of a car is not a religious ceremony - it's a business transaction.
Treat it as such!
Buying from Tesla is not like buying from a legacy car company. Tesla will fix it, give you a loaner and offer 'something' except pricing reduction of the new car. Most other brands you never see the factory 'issues' as the dealerships patch them before you see them, but then you deal with the dealership model. I for one, prefer to see the car 'warts and all' and not deal with the dealership.
First of all - BIG FAT NO to buying Tesla being anything different that buying any other car.
It's still a business, managed by people. In the case of Tesla, it's usually people with little prior automotive experience.
My TM3P was delivered with a 5" scratch on the front bumper. Highly visible on a black car, no way any semi-competent pre-delivery inspection would not have spotted it. Tesla did not bother to inspect or attempt to correct anything prior to delivery. They were (and still are) too busy pushing cars out the door to prop up quarterly delivery stats!
The scratch did not go through the entire clear coat (thus can be buffed out, no respray necessary), so we accepted and noted on the delivery sheet. Delivery guy promised miracles, "will be fixed in no time", "you will get a loaner", etc, etc.
Guess what happened next?
Nothing!
Not a peep from Tesla.
Delivery guy never returned phone calls or emails.
Neither did the sales person.
A week after delivery "how did it go" survey arrived from Tesla. I ripped them a new one, and ... nothing.
Eventually, we stopped by the dealership, they found paperwork of the problem, and after much going back and forth ... gave us a business card of a body shop who will "evaluate the situation". Offered me corporate Uber code for free ride home from the body shop.
I told them there was no need to repaint the nose, just competently buff it out, which is not what any profit-minded body shop would recommend since they will make way more $$$ on the repaint job.
After much haggling, the dealership agreed to arrange a meeting with a detailer on their premises (they refused to send him to my house). Only available the next week.
Next week comes, I arrive, there is no record of the previous commitment or appointment.
Oh, you talked to "Bob", he is not here today, we don't have any records of anything.
Are you @#$%ing kidding me?
After about 60-minutes of back and forth, looking for someone who knows "Bob's" cell phone number, calls placed, eventually returned, etc, etc... the detailer appointment was setup for later that day. By the end of the day, the scratch was gone.
It took about a few weeks of customer initiated follow-ups, persistence, and overcoming Tesla's Cheech-and-Chong delivery process, to achieve this outcome.
Bottom line -
it was a minor issue, majorly mishandled by Tesla.
No ifs, no buts, not excuses, not apologies.
Buyer beware!
The lack of dealerships is a good excuse but seems like a pretty significant flaw in their model. There should never be a situation where a customer picks up a new $50k car and has to take it right to the paint shop for a week, month, or three. That's really screwed up.
Bingo!
a