Screwed by Tesla today... M3 LR

[jjrandorin]

I've been reading for the last month about how bad this company is and how crappy their cars are built but for some reason I still sort of want one. Why is that?

No idea.... I thought I remembered reading in another thread that you were done with tesla and it was before this post. I recommend everyone follow their instincts and yours sound like you should pass on buying a tesla.

 

[gobble]

I was done. I think I am done. I think.

 

[OCR1]

Tesla is an engineering led company. That means they focus on making great products while letting the service side of the business slide. When you need their attention and they flake out it can be frustrating. But that may be a few days out of the total ownership experience. The rest of the time your experience is going to be with the car, not the company.

I drove a Lexus since 2003 and always had great service and bulletproof reliability. It just wasn’t nearly as fun or exciting to drive as a Tesla. I was OK trading off some of the reliability and service consistency for bleeding edge technology. After driving a Tesla for a few months now I could never go back to an ICE car. And we’ve certainly had our share of frustrations with Tesla as a company.

 

[dsvick]

I've been reading for the last month about how bad this company is and how crappy their cars are built but for some reason I still sort of want one. Why is that?

Yep, a lot of the press is bad. On the other hand, the majority of owners love their cars and are planning on buying another Tesla. Why is that?
You need to decide who is most likely being honest and who you want to believe.

 

[gobble]

I need to go look at them. The only one I've seen up close was at my detailer and the paint was terrible. I've talk to the location in Highland Park a few times but have not stopped there yet. I'd prefer LR RWD and they told me only LR AWD was available.

 

[R_Stephens]

You can return this car for a full refund. See the details here. Be aware that in the next few days Tesla will switch all production to Autopilot Hardware 3.0. They will publish a blog post about HW3 in mid-April. If you order after that blog post, you are guaranteed to get a Model 3 with native-HW3.

I did a google search on HW3 and came up empty as far as release date mid-April. Was this confirmed somewhere?

 

[Troy]

@R_Stephens,

Tesla is still delivering a ton of HW2.5 cars. The last few days of March is the busiest time for deliveries in this quarter. Do you expect them to come out and say: "Please continue taking delivery of HW2.5 that is now discontinued." No, they are not going to say that. They will keep quiet until mid-April. They might say, "Don't worry about HW3, if you bought FSD you will get the new hardware retrofit for free." That's correct but you will only get the new HW3 computer. We also know that the sensors are the same. However, we don't know if there are other hardware changes excluding the computer and the sensors. Tesla should clarify whether an HW2.5 car that has retrofit HW3 is exactly the same as a native HW3 car produced in April 2019.

People found out about HW3 when somebody discovered HW3 code on Tesla's website when you copy the View Spec link. Teslarati published a news article about it here. For some buyers, this link now shows HW3 instead of HW2.5. In addition, somebody discovered an HW3 Model S listed as New Inventory. Also, a Model X buyer reported that he has HW3. In addition, a Model 3 SR+ buyer thinks he has HW3. I predicted HW3 would enter production at the end of March. I wrote about this a lot. See my message here where I made a list of all the messages I posted related to my prediction of HW3 at the end of March. I also predict that Tesla will post a blog between 10-20 April 2019 to confirm HW3.

Mid-April is when they will confirm HW3 however all production will switch to HW3 before the end of this month. They will keep quiet about it for two weeks.

 

[gobble]

No idea.... I thought I remembered reading in another thread that you were done with tesla and it was before this post. I recommend everyone follow their instincts and yours sound like you should pass on buying a tesla.

Now I think I’m really done. I stopped at the highland park store tonight on my drive back from Chicago and couldn’t even get a “Hi”from any of the sales people. I don’t think I looked like a total bum I’m wearing a $1000 suit and $500 shoes. This company really doesn’t want to sell me a car.

I looked at 3 cars outside with 3/19 stickers on the window. 2 looked great and 1 the panel gaps were pretty bad.

 

[notAnExpert]

Now I think I’m really done. I stopped at the highland park store tonight on my drive back from Chicago and couldn’t even get a “Hi”from any of the sales people. I don’t think I looked like a total bum I’m wearing a $1000 suit and $500 shoes. This company really doesn’t want to sell me a car.

Something is odd here. In my experience, Tesla sales people are at times less informed about their own product than the customer, but they have never come across as unfriendly or rude. Did you walk up to a Tesla employee at the store and let them know that you would like some assistance in buying a car, and they ignored you? That would really surprise me.

 

[gobble]

Id describe the tiny little single car showroom as chaos. There were probably a dozen people and kids standing around and a handful of people wearing Tesla jackets running around and doing god knows what. I sat in the model s in the showroom for several minutes and nobody said a word to me. So I left because I was t going to just stand there all night.

 

[Chris350]

Look... Allot of us has less than stellar deliveries....

Look forward to the car.... Once you get the car.... The rest goes away....

It's a tough haul.... Trust me.... But once you have it in hand.... You'll be happy...

 

[really_hp]

Now I think I’m really done. I stopped at the highland park store tonight on my drive back from Chicago and couldn’t even get a “Hi”from any of the sales people. I don’t think I looked like a total bum I’m wearing a $1000 suit and $500 shoes. This company really doesn’t want to sell me a car.

That's the exactly what you want to do if you want to lose your job.

It just feels like there's no one to keep the employees in line and remind them to do what they were hired to do.... sell the products.
Not to physically take the payment and hand the product out, but to inform and educate the walk in customers and not be educated by the customers who do know more.

 

[Knightshade]

Id describe the tiny little single car showroom as chaos. There were probably a dozen people and kids standing around and a handful of people wearing Tesla jackets running around and doing god knows what. I sat in the model s in the showroom for several minutes and nobody said a word to me. So I left because I was t going to just stand there all night.

Quarter ends in 3 days.

Elon recently sent out a letter basically telling salesrooms they need to prove they should still exist.

So they're scrambling to insure as many already there or on their way cars get delivered to customers by 3/31 as possible.

Come back in a week and (assuming they're still open) they'll likely be perfectly friendly and have time to talk. They're still likely to be as clueless as most car salesmen are about their own products, but they're generally pretty nice.

If you're looking for overstaffed showrooms where there's always someone in a suit with time to chat, Tesla is not a brand for you... (Lexus is pretty excellent in this department FWIW)

 

[mainecoon]

a notification pops on the screen.. seatbelt/airbag malfunction..

First of all, I want to say THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!

Have their service center fix the problem and remedy it. I am sure you will be on the road in no time.

My 12 volt battery died after a week in my new Model X, they sent a mobile service out and gave me a new 12 volt battery. No charge. The T logo on my Model 3 was not aligned properly and I drove around with it like that for a month before I even noticed it, but they fixed it. No charge. There was a strange rattle coming from my Model X passenger glove compartment area for months and I brought it in and they fixed it within days. No charge. There was flapping noise coming into my wheel well in my Model 3 at 75mph, I took it in and they fixed it within a week. No charge. There was some paint blemish on my Model 3 front fender, they repainted that area. No charge. The frunk area cowel in my Model 3 was damaged and I brought it in and they fixed it. No charge.


These things happen. Tesla will make it right.

Enterprise-Rent-A-Car, not so much.

 

[notAnExpert]

Id describe the tiny little single car showroom as chaos. There were probably a dozen people and kids standing around and a handful of people wearing Tesla jackets running around and doing god knows what. I sat in the model s in the showroom for several minutes and nobody said a word to me. So I left because I was t going to just stand there all night.

I hope you find another store or the same store after the quarter-end rush to help you. I went to my local store/service center around 10am today to drop off my car for a minor squeak/rattle issue and I was surprised to see there were some 5-6 sales guys and just one customer. While I was sitting in the lounge waiting for my loaner to be ready, the guy who gave me a test ride back in Oct recognized me and started chatting about the car. Everyone in sales and service was friendly and I was wearing shoes with holes in them

What I'm trying to say is, give them another chance. What you are experiencing isn't what I'm experiencing. And more importantly, the car is great. Yes, you do have to live with the flaws of Tesla as an organization. It seems like they run by the seat of their pants a lot, but in the end I think it is a product and company worthy of your $.

 

[Seven7]

That's fine. Then I'm no longer a buyer. Their mistake. Their loss. Keep drinking the cool aid.

They lowered the price and I started taking a serious look at the car. I find it's such a screwed up company and shoddily built car, but I keep looking for some reason. The technology seems so cool, if only the car wasn't built so poorly. I even stopped at my detailer yesterday and asked him was the model 3 he worked on really as bad as he said. He said it was the worst paint job he's ever seen on a new car. Period.

Then they raise the price just a couple weeks later? For no real reason other then they changed their mind about a boneheaded decision to close all their stores?

Like I said earlier, I'm done looking and it's probably the smartest decision I could have made. My Volt is a better car.

Seems like you had your mind made up here

 

[OCR1]

I’d give the Tesla sales reps some slack. In the last couple of weeks they were told their jobs were going away, their commission and bonus plans have been terminated, and the stores would all be shutting down. Now they sort of reversed course on the stores going away, but they never reinstated the commission/bonus plans, so these folks all took a significant pay cut and probably are out looking for other jobs while passing the time at the stores. Elon has demoralized his sales team. They are kids, fresh out of school. It is what it is. Not the makings of a professional sales organization.

 

[Dana1]

Had scheduled delivery today.. 03/25/2019 convinced my boss to give me the day off got my wife the day off as well.

Anyways I'm stationed over here in NC but the nearest Tesla store to me is 2hrs 30 mins away in Raleigh.

Whole day starts off wrong.. woke up drove to enterprise at 0730 because they booked me a one-way reservation to drive up to Raleigh. I get there enterprise reps tell me there was no car reserved great... try to reach out to the Raleigh store but they dont open till 10:00am..

Manage to some how contact a manager of the store who then tells one of his people to book the car for me.. I get an email notification around 1030am (btw my pick up time was 1100am and I told my job I would be back around 1400 to cover for the afternoon to let the other Marines/Sailors go home)

Continuing on.. so I go to pick up the reservation around 1045am but I'm told yes a vehicle has been booked but it was just done a few minutes ago so nothing will be available till around 1430.. I explain to enterprise hey I'm already running behind can you escalate this up a little bit so I could potentially get anything at this point.

They get me in a vehicle around 1100am and then I'm off and hit the road to Raleigh. By the time I get there I'm already a little fed up (called on the way there to explain the situation was told itll be discussed in our meeting this morning) I walk in the whole delivery process actually goes smooth.

We do a little walk around of the car (model 3 LR) everything is looking good Wife is liking it so that's a plus (convincing her for this purchase was a process all on it's own ) rep says she'll need us to sign paperwork then she'll finish the walkthrough/explaining the rest of the features and what not..

At this point I'm thinking okay I can forget the... (headache/lies-not mentioned in this post) that I went through on top of the whole enterprise debacle that went down this morning.. and try to put that pass me.. but as I'm about to pull off out of their garage with my brand new Tesla a notification pops on the screen.. seatbelt/airbag malfunction..

I'm like oh probably nothing I think I mention it to the Tesla rep who then says "I'm sorry we need to take the car down the street to our service center.."

seriously...

I look at my wife who at this point is like I knew this was bad.. but me thinking oh it's just some sensor that they can reset and then I'll be on my way back home (called work they were kind enough to say take the day off we'll just take it out your leave)

Now what should have been pickup at 1100am went to.. 1:50pm.. which ultimately turned into.. 5pm.. "bad news your whole seat has to be replaced because if you were to get into a wreck your wife's air bag would not deploy.."

So, if I didnt alert anyone of this notification and just brushed it off. I could potentially have risked my wife's life..

1. How did this get back their inspection?



2. Now I'm back home, no Tesla, stuck with a rental that I've driven around for 300+ miles today for nothing, to go back to work empty handed and have nothing to show for taking off work.


Tldr - spent 50k on a car, drove 300+ miles to go get it.. came back empty handed.. now sitting back at home wondering what my next move should be.

I still have faith so..

That sucks, sorry. Once you get the car you’ll be in love. Delivery was never a strong point and sales people must be demoralized now.

 

[gilscales]

Had scheduled delivery today.. 03/25/2019 convinced my boss to give me the day off got my wife the day off as well.

Anyways I'm stationed over here in NC but the nearest Tesla store to me is 2hrs 30 mins away in Raleigh.

Whole day starts off wrong.. woke up drove to enterprise at 0730 because they booked me a one-way reservation to drive up to Raleigh. I get there enterprise reps tell me there was no car reserved great... try to reach out to the Raleigh store but they dont open till 10:00am..

Manage to some how contact a manager of the store who then tells one of his people to book the car for me.. I get an email notification around 1030am (btw my pick up time was 1100am and I told my job I would be back around 1400 to cover for the afternoon to let the other Marines/Sailors go home)

Continuing on.. so I go to pick up the reservation around 1045am but I'm told yes a vehicle has been booked but it was just done a few minutes ago so nothing will be available till around 1430.. I explain to enterprise hey I'm already running behind can you escalate this up a little bit so I could potentially get anything at this point.

They get me in a vehicle around 1100am and then I'm off and hit the road to Raleigh. By the time I get there I'm already a little fed up (called on the way there to explain the situation was told itll be discussed in our meeting this morning) I walk in the whole delivery process actually goes smooth.

We do a little walk around of the car (model 3 LR) everything is looking good Wife is liking it so that's a plus (convincing her for this purchase was a process all on it's own ) rep says she'll need us to sign paperwork then she'll finish the walkthrough/explaining the rest of the features and what not..

At this point I'm thinking okay I can forget the... (headache/lies-not mentioned in this post) that I went through on top of the whole enterprise debacle that went down this morning.. and try to put that pass me.. but as I'm about to pull off out of their garage with my brand new Tesla a notification pops on the screen.. seatbelt/airbag malfunction..

I'm like oh probably nothing I think I mention it to the Tesla rep who then says "I'm sorry we need to take the car down the street to our service center.."

seriously...

I look at my wife who at this point is like I knew this was bad.. but me thinking oh it's just some sensor that they can reset and then I'll be on my way back home (called work they were kind enough to say take the day off we'll just take it out your leave)

Now what should have been pickup at 1100am went to.. 1:50pm.. which ultimately turned into.. 5pm.. "bad news your whole seat has to be replaced because if you were to get into a wreck your wife's air bag would not deploy.."

So, if I didnt alert anyone of this notification and just brushed it off. I could potentially have risked my wife's life..

1. How did this get back their inspection?



2. Now I'm back home, no Tesla, stuck with a rental that I've driven around for 300+ miles today for nothing, to go back to work empty handed and have nothing to show for taking off work.


Tldr - spent 50k on a car, drove 300+ miles to go get it.. came back empty handed.. now sitting back at home wondering what my next move should be.

I still have faith so..

Let me give you the good news, Once you get this car and start driving it all of those problems will fade away, this is my first EV and I bought the car for its performance (RWD LR) and it has not disappointed, this has to be the best combination of sports car and comfortable sedan you can meld together, the EV powertrain is just so much fun with it's instant torque and the near laser crisp handling with this instant torque delivery is a blast, we (my wife and I) have owned about 30 cars over our years together and we both agree this one is our favorite by a wide margin, Until someone can build a better EV we will be driving Tesla's and as far as I can tell it will be for many more years as it seems to me they have that much of a commanding lead.

Have had ours for 11 months and almost 21k trouble free miles with no service of any kind (I changed the tires to a different size/kind myself) Get the car, you will be glad you did.

 

[puckpurnell]

Damn. So sorry that happened to you.