I ordered 25 November for home delivery. I'm seeing 14 cars available at the Fremont facilty. They are all white AWD long range. Exactly what I ordered. Why can't I fly to Bay Area and take delivery? I don't even have a VIN yet.
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Seeing 14 cars at Fremont. I don't even have a VIN yet.
- Thread starter DEMitchel
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- frustrated
may be put in a new order and cancel the old order ?
i would talk to SA before doing it but thats an option
Because they have someone else's name on them?
Because Tesla assumes that someone in Oregon is in Oregon and needs the car delivered there?
Kilotango74
Active Member
I tried this and was told Tesla no longer allows this. If you have an order in they won’t let you switch to Inventory now as of this week.
OK, but 95% of the stuff Tesla reps say is just flat out wrong. So I would interpret this to mean there is a 95% likely chance that you can have an inventory car assigned to your order once you find a competent person at Tesla to do it for you (which I admit is not easy to do).
There were a lot of people with AWD orders who switched to stealth models when they found out they were available. Since you can’t order a stealth online many people did not know about them until word spread quickly on this forum and on the internet in general. That freed up a lot of AWD models that were previously assigned to orders.
I tried to get one of these "inventory" cars a couple of different ways...
First I tried ordering one from the inventory page. The VIN was never linked to my order and the order show an estimated wait of 4-7 weeks.
Second, I went to the factory sales center and had them switch the order to one of the "inventory" VINs. The VIN showed in my order for about 24 hours then disappeared.
I spoke with various Tesla people looking for an explanation. They all gave different ones but I think the truth is something like this...
These vehicles are not really "inventory". They represent anticipated spare capacity, available in northern California by the end of the year.
First I tried ordering one from the inventory page. The VIN was never linked to my order and the order show an estimated wait of 4-7 weeks.
Second, I went to the factory sales center and had them switch the order to one of the "inventory" VINs. The VIN showed in my order for about 24 hours then disappeared.
I spoke with various Tesla people looking for an explanation. They all gave different ones but I think the truth is something like this...
These vehicles are not really "inventory". They represent anticipated spare capacity, available in northern California by the end of the year.
jonquiljo
Active Member
Again, inventory is full of cars that do not exist yet? Only Tesla would think this way!
Brando
Active Member
Why does anyone call Tesla directly when they can write to a bunch of strangers on the internet???
guess the ones that call don't bother to write to us
guess the ones that call don't bother to write to us
When Tesla does a config run they have a known quantity of orders to fill and then try to gauge interest and produce X above that. That covers them should a car be damage in transit and for late buyers and some going into next quarter for U.S. sales. Then as was already mentioned you have the “can’t make up my mind” crowd who with only a $100 deposit will sit on two reservations with the intent of releasing one at some point. Not surprised if they’ve stopped switching people from an order to an “inventory” car. Lots of extra changes for them to have to deal with in their very busiest time of the quarter. I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of inventory cars are at the tail end now of a run and by giving up an earlier position some people put themselves in a longer wait situation.
When the deposit to reserve was $1000 (refundable) and an additional $2500 at time or order was required (non-refundable but applied to purchase price) I think there were far fewer people making changes. Tesla wants to make buying a car as inexpensive as possible but taking up employees time switching back and forth (especially if paperwork has been started — remember there’s also paperwork in progress for loans, insurance and registration too) simply is not cost-effective and wastes their time. Tesla said orders placed before a certain date would get delivered by EoY, and people who doubted they’d get theirs so late in the month are getting theirs. Those that are already owners and followed EoQ deliveries have seen how this works. If you don’t want to believe it then sure don’t but you’ll put yourself through more anxiety than necessary and feed on each others doubts. One newbie a few quarters ago came up with a clever syndrome name for it. When your car is nearing ready Tesla will communicate with you, usually not before, and then the process usually can go really fast. Really hope you guys enjoy your cars.
When the deposit to reserve was $1000 (refundable) and an additional $2500 at time or order was required (non-refundable but applied to purchase price) I think there were far fewer people making changes. Tesla wants to make buying a car as inexpensive as possible but taking up employees time switching back and forth (especially if paperwork has been started — remember there’s also paperwork in progress for loans, insurance and registration too) simply is not cost-effective and wastes their time. Tesla said orders placed before a certain date would get delivered by EoY, and people who doubted they’d get theirs so late in the month are getting theirs. Those that are already owners and followed EoQ deliveries have seen how this works. If you don’t want to believe it then sure don’t but you’ll put yourself through more anxiety than necessary and feed on each others doubts. One newbie a few quarters ago came up with a clever syndrome name for it. When your car is nearing ready Tesla will communicate with you, usually not before, and then the process usually can go really fast. Really hope you guys enjoy your cars.
Kilotango74
Active Member
I wish I could remember but people on the thread thought it was great... and clearly it keeps rearing its head last month of each quarter.
I can understand why people would be confused when Tesla send them an email inviting them to pick out an "inventory" car that is "available for immediate delivery" and it turns out that the cars listed on the inventory page don't actually exist.
I really don't understand the attitude of blaming the customer here. We are all here because we are enthusiastic about the product and want to buy it. The frustration is caused by a flawed and opaque ordering and delivery process.
As far as I know, there has been no official change in policy regarding "switching". If you can find an inventory car that actually exists (there were some real cars with low miles on them a few days ago) then you can absolutely talk to an SA and they will switch it for you. Someone did this yesterday and posted on the California thread. What's probably going on is that some SAs have figured out that most of the "inventory" cars are not actually in inventory and are therefore warning customers not to switch to them because doing so might result in a longer wait. At the end of the day this is all caused by Tesla advertising non existent "inventory".
Personally, I opted to open a second order rather than switching precisely because I have zero confidence in the entire process after reading about peoples experiences here. It turns out my lack of confidence was justified because the "inventory" car I ordered doesn't exist yet.
Regarding "paperwork in progress for loans, insurance and registration". The bottleneck causing delivery delays is in the production of vehicles, not the processing of paperwork. Tesla is a tech company, if their entire business is being slowed down because they can't figure out how to process paperwork faster then god help them.
I suspect the email was sent out generically to interested Model 3 buyers that's all. The database probably doesn't indicate an order was already placed.
Tesla did not tell anyone to go find some code to check for a VIN. You get a VIN when they officially assign it to you. But someone found it and now many from what I've seen on here are obsessed with checking for a secret code VIN assignment--which VIN can get changed anyway from that area as others have mentioned. There are also those who even want their cars pinged to see where they are as they travel across the country. We have become a society of must track everything and don't want to wait. BTW I had a 3 month wait when I ordered my car so not unfamiliar with having to wait for my car. Also didn't get a firm delivery date until my third time. Have loved having my car for over a year now and it has not turned me off to the company, which apparently a number here have expressed feeling that way.
No one is "blaming the customer" just explaining what's been observed and has held true over the quarters. And yes, anxious people calling and double ordering does take up time away from a company that is trying it's best to get these cars to people. How is that not obvious to the big picture. Tesla went from producing 2-3K Model 3s a week to what? over 5K now. Huge jump in cars coming out of the factory on a weekly basis. And no one says they have a well organized order-to-delivery system yet. No reason to refer to people as apologists either. Things are what they are now but they do keep trying to improve. The forum and shorts are full of ways Tesla could do better or is failing. Clearly getting to cash positive with sales has had to be goal one or at the top of the list at least for the past two or three quarters. Last quarter apparently shocked a lot of analysts that they had another blow out quarter. Painful as it is to be buying the car at this point in time is something we all get through to own one. And the wait for the vast majority is worth it.
Perhaps an Inventory Car isn't exactly what people assume it is. Doesn't say In Stock. Inventory is excess production cars and those will be reaching delivery centers too, but likely on carriers scheduled behind the carriers with ordered vehicles. From what I've seen in past quarters people have gotten their cars by the EoQ. I think there were some reports I saw where the weather back east got bad and delivery was delayed. That and not everyone can take delivery when their car is ready. And some people unfortuntely had a car that they rejected or had an issue so had to wait for another one. Based on the past and Elon's expressed desire to get everyone the car that they had ordered before a certain date, I feel that will happen. This is a very different business model than people are accustom to so understand people don't know what to expect. Coming down on those of us who have had prior experience with this process really isn't helpful to anyone.
Tesla did not tell anyone to go find some code to check for a VIN. You get a VIN when they officially assign it to you. But someone found it and now many from what I've seen on here are obsessed with checking for a secret code VIN assignment--which VIN can get changed anyway from that area as others have mentioned. There are also those who even want their cars pinged to see where they are as they travel across the country. We have become a society of must track everything and don't want to wait. BTW I had a 3 month wait when I ordered my car so not unfamiliar with having to wait for my car. Also didn't get a firm delivery date until my third time. Have loved having my car for over a year now and it has not turned me off to the company, which apparently a number here have expressed feeling that way.
No one is "blaming the customer" just explaining what's been observed and has held true over the quarters. And yes, anxious people calling and double ordering does take up time away from a company that is trying it's best to get these cars to people. How is that not obvious to the big picture. Tesla went from producing 2-3K Model 3s a week to what? over 5K now. Huge jump in cars coming out of the factory on a weekly basis. And no one says they have a well organized order-to-delivery system yet. No reason to refer to people as apologists either. Things are what they are now but they do keep trying to improve. The forum and shorts are full of ways Tesla could do better or is failing. Clearly getting to cash positive with sales has had to be goal one or at the top of the list at least for the past two or three quarters. Last quarter apparently shocked a lot of analysts that they had another blow out quarter. Painful as it is to be buying the car at this point in time is something we all get through to own one. And the wait for the vast majority is worth it.
Perhaps an Inventory Car isn't exactly what people assume it is. Doesn't say In Stock. Inventory is excess production cars and those will be reaching delivery centers too, but likely on carriers scheduled behind the carriers with ordered vehicles. From what I've seen in past quarters people have gotten their cars by the EoQ. I think there were some reports I saw where the weather back east got bad and delivery was delayed. That and not everyone can take delivery when their car is ready. And some people unfortuntely had a car that they rejected or had an issue so had to wait for another one. Based on the past and Elon's expressed desire to get everyone the car that they had ordered before a certain date, I feel that will happen. This is a very different business model than people are accustom to so understand people don't know what to expect. Coming down on those of us who have had prior experience with this process really isn't helpful to anyone.
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