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Tesla Model 3 in Australia
- Thread starter Electric_Blue
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- Australia Model 3 New Zealand
Ceramic coating is extra. Quotes for that have been up to $1000! I’ll do it myself - will be relatively quick on a brand new, already hydrophobic surface (cf. no PPF)
Tesla paint is quite damaged, especially the dark colours. My last one the detailer spent all day getting the scratches out, then an hour applying the ceramic coating. To simply apply it to the tesla applied finish wont be a great result.
With a decent led or halogen light you can see the factory delivered scratches, especially on the drivers side. These micro scratches will ensure your car always looks dull, so they need removal by a professional.
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On a model S....first one I used opticoat, and was very happy. 2nd one (last year) the same detailer convinced me to go G-Tecqnic crystal serum ultra. Its at another level compared to opticoat. As an added bonus cleaning is so much easier and faster, and the g tecqnic product definately keeps the car looking cleaner for longer. Nothing really sticks to it. As far as I’m aware they will only sell it to their licenced professionals, and watching my detailer it looks tricky. Very easy to get it wrong and end up with a cloudy finish.
I understand this product is used by most of the F1 teams as it makes the surface slippery, which probably explains why it looks cleaner.
It really doesn’t matter too much, when the PPF is already hydrophobic (note that older PPFs aren’t hydrophobic). So long as it’s SiO2, you’ll get a little extra resistance, than PPF alone. But for what it’s worth, I’ll probably use Kamikaze.
On a related note, I suggest you watch the YouTube channel Pan The Organizer - I just learnt that the Turtle Wax SiO2 spray on (not proper wipe on) smashes the ones from Meguiars & Mothers, at less than half the price! Gonna start using this on my car without PPF.
Do yourself a favour and avoid those retail products. They arent great. Maguires (used to use their stuff exclusively) somehow manage to make their products electrostatic so it actually attracts dust to your car. You then clean it more often.....and buy more product. My detailer put me on a better path with professional products from wax-it (online only). With the correct coating, wash products, and drying towel, my car cleaning is now so much faster, and drying is a single wipe only. Never need to wipe twice, and one towel can easily do 4 cars. I dont know where the water goes, it just does. Cleaning a model s for me is now half an hour, and it sparkles. Wheels are spray on, rinse, and wipe dry. Done properly the towel gets no black marks. No scrubbing. Retail products do not perform at this level. Also with a proper permanant ceramic coating, the days of polishing and waxing are long gone.
Okay, so as mentioned a few pages back, earlier today I took a “Tesla owners” tour of the Tesla Factory in Fremont California where I’m currently on holiday. I have a reservation for a Model 3 and the reservation number was enough for me to get on the tour which I booked a month or so ago.
In short, they took about 40 of us around the factory for about an hour on a special trolley. No phones or cameras allowed unfortunately, so no spy shots. The tour was great and the tour guide fantastic. We got to see Model 3, S and X production lines at various stages. Very impressive robots at work, plus a bunch of manual work. The factory is well laid out, but it was clear to me that it’s pretty much bursting at the seams with parts and cardboard boxes of bits stored over every square inch of the place (neatly). They were also doing some construction work to presumably add capacity.
In terms of Aussie relevance and some of the questions people wanted me to ask a few pages ago, here goes:
- Were they making RHD versions at the time? Yes! But what surprised me is that these were interspersed with LHD versions. On one of the lines, I counted 1xRHD, followed by 3xLHD, followed by 1xRHD, followed by a long line of LHD. It’s clearly an easy switch for them to make as the cars move along.
- Were the RHD versions performance or SR+? Couldn’t tell - the ones I saw didn’t have wheels on them yet
- What colours? Again, mixed up on the production line. Seemed to be majority pearlescent white (or could it have been flat white!?!), plus a surprising about of blue.
- Were there any white interior RHD Model 3s? No, the only two Model 3s I saw on the production line seemed to have black interiors (they didn’t have the seats in yet though). Note that most of the Model 3 line that we saw was stamping and welding and fitting the body shell together, rather than final fit out (which we saw mostly for Model S/X).
- When will LR RWD/AWD be coming to Australia? When will white interiors be available in Aus? I asked, they said “not sure”. For any future-facing questions they basically said “read the tweets - it’s how we find out things” which I thought was both amusing and probably true.
- If you arrive in a Tesla, do they valet it for you whilst you tour [someone on the forum asked this]? No, but if the parking spaces are full, they will valet PARK it for you. I arrived in a crappy hire car
- What accessories do they sell? T-shirts, hoodies, etc. No car accessories unfortunately (my original plan was to bulk-buy a bunch of Aero Wheel Kits to sell on here so that we could we sure we have these on Day 1 when our SR+ models arrive). Sorry folks.
PS I also went to Apple’s HQ today - every third car there seemed to be a Tesla
In short, they took about 40 of us around the factory for about an hour on a special trolley. No phones or cameras allowed unfortunately, so no spy shots. The tour was great and the tour guide fantastic. We got to see Model 3, S and X production lines at various stages. Very impressive robots at work, plus a bunch of manual work. The factory is well laid out, but it was clear to me that it’s pretty much bursting at the seams with parts and cardboard boxes of bits stored over every square inch of the place (neatly). They were also doing some construction work to presumably add capacity.
In terms of Aussie relevance and some of the questions people wanted me to ask a few pages ago, here goes:
- Were they making RHD versions at the time? Yes! But what surprised me is that these were interspersed with LHD versions. On one of the lines, I counted 1xRHD, followed by 3xLHD, followed by 1xRHD, followed by a long line of LHD. It’s clearly an easy switch for them to make as the cars move along.
- Were the RHD versions performance or SR+? Couldn’t tell - the ones I saw didn’t have wheels on them yet
- What colours? Again, mixed up on the production line. Seemed to be majority pearlescent white (or could it have been flat white!?!), plus a surprising about of blue.
- Were there any white interior RHD Model 3s? No, the only two Model 3s I saw on the production line seemed to have black interiors (they didn’t have the seats in yet though). Note that most of the Model 3 line that we saw was stamping and welding and fitting the body shell together, rather than final fit out (which we saw mostly for Model S/X).
- When will LR RWD/AWD be coming to Australia? When will white interiors be available in Aus? I asked, they said “not sure”. For any future-facing questions they basically said “read the tweets - it’s how we find out things” which I thought was both amusing and probably true.
- If you arrive in a Tesla, do they valet it for you whilst you tour [someone on the forum asked this]? No, but if the parking spaces are full, they will valet PARK it for you. I arrived in a crappy hire car
- What accessories do they sell? T-shirts, hoodies, etc. No car accessories unfortunately (my original plan was to bulk-buy a bunch of Aero Wheel Kits to sell on here so that we could we sure we have these on Day 1 when our SR+ models arrive). Sorry folks.
PS I also went to Apple’s HQ today - every third car there seemed to be a Tesla
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Great stuff Ranu, thanks for asking the questions and helping out - enjoy the rest of your trip!
All of these vessels are following patterns of delivering Japanese, Korean and German cars.
London Highway has gone to Benicia instead of SFO Pier 80. If it is done with all its deliveries, it could be tasked with picking up Tesla cars.
Glovis Countess has already headed back to Korea from Benicia.
Glovis Safety is on its way to Benicia, it could pick up Teslas if it is empty of German cars after that.
Glovis Phonenix is still unloading Korean cars. It could unload more at Benicia, possibly available after that.
The good news is that RHD is confirmed going down the production line and Pier 80 is filling with cars. Now we get to see where they go. Definitely at least one vessel to Europe soon and hopefully one going to AUS / NZ soon too.
Fairly certain the journey time is only two weeks, so if the delivery date is end of July the cars would not have departed yet. Typically the boats stop at nz on the way (or at least the ones carrying my tesla’s always have) so you may have more luck searching for ships that are travelling to nz.
Does anyone have Tesla showing their car has completed production and is in transit (through the Tesla site account login)? This is usually where you find if you car is on the way. At least it was for model s/x orders...from memory "vin assigned", "in production", "production complete" and "Your car has finished production and is in transit"...or words to that effect.
Priit
Active Member
Thanks for passing our questions on. Hope you are continuing to have a good trip.
I hope if they get those questions from multiple sources, they may look into making some of those options available sooner as they then know there is confirmed interest.
Nice to meet everyone. I've got an order in for a Performance+ in Melbourne. Currently ordered in Red but would also be keen on Simple White.
Glad I'm not alone in anxiously waiting for updates!
Glad I'm not alone in anxiously waiting for updates!
Also worth considering PPF for just the front end of the car which would be a more reasonable $1,500 - $2,500.
jontyh
Member
That's the way I'll be going, self-healing protection for the leading edges and ceramic over everything to protect from dirt and salt spray.
Tesla made 70,000 cars last quarter. Thats a lot of cars each day. Not sure that 20 white interiors for australia will spike much interest.
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